Why SF rated Oil?

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Was in Walmart today with the wife. She let me go play in the oil section as long as I promised not to buy anything, (marriage is give and take you know). Wally and friends still sell Accel 10 W 40 SF rated motor oil, ($1.14 in these parts). I got to wondering, why SF? Why not SG, SJ, etc. Anybody have any ideas?
 
Like Mike said, it's probably to support an older vehicle.

I've found that the Wally Worlds out in my neck of the woods don't sell any 5W20. I am actually hard pressed to find any automotive stores that carry it either (if you do find it, it is usually only one manufacturer - I think pepboys had 2, Kmart had only one bottle of 5W20 in the whole store!). My guess is that the crowd that services the cars themselves have older cars and the inventory reflects the market.

I've given up on Wally world and the likes. I just order everything on the Internet now. Even with shipping I am ahead when you consider the price of gas and my time.
 
No, no, you miss my point. This isn't old stock. This is new stuff. Unilab makes the same API SF rated stuff which you can buy at the Dollar Stores. I'm just wondering why they're making SF and not SG or SH. Why did the el-cheapo's decide, "Hey, we've got a couple million gallons of crapy oil, let's create an add pack of SF and people will buy it like hot-cakes." Just one of those questions you think about when you're looking at the stars at night and remembering that 25 years ago you got into a fight with your girlfriend and she went and married the quarter back of the football team who now owns his own business and they live in a big house on the lake and she's had five kids but doesn't look like it because she has a personal trainer and . . . . . opps . . . . wife just came in the room . . . .

OIL, OIL, OIL, OIL, OIL,
 
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API's mandate is still that current blends be fully backward compatible with former service ratings. Obviously that still begs the question why a blender would bother formulating and bottling what is now a bottom-feeder service rating. Noting the all too often intellectual development of WalMart shoppers (most BITOGers excepted...
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), it's a scary thought that some of these mental midgets are merrily filling their new Ford F-350s, Chevy SUVs, and Chrysler 300Ms with SF oil... Gaaagghh!
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I noticed this too. I haven't seen them locally, but if you go to the Pitt Penn website they are also still making SF and even SA
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oil as we speak. I can understand SA being used in machines that don't need detergent oil, but the bottles are labelled "motor oil" so I'm sure some people out there have gotten a nasty shock after pouring it in their ride.

Back on topic... I don't know why they picked SF. Mostly to be used by folks driving ancient beaters that leave a blue cloud behind them, I guess. No point paying much for quality oil.

I'm bored so I just looked up the testing requirements... SF doesn't seem a whole lot different from SE or SG. Phosphorus starts being limited for SH so I guess they didn't go that far so they could load up on cheap ZDDP. And if they go backwards to SE or SD they start to seriously limit their audience. Just guessing.
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.........but if I mixed some of my HD elcheapo Pennzoil Platinum, with this $1.14 SF garbage.........and maybe a bottle of the BigLots SLOB..........I wonder??????

kidding.....kinda........
 
If cars in the 1970's for the most part survived 3-4k mile oci's on SF rated oil, then there is absolutely no reason why modern, more effecient cars of today could not to the same. Even though this oil only meets SF rated specs, it is still prolly better than the SF-rated oil of 30 years ago. It wouldn't cause any problems to run it on 3-4k oci's.
 
I agree with addyguy. Are modern engines really that much different from 20 years ago that they'll seize or coke up with SF oil?
 
They want an oil that meets a certain price point. Unlike mainstream oils, which meet a performance spec of API, ACEA, or all the manufacturers for oils like 5w-20, HDEOs, etc. This pleases the folks who just dont care. $1.14 is half the price of a quart of havoline. Most don't know what oil they need, so they just scan the shelves. Either they see a brand theyre familiar with, or they see a super cheap bottle, and make a decision.

Theyre in the process of trying to please the customer. Theyre not in the in the business of looking out for peoples' warranties, theyre not looking out for the best protection of peoples' engines, all theyre looking for is a range or prices and quality levels on the shelf to please all customers.

Sure, SF might be A-OK per the spec for a late 70's early 80's vehicle.... but wouldnt they benefit from better additive packages and baseoils too??? Of course if they are on their way to the junkyard, it might not matter - but theysure have a lot of that SF stuff to just get the clunkers to drive to the junkyard.

JMH
 
The dumber the market, or purchasing agent, the lesser thequality needed.
Many companies produce low spec oil for the unsuspecting.
In much of Latin America, CD/SF is the most common oil on the market, although Argentina is still big on CC.
The government in Bolivia banned the sale of anything less than SF or CD for single grades and SJ or CF for multigrades. They were going for SJ/CF for all but one of the oil companies paid off the people writing the legislation to allow SF/CD. They tried for CC/SD but some of us put up too big a fuss.
 
now help me out here


with oil, just because an oil standard is obsolete, it doesn't consign it to the scrap heap, does it?

my harley davidson (92 evo) calls for 20w50 SG or better. but hasn't there been a reduction in some of the EP/antiwear additives used in SH and newer oils? i'm happy to use SG gasoline oil, or a newer spec'd fleet oil

btw, until recently, MOTUL 300V 15w50 (one of the best ester synthetics available) was still using the SG rating
 
quote:

Originally posted by brianl703:
No, but an oil carrying a spec that is obsolete isn't subject to any API testing.

Nor are oils that ar sold with weasel words like
quote:


....recommended for all domestic and foreign vehicles requiring any of the listed performance specifications:

Botique Brand 5W-20 Synthetic Motor Oil

*
API SM/CF, SL, SJ ...

and have a picture on their bottle that looks a bit like an API shield but isn't.
 
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