Worst oil you ever tried or used?

Pennzoil motor oil
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civic09

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Hello folks and what would you guys say was the worst, cheapest, barely meets API spec oil that you guys ever used? I can honestly say that the old neighbor that lived beside me out near OHIO, used to use a blend of SHELL ND 30 and some PEAK 5w30 conventional, and why, I dont know.

let me hear your stories of what the worst you used and why, and or how it worked out. Good, bad or ugly

thanks guys,

adam vasbinder
 
Cant say I have ever used any Lucas oil, although I do see it at AUTOZONE near me all the time.

adam
 
I somehow knew enough about cars and oil to pick oils with the latest API rating. But I did fall for the thicker is better thing for many years.

I ran 20w50 Valvoline for many years. I did a short stint in Ohio and when I left Ca I had SAE40 in my truck. The SAE40 didn't pump too well in the Ohio mornings so I swapped it out for 15w40.
 
Cook's Reconditioned Motor oil.

I think the "reconditioning" was to run used oil through an old gym sock. It was as black as the devil's soul and was quite possibly the last oil still being sold in a can.

NAPA auto care centers had an offer for a Royal Purple oil change for $25 with proceeds going to charity.

My engine ran well enough, but there was a LOT of valvetrain noise. The shop owner had an LT-1 Corvette that had as much valvetrain noise. Switching back to Castrol for me and Mobil 1 for him cured the noise immediately.

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maybe a bad batch of Royal Purple, or maybe that's why it was availiable for charity.
 
PEAK 5w30 conventional is no better or worse than other conventional oils. I used it in my S2000 and LS400 couple years ago, didn't feel any difference compares with Halvoline, Chevron ...
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Cook's Reconditioned Motor oil.

I think the "reconditioning" was to run used oil through an old gym sock. It was as black as the devil's soul and was quite possibly the last oil still being sold in a can.

NAPA auto care centers had an offer for a Royal Purple oil change for $25 with proceeds going to charity.

My engine ran well enough, but there was a LOT of valvetrain noise. The shop owner had an LT-1 Corvette that had as much valvetrain noise. Switching back to Castrol for me and Mobil 1 for him cured the noise immediately.

21.gif
maybe a bad batch of Royal Purple, or maybe that's why it was availiable for charity.


I took a little heat recently commenting about engine oil and noise. I agree, you can in some instances hear more noise with one oil vs. another. Even if the same viscosity is used. IMO if you are using lets say a 30 grade oil, and try a different 30 grade oil, and hear noise, switch back to the oil that made less oil.

IMO odd engine noise, or noise coming from the valve train that wasn't there before switching oil brands, but is with a different brand of oil, is not a good thing.
 
I've only strayed from the big, name brands three times:

1) Meijer brand 5w20 conventional. I picked up 2 quarts and mixed it with 1.5 quarts of leftover Pennzoil Platinum and Valvoline SynPower. It went in my mother-in-law's 2002 Honda Civic.

2) Service Pro 5W-20 semi-syn. I ran two 5K intervals of it in my mother-in-law's Civic. In fact, I changed her oil today and will be sending a sample of the Service Pro in to Blackstone for a used oil analysis.

3) G-OIL 5w30. I'm currently using it in both of our vehicles (see signature) and my mother-in-law's Civic. Who knows how we'll be looking back on G-OIL 10 years from now?
 
Hey and thanks for the stories/info guys. Spazdog, I feel better knowing that at my work we're putting Safety Kleen oils in our cars after reading about COOKS oil. One thing a lil off topic I dont get; when I was at advance auto this morning, they were COMPLETELY out of every grade or PEAK conventional and SYNTHETIC. There was a ton of Valvoline conventional, Valvoline NEXGEN and Pennzoil Conventional and quaker state and castrol gtx. Other thing is that at the AUTOZONE they still have dusty bottles of Valvoline, valvoline durablend, synpower etc that I saw was SL rated. How long will all this sit on the shelf?

sorry for the lil rant or whatever you could call it, just makes my head hurt some days,


adam
 
I moved into a house I was renting in 1997. In the basement was a bunch of gallon cans of QS with no api rating. I used it anyway for about 4 oil changes in my 71 dart.
 
I bought a case of Advance auto oil when it first came out, 5w20 and it litterally went thru the engine to the point where I thought I had a issue. Once I went back to my regular brand of oil, usage stopped. I dont know if I got a bad batch or what. But that wasnt a oil, I want to try again.
 
Yeah my neighbor who is a chef/part time carpenter, was using the AAP brand 10w30 oil in his 98' dakota. He said one time when he had only around 1500 miles on it; it looked like asphalt on the stick. He drained it out, and currently is using the VALVOLINE NEXGEN 10W30 as he said there is a 6 or 7 dollar rebate with it.


Adam
 
Had an old Renault winter beater than leaked so much oil I stopped changing it. I poured anything that even resembled oil into that engine which included used oil from my other cars, including used gear lube, used ATF, and even a gallon of used cooking oil.
The bottom of the dip stick had a inch of black sludge on it but the car ran like a top but was a rust bucket. I was hoping the car would break so I could justify getting rid of it.
I eventually accepted a pretty good offer out of the blue for the car from a Renault car nut.
 
I used to use Lucas oil stabilizer years ago. I had an 83 cutlass. It was my first car and I was 16. I fell for that gear wheel and how sticky it was. Right. I now try to inform anyone who uses it that they should just go up a grade and not dilute the add pack of the oil.
 
Way back when, I had a 1970 AMC Javelin with a 304. Even though oil was about 30 cents a quart at the time, the oil consumption on this car was incredible for a high school student like myself. I needed to save my money for more important things like beer and p$t
laugh.gif
I just dumped ANY type of oil in it, used oil that someone drained out, hydraulic fluid that friend's dad who worked as an airplane mechanic got us(used or new, didn't matter!) I am sure I would have put vegetable oil in it if it was available! Oh yeah, I never bothered to check the oil, just added it every time I stopped for gas or when the low pressure light came on. I used to carry one of those 12V abrasive spark plug cleaners you got from JC Whitney when the plugs fouled!
 
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Yeah, my grand am had that problem, the "check oil" light came on a lot. I used to keep a bunch of 5qt jugs of Super Tech 10W30 in the trunk.

adam
 
Originally Posted By: civic09
Darn, thats some old oil!

I still have one of the lone single quart cans as a souvenir. I don't think that stuff hurt the old dart any as it was still running strong at 215k miles when i sold it.
 
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