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Thanx for your response, Tom.
--'rocco
While I will concede that newer oil additives that the formulators/refineries incorporate into their formulas are probably much better than the first ones when multi-vis oils were first introduced, that's not really saying much.
I remember the horror stories from the late 70s and early 80s that showed what a mess 10W40 oil could make in a car even after a few thousand miles.
I'm sure today's polymer goo viscosity improver is better than the stuff 20 years ago ... but I still don't want to rely on it to any great degree ... especially with an expensive, high-RPM specialty car.
By using a higher base number, you're only giving up a few horsepower and maybe 1-3% in fuel economy. But your engine is much safer.
--- Bror Jace
What Bror Jace says makes a lot of sense to me and still causes me to be a bit skeptical until further studies can be done to show just how much these enhancers break the oil down over time and to what degree they make the lubrication properties to become instable.
Thanx for your comments, gary.
Has anybody else who has used 0W-30 had an analysis done lately?
--'rocco
Yes, I knew that synthetics have many more natural multi-viscosity properties. Of course this is an oxymoron ... synthetic being more 'natural' >;^)
Mobil 1 0W30 may not be 'bad' but if you look at the pour ratings, it is only a handful of degrees (5?) better than Mobil 1 5W30 ... which pours at
-55F or so. Personally, I'd only use the ultra thin stuff if I lived within spitting distance of the arctic circle.
The REAL sinner in this whole mess is something like 5W50. Redline shows (on their site) how that stuff breaks down considerably after only a few thousand miles. It's THOSE broken down compounds that I wouldn't want in my motor.
The word on the street was that Castrol thought they could get all the auto mfrs to start recommending additive-heavy 5W50 as the recommended oil. Can you think of a reason they wouldn't adopt it?
I know I can. >;^)
--- Bror Jace
So, in spite of Mobil1's disinterested (LOL) statement, I am inclined now to believe that there is an issue at least with higher mileage cars.
I'm trying Maxlife on the next change to see what happens.
He said 5-20W but can't find it so I got 5-30W. I have been using castrol GTX 5-30W petrol oil and have changed it faithfully every 3,500 miles. Any comments? Will the seals be OK? Switching now is OK? I was told I can't switch back though. ???
If you are really worried about seals, especially since you change your oil every 3-4K miles, you might want to consider Valvoline MaxLife. The test data they sent to me showed a reduction in pre-hardened seals. It should work much better on seals that are still in good shape like yours should be. Maxlife is impressive in the "oil thickening" (sludge) test compared to Conventional, but not quite as good as synthetic.
You might want to create your own blend of 50% Maxlife, and 50% Synpower. Get the best of both worlds. And it would considerably improve the cold start up.
My Car with 120,000 miles has shown some leaks after a year of use with straight synthetics. So I'm considering the same thing myself.
Seepages well, some do some don't just like those that use dino.
If you live in a cold climate try a synthetic 0W30 and that should help
I'm not familiar with that stuff. Can you post a link to some info?
--- Bror Jace
BG 44K fuel system treatment is a god-sent!!!
This is what I found with the search. Hope it helps.
Where did you get this info, out of a Honda's owner's manual?????
My Mercedes comes factory filled with Mobil 1 Synthetic. Last time I checked Mercedes didn't add anything special to this Mobil 1.
I looked at that site for the BG additives ... and I can't say much. There's not enough info to make me decide one way or another. I've never heard of them before.
I think the reports of Hondas and some other cars using a break-in oil ... but with proper care, you can still get a tight, good running engine even if you change it out early. Others in this forum are proof of that. I'd probably split the difference and merely leave it in for about 2,500-4,000 miles before swapping it out.
--- Bror Jace
Looks like it's OK BroJace. Here is what they said.
Yes, you can mix the two oils. We don't recommend mixing two different brands of oils or two different oil viscosities. For more information, please call our technical hotline at 1-800-254-8957.
PS Maxlife has 15% synthetic according to their tech support. Further proof that these newer grades are using synthetics to improve oil quality.
Thanks for any input.
You really meant "K" right?
Otherwise, I've gotta get some of that stuff 8^)
Just checking if anyone is paying attention.
TB
Thanks for the input and I think I will stick with the free oil changes for the 10M(K) and 15M(K) oil changes before switching at 20M(K).
Enjoy everyones comments and input on this and the other Edmunds boards. Helped me when I was looking and with pricing issues.
I believe most follow similar convention.
Physics as well as Electronic are done in a similar fashion. Electricity is measured in kilowatts and megawatts, resistors in a simliar fashion (substitute ohms for watts in previous examples.
Then of course, the metric system.
On the other hand, I believe M = 1000 in roman numerals, hence the M&M's ad campaign at the turn of the century about 2000 being the year of the M&M.
FWIW,
TB
There is a TSB on oil leaks in the VW database, that is really a monitoring bulletin to prove that the engine is leaking or burning oil.
Compare that to three friends who had cars with the same engine, used dino-juice, and changed their oil anywhere from 3,000 miles to 7,500 miles. All three of those cars needed a turbo replacement within the warranty period, one of them (my business partners wife) had two turbo replacements and was smoking badly (probably the turbo bearings/seals) when traded in with 93,000 miles on the clock.
This is admittedly anecdotal evidence, however, it is my belief that the Mobil 1 is the reason that my engines were in such good shape after >100,000 miles of hard driving.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Thank you for contacting Castrol regarding Syntec 5W-30 Full Synthetic Motor
Oil. We
appreciate your interest in our products.
While it is not Castrol's policy to comment on our competitive brands of
oil, we can elaborate on
the benefits of our brand. Castrol Syntec Full Synthetic Motor Oil features
unique molecular
components containing exclusive chemical esters, which bond to engine parts
providing a unique
layer of protection.
Castrol Syntec has an excellent detergent dispersant system, which provides
superior
performance in maintaining engine cleanliness and helping to prevent
build-up of deposits within
the engine. Syntec contains patented stabilizers that interact with harmful
pollutants more
effectively than conventional oils. In doing so, they seek out combustion
by-products and other
corrosive particles and hold them in suspension while maintaining engine
cleanliness. Syntec
neutralizes or stabilizes corrosive effects and provides deposit formation
protection, resulting in a
cleaner running engine, thus reducing wear and helping extend engine life.
Syntec Full Synthetic SAE 5W-50 provides the widest range of protection
available. The 5W
provides rapid oil circulation at start-up and the 50 delivers a thicker
high temperature oil film
for ultimate wear protection.
Castrol Syntec Full Synthetic Motor Oil, with its exclusive chemical esters,
is also available in
SAE 5W-30, l0W-30 and 0W-30.
Unfortunately, this tells me very little.
I know what that tells me... Get Mobil ONE !
(or if you really like high end smaller batch vendors, Amsoil or Redline)
For a 5W-30 the average cold temperature pour point in centegrade is as follows:
Conventional Oil. -34 degrees
Blended and High
Mileage Oils -37
Synthetic Oils -42
Given the advertizing I am surprized. It's only 8 degrees difference between Synthetic and Conventional.
Has anyone had experiences at higher temperatures.
ruking1- I agree
From what I've been told by a Suzuki Hayabusa owner, even he normally uses Mobil 1 in his cars, he uses Castrol Syntec in the Hayabusa because it has higher shear strength than Mobil 1.
As for the pour point, I bet those numbers would look better if you took Redline out of the mix. This stuff is noticeably thicker than the same weight of a PAO synthetic oil. Still, their 5W30 is fine for nearly every location in North America.
Yes, turbos with their high heat and high bearing RPMs are an ideal environment for showing the differenc between a conventional oil and a synthetic.
8u6hfd, Castrol has a higher sheer strength? Can you be more specific and/or cite a technical source for this info?
--- Bror Jace
Also, Mobil has pulled some of the detail from their Mobil 1 MSDS sheets so if they similarly switch, we won't necessarily know.
<:^(
--- <b>Bror Jace
A Canadian Synthetic that I am usings, also advertised as a long life engine lubricant with a symilar "warranty" as the other premium synthetics. . My 'Lubegard' is in the A/T and Power steering system.
Valvoline Syntech 5W-30 -43 degrees.
Iron 51, 25, 17, 14; chromium <1 all 4 years; nickel <1 all 4 years; aluminum 10, 7, 6, 5; lead 10, 5, 3, 2; copper 29, 25, 20, 16; tin <1 all 4 years; silver <1 all 4 years; titanium <1 all 4 years; silicon 27, 31, 19, 23; boron 31, 13, 14, 10; potassium <10 all 4 years; molybdenum <5 all 4 years; phosphorus 949, 1126, 1712, 1336; zinc 1253, 1396, 1911, 1596; calcium 2834, 2475, 3658, 2611; barium < 10 all 4 years; magnesium 373, 330, 446, 343; antimony <30 all 4 years and vanadium <1 all 4 years. Fuel as a % of volume was 1.0, 1.7, 1.1, 1.5; total solids as a % of volume .3, .3, .2, .2, water as a % of volume < .10 all 4 years. I did not have other tests performed such as TBN, nitration, oxidation etc.
My interpretation is that the wear metals have decreased over the past four years, first year of synthetic was the highest. The last year using the 0W30 oil saw no degradation of protection, it appears to have protected as well as the 10W30 weight. Looks like a slight difference in the additive package between the 10W and 0W but I am not knowledgeable enough to really interpret this. My main concern has been the wear metals. The filters used were all Pure One except for a K&N back in 99. My conclusion is that the 0W30 appears to protect as well as the 10W30. Lab conclusion was "Values are acceptable for the tests performed, resample at the next scheduled interval" As it was a year the oil and filter were changed when the sample was drawn.
Not sure if this dispels any theories that a 0W cannot protect as well as a 5W or 10W but these are my results.
The only other conclusion you could draw is that there is no more bearing metal left- but then the iron would go up. Just kidding.
Also is interesting to note the low wear on the 0W oil. Do you have that in now? Another year of low wear on the 0W would add to confirm your hypothesis.
Later
Al