Best Oil For Turbo engines

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Olas
Garak - I know it doesn't meet spec, I was going off the question asked in the thread title. The OP didn't ask for recommendations of the cheapest oil available at Walmart that meets spec, he asked for the best oil.
To me, best is AW & FM adds, absolutely NO VIIs whatsoever, thermal resistance and oxidative resistance - Redline fits all those boxes..

Let's put it this way - not meeting the specifications, per se, isn't a mortal sin, provided one know where one is going with it. I'm not using an SM/GF-4 5w-30 or newer in my G37. However, I'm also confident that Delvac 1 ESP 5w-40 meets all the specifications it claims. I'm also confident in Red Line's abilities.

Red Line is a fully tested, fully formulated motor oil. That's why I question claims like ten times whatever, unless that's actually something that can be verified; it's a mathematical statement that's referring to a product that undergoes standardized testing. In any case, we also have to note that "best" means different things to different people. You listed your criteria, which are well reasoned. Of course, for me, "best" includes cost and availability.

For me, locating Red Line locally would be an exercise in frustration, not to mention the cardiac event I'd suffer when paying. I'd probably have to order it online, and I'm not quite prepared to do that.

I think Red Line would be a great product for my old F-150. It would be good in the cold, and it would have lots of zinc, and I'm sure I could think up lots of other great reasons to use it. But, when the cost of three OCIs exceeds the cost of a cam and lifter replacement, you can see why I'd be hesitant.

 

[userfriendly]

I'll buy that, but wanting facts and proof all the time makes you sound like a skeptic Garak. For example 3X the cost without looking anything up or asking questions, means 3X better. 10X=10X. Plain and simple....

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: userfriendly
I'll buy that, but wanting facts and proof all the time makes you sound like a skeptic Garak. For example 3X the cost without looking anything up or asking questions, means 3X better. 10X=10X. Plain and simple....


And stating nonsense makes you sound like something else.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: userfriendly
I'll buy that, but wanting facts and proof all the time makes you sound like a skeptic Garak.

I am a skeptic, though. That's the real reason I sound like one.

That's one reason I like Delvac 1. It has most of these fuzzy benefits of Red Line, all the while costing about as much at the distributor as a regularly priced conventional at Walmart Canada or Canadian Tire.

If you want to see me in full skeptic mode, let me into a Joe Gibbs thread. Those prices make me very skeptical. Though, last year, I could have gotten some bottles for next to nothing at a silent auction.

 

[Garak]

I think userfriendly is just being very subtle. It took me about two weeks or so to catch on, and that was paying a lot of attention to the posts.

 

[userfriendly]

Thanks Garak; A discussion board should be a place where facts or what we believe to be fact are presented and ideas exchanged. Not agenda promoting. If for example if light weight engine oils and other lubricants become truths, they will, like it or not. Too often we read; "if an engine oil is good enough for an 8,000 hp top fuel car...... or my 60 ton truck runs on 10W30 your little truck.....". I posted the logical fallacy link a couple of times after posting the most absurd use of them all in one or two tries. I could have kept it going with "logical" argument like; "thousands of motorists for years and in demanding racing applications in extreme conditions" and so on. But enough was enough, and I just could not bring myself to play the idiot troll persona any longer and came clean of my motive. That is as close to an apology as your going to get.

 

[BrocLuno]

I live about 40 minutes from Red Line's home office. I have used their products and talked to their folks. Sometimes on street cars, mostly;y on track cars. They are near enough to all the major refineries here that they can get base and blending stocks of any flavor they want. And they do. They blend some great oil

But, there is a reason Caddy wants you to use a blend. I suspect it has to do with full synthetic "drain off" (over time) due to lower surface tension... I'm sure the Caddy engine guys had some engines sit off the test stand for a week or two and did not like what they heard when they re-lit them ...

Blends give you most of the benefits of syn's and hang around better (capillary fill due to increased surface tension) when not running. As long as your systems do not exceed the temp envelope of oil, you will be fine.

I would not go full syn unless you drive it daily... If it's a weekend toy and sits a week at a time, run that blend

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno


I would not go full syn unless you drive it daily... If it's a weekend toy and sits a week at a time, run that blend

That's very interesting. Does that apply to Group-III, as well as GTL synthetics? Thanks.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: alarmguy
Originally Posted By: AUSA
Hi Gents:
I am new to this site and having looked around really feel like this is THE place to get answers for engine oil questions. OK. Here goes.

I have a 2014 Cadillac CTS V Sport twin turbo. It is a 3.6 liter DOHC w DI. Cadillac recommends DEXOS blend. I hear I should go full sync? I have 4K miles on her, and need some sage advice on which oil to use. Thanks!


DEXOS blend is what you should use. Its what the maker of your very expensive car recommends. I would trust them over the opinion of anyone else. There is a reason for semi syn and Cadillac is not the only one that recommends semi...

Whether or not you choose "DEXOS" approved semi is up to you and up to you to research but using a semi I would do for sure.

And the DEXOS myth keeps going: DEXOS is a semi-snythetic. DEXOS is a license sold to oil companies by GM. Currently, semi-snythetics and full synthetics have DEXOS license. Take your pick whichever oil bottle has the DEXOS label on it.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
I live about 40 minutes from Red Line's home office. I have used their products and talked to their folks. Sometimes on street cars, mostly;y on track cars. They are near enough to all the major refineries here that they can get base and blending stocks of any flavor they want. And they do. They blend some great oil

But, there is a reason Caddy wants you to use a blend. I suspect it has to do with full synthetic "drain off" (over time) due to lower surface tension... I'm sure the Caddy engine guys had some engines sit off the test stand for a week or two and did not like what they heard when they re-lit them ...

Blends give you most of the benefits of syn's and hang around better (capillary fill due to increased surface tension) when not running. As long as your systems do not exceed the temp envelope of oil, you will be fine.

I would not go full syn unless you drive it daily... If it's a weekend toy and sits a week at a time, run that blend

I thought GM's Cadillac division only requires the oil to be Dexos certified. Be it a blend or syn.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: userfriendly
If for example if light weight engine oils and other lubricants become truths, they will, like it or not. Too often we read; "if an engine oil is good enough for an 8,000 hp top fuel car...... or my 60 ton truck runs on 10W30 your little truck.....".

Obviously, some of us can be real nightmares for the marketing people, not to mention the snake oil salesmen. A bunch of testimonials simply don't cut it.

 

[BrocLuno]

The drain-off phenomena related to GTL for sure. I have not been party to loss of oil cushion with Group III's to such a great extent... But I have not tried every formulation by a long shot.

The best way to tell is to try the oil in question with a very good filter with a really good known anti-drain-back valve system. Let the car sit for several days. open the hood and start it up and listen. If you hear cold start clatter you have experienced drain-off... Change to another brand-formula. Your motor should be near dead quiet after 72 hrs of sitting with the right oil ...

If it were me, I'd run a a best in class blend ...

I'm not proposing this for your car, but you have to know that diesel engines running under near continuous full load with turbo heat as high as it can get (AZ summer trucking) have lived for zillions on miles on dino based Delo400, Delvac, and Rotella for many decades. The turbos like this stuff and so do the engines. If there was a problem, the fleet owners could sue the Oil Co and make life extremely tough... They don't and they buy this stuff by the tanker load... Your Caddy is a different beast in some ways, but don't be afraid to use premium dino based oils or blends - they are not bad technology ...

 

[DeepFriar]

One more log on this fire. If no warranty were involved here and I had two turbos with EGT's around 1100 degrees and bearing temps estimated at upwards of 600 degrees while spinning at 150-200k RPM I would find an ester based oil. Our OP has a vehicle that recently stickered at $70K+. Another $30 for an oil change in a case like this is not a significant consideration.

Will other formulations work? Sure. But not because they are "better" in any mechanical sense under consideration in this situation including the earlier reported metal adhesion of blends. Whether it's dexos, API or any other minimum qualification, the very valid requirement in this case for that SN, dexos, et al, is due to warranty more than fitment for a purpose.

In conclusion, as it seems I'm in a mood to put red meat on the menu, those many "requirements" and our repeated discussions of them being "good enough", reminds me that there are doctors who graduated with less than "A" grades but still "met the requirements". He's good enough but, given a choice, I will take the one who outperformed in the ways that counted.

 

[userfriendly]

Got it DeepFriar; Your doctor is 85% on pulmonary embolisms so use synthetic oil in your car. Conventional engine oil is vegan, synthetic is red meat.

 

[gabriel9766]

My 15 malibu with a 2.5 NA engine requires a syn blend and says 1yr or go by the OLM. I can't c going probably 8k on a syn blend on an ecotec engine. So when i get my car back in the coming weeks i bought some PP 0w20 and fram XG and plan to run it for the full OLM.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
I live about 40 minutes from Red Line's home office. I have used their products and talked to their folks. Sometimes on street cars, mostly;y on track cars. They are near enough to all the major refineries here that they can get base and blending stocks of any flavor they want. And they do. They blend some great oil

But, there is a reason Caddy wants you to use a blend. I suspect it has to do with full synthetic "drain off" (over time) due to lower surface tension... I'm sure the Caddy engine guys had some engines sit off the test stand for a week or two and did not like what they heard when they re-lit them ...

Blends give you most of the benefits of syn's and hang around better (capillary fill due to increased surface tension) when not running. As long as your systems do not exceed the temp envelope of oil, you will be fine.

I would not go full syn unless you drive it daily... If it's a weekend toy and sits a week at a time, run that blend

What about the Corvette recommended oils?

 

[CT8]

Todays oils aren't the oils of the 1970's.

 

[riggaz]

The most important thing to do is get the application right IMO so stick with the recommended Dexos oil in the manual and you'll have a long, happy engine life. In this day and age you will struggle to find an oil that isn't suitable for turbochargers. The most important thing with turbochargers (and engines in general) is to drive them on light, constant throttles until the engine has reached operating temp. Modern variable vane turbos can hit max boost (appox 250000 rpm and above in some engines) at about 1100 rpm so warm them up gently and if you've been giving it beans then don't just switch the engine off, allow a period of gentle driving/idling to let them cool down.

Great machine by the way!

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
My 15 malibu ..... i bought some PP 0w20 and fram XG and plan to run it for the full OLM.

Thats the best one can do. Why not go for it? Sure we could all get by with less, but we care. A name brand full synthetic dexos1-qualified oil, any name-brand you see in Walmart, and the Fram XG Ultra filter. Go by the OLM precisely, it knows more than you.

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Todays oils aren't the oils of the 1970's.


Those oils have evolved just like everything else. Point being that well engineered fleet oils do their job just fine and there are not turbo related failures to report. The second point being not to get all concerned about dino vs blend vs full syn ... If it meets spec, it'll do the motor fine

Pick the type of oil based on the operating envelope. If it sits, consider blend ... Use eyes and ears to see if motor is happy with choice on cold start? Hot running with any of the recommended oils is not going to be an issue. Cold start after sitting, maybe ...