FAQ - GC ( German Castrol )

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I have to deal with 3 cars to run on that castrolu and all have very dirty engines, two German and one Polish showroom.
I think Castrol in the U.S. t quite something else than in Europe, especially the line SLX
 
Originally Posted By: JAG
BigJohn, can you please post the link to the thread that quote came from? I've heard before that GC has contained Ketjenlube.

Edit: Found it: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=726696
Shortyb is a member here too.


Be careful what you read on e46fanatics. In this case we're clear, since shortyb posted it, but there's a lot of misinformation floating around on that site regarding oil. I used to frequent it quite often.
 
i had the impression that german castrol was good for 10,000+ miles, being that its a group 4 pao oil. 5k? 6k? thats insane! conventional pennzoil and castrol gtx can go that long without breaking a sweat.
i personally plan on changing mine out every year. i only put 5k-9k on my car a year since i don't drive it in the winter. and having a 9 quart system helps a bunch too. but yea, it is easily a 10k plus oil. if i was running the oil on my daily driver i would extend the interval even more, of course doing an analysis after 1 year of use on the oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
Seems like a cousin of GC, has anyone ever tried this oil or knows where to get it from? or knows anything about it? please share!

Castrol SLX Professional Longtec 0W-40 (TDS)
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp_int...onalLongtec.pdf

You can get the Castrol SLX Pro oil at a GM dealer. I believe it's the OEM oil for the Corvette. I've heard that it's similar to GC, but not quite the same. I'd stick to GC. It's easier to buy(Canadian Tire and WM sells it) and it's probably cheaper than SLX.
 
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Originally Posted By: RageOfFury
Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
Seems like a cousin of GC, has anyone ever tried this oil or knows where to get it from? or knows anything about it? please share!

Castrol SLX Professional Longtec 0W-40 (TDS)
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp_int...onalLongtec.pdf

You can get the Castrol SLX Pro oil at a GM dealer.


There is no SLX Professional 0W40 at a GM dealership. It goes by the name of Castrol SLX Professional 4718 and it is a 5W30. (I have had a case of it in my garage for about 10 months. I am not sure when I will get around to using it.
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Originally Posted By: 21Rouge
Originally Posted By: RageOfFury
Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
Seems like a cousin of GC, has anyone ever tried this oil or knows where to get it from? or knows anything about it? please share!

Castrol SLX Professional Longtec 0W-40 (TDS)
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp_int...onalLongtec.pdf

You can get the Castrol SLX Pro oil at a GM dealer.


There is no SLX Professional 0W40 at a GM dealership. It goes by the name of Castrol SLX Professional 4718 and it is a 5W30. (I have had a case of it in my garage for about 10 months. I am not sure when I will get around to using it.
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Ah...well I wasn't far off
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I notice both Canadian and American Castrol's website now have MSDS for Edge 0W-40, they both have 2009 Dec release date.

I remember, 6 months before Edge 5W-30 and 10W-30 hit the U.S market, their MSDS were available online, and TDS were not.

There is no TDS in the American and Canadian data bases for EDGE 0W-40, so I looked up MSDS closely, man this new product seems to have a very low pour point and a very high Flash Point!!!

Pour Point = -63C/81.4F
Flash Point = 240C/464F

Viscosity:
79.3 cSt at 40°C
13.5 cSt at 100°C

http://datasheets.bp.com/USSDS/AMERSDSF.nsf/0/9A29CB9B4C6EC4C48625764A00487814/$file/000457.pdf

I wonder if this will replace GC???
 
Visc is a bit low at 100C... will probably not stay a 40-weight for too long, kind of like M1 0w-40. Still, probably a good oil, I'm guessing targeted at Euro specs.
 
I have been running GC in my GMC truck (4.8L) for almost a year and have been happy with the performance year round. I run about 6000M OCI in the truck with some towing, lots of cold weather miles, and some short trips also.
This past oil change over the winter I tried it in a 2007 Saturn Aura with the 3.5L GM V6. I was interested to see if the fuel economy would be any different. This car has a fuel economy gauge, so I can easily measure it. I have over 6K on the change so far and the fuel economy has actually increased a little. It was 26.5 running 5W-30 Synpower and is 26.8 running GC. Previously running Synpower I would have to top off a few onces of oil when I got past 5K on the OCI, with the GC it hasn't used a drop. I will confidently run GC in this engine again and plan on running the OLM down below 10% before changing. This will be around a 7.5K mile OCI. Whatever is in the GC these days it seems to be liked by these 3.5L V6 GM motors.
 
Originally Posted By: Ibrahim
I notice both Canadian and American Castrol's website now have MSDS for Edge 0W-40, they both have 2009 Dec release date.

I remember, 6 months before Edge 5W-30 and 10W-30 hit the U.S market, their MSDS were available online, and TDS were not.

There is no TDS in the American and Canadian data bases for EDGE 0W-40, so I looked up MSDS closely, man this new product seems to have a very low pour point and a very high Flash Point!!!

Pour Point = -63C/81.4F
Flash Point = 240C/464F

Viscosity:
79.3 cSt at 40°C
13.5 cSt at 100°C

http://datasheets.bp.com/USSDS/AMERSDSF.nsf/0/9A29CB9B4C6EC4C48625764A00487814/$file/000457.pdf

I wonder if this will replace GC???


Make sure you check the HTHS on those as well. I run a BMW and one of the reasons that Edge doesn't meet BMW specs for aftermarket oil (at least in the 30W's) is that the HTHS is not 3.5 or higher...
 
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Check the back of the bottle.
Note the number of Euro long drain manufacturer's specs the oil meets.
This should answer any questions you might have about the ability of GC to go the distance.
If it is good enough to go 10K+ in a BMW or Mercedes, it can probably withstand a bit more than 3K + 1K in whatever you are driving.
 
Originally Posted By: Tomcat360
What is the longest OCI anyone has done using GC and under what driving conditions? Was it mostly city or hwy driving? I do about 80% city driving and I have driven around 3,050 mi using GC. Can it last another 1000+ mi or should I change it soon? Thanks.


It has been 9K miles on my 94 Geo Prizm since my last oil/filter change with GC.I use Purolator Gold filter.
Half of my driving is stop&go type.More recently 90% freeway driving.

This is the longest OCI for my car, I had to add close to a quart of oil as top-off oil so far.

Thinking of driving till 10,000 miles before changing oil. I think it is nothing for GC. In Europe regular mineral oil change interval is 15K kms/ (close to 10K miles) and GC is a synthetic oil.
 
In Poland, is sold both as a second, hardly anyone draws attention to this ...
As can be seen in Germany, the consumer is treated differently ...
In Poland, Castrol from what I heard is negatively perceived, especially as a destroyer of Toyota engines ...

Sam I am dealing with a number of cars that run on casrol, engines are horrible sediments and sludges after 10 years and over 100 000km ...
For me this brand of Lost ....
Now Edge as a new line of oils is supposedly better than SLX, Magnatec...
I do not know how these oils are good for the ocean in the U.S. or southern Europe and the West.
 
My Prizm has a Toyota engine and it likes Castrol 0W-30 better than any other oil brands/types I tried including Mobil 1, Valvoline Syn,Pennzoil Platinum (5W-30/10W-30 weights).Castrol 0W-30 is an all season oil for my car, no problems so far and the car has almost 140K miles (225K kms).Under the valve cover the engine looked clean (light honey color) when I changed the gasket.
 
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