With all the time I spend reading on here, I got to thinking about all the oils discussed, which sparked a question I have always wondered. My back ground consists of working on heavy equipment and oilfield engines, these engines all used decent quality dino oil out of drums or tanks...depending how big the engine was, and generally speaking unless there was a mechanical failure, I have yet to see any problems related directly to the oil being used. So my question is, has anyone ever legitimately fixed a known problem by changing to a specific oil? I can understand going to a thicker oil due to a knocking rod, or maybe a thinner oil due to hard cold starting...but what I'm asking about is switching to brand B cause brand A was creating whatever problem. I get tangled up as much as the next guy into all the different oils, but is there certain oils out there that actually have proven to be obviously better than other similar oils? Not looking for a brand war or another dino vs synthetic debate...just looking to expand my knowledge incase I have been overlooking something.
looking for experiences with different oils
- Thread starter mech_tech
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No but don't tell me!
The only thing I've read/heard was that the jeep 4.0 engines and Subaru are noisy with m1,other than that I've got nothing.
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I use a different oil for basically every oil change. A couple times using m1 the engine was much noisier however that doesn't mean anything bad. It just means the oil doesn't insulate sound as well as the previous oil did. Every vehicle I own or maintain is spotless inside. No varnish or deposits visible.
I've also had engines that ran much less noisy using m1. So it's very difficult to paint brands with the same brush.
I do vaguely recall castrol in some bimmers leaving varnish behind however varnish is harmless. Again I can't say for sure if it was just castrol or if other oils also left varnish. I think it was during the days bmw had some very long intervals suggested and have been shortened since. So it's possible it wasn't the oils fault.
That's all I've got off hand
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I use a different oil for basically every oil change. A couple times using m1 the engine was much noisier however that doesn't mean anything bad. It just means the oil doesn't insulate sound as well as the previous oil did. Every vehicle I own or maintain is spotless inside. No varnish or deposits visible.
I've also had engines that ran much less noisy using m1. So it's very difficult to paint brands with the same brush.
I do vaguely recall castrol in some bimmers leaving varnish behind however varnish is harmless. Again I can't say for sure if it was just castrol or if other oils also left varnish. I think it was during the days bmw had some very long intervals suggested and have been shortened since. So it's possible it wasn't the oils fault.
That's all I've got off hand
Noise is shock. Noise is bad. Will it kill and engine - maybe not ...
The balance is wear, vs fuel economy. I'll take wear reduction any time. I can mess up fuel economy passing a slow poke or gettin it in the dirt
The only oils that I know of that really, really make a difference are 2-stroke oils. There it makes a huge difference. 11K and heat can fry a race 2-stroke in a heart beat. Motul is my brand of choice here, but there are other good highly rated 2-stroke oils
I run Delo400/Rotella/Delvac in all cars and trucks once they cross the 100K mile mark. Up to that point I slowly advance the viscosity as the engine builds miles. OEM recommended lubes only during warranty, then my regimen up to 100k/HDEO.
I have three vehicles in the driveway over 200K and all pass smog and all run well.
I don't own an jet aircraft, so I don't use synthetics. I tried that in three cars and hated the cold start clatter due to drain-off from sitting. Never again for me.
Premium dino oils have gotten some engines past 1,000,000 miles, so I don't believe there are real benefits to synthetics in liquid cooled automotive applications - but I'm a skeptic ...
The balance is wear, vs fuel economy. I'll take wear reduction any time. I can mess up fuel economy passing a slow poke or gettin it in the dirt
The only oils that I know of that really, really make a difference are 2-stroke oils. There it makes a huge difference. 11K and heat can fry a race 2-stroke in a heart beat. Motul is my brand of choice here, but there are other good highly rated 2-stroke oils
I run Delo400/Rotella/Delvac in all cars and trucks once they cross the 100K mile mark. Up to that point I slowly advance the viscosity as the engine builds miles. OEM recommended lubes only during warranty, then my regimen up to 100k/HDEO.
I have three vehicles in the driveway over 200K and all pass smog and all run well.
I don't own an jet aircraft, so I don't use synthetics. I tried that in three cars and hated the cold start clatter due to drain-off from sitting. Never again for me.
Premium dino oils have gotten some engines past 1,000,000 miles, so I don't believe there are real benefits to synthetics in liquid cooled automotive applications - but I'm a skeptic ...
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I am like Clevy in the way I generally run a different oil each OCI. I have run Castrol w titanium gold bottle, Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, Havoline Pro DS, Pennzoil Synthetic blend, and Royal Purple in my 3.5 Altima. The Castrol w titanium gold bottle and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum ran great and didn't lose hardly any HP until closing in on 4k miles. Royal Purple until the second it started to have a lot of top end noise upon start up. Surprised me a bit. I still believe Royal Purple is a very good oil. I had the regular Royal Purple not the HPS version. I bet that would be even better than the API SN version.
At the end if the day I don't believe there is probably not a very big difference in performance amongst different brands. Obviously some can have very long performance intervals and others are not formulated that way. It's really a personal preference at the end of the day, change intervals, and specs accodring to the manual/manufactor. Very hard to pick up a bad product off the shelf that is a mainline product.
At the end if the day I don't believe there is probably not a very big difference in performance amongst different brands. Obviously some can have very long performance intervals and others are not formulated that way. It's really a personal preference at the end of the day, change intervals, and specs accodring to the manual/manufactor. Very hard to pick up a bad product off the shelf that is a mainline product.
Originally Posted By: mech_tech
So my question is, has anyone ever legitimately fixed a known problem by changing to a specific oil?
There's been lots of fixes on this board by changing oils, but it has more do with changing viscosity than changing brands.
So my question is, has anyone ever legitimately fixed a known problem by changing to a specific oil?
There's been lots of fixes on this board by changing oils, but it has more do with changing viscosity than changing brands.
But you stick to an ILSAC grade and worry obsessively about the acoustic signature of different oils!
I have been using M1 oils since 1978. Reason I switched to M1 5-20 in 1978 was to greatly improve extreme cold starts(Maine). Along the way I realized I no longer had to be concerned about sludge deposits which I had problems with using QS through the 60's. Also 10K OCIs was easy to do.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
The only thing I've read/heard was that the jeep 4.0 engines and Subaru are noisy with m1,other than that I've got nothing.
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I would just like to add that if I had kept my original opinion of M1 from when I joined the site 2 years ago, I would have added that it made my Jeep noisy too, but I recently ran Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck and it seemed to stay pretty quiet. I have found the main noise culprit to be in my filter choice.
Back when I ran M1 TDT and M1 filters, I experienced a huge decrease in noise when I switched to M1 HM 10w30 and continued to use the same filter. Ran it about a month before getting my RMS replaced.. it seemed to stop the leak in that time too.
I have since given on up M1 filters and went to Mopars which used to keep my Jeep super quiet on startup and even eliminated the lifter tick. However, the last few I have ran weren't very good. The most recent one seemed to have a failing ADBV and made the engine sound like it was dry starting every time. Ill just stick with Fram TG's from now on.
The only thing I've read/heard was that the jeep 4.0 engines and Subaru are noisy with m1,other than that I've got nothing.
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I would just like to add that if I had kept my original opinion of M1 from when I joined the site 2 years ago, I would have added that it made my Jeep noisy too, but I recently ran Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck and it seemed to stay pretty quiet. I have found the main noise culprit to be in my filter choice.
Back when I ran M1 TDT and M1 filters, I experienced a huge decrease in noise when I switched to M1 HM 10w30 and continued to use the same filter. Ran it about a month before getting my RMS replaced.. it seemed to stop the leak in that time too.
I have since given on up M1 filters and went to Mopars which used to keep my Jeep super quiet on startup and even eliminated the lifter tick. However, the last few I have ran weren't very good. The most recent one seemed to have a failing ADBV and made the engine sound like it was dry starting every time. Ill just stick with Fram TG's from now on.
The reason I asked the question is because I have a dodge dakota with the 4.7 that is known for sludge issues. I have always heard of sludge being discussed here and never gave it much thought until I removed the oil filler neck to clean out the yellow snot in it. The bottom of the plastic filler neck and inside the drain port in the head literally had a lining of thick sandy gritty sludge that I had to scrape out with a screwdriver. It was only at the very bottom and hard to see until I removed it. I replaced the cap seal and am now running Rotella T-5. I NEVER go over 4,000 miles before an oil change just because of the fear of what might be building up in that engine.
No, oil is a commodity...which means it's probably 98% the same if you use the correct weight and certification.
The rest 2% usually can't be quantified by numbers, it's mostly what you feel about the brand, and how much "significance" you assign to well....motor oil.
The rest 2% usually can't be quantified by numbers, it's mostly what you feel about the brand, and how much "significance" you assign to well....motor oil.
Originally Posted By: Clevy
The only thing I've read/heard was that the jeep 4.0 engines and Subaru are noisy with m1,other than that I've got nothing.
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I use a different oil for basically every oil change. A couple times using m1 the engine was much noisier however that doesn't mean anything bad. It just means the oil doesn't insulate sound as well as the previous oil did. Every vehicle I own or maintain is spotless inside. No varnish or deposits visible.
I've also had engines that ran much less noisy using m1. So it's very difficult to paint brands with the same brush.
I do vaguely recall castrol in some bimmers leaving varnish behind however varnish is harmless. Again I can't say for sure if it was just castrol or if other oils also left varnish. I think it was during the days bmw had some very long intervals suggested and have been shortened since. So it's possible it wasn't the oils fault.
That's all I've got off hand
I've heard the same thing about the 4.0s in jeeps as well. I had a 93 Cherokee that was partial to the castrol and did very well
The only thing I've read/heard was that the jeep 4.0 engines and Subaru are noisy with m1,other than that I've got nothing.
Our members here with jeeps seem to like pyb. From what I've read here it's the flavour favorite.
I use a different oil for basically every oil change. A couple times using m1 the engine was much noisier however that doesn't mean anything bad. It just means the oil doesn't insulate sound as well as the previous oil did. Every vehicle I own or maintain is spotless inside. No varnish or deposits visible.
I've also had engines that ran much less noisy using m1. So it's very difficult to paint brands with the same brush.
I do vaguely recall castrol in some bimmers leaving varnish behind however varnish is harmless. Again I can't say for sure if it was just castrol or if other oils also left varnish. I think it was during the days bmw had some very long intervals suggested and have been shortened since. So it's possible it wasn't the oils fault.
That's all I've got off hand
I've heard the same thing about the 4.0s in jeeps as well. I had a 93 Cherokee that was partial to the castrol and did very well
Originally Posted By: mech_tech
The reason I asked the question is because I have a dodge dakota with the 4.7 that is known for sludge issues. I have always heard of sludge being discussed here and never gave it much thought until I removed the oil filler neck to clean out the yellow snot in it. The bottom of the plastic filler neck and inside the drain port in the head literally had a lining of thick sandy gritty sludge that I had to scrape out with a screwdriver. It was only at the very bottom and hard to see until I removed it. I replaced the cap seal and am now running Rotella T-5. I NEVER go over 4,000 miles before an oil change just because of the fear of what might be building up in that engine.
that sounds to me like a moisture issue. try insulating the oil filler neck so the mosture can't condense there creating the mustard like substance. It's an isue in a lot of engines with a long filler neck, I definitely prefer it if the filler is in the valve cover.
The reason I asked the question is because I have a dodge dakota with the 4.7 that is known for sludge issues. I have always heard of sludge being discussed here and never gave it much thought until I removed the oil filler neck to clean out the yellow snot in it. The bottom of the plastic filler neck and inside the drain port in the head literally had a lining of thick sandy gritty sludge that I had to scrape out with a screwdriver. It was only at the very bottom and hard to see until I removed it. I replaced the cap seal and am now running Rotella T-5. I NEVER go over 4,000 miles before an oil change just because of the fear of what might be building up in that engine.
that sounds to me like a moisture issue. try insulating the oil filler neck so the mosture can't condense there creating the mustard like substance. It's an isue in a lot of engines with a long filler neck, I definitely prefer it if the filler is in the valve cover.
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