VOA GC04 / GC05 0W30

[Blake Sobiloff]

Y'all got me in trouble! My girlfriend thinks I'm whacked for trying to track down green GC all weekend. I'm out of my normal Mobil 1 5W-30, and after reading all the hoopla (and UOAs) I've decided to make the switch to GC.

I spent the weekend checking date codes on the bottoms of quarts of oil at all the local AutoZones. Managed to score 43 quarts of the green! Saw a lot of the M0502* lots, though, so it doesn't look like there's much more of the earlier stuff in the supply chain for Northern California.

Oh well--my mini-stash should last me and my girlfriend for about four oil changes each. (She has an Altima w/ the KA24DE engine and I have a QX4 w/ the VQ35DE engine.) By then I guess we'll know whether to go for the gold or not.

 

[shanneba]

Could the 05 gold GC be a move toward the new BMW LL04 spec?

I found this about the new Castrol SLX LL04 0W-30

Castrol SLX LL04 0W-30

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by shanneba:
Could the 05 gold GC be a move toward the new BMW LL04 spec?

I found this about the new Castrol SLX LL04 0W-30

Castrol SLX LL04 0W-30

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shanneba,

I would not rule it out.

 

[shanneba]

I just changed the oil in my BMW to 5 quarts GC 050286 and 2 Quarts or GC 042806.

That should give me a starting average of 2074 Ca and 407 Mg.

I'll do a UOA in about 5000 miles. Half of that will be highway miles on one trip.

I just posted a UOA on the same car with BMW 5w-30 for 5000 miles.

 

[buster]

Autozone had the M05 stuff and it was green.

 

[AndyH]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Autozone had the M05 stuff and it was green.

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Was it batch M0501? If so, that is known to be green. Gold GC starts with batch M0502.

 

[slickfisher]

quote:

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Originally posted by pscholte:
I think the rest of the world looks at oil groups differently than we do. The following is from the American Agip site but it reflects a global perspective:

WHY GROUP II IS IMPORTANT
Agip is among the first and still few in North America to have converted to Group II Base Oils. Group II base oils (obtained through a process called “hydro-cracking”) are “ super-clear, almost entirely pure and free of contaminants. Their purity permits to formulate lubricants of superior quality, exceeding the most severe performance standards and significantly prolonging the average life of the engine. Agip Super Motor Oils, Agip All Guard as well as Hydraulic and Turbine Oils “X” series, are all formulated with Group II base oils and state of the art additives.

Agip synthetics are obviously in another "family" of oils although the reference to a Gp II turbine oil is highly intriguing.

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I thought Chevron was big on the hydrocrack oil with their fully synthetic delo 400 diesel oil I ran in my 01 TDI?

 

[buster]

I did read in RaceCare Engineering Magazine that Shell even sometimes Synthetic Blends in racing applications. This was from Shell themselves. Find it hard to believe but that is what it said.