Valvoline Base Oil

[motorguy222]

Does anyone know who supplies Valvolines base oil?

I contacted them and they sent me this response:

"Thank you for your question. Our suppliers of base oil to produce the Valvoline Motor Oil products is considered proprietary and protected information. Unfortunately we can not release that information. Thank you once again for your question and for your interest in Valvoline."

 

[Tempest]

Does it matter?

 

[OVERKILL]

Exxon-Mobil is one of them.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


+1

And most of it too.


It's not the base stocks I'm worried about..

 

[EricF]

Ashland oil?

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: EricF
Ashland oil?


They dont do a lot of that type of production.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.



If this information is a secret, How do you guy`s find this stuff out?

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Does it matter?


Yes.

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


+1

And most of it too.


It's not the base stocks I'm worried about..


What do you mean?,there are several here that use and like Valvoline.

 

[ottotheclown]

Well lets think ah... how about this secret is ah.. organic and it does not show up in anything but it is there anyway ....thats it, and I am sticking to my story so there!!!!

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.



If this information is a secret, How do you guy`s find this stuff out?

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Does it matter?


Yes.

Why?

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Well lets think ah... how about this secret is ah.. organic and it does not show up in anything but it is there anyway ....thats it, and I am sticking to my story so there!!!!

Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


That can be said about other oils as well.It is thought that some oils contain antimony,it doesnt show up in a basic oil analysis.

Some say that Valvoline has a weak add pack but it seems to have also shown to do very well for those that use it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.



If this information is a secret, How do you guy`s find this stuff out?

One of the Tribologists on this site posted it at one point.

There are only a few suppliers of base oils out there. Exxon-Mobil is the largest for synthetic base stocks.

For petro chemicals, Exxon-Mobil chemical is probably the largest.

Additive packages come from only a few sources, one of which is the joint-venture between Exxon-Mobil and Shell: Infinium.

The other one I know off the top of my head is Lubrizol.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Well lets think ah... how about this secret is ah.. organic and it does not show up in anything but it is there anyway ....thats it, and I am sticking to my story so there!!!!

Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


That can be said about other oils as well.It is thought that some oils contain antimony,it doesnt show up in a basic oil analysis.

Some say that Valvoline has a weak add pack but it seems to have also shown to do very well for those that use it.


And that is determined how? Via inexpensive UOA's which are not a tool for measuring wear?

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Does it matter?


Yes.

Why?


I want to know who supplies their base oil,that can tell you what kind of product you are getting.

 

[motorguy222]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Well lets think ah... how about this secret is ah.. organic and it does not show up in anything but it is there anyway ....thats it, and I am sticking to my story so there!!!!

Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


That can be said about other oils as well.It is thought that some oils contain antimony,it doesnt show up in a basic oil analysis.

Some say that Valvoline has a weak add pack but it seems to have also shown to do very well for those that use it.


And that is determined how? Via inexpensive UOA's which are not a tool for measuring wear?


To find out if oils have additives that are not detected by a basic UOA,you have to have a more in depth test done and that can cost quite a bit.

I also havent seen any bad Valvoline tests for someone that does regular OCI's,there may be some,if so,post them.

 

[ottotheclown]

Ok we are getting somewhere ... how much should a uoa cost before we can take it for real??? You do not have to be on the exact $$$ just a ballpark figure.... Finally we are getting to the point I

hope!!

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Exxon-Mobil is one of them.



If this information is a secret, How do you guy`s find this stuff out?

One of the Tribologists on this site posted it at one point.

There are only a few suppliers of base oils out there. Exxon-Mobil is the largest for synthetic base stocks.

For petro chemicals, Exxon-Mobil chemical is probably the largest.

Additive packages come from only a few sources, one of which is the joint-venture between Exxon-Mobil and Shell: Infinium.

The other one I know off the top of my head is Lubrizol.



Good enough for me, thanks for the explanation.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: motorguy222
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Well lets think ah... how about this secret is ah.. organic and it does not show up in anything but it is there anyway ....thats it, and I am sticking to my story so there!!!!

Exxon-Mobil is one of them.


That can be said about other oils as well.It is thought that some oils contain antimony,it doesnt show up in a basic oil analysis.

Some say that Valvoline has a weak add pack but it seems to have also shown to do very well for those that use it.


And that is determined how? Via inexpensive UOA's which are not a tool for measuring wear?


To find out if oils have additives that are not detected by a basic UOA,you have to have a more in depth test done and that can cost quite a bit.

I also havent seen any bad Valvoline tests for someone that does regular OCI's,there may be some,if so,post them.


What constitutes a "bad" test?

Most engines will do perfectly fine on any decent oil. Be it Valvoline, Mobil, Shell....etc. Minute PPM variations observed via an inexpensive UOA don't tell you anything useful about how your engine is "wearing".

What they WILL tell you is if you have a coolant leak, air intake tract leak, or potentially if you have something going awry inside your engine. They can also tell you how long you can safely run an oil if you get TBN/TAN done.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Ok we are getting somewhere ... how much should a uoa cost before we can take it for real??? You do not have to be on the exact $$$ just a ballpark figure.... Finally we are getting to the point I

hope!!


It has nothing to do with the "overall" cost of the test. Different labs provide different degrees of information at the base price.

For example, for the "base" price at Blackstone, you don't get TBN/TAN, particle count....etc.

With Toromont, you get the same data. But, if you request additional items like TBN/TAN and the like, they are included in your report at no extra cost.

But the price is not the issue! A UOA is NOT a "wear measurement" tool. That is not its intended purpose.

You need particle count data and a host of other things before you can begin to get an idea of what is actually taking place. And even then, no concrete conclusions can be drawn without tear-down and physical measurements.

Trying to use a UOA to determine engine wear is akin to attempting to calculate the volume of a room knowing only the length of one wall.