? about Vavoline Maxlife oil....

[southernjeeper]

i went to autozone a few weeks back and got a case of the stuff as my '92 jeep cherokee is almost at 206,000miles and yes i have had to start adding oil to it.

My question is that when i bought the case it did not say on the outside of the box that is was a synthetic blend. But when i opened the case 2wks later after i bought it had bottles of the oil that were labeled synthetic blend on the quarts and not regular Maxlife oil....

When i took it back to talk to the manager he said "No vavoline is switching all their maxlife to syn blend." I think he was a load of sh!t when he said that. And what i don't get is why on earth would MAxlife false advertise as the box AIN'T labeled that it is a synthetic blend????????????????


thanks for any info on this

 

[cmhj]

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/category.asp?cid=9

 

[flatlandtacoma]

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And what i don't get is why on earth would MAxlife false advertise as the box AIN'T labeled that it is a synthetic blend????????????????

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"Synthetic blend" is a pure marketing term. Nothing has changed except the marketing. The oil remains the same.

 

[Merkava_4]

I'm trying to figure this out . . . are you saying that the box was not labelled synthetic blend but the bottles inside were?

For your info: Maxlife Blend had always been a synthetic blend, BUT, in April of 2007 is when they started putting "Blend" on the bottle. From 2000 through 2006, nobody knew that it contained PAO except TallPaul.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Sometimes the older case boxes outlast the jug label change - meaning you shouldn't expect Ashland-Valvoline Inc. to throw away thousands of perfectly good older-label boxes when they change the labels of their quart oil jugs.

Why not let the old inventory run out first??

 

[wgtoys]

Synthetic blend is now a marketing term with no real meaning. Many "conventional" oils have long used some Group III or higher base oils in their mix. Maxlife has done so for a long time and recently started putting the magic synthetic blend wording on the product. Perhaps you got new bottles in old boxes. Connoco's current conventional oil lines make a big deal out of being a synthetic blend, but that doesn't mean they are a better oil than GTX or other top end conventionals.

In any case, it is much noise about nothing. Use your oil and worry about something else.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Exactly! Getting the oil you wanted is what matters most. Now lets see if the Pennzoils and Castrols - plus others, change their HM labels to HM syn-blends.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Quote:

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Sometimes the older case boxes outlast the jug label change - meaning you shouldn't expect Ashland-Valvoline Inc. to throw away thousands of perfectly good older-label boxes when they change the labels of their quart oil jugs.

Why not let the old inventory run out first??

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EXACTLY

 

[Nickdfresh]

Quote:

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i went to autozone a few weeks back and got a case of the stuff as my '92 jeep cherokee is almost at 206,000miles and yes i have had to start adding oil to it.

My question is that when i bought the case it did not say on the outside of the box that is was a synthetic blend. But when i opened the case 2wks later after i bought it had bottles of the oil that were labeled synthetic blend on the quarts and not regular Maxlife oil....

When i took it back to talk to the manager he said "No vavoline is switching all their maxlife to syn blend." I think he was a load of sh!t when he said that. And what i don't get is why on earth would MAxlife false advertise as the box AIN'T labeled that it is a synthetic blend????????????????


thanks for any info on this

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The labeling discrepancy may be because of the recent decision to start advertising MaxLife as what it has always been since day one but was NOT labeled as - a semi-synthetic with about 12%-20% PAO synthetic oil in the base (not a Group III oil)...

This was determined long ago here by review of the MSDS sheets...

In any case, I'm not sure why you're hot and bothered by getting a semi-syn when you thought you were getting conventional oil. That's like complaining about the "toy-ring" at the bottom of a cereal box being made of gold instead of plastic.

 

[OilGuy]

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a semi-synthetic with about 12%-20% PAO synthetic oil in the base (not a Group III oil)...

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I find this odd, and frankly hard to believe, that anyone (especially Valv) actually using PAO would willingly forego making the claim of syn blend. They don't use any PAO in SynPower. Valv's MSDS page is down now so I can't see for myself.

 

[Nickdfresh]

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB1&Number=183019

I can't find the threads with links to the MSDS sheets, but I have in fact verified that they state "PAO" as a percentage of the base oil. Whether or not you choose to believe me/us is your choice...

and as far as Valvoline not advertising the synthetic blend - I've seen many of jittery poster asking if it was alright to use synthetic in a vehicle that had a lot of miles on it. I can only say that maybe Valvoline was trying to avoid the perception that synthetic should not be used in older vehicles (which seems to be a recurring myth). And they may also have not wanted the MaxLife sales to interfere with their Durablend segment...

 

[flatlandtacoma]

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maybe Valvoline was trying to avoid the perception that synthetic should not be used in older vehicles (which seems to be a recurring myth). And they may also have not wanted the MaxLife sales to interfere with their Durablend segment...

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Bingo. It's all about marketing and maximizing sales.

 

[southernjeeper]

Quote:

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I'm trying to figure this out . . . are you saying that the box was not labelled synthetic blend but the bottles inside were?

For your info: Maxlife Blend had always been a synthetic blend, BUT, in April of 2007 is when they started putting "Blend" on the bottle. From 2000 through 2006, nobody knew that it contained PAO except TallPaul.

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correct....On the box it had no markings of a synthetic blend but when i opened the case the individual bottles had "synthetic blend" on them.

And u got to be kidding? Maxlife HAS always been a synthetic blend?????????? when did i miss that at?

 

[Merkava_4]

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And u got to be kidding? Maxlife HAS always been a synthetic blend??????????

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Yes! It has always been a synthetic blend, I didn't know myself until TallPaul (our resident Valvoline expert) told me.

 

[TallPaul]

You had to inspect the MSDS to find the PAO.

I hear when Maxlife first came out it's synthetic component was ester. There are some old (probably 4 or 5 years old) threads here about it.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

So while we are on this subject...TallPaul what are the seal conditioning agents in Maxlife? I keep hearing about PAO content but no Esters...

 

[TallPaul]

Well, I really don't know what they use for seal conditioners. There could be a bit of ester involved. Maybe Valvoline techs at 800-team-val would give you some hints.

 

[Drivebelt]

If one looks at the MSDS… for Maxlife, they contain some PAO's … Maxlife 10w30 …

ALIPHATIC PETROLEUM DISTILLATES … 64742-65-0 … … 63.0- 73.0 %
SYNTHETIC LUBRICATING OIL … … … … 68037-01-4 … … 12.0- 22.0 %

64742-65-0 = Group I (probably Group I+)
68037-01-4 = PAO

I don't like the conventional (or synthetic blend) Valvoline products in general at all. Valvoline is still using Group I base oils in most of their product line. Even a Group I+ is ~ 15% aromatics, and it only takes 7 - 8% aromatics to halve the oxygen stability of a base oil. I really don't think there is a lot one can do (performance wise) with an oil that contains a significant amount of aromatics. The aromatics are the one of the most unstable parts of a base oil and among the first to break down.

A straight Group II oil should be much preferable to any oil that contains a significant amount of Group I base oils. I'd much rather have a Group II 10w30 than that Maxlife 10w30 -- even if it has 20% PAO.

RPVOT … (Rotating Pressure Vessel Oxidation Test) … chevron …

Group I … 120 … … minutes -- higher is better
Group II … 320

 

[southernjeeper]

Quote:

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Quote:

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And u got to be kidding? Maxlife HAS always been a synthetic blend??????????

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Yes! It has always been a synthetic blend, I didn't know myself until TallPaul (our resident Valvoline expert) told me.

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THANKS i didn't realize that at all.... That Maxlife was a synthetic was a blend! ahhhhhhhhhhh finally i know because of this post on 'bobistheoilguy'

 

[GregH]

Sounds like the PAO is used as a correction fluid? The use of Group 1 does that oil in for me. Was gonna try it but now I think I will try the Castrol HM instead. Anyone know if they use Group 1's.
Thanks
Greg