Graphite oils
- Thread starter OILJUNKIE
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I remember being fascinated by it when I was a high school kid, before I had a car, so I never got to use it myself. I did see it poured once -- from the metal can -- and it was as black as dirty diesel oil. Never got a look, but I'm sure the inside of an engine was -- black! I never did find out if the coloration would go away or how quickly, with a switch back to regular oil. Beyond appearance, the key distinction was that it had graphite particles in suspension. I don't know about their size or how they behaved in an engine. Anyone else?
"Beyond appearance, the key distinction was that it had graphite particles in suspension. I don't know about their size or how they behaved in an engine. Anyone else?"
IIRC, some of those particles would/could be caught by a better filter and taken out of the oil.
Tried it for one oil change, nothing note worthy as far as performance or gas mileage.
My 2¢
IIRC, some of those particles would/could be caught by a better filter and taken out of the oil.
Tried it for one oil change, nothing note worthy as far as performance or gas mileage.
My 2¢
I tried it once or twice. No issues, but did not notice any gains either. Maybe user ARCOgraphite will chime in.
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Fast forward to 1:00
I used it once too. In my 1976 Vega. Stupid car started burning oil by 60k. I'm sure it was the oil. Not.
1:00 into this sequence:
I bought a Bedford truck off a guy who said he used graphite oil....I thought it was a good way to explain why the oil was so black. He could've just said I've never changed the oil....
The son of a neighbor was very enthusiastic about using it in his truck. He insisted on pulling the dipstick and showing me the black color.
The cans I remember seeing were a rich blue with the red ball. It made for a striking look.
Go to 1:20 to see the graphite....it's all the science I needed at the time.
The cans I remember seeing were a rich blue with the red ball. It made for a striking look.
Go to 1:20 to see the graphite....it's all the science I needed at the time.
Originally Posted by OILJUNKIE
Anyone recall Arco graphite oil from the 70's. Do any mechanics recall what an engine internals looked like after using that oil?
I used it in my VW Rabbit diesel.
Anyone recall Arco graphite oil from the 70's. Do any mechanics recall what an engine internals looked like after using that oil?
I used it in my VW Rabbit diesel.
My uncle used it once in my cousin's car, after that it never fully cleared out, all new oil was black in short order.
Originally Posted by TTK
Originally Posted by tomcat27
I used it once too. In my 1976 Vega. Stupid car started burning oil by 60k. I'm sure it was the oil. Not.
Those 76 Vegas were great cars...not joking.
My sister and I shared the Pontiac version, the Astre, of the same vintage. Since it consumed almost as much oil as gasoline, we didn't worry about which brand to put in, graphite or not. Alas, I recall it as anything but a great car.
Originally Posted by tomcat27
I used it once too. In my 1976 Vega. Stupid car started burning oil by 60k. I'm sure it was the oil. Not.
Those 76 Vegas were great cars...not joking.
My sister and I shared the Pontiac version, the Astre, of the same vintage. Since it consumed almost as much oil as gasoline, we didn't worry about which brand to put in, graphite or not. Alas, I recall it as anything but a great car.
I used it in my1968 VW camper. Rebuilt the motor and used it exclusively for 30k miles. Had a cam rivet get loose so it had a strange knock. When I pulled it apart I was amazed at the lack of wear on that heevily stressed motor pushing that van around. All the cylinders still had their hoping marks and the rings and bearing showed no wear. I put in a new camshaft and buttoned it back together. When I moved from Arizona to Kentucky I was unable to find it anymore. I still have one bottle of it left in my stash. I liked it in spite of the mess.
Neat idea, wonder why it hasn't made its way into oils of today? I meant it isn't much different than some of the moly loaded oils that we see now.
Way back I bought a case of it and used it in my 73 Audi Fox. I didn't have any problems using it, except if you had a slight leak around a gasket...it turned black.
Originally Posted by racin4ds
Neat idea, wonder why it hasn't made its way into oils of today? I meant it isn't much different than some of the moly loaded oils that we see now.
Not really needed. Might not be compatible with many of the newer additives. Not even sure it could meet the full API spec. The label always said "meets warranty requirements" for API service without ever saying it met the full API spec.
Neat idea, wonder why it hasn't made its way into oils of today? I meant it isn't much different than some of the moly loaded oils that we see now.
Not really needed. Might not be compatible with many of the newer additives. Not even sure it could meet the full API spec. The label always said "meets warranty requirements" for API service without ever saying it met the full API spec.
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