My buddy's long time Frankenberry engine oil mix

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Yeesh...no engine failures..not exactly saying much. Especially considering short intervals. How many miles on his cars before getting rid of them?
 
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Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Seems like a huge hassle for no reason.

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
Sounds like a lot of hassle and probably not saving money.


My thoughts exactly.

I have done a few "Frankenbrew's" in my time, but only to use up misc qts and such I had laying around.
I think once I did mix some 10w-40 with 5w-20 hoping for a decent 30 weight. Aside from that, I have never done it for a specific reason.

My engines never blew up either.
 
Sure. Why not? I doubt that mix is doing any harm even if it isn't particularly doing any good.

You could walk down the oil isle at Walmart blindfolded and randomly start mixing any oils together and the random mix is still going to be better than anything out there 30 to 40 years ago.
 
I worked with an older gentleman who's daily driver was an early 70's Ford F-250. All original and he kept it in incredible shape. He told me he'd ran nothing but SAE 30 weight since he bought the truck new. I never asked which brand of oil or if he had trouble starting it up in the dead of winter in Utah, but he was still driving that pickup when he retired some years back. I did mention using a multi-viscosity oil to him once, and the look on his face prevented me from ever suggesting it again!
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
He told me that back in the mid-1970's he attended an oil seminar by an ex-GM engineer concerning lubricants. His point was that some engine failures back then were attributed to some mfg's oils that came with "bad" additive packages. So if you put in a least a quart or two of someone else's all, you'd be protected in such a case. And so my buddy has been mixing engine oils for 42 years. Never an engine failure...never an engine repair other than gaskets. He's had dozens of cars - usually 3-4 at a time. Yes, he's on top of car reliability and only buys cars known to have considerable engine life.


Given the non linearity of additive concentrations and effects, that argument DOES carry some logic.

And YES, I have an intentional brew in wife's Captiva.

Have 3 off (well two now) 5L bottles of Helix AG, Dexos2 C3...car takes 5L, and these were bought on clearance, so no chance of topping the stash back up.

Also had 5L of Nulon 25W60, which is essentially a monograde, very high zinc, low S.A. SoJ indicated it would probably have a lot of brightstock, good for keeping things clean.

So three OCIs using the Nulon as an "additive" to 5L of the Shell.
 
I have a roughly 1:1 mix of straight CPC SAE 40 and Mobil Delvac MX 15W40.

It was an accident, but it seems to have a few things going for it. Its been in about 5 years now and I'm thinking I might change it soon to get the particulates down.

The CPC may be group 1, and has a low TBN (about 6 IIRC) but the high TBN and detergent of the Delvac should compensate for that. The polarity of the Grp 1 MAY help dissolve varnish (I had some) and the Delvac MAY keep any varnish produced by the 40 in suspension.

Less speculatively, the 40 will resist shear, and pretty much by definition, it won't have VI's in it that could be incompatible with those in the Delvac.

I'd guess the mix will be very roughly in the 20W50 zone, though this isn't calculable.

I have another 4L of the Delvac but may not be able to get any more, but so far the 40 is still available, so I could use it to extend the Delvac to two oil changes.

This all tempts me to continue this mix deliberately after I change the oil, but I dunno if I will.
 
That’s not so unusual. I’ve actually been running Count Chocula for the past 40 years. 1 quart Chocolate milk drained from cereal bowls topped off with 4 quarts of used 1972 pennzoil 10w-40. Yields an HTHS of around Captain crunch.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
I have a roughly 1:1 mix of straight CPC SAE 40 and Mobil Delvac MX 15W40.

It was an accident, but it seems to have a few things going for it. Its been in about 5 years now and I'm thinking I might change it soon to get the particulates down.

The CPC may be group 1, and has a low TBN (about 6 IIRC) but the high TBN and detergent of the Delvac should compensate for that. The polarity of the Grp 1 MAY help dissolve varnish (I had some) and the Delvac MAY keep any varnish produced by the 40 in suspension.

Less speculatively, the 40 will resist shear, and pretty much by definition, it won't have VI's in it that could be incompatible with those in the Delvac.

I'd guess the mix will be very roughly in the 20W50 zone, though this isn't calculable.

I have another 4L of the Delvac but may not be able to get any more, but so far the 40 is still available, so I could use it to extend the Delvac to two oil changes.

This all tempts me to continue this mix deliberately after I change the oil, but I dunno if I will.


Sounds like a plan. SAE 40 and 15W-40 would not likely yield a mix with an Op Temp viscosity higher than either so I'm guessing it's more like a 25W-40 or 30W-40 when all done. Nothing wrong with that in your environment. Go for it
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Originally Posted By: Ducked
I have a roughly 1:1 mix of straight CPC SAE 40 and Mobil Delvac MX 15W40.

It was an accident, but it seems to have a few things going for it. Its been in about 5 years now and I'm thinking I might change it soon to get the particulates down.

The CPC may be group 1, and has a low TBN (about 6 IIRC) but the high TBN and detergent of the Delvac should compensate for that. The polarity of the Grp 1 MAY help dissolve varnish (I had some) and the Delvac MAY keep any varnish produced by the 40 in suspension.

Less speculatively, the 40 will resist shear, and pretty much by definition, it won't have VI's in it that could be incompatible with those in the Delvac.

I'd guess the mix will be very roughly in the 20W50 zone, though this isn't calculable.

I have another 4L of the Delvac but may not be able to get any more, but so far the 40 is still available, so I could use it to extend the Delvac to two oil changes.

This all tempts me to continue this mix deliberately after I change the oil, but I dunno if I will.


Sounds like a plan. SAE 40 and 15W-40 would not likely yield a mix with an Op Temp viscosity higher than either so I'm guessing it's more like a 25W-40 or 30W-40 when all done. Nothing wrong with that in your environment. Go for it
laugh.gif



Sorry, the 50 was a habit-formed typo. Agree should be 40. Re lower figure, arithmetic mean is around 27 but its supposed to be skewed to low side, so my guess is somewhere in the 20-25 range.
 
my car takes exactly 6 quarts or about 5.7L for an oil change.

I like to think I'm doing something neat when I put in 4.7L of Mobile1 H.M. 5w30, and 1 litre of Mobile1 0w-40 for my winter oil changes.
 
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Originally Posted By: amargill19
my car takes exactly 6 quarts or about 5.7L for an oil change.

I like to think I'm doing something neat when I put in 4.7L of Mobile1 H.M. 5w30, and 1 litre of Mobile1 0w-40 for my winter oil changes.


Why half [censored] it? Just run all 0w40 if your temperatures warrant it. A splash of this and splash of that doesnt really do anything one way or another.
 
Originally Posted By: amargill19
my car takes exactly 6 quarts or about 5.7L for an oil change.

I like to think I'm doing something neat when I put in 4.7L of Mobile1 H.M. 5w30, and 1 litre of Mobile1 0w-40 for my winter oil changes.

The imagination is a powerful thing. What you are really doing is putting in a mixture that has no certifications, since although they are both M1 oils they are not one formulated oil. M1 0W-40 is one of the best motor oils on the market, why mess around with it already is?

And it's Mobil not Mobile. Mobile is a city in Alabama. A nice place, I've been there.
 
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