Oil is Oil

[userfriendly]

If you had said No, who knows how many pages this Thread would have gone between Yes and No!

I believe that engine oils are blended to a performance level cheaply as possible, then marketed and hyped as budgets allow.
Most do it yourselfers, (we're talking engine oil here), buy an oil that meets manufactures' warranty requirement, and usually the one on sale.
That puts me in the "oil is oil" camp.

 

[nascarnation]

How about this. Any API or Euro oil will make your engine outlive your transmission. Flame suit on.

It would be interesting to have stats on cause of death for vehicles.
I assume the big ones are crash/rust/transmission/engine.

I've recently read that "headlights" may become a reason in the future as they are priced at stunning levels.

 

[ZeeOSix]

If it doesn't blow-up the engine, then "oil is oil".

 

[userfriendly]

If it doesn't blow-up the engine, then "oil is oil".

That's why I avoid thinner than XW30s and suffer the 1% potential loss in fuel economy.
I'll read where taxi and trucking companies saved $X in extended oil change intervals and/or fuel economy savings.
OK, show me the money.
I didn't think so.

 

[Foxtrot08]

That's why I avoid thinner than XW30s and suffer the 1% potential loss in fuel economy.
I'll read where taxi and trucking companies saved $X in extended oil change intervals and/or fuel economy savings.
OK, show me the money.
I didn't think so.

A trucking company I supply buys 100,000 gallons of fuel a week. 52 weeks a year.

1% savings on that is pretty significant.

Knight-swift buys ~$1m in fuel every day.

Take 1% of that.

 

[Pablo]

That's why I avoid thinner than XW30s and suffer the 1% potential loss in fuel economy.
I'll read where taxi and trucking companies saved $X in extended oil change intervals and/or fuel economy savings.
OK, show me the money.
I didn't think so.

It happens. Diesel OTR trucks have huge oil capacities and with synthetic oil can go many miles on the oil. There is no harm in this. Not sure what that has to do with you using oil with higher 100°C viscosity than required. The two are not related.

 

[kschachn]

I believe that engine oils are blended to a performance level cheaply as possible, then marketed and hyped as budgets allow.
Most do it yourselfers, (we're talking engine oil here), buy an oil that meets manufactures' warranty requirement, and usually the one on sale.
That puts me in the "oil is oil" camp.

Which makes stringent approvals all the more important and significant.

 

[Skippy722]

Oil is oil like work boots are work boots.

I will never wear another pair of thorogood boots, but other people swear by them. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t make them bad, they’re just bad for me

 

[userfriendly]

It happens. Diesel OTR trucks have huge oil capacities and with synthetic oil can go many miles on the oil. There is no harm in this. Not sure what that has to do with you using oil with higher 100°C viscosity than required. The two are not related.

Engine oils are always thicker at 100C, or any other temperature than required to prevent the engine from squeaking to a stop if the oil was thinner than required.

 

[Snagglefoot]

The hand ringing over 0w20, 0w30, 0w40 is amazing.

 

[Nesterenko]

I many cases, had you owned a Hyun-Kia product with Theta 2 engine, you would need a squeaky clean engine-top-side, if your engine fails and you haven't prior oil change receipts.

Member Al has been here forever. He reserves his right to run his 10k oils for the entire 10k.
Besides, the little birdie in my head says Al has enough money to fix any oil-related problems - regarding his decision to abuse his engine 10-fold.

We BITOGERs of long standings love you AL. Have enjoyed a large majority of your posts over the years. But please live your remaining retirement years changing your darn oil a little sooner than 10k. Reward yourself with a Costco Card and get two-packs of adequate Kirkland Syn at inexpensive cost. Great for your vehicle doing 5k OCIs and you can still leve your oil filter on for the entire 10k.

If you ever run into Elizabeth, tell her we-BITOGERs said hello and are thrilled she had your town named after her.

What are you talking about? Over the years? I really haven't been here too long. Next, if you ended up buying a Kia/Hyundai well maybe whoever did should've done their homework prior to purchasing.

 

[burbguy82]

Proper oil used, changed on time:

Mobil 1

The above mirrors my 40 years of performance and racing results. M1 will keep your engine clean, rings free, turbochargers coke-free and so on. Other oils may not.

what oil was on the top pic?

 

[LongTime_Lurker]

The only issue I have with those engine comparison photos are the number of variables that are not held constant. If you wanted to test engine cleanliness you should compare the same engines being run under the same conditions with the only difference being the lubricant used. Otherwise, its impossible to conclude that Mobil 1 is responsible for the cleaner engine!

I think that the guy who posted this is intentionally displaying flawed logic to mess with us. I know that he knows better

 

[doublebase]

I think, like many have said on this thread, under normal driving conditions in most engines a lot of oils will not outperform the other. However taking it to different scenarios…extending drain intervals, severe use, direct injected turbo engines…a higher quality oil will perform better in various temperatures, and will not allow oxidation as much through an extreme extended drain. Most of us will never venture into these categories, however most of us have the gene of “wanting the best”. So, we come here and debate endlessly over it.

Think of bourbon - I can buy an excellent bottle for $35-$40 bucks, but there are much much “better” bottles available for $350 bucks - but to blindly taste and sip both of them, 90% of the planet would not be able to tell the difference.

 

[DwightFrye]

If you drive the average econobox and change the oil and filter every 5000 miles then yes "oil is oil" with the qualifier that it is a full synthetic from one of the major oil companies.

However those of us that own high performance vehicles know otherwise. For example I have a Jaguar F Type R with a 575 HP supercharged V8. Only a couple of oils meet Jaguar/Land Rovers specifications. Which by the way are close enough to Porsche's to be interchangeable. And those special formulations have MUCH LOWER levels of Molybdenum than average for the same grade, and MUCH HIGHER levels of Titanium. So obviously their engineers see some important advantages in those ingredients being formulated to the PPM levels that they are.

I'm not going to run the cheapest 0W-20 oil that Wally World has on sale this week in my Jag. If it doesn't meet the manufacturer's approval, it's not going into the engine. Even if it meets the latest GF 7 approvals or whatever.

 

[4WD]

If you had said No, who knows how many pages this Thread would have gone between Yes and No!

It could go either way and probably will …

 

[TheRuley]

I guess just to add the caveat: "oil is oil...as long as it meets the requirements/spec of your engine"

I wouldn't suggest using a conventional 10w30 in your vw jetta diesel. Now if you have to choose between a few different brands of 5w40 full synthetic that all have the vw 502 00 spec...yeah, oil is oil.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Nothing has really kept my lambda controlled smogger engines running "like new". They all start showing decreased performance over the first two years in service and settle into a position of some what variable mediocrity.

Bad fuel ingestion and gummed up rings from multigrade oils are constantly conspiring to reduce performance. I vaguely recall I had good luck with two premium oils over many decades. Way, way back in time a Mobil 1 synthetic - when it was majority group iv and v base oils worked; next up, something I got on clearance in a yellow bottle and ran in the wife's Subaru Loyale 5 speed - I think it was a 5W50 (!) from brand primarity know for its "snake" oil additives. These cars, after a bit of "oil familiarity" displayed excellent cylinder balance, rev-ability and good, strong torque from bottom to top of the rev band. They maintained these traits throughout the OCI. Good stuff, I also think the Fuel in use was not yet oxygenated to a high treat rate back then, also I do not recall big performance issues with mTBE other than ground water pollution from failed steel UGST in town.

I want that old magic back, but I bet I am not going to see it consistently with E10 fuel and it's issues. Maybe time for a trip to the airfield for a fill up with avgas and later shell out some long green for a FUCHS/Pentosin real synthetic product.

- Arco

 

[KEVINK0000]

Oil is oil, that’s why it’s called oil.

But the answer to the meaning of your question is no. Oils are different.

But, there is a window of usage and engine design where many oils will suit an engine for its useful life without noticeable degradation. Then the conclusion is made that oil is oil. Which is actually false, but seems to be true.

A lot of assumptions on BITOG come from this fact.

Many statements seem to be true, but are actually false. Simply because the scope of understanding is too narrow. Like BS saying there’s no difference in their data that is significant enough to deem one oil better than another.

But this gets quoted often, without adequately scrutinizing its origin or its nature and precepts to see if it’s indeed true, and if true, where and when.

 

[OVERKILL]

I guess just to add the caveat: "oil is oil...as long as it meets the requirements/spec of your engine"

I wouldn't suggest using a conventional 10w30 in your vw jetta diesel. Now if you have to choose between a few different brands of 5w40 full synthetic that all have the vw 502 00 spec...yeah, oil is oil.

And if you restrict that claim further to "will get you through the warranty period and beyond without issue", with obvious exceptions like the Toyota sludgers and the Honda VCM engines, that's reasonably accurate.

McDonalds burgers are the most popular. They are a means to obtain protein and they are approved by the FDA. The same could be a said for a "Hungry Man" dinner. You buy a box of "Cowboy" burgers from the grocery store, same thing. They meet the standards required for burgers, they are "good enough".

I cooked prime rib burgers last night. I bought myself some fresh patties from the local butcher, the others are what my wife picked up for the kids from Costco. These are not the same in texture, taste or satisfaction, despite meeting the same standards and both satisfying the same requirements for being meat protein; for being sustenance. Now, will either of these make me live longer? Unlikely.

Now, compare a proper balanced meal made with fresh greens and butcher meat to something like a Hungry Man. Again, both meet the requirements, but there are grounds there to reasonably conclude that the proper meal, using better components and made to a higher standard, if consumed regularly, will have a positive impact on life expectancy when compared to somebody that just eats the Hungry Man dinners.

People like cheap. People like Walmart and places where they feel they are getting a "deal". This may apply to everything or only things they don't have a specific appreciation for. We see that all the time on this site and the premise of this thread is that thought process manifest. We could extend it to "tires are tires" and "gas is gas" and many do, that's why Ling-Long and Fate-e-O Chinese tires are popular. They are round and black and DOT approved. They LOOK like you want them to look like, and they are cheap. They are the Hungry Man or Raman noodles of tires.

Guns are guns too right? Why buy a precision rifle and high priced ammo when you can get the same job done with an SKS and some Chinese surplus?