VOA Castrol GTX Conventional 5w20

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I know I'm not here a lot, but been doing research for my 96 Civic 1.6L SOHC. I've wanted to change to another oil since the Toyota brand 5w20 I was using was thinning out too quickly. And civic engines are easy on oil! I've picked Castrol GTX Conventional 5w20 to try and did a VOA to find out what it was starting with.

Also, looks like the specs tested here are very close to the specs Castrol has on their data sheet, wanted to keep them honest.

Batch tested: Date code 16343, 2016, 343rd day.

Any comments? Feel free to post.. Enjoy
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Any 5w20 oil that has the API certification and starburst on the bottle is going to be a fine oil. Castrol has it, so it is as good as any other brand. one can split hairs with oil and which brand is better all day, but in the end if an oil meets the API certification then it is a good quality oil. Some people on here like to switch brands while others have stringent brand loyalty, while many others, like me just use the right weight per the owner manual and the cheapest brand we can get as long as it has the API. I have not seen any oil that does not for a long time. http://www.api.org/~/media/files/certification/engine-oil-diesel/publications/mom_guide_english_2013.pdf
 
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Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
Why is it on target for a 5w30???
That's a typo, the upper range for 20 weight at 100 C. is 9.3-9.7, it's well in range at 9.02.
 
Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
Nice dose of boron in this sample. Looks suitable for use to me.


thanks! Yeah after diving in for all the research I thought it was looking good too.


Originally Posted By: Stelth
Thanks for posting this. Nice to see current data.


That's exactly why I was posting it. Looked through all the VOA's and never found this. Was relying on Castrol's spec sheet. Was looking to use it in my 96 Civic 1.6L. After much research decided on this after I got the Blackstone results back. Had to see what was in it, beyond the Castrol spec sheet.

When looking for this oil, I did notice a lot of OLD date codes on the shelf, 15, 12! No thanks not buying 5 year old oil from Oreilly! Castrol has changed many of their formulas, and for the better in the past year or so. So buy the new date codes!

For anyone wanting this, look on the back of the bottle, look for the first 5 digits.. first two are the year, the next three are the day of the year. This analysis is for date code 16343.
 
I ran a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder engine for 16 years straight on a diet of GTX. No problems and it looked clean when the covers came off for tappet adjusting. Only the light amber gold color which Castrol seems to do anyway.
 
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Originally Posted By: addyguy
Thanks for posting. GTX is a strong oil, lots of additives and nice high TBN. Good to see.


hey you're most welcome. I'm also going to be trying the GTX 5w30 for my other car, and I'll be posting up a VOA of that soon.

Originally Posted By: PimTac
I ran a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder engine for 16 years straight on a diet of GTX. No problems and it looked clean when the covers came off for tappet adjusting. Only the light amber gold color which Castrol seems to do anyway.


That's great news! Glad I chose wisely! I'm using it on my 96 civic 1.6L and so far it has made the engine quieter, and just seems less "strained". I did see the light amber gold color too.

Originally Posted By: BigD1
http://pqiadata.org/Castrol_GTX_5W20.html

From March of this year.

Thanks for posting test results.
thumbsup2.gif



I did see that at PQIA, thanks for including the link. I did the lab test even though PQIA had their data because I wanted to see what was on the shelf around here. The results are similar but my test showed much lower phosphorus, everything else was similar. you're welcome for the post.

I've always seen lots of the same stuff being posted mainly the most popular sythnetic or semi-blend, no attention was being paid to a regular conventional. hopefully it'll help others looking for a good conventional.
smile.gif
 
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UPDATE

Ended up contacting BP/Castrol about the 5w30 version of GTX since I couldn't find any data sheets on their website.

Castrol has told me they have DISCONTINUED the regular GTX and replaced it with GTX ULTRACLEAN. It's a synthetic blend. So here I went to all the expense of getting a VOA on a discontinued oil!
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had to update for everyone else, looks like I have to go find some 5w20 and 5w30 Ultraclean to do a VOA.

Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
Looks like GTX is off the Sodium now?

Thanks for the analysis


you're welcome for the analysis, and yeah even over at PQIA (link above) shows the sodium is gone. Castrol has been quickly changing a lot of their formulations, and for the better, I'd say!
 
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New ultra clean, new formula, no track record and weaker film strength.

But yeah, I'd be upset too if I just had a VOA done on the old stuff!
I actually returned a jug of 20w50 that I bought for my bike when I read about the change, even though no evidence of changing the 20/50 yet, I just moved onto another brand, not wanting to mess around.

OK and, well, truth is my wife returned it for me... :eek:)
 
Originally Posted By: alarmguy
New ultra clean, new formula, no track record and weaker film strength.

But yeah, I'd be upset too if I just had a VOA done on the old stuff!
I actually returned a jug of 20w50 that I bought for my bike when I read about the change, even though no evidence of changing the 20/50 yet, I just moved onto another brand, not wanting to mess around.

OK and, well, truth is my wife returned it for me... :eek:)


While I can agree it's a new formula and no track record since it's new. I can't just agree that it has a weaker film strength. No data to support that yet. I did look at the specs of the new Ultraclean and it looks extremely similar to what it is replacing. I'll probably be the test subject when I switch my tC over to ultraclean 5w30 from the Toyota stuff I have been using. Not liking how thin that Toyota/Mobil stuff was getting.

ahh, so you returned a 20w50 Castrol because of the new change. Yeah I can see your point. I'm going to be sending in a VOA this week for the Ultraclean 5w30, would like to see exactly what it is.

hey that's nice of your wife to return that for ya!
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: researcher
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Thanks for posting. GTX is a strong oil, lots of additives and nice high TBN. Good to see.


hey you're most welcome. I'm also going to be trying the GTX 5w30 for my other car, and I'll be posting up a VOA of that soon.

Originally Posted By: PimTac
I ran a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder engine for 16 years straight on a diet of GTX. No problems and it looked clean when the covers came off for tappet adjusting. Only the light amber gold color which Castrol seems to do anyway.


That's great news! Glad I chose wisely! I'm using it on my 96 civic 1.6L and so far it has made the engine quieter, and just seems less "strained". I did see the light amber gold color too.

Originally Posted By: BigD1
http://pqiadata.org/Castrol_GTX_5W20.html

From March of this year.

Thanks for posting test results.
thumbsup2.gif



I did see that at PQIA, thanks for including the link. I did the lab test even though PQIA had their data because I wanted to see what was on the shelf around here. The results are similar but my test showed much lower phosphorus, everything else was similar. you're welcome for the post.

I've always seen lots of the same stuff being posted mainly the most popular sythnetic or semi-blend, no attention was being paid to a regular conventional. hopefully it'll help others looking for a good conventional.
smile.gif



I would trust PQIA's test results. Blackstone uses internal standards on their ICP that no one has validated. Good data? sure. Verifiable? No.
 
Originally Posted By: danielLD


I would trust PQIA's test results. Blackstone uses internal standards on their ICP that no one has validated. Good data? sure. Verifiable? No.


Thanks for the input! I was already planning on sending the next VOA of Castrol's newer GTX Ultraclean 5w30 to polaris labs. We'll see what their results are, and I'll compare them to what I received from Blackstone and what PQIA shows.

I do agree that the phosphorus was a lot lower when Blackstone tested GTX 5w20 than when PQIA just tested it earlier this year. I know there is always some difference in batches of oil, but 130points? That seemed excessive. So we'll see what Polaris has to show.
 
Ugh, Polaris has huge issues with ICP. My old lab I was constantly getting in trouble, because I wouldn't stop bringing up bad data. Most of these labs are jokes. But PQIA, Tom knows what he's doing.
 
Originally Posted By: danielLD
Ugh, Polaris has huge issues with ICP. My old lab I was constantly getting in trouble, because I wouldn't stop bringing up bad data. Most of these labs are jokes. But PQIA, Tom knows what he's doing.


Ok so in your opinion is Polaris a joke? Blackstone? What lab would you recommend? And by "bad data" do you mean they're not reporting the numbers accurately? Their testing equipment faulty?
 
Originally Posted By: danielLD
Ugh, Polaris has huge issues with ICP. My old lab I was constantly getting in trouble, because I wouldn't stop bringing up bad data. Most of these labs are jokes. But PQIA, Tom knows what he's doing.

So are you going to let us know what your previous screen name(s) is or are? Or do we have to wait and figure it out after a few more posts?
 
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