Mexican oil observations

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GF and I were in Mexico on Saturday and stopped at a Soriana's (popular Mexican store similar to walmart). While browsing the oil section I noticed that all they really had was SL rated 25w60 and SAE 40. It makes you really think about the US and CAFE standards. Do you think these oils really would provide better protection vs let's say, PYB 5w30 that is called for here in the States? Keep in mind, there no difference in climate between my home town and this Mexican city (we live in a border town). It begs the question, what would last longer if everything was identical, a car running SL 25w40 or a car running 5w30?
 
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What town do you cross the border into? I haven't crossed the border in 14 years, although I have flown over to a resort.

Afraid to cross the border on foot anymore.
 
No issues at Progresso Nuevo. Great dental and cheap prescription drugs. Probably the safest as they depend on Winter Texans and try to keep it safe. Great bridge to walk over and a good parking lot on TX side. Not an issue I am told to drive over but don't drive to nice of a car. Will be back in October for some more dental work.
 
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Never drive a vehicle you are too precious about, also...NEVER GET GAS IN MEXICO lol
 
Octane numbers are a guess south of the border. What we consider normal of 87 or so is pretty high for them.
 
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There's a Mexican landscaper here that lives in Tecate and crossed the border often. He has a late model 150 with a V8. He tows a tractor that's got to put him near or over the towing limit. He runs 20w-50 Castrol GTX and changes it every 5K miles and at 100K he's doing fine. He said that no one he knows in the business uses 5w-20 or even 5w-30. They all say it's too thin.
 
I think too much emphasis is placed on viscosity.
What's important in changing your oil at reasonable intervals and using a quality oil of any weight.
People that fear any deviation from the owners manual just don't know it won't hurt a thing.
 
Once upon a time, many years ago, I had to run a test program in Pemex (Mexican) Group I base oil. On paper the base oil looked like real garbage but to my eternal surprise, everything passed first time to API SL.

An old friend told me that he thought they were still using my juice.
 
I guess what I found interesting is that we are so close to the border. Here 20w50 is "waaayyy too thick" but 10 min south 25w60 is the "standard"
 
OK. Mexican guy here.

Soriana is a cheap supermarket, that's why you found those oils.

Go to Walmart or Costco, and you will find lower viscosities and top tier brands.

Go to Autozone and you will find plenty of synthetic 0W20 (Mobil, Penzoil, Royal Purple).


The reason is, that in Mexico, specially in the north border we drive a lot of imported US old cars, over 10 years actually. And many of them will have leaks. So it makes sense that if you have and old car with a leak than you can't/won't fix, you will go also to the cheaper supermarkets.

Oh, and 15w40 is very popular also.
 
Ahh - as I was reading up to this point I was thinking 15w40 would work well in Mexico ...
 
Originally Posted By: 2012AccentSE
I guess what I found interesting is that we are so close to the border. Here 20w50 is "waaayyy too thick" but 10 min south 25w60 is the "standard"


Just goes to show that what a lot of BITOG'rs think of thick, ain't nothing
grin.gif
 
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