Which engine oil do you use?

[JonnyTahoe]

Been tempted to start using royal purple. I’ve been using cheap autozone 5w30 and half a bottle of Lucas treatment.
Does anyone know if royal purple has detergent.

Every oil has detergent in it to some degree except Non detergent oil.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

Location location lol. PBR is 8.99 here cant get Old Mil at the store but the old gas station up the road has a couple 12 packs lol.
As for oil, yeah I learned years ago the Walmart brand was made by valvoline for a few years then havoline. Who knows now, but for the most part as long as you have a reasonable OCI any oil will suffice.

OCI=Oil Change Interval.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

FWIW, my mechanic uses AC Delco full synthetic on our GM vehicles, which I believe is actually Mobil rebranded. On our Fords, he uses Motorcraft which I also believe is a rebrand, but of what I am unsure.

The little bit of research I've done on the topic indicates Amsoil is, hands down, the best oil you can buy. Do you need all the features it offers at that price point though? I do not. Or, at the least, do not believe I do...

In case that helps.

Also the most expensive hands down.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

This is first time I have ever used Royal Purple only because it was on sale. Its different because it is in fact purple. Not sure what it looks like with thousands of miles on it and never will because I change oil every 2500 mi no matter how much it costs. Fuel vapor dilutes oil.

 

[BlackLTZ985]

Every oil has detergent in it to some degree except Non detergent oil.

True but I’ve heard newer generations of oil have much less. I was told certain oils don’t have enough detergents and that’s what causes oil sensors to shit the bed prematurely. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true and it’s part of the reason why I use Lucas treatment on every oil change.

 

[SnowDrifter]

True but I’ve heard newer generations of oil have much less. I was told certain oils don’t have enough detergents and that’s what causes oil sensors to shit the bed prematurely. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true and it’s part of the reason why I use Lucas treatment on every oil change.

Heard from whom? What data backs this up? Do you have sludge in your engine?


You use lucas to combat detergents?

Show me where the detergents are in this? Oil detergents are calcium / magnesium based. Where are they?

The move from API SM (<2010) to API SN (current) introduced more stringent tests for sludge control due to the advent of turbochargers becoming commonplace.

 

[SnowDrifter]

I've heard a lot of good things about this stuff. Think I am going to give it a shot on my next oil change. I've always been one to just use whatever full synthetic is on sale and a quality filter.

I run it year 'round. Vehicle seems happy with it so far, though I suppose you could claim the same on any oil that gets it to run without issue.

I intend to get a UOA one of these days, but I'm giving everything a fair bit of time to settle since I did some 'while I was in there' work 18k miles ago. Really should wait 25-30k miles for everything to equalize

 

[exp500]

Amsoil is the most highly marketed oil going- There are better oils! Most of the claims of marketing have no specs to back up big mouth. I have wished for years that the Industry would adopt better Specs.
Really, ALL oil is synthetic as we use it.
About the only truth there is left in auto oils is in A/C oils by type.

 

[exp500]

Snowdrifter- Airplanes have been turboed for many tens of years. Sludge is a product of additives. See Ashless. Marketing claims allow them to sell a $2.00/qt oil for $6.00/qt. Then they get us to argue which is better when they are the same.
Look at the number of websites dedicated to that discussion and still no clarity because that would affect profits.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Snowdrifter- Airplanes have been turboed for many tens of years. Sludge is a product of additives. See Ashless. Marketing claims allow them to sell a $2.00/qt oil for $6.00/qt. Then they get us to argue which is better when they are the same.
Look at the number of websites dedicated to that discussion and still no clarity because that would affect profits.

Ashless, like low SAPS?

I'll admit airplane oil is not something I've done any research into. Can't speak to it. Though I would like you to expand on the 'sludge is a product of additives' bit.

But back to car stuff: Not sure I'd agree that all oils are the same. There are enough tests from the lads over at BITOG to validate there are some differences. I personally reject their methods of determining extended OCIs based on personal experience, but things like wear numbers and viscosity stability are valid.

My rejection of their tests: They measure TBN - total base number in the oil to determine how much active additive is left. Sure that's useful, but is IMO a limited scope of looking at the stuff. They don't measure TAN which would help give an indication of how much oxidative stress is occurring within the oil.

2 points:

1. Ignoring TAN leaves valuable info off the table

2. The universal TBB > 1 metric they use is also inaccurate. It should be changed around a TBN value of 3.5 // or // if taking TAN measurements as well, when TBN / TAN cross over.

Anecdotally... I've found this to be true. I noticed a trend with customers who brought in their vehicles for service. The ones who bring them in earlier tend to have less varnish and fewer gasket failures in their engine than do customers who brought them later. Also noticed it on my own vehicle. In winter time, my rig sees a lot of idle time and short trips. Just peering in through the oil fill neck, I noted some varnish slowly forming with 3000-3500mi OCIs. So I dropped it to ~2500 and it cleared up over the course of a year. No UOAs on the hoe yet, I will, but in another 10-15k miles. I replaced the oil pump and various 'while I'm in there' gaskets. That was done at ~140k miles. I'm at 158. New parts and gaskets can shed metal / silicon for a while so I'm trying to give everything appropriate time to equalize.

I was pretty up to date on oil analysis on my last car (2003 subaru, 2.5 n/a). I worked that poor engine reaaaallllll ******* account of some extra weight in the back. What I found, is despite internet advice of using rotella in the thing, I actually got my best wear numbers using M1 0w30 ESP with an aftermarket bump in ZDDP. So we can at least differentiate between oils and which is the best for a particular engine under a given set of driving conditions. With that said, even additives can't be taken 1:1 with performance. Redline for example, seemed to do the best job of quieting the piston slap and cleaning up the engine (previous owner was lax, though not abusive on maintenance). Though it posted higher wear numbers and seemed to degrade rather quickly with my driving conditions, needing more frequent OCIs.


I ramble...

tl;dr
- I disagree that all oils are the same. They are different. Even various base stocks have pros / cons to them. Things are obfuscated behind tests. Only way to get info is to counter-test for your own application
- UOAs are useful in this venture, though often misused
- While frustrating, I can also appreciate that manufacturers can't post every last minutia of detail on their oil. One: because each application is a bit different. Two: Protection of their particular recipe for whatever competitive advantage they hold.


Because I like conversations and debates.. They lead to good info, expand on:

- All oils are the same
- Sludge is a byproduct of additives
- Which better specs would you like to see?