“Best” oil for my car threads.

[Mr Boochie]

Those threads can even be more entertaining than the “I know best cable threads” on audiophile sites.

Someone needs to make a Looney Tunes-style cartoon of the “ACME OIL” factory, somewhere in Lower Slabovia. There’s a huge old-style water tower — out back — filled with oil. Then, all the various manufacturers’ oil brand containers are filled from the same outlet.

You know, someone, somewhere is laughing about all this, while going to the bank.

 

[eiraved]

My local Toyota dealer has serviced my truck from the beginning, especially since it was free for the first few years. Always synthetic oil, but have never asked for the brand. I'll do that the next time it is serviced.

 

[GChief]

My buddy that has been a chemist at ExxonMobil for the last 30 yrs (doing mostly motor oils) says even the cheapest store brands are good enough and have been for a couple of decades.

He also says "who tells you to change your oil every 3000 miles? We do, the people that sell it"

 

[grey]

People could give the same attention to common failures, TSB articles, other fluid schedules, etc. There so much more to longevity overall for any given chassis. A fuel system or electronics problem can ruin a good engine in a hurry.

I like all of the research from Lake Speed Jr. when it comes to oil and bearing wear analysis.

 

[Mr Boochie]

My buddy that has been a chemist at ExxonMobil for the last 30 yrs (doing mostly motor oils) says even the cheapest store brands are good enough amd ha e beem for a couple of decades.

He also says "who tells you to change your oil every 3000 miles? We do, the people that sell it"

I remember a cartoon where all the fancy-smancy, boutique, water bottles were filled by a guy — from a faucet in Poughkeepsie.

 

[Mark W.]

You want to read some world class oil threads head over to one of the Willys Jeep forum. You get people who support Non detergent 30wt, Detergent 30wt, any old modern multigrade, Diesel oils like Rotella, Any old oil with zinc additive, a few with Synthetic oil mostly with zinc additive. And a dedicated oil formulated for a flat tappet style engine like Lucas Hot Rod and Classic. And then there are the racing oil types.

And thats just the engine oil

Now we get to the gear boxes GL-1 or GL-4 Yellow metal safe or who cares never been a problem.

Then the front hubs Corn head grease, 140wt gear oil mixed with Axle grease, CV joint grease are all common to argue about.

Oh and few arguing about the Axle oils.

 

[Mr Boochie]

You want to read some world class oil threads head over to one of the Willys Jeep forum. You get people who support Non detergent 30wt, Detergent 30wt, any old modern multigrade, Diesel oils like Rotella, Any old oil with zinc additive, a few with Synthetic oil mostly with zinc additive. And a dedicated oil formulated for a flat tappet style engine like Lucas Hot Rod and Classic. And then there are the racing oil types.

And thats just the engine oil

Now we get to the gear boxes GL-1 or GL-4 Yellow metal safe or who cares never been a problem.

Then the front hubs Corn head grease, 140wt gear oil mixed with Axle grease, CV joint grease are all common to argue about.

Oh and few arguing about the Axle oils.

There are buttons that are guaranteed to start the craziest, most serpentine, circuitous arguments. Motor oils and speaker cables are two of them.

 

[ConradH]

Then there's my friend who's into British bikes. When he rebuilds an engine he uses special Castrol break-in oil. AI says there's no such thing, but I've seen the cans in his shop. I'll have to look closer next time I'm there.

 

[djwhy60]

Engine break-in oil is a specialized lubricant used during the initial hours or miles of a new or rebuilt engine's life to protect moving parts while allowing the piston rings to wear smoothly into the cylinder walls. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Unlike standard motor oils, it is formulated with high anti-wear protection (zinc and phosphorus) and low detergents, omitting slippery friction modifiers like molybdenum to ensure a controlled level of friction necessary for component mating. [1, 2]

 

[Mr Boochie]

Then there's my friend who's into British bikes. When he rebuilds an engine he uses special Castrol break-in oil. AI says there's no such thing, but I've seen the cans in his shop. I'll have to look closer next time I'm there.

I have used Maxima Break-In oil on my dirt bike rebuilds. Honestly, I have no idea if it helps extend the engine’s life. It’s just an old tradition that I haven’t questioned.

For car engines, I used 10W-30 mineral-based oil for break-in. I changed it at 500 miles and 1000 miles. Then, go to whatever synthetic oil is recommended by the factory. That seems to work, as I haven’t had issues with premature oil burning. Plain old mineral-based Castrol GTX. The key is to always change the oil filter with the break-in oil changes.

 

[Ellymay]

My buddy that has been a chemist at ExxonMobil for the last 30 yrs (doing mostly motor oils) says even the cheapest store brands are good enough and have been for a couple of decades.

He also says "who tells you to change your oil every 3000 miles? We do, the people that sell it"

Have a 2005 Avalanche that I bought new. Never converted to synthetic. Change the oil about every 5-6 thousand miles. It has 284,000 miles on it. Doesn’t burn oil and runs great. YMMV.

 

[GChief]

Have a 2005 Avalanche that I bought new. Never converted to synthetic. Change the oil about every 5-6 thousand miles. It has 284,000 miles on it. Doesn’t burn oil and runs great. YMMV.

I do run synthetic in everything on his advice. But that is for the extended changes. I do multiple oil analysis on any thing "new" we get. Most are good past 20k miles with a good synthetic, I do change the fliter every 7500. And everything gets Shell Rotella Synthetic.

Even these get synthetic

 

[Mr Boochie]

I do run synthetic in everything on his advice. But that is for the extended changes. I do multiple oil analysis on any thing "new" we get. Most are good past 20k miles with a good synthetic, I do change the fliter every 7500. And everything gets Shell Rotella Synthetic.

Even these get synthetic

View attachment 3816795View attachment 3816796

It used to be that synthetic oil was a lot more expensive than mineral-based oil. But synthetic is as cheap as mineral-based these days.

Might as well use synthetic.

 

[peterp1]

Most quality oils are fine for most cars.

There are a few exceptions where oil selection is critical. Three that come to mind are:

1. The Porsche 996 where the IMS bearing and bore scoring makes selection of oil more critical
2. The Alfa Giulio 2.0t "MultiAir" engine, which has no intake camshaft and instead uses a proprietary electro-hydraulic variable valve timing system powered by the engine oil to open the valves
3. Vintage engines with flat tappets require a ZDDP additive to reduce camshaft wear, but nearly all modern oils minimize ZDDP (not needed on modern engines, not great for catalytic converters, etc) -- so it's important to find the right oil. That's one of the few instances where an oil additive (containing ZDDP) can help.

 

[GChief]

engines with flat tappets

One of my toys has one of them there motors, it was a fun build and an even more funner drive

 

[ohm470k]

One thing that annoys me is the specified weight oil for your vehicle is not only based on lubrication requirements. My 2.5L in my 2020 Camry is recommended in the manual to use 0W-16. 0W-20 is allowed once but then you must go back to 0W-16 on the next change. I always wondered why. Then I heard that the same engine in Europe states to use 0W-20. I also heard that the reason for the lighter oil in the US is for Toyota to reach their targeted CAFE rating. Lighter oils get better gas mileage. Guess who now gets the heavier oil since it's easier to find and really makes little to no difference in his gas milage? I don't pay much attention to the brand since they all have to meet specifications anyway to be sold legally with whatever claims they make.

 

[Mr Boochie]

One thing that annoys me is the specified weight oil for your vehicle is not only based on lubrication requirements. My 2.5L in my 2020 Camry is recommended in the manual to use 0W-16. 0W-20 is allowed once but then you must go back to 0W-16 on the next change.

I would use quality 0W-20—prolly many more available options than 0W-16.

I buy jugs of Mobil One 5W-30. It goes into all the cars I own. I’m not about to stock 5 different oils for the 5 cars. Nothing has blown up yet.

 

[ohm470k]

I would use quality 0W-20—prolly many more available options than 0W-16.

I buy jugs of Mobil One 5W-30. It goes into all the cars I own. I’m not about to stock 5 different oils for the 5 cars. Nothing has blown up yet.

It's hard to find anything in some stores but usually one brand in a 16 at an auto parts store and sometimes wal-mart. I buy mostly on amazon and usually get Mobile One since it is actually one of the cheapest. I have always liked Valvoline and haven't had any issues with Penzoil or some others either since they started putting detergents in oil and went to synthetic. I have 2 cars and a truck. I think my truck and the wife's Highlander use the same oil. What's more annoying is keeping stock of different filters for them all. I usually by them in bulk on amazon too though.

 

[OldJBL]

The brand of oil isn't nearly as important as the length between changes. The interval for fluid/filter change should be 3k-5k depending on the operating conditions the engine is under. It is best to use synthetic oil but changes using non synthetic is nearly as good if the change interval considers the engine's operating conditions. Following the manufacture's recommendations for the engine and transmission (and other systems) typically means a much shorter component life. As for engine oil , I use Walmart's full synthetic oil. For transmissions and other less frequently changes fluids, I use the manufacturer's brand.

 

[ohm470k]

The brand of oil isn't nearly as important as the length between changes. The interval for fluid/filter change should be 3k-5k depending on the operating conditions the engine is under. It is best to use synthetic oil but changes using non synthetic is nearly as good if the change interval considers the engine's operating conditions. Following the manufacture's recommendations for the engine and transmission (and other systems) typically means a much shorter component life. As for engine oil , I use Walmart's full synthetic oil. For transmissions and other less frequently changes fluids, I use the manufacturer's brand.

I do mine every 5,000mi even though I mostly do highway driving. My wife stays in town and drives way less than I do. I think the manufacturer says 10,000mi but I go with the oil is cheap and engines aren't philosophy. I do it myself because I can't see paying twice as much for something that takes me a half hour to do every few months.