Cary - your current engine oil favorites?

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IdahoDoug

IdahoDoug

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Cary,

I'm going to make the plunge and get large quantities of oil and a pump. I'm interested in your current recommendations for 1, a synthetic and 2, a mineral.

I read through your old posts and found that you recommended Mobil Drive Clean and MDC plus as non synths and got all set to find some. Neither are on the Mobil website now, so dunno if they renamed/dropped, etc?

For synthetic, I recall there's another synthetic that's not a name brand and expensive like my current fav Mobil 1. Was it Delvac, or something?

Anyhow, I'd love to know your 2 choices here.

DougM
 
Mobil Drive Clean and Drive Clean Plus have changed names to 5000 and 7500 respectively. Kind of odd though... they made Drive Clean Plus in 10W-40, but after the name switch they did not make the 7500 in this weight. I thought that was strange.

For cost, quality and availability, I'll venture a guess that Cary will say Mobil 1 synthetic... but I don't want to still his thunder :D.
 
this what he said just a few days ago:

cary said:
I'll save you the time. For the money, the Shell Rotella 5w-40 in the 4 quart jugs at Walmart is the best deal going. Mobil 1 is a slightly better oil, but in the real world both will work equally well for intervals of less than 10,000 miles. Start pushing it longer than that and at some point the mobil 1 will show you how it holds up better.
Click to expand...
 
My Current Favorites are:

1) Mobil 1 0w-40. This is a great oil, but some have had high consumption with it, others can't find it.

2) Mobil 1 Truck & SUV. Easier to find, shouldn't have any consumption issues, a bit heavier than the 0w-40 and generally available at Walmart for $22.88 in the 5 quart jug. I am currently trying a mix of this and 0w-40.

3) Castrol 0w-30 aka German Castrol. You have to be careful with this one as there are two versions, a US made Group III and a German Made Group IV oil. If you want to run this one you have to look carfully at the back of the bottle for those magic words "Product of Germany" or "imported from Germany". The back will also carry BMW LL-01, MB 229.3 and 229.5 approvals.

4) Shell Rotella T 5w-40 Synthetic. This is a group III oil that has turned in consistantly good results at bobistheoilguy.com. It is the value leader of the bunch when you can get it at Walmart for $12.88 per gallon. If you have to buy it at $5.00 a quart, buy one of the others above.


Mineral Oil:

The major brands are all getting pretty good. If you are in a mild climate (temps above 40F), the Chevron Delo 400 15w-40 appears unbeatable, and many times turns in numbers close to the synthetics. For those in colder climates, in the winter, run a 5w-30 if you use mineral and pick your choices from Chevron, Havoline, Pennzoil, or Mobil. The only reason I don't mention castrol GTX is their mineral oils seem to have pretty crummy low temp pump specs. Valvoline is excluded because their All Climate has shown poor performance, but the Maxilife is supposed to be pretty good and is available in 5w-30.


RAVENTAI, YOUR THOUGHTS, ADDITIONS, ETC????
 
Last edited:
M1 10-30?
 
Went to dino oil because I can't stand to let it go more than 3k between changes.

Using Chevron Delo 400 15w40, $7.49 a gallon at Autozone.
I used to use M1 15w50.
Southern Arizona desert.
 
Mobil formulates it's 30 weight oils on the light end of the weight scale. 30 weight oils run from 9.6-12.5 Cst @ 100c. Mobil's 30 weight oils average about 10.0 cst, close to being 20 weights (for example, their 5w-20 comes in at 9.2 cst). The Castrol recommended is 12.2 cst (almost a 40 weight), and the 40 weight Mobil's are in the 14cst range (I believe 14.1 and 14.7). I don't recommend the 30 weight Mobil's because of this, and I believe that for best valvetrain life in following European ACEA A3, which requires oils to have a HTHS of 3.5 or higher at 150c. All the oils I recommended (except the mineral 5w-30's for winter) meet this spec the 30 weight Mobil's don't with a HTHS of 2.9-3.1.
 
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I'm dumb Cary......:flipoff2:

I think you just said "it's not thick enough", is that correct?...;p
 
cary said:
Mobil formulates it's 30 weight oils on the light end of the weight scale. 30 weight oils run from 9.6-12.5 Cst @ 100c. Mobil's 30 weight oils average about 10.0 cst, close to being 20 weights (for example, their 5w-20 comes in at 9.2 cst). The Castrol recommended is 12.2 cst (almost a 40 weight), and the 40 weight Mobil's are in the 14cst range (I believe 14.1 and 14.7). I don't recommend the 30 weight Mobil's because of this, and I believe that for best valvetrain life in following European ACEA A3, which requires oils to have a HTHS of 3.5 or higher at 150c. All the oils I recommended (except the mineral 5w-30's for winter) meet this spec the 30 weight Mobil's don't with a HTHS of 2.9-3.1.
Click to expand...

:eek:
I just changed my oil last night with Mobil 5000 (5w-30):mad:

Guess I will definitley change it at 3000 miles now... but hopefully I'll be rear main fixing before then...


I was running 20w-50 but that seemed too thick for me... am I being thick?
 
Cdan- Yep, I'm saying the Mobil 1 10w-30 is to thin (thinner than ideal).

Land Speeder- There is really no point in running 20w-50, it is slow to lube on startup and is thicker than needed. The general idea is run the lightest oil that provides adequate protection. It appears in most cases that the heavy 30 weights/light 40weights hit this mark best, providing the lowest wear numbers in most motors, protection of the cams and bearings in all circumstances, while not unduly lowering fuel economy and power output.
 
He just said 20-50 is too thick.....:hillbilly



I bet he is an attorney and he is practicing his big words on us. I'm on to him and I will continue to translate where necessary. My mom is an attorney and I have a leg-up on this deal....
 
cruiserdan said:
He just said 20-50 is too thick.....:hillbilly
quote]

Careful, or he will say your too thick and your hair is too thin:D
Click to expand...
 
I get my Delo 400 from Costco.
 
Romer said:
Careful, or he will say your too thick and your hair is too thin:D
Click to expand...


And that would be true.....:frown:






Note to self: Romer's next order will need a slight "adjustment".
 
cruiserdan said:
And that would be true.....:frown:

Note to self: Romer's next order will need a slight "adjustment".
Click to expand...

Note to self: Cruiserdan's Moab reservations will need a slight "adjustment".
 
Romer said:
Note to self: Cruiserdan's Moab reservations will need a slight "adjustment".
Click to expand...



Note to self: I think Ken moonlights at the campground as the reservation taker. In fact, I'm certain that is the case.....Now that I think of it, I herd her, I mean HIM, put his cigar down duing the transaction.
 
cruiserdan said:
Note to self: I think Ken moonlights at the campground as the reservation taker. In fact, I'm certain that is the case.....Now that I think of it, I herd her, I mean HIM, put his cigar down duing the transaction.
Click to expand...

hey, no reason to get insulting here:flipoff2:
 
LOL!.....:hillbilly
 
Doug, before you invest in a big barrel, try the new oil in your motors. I ran Shell Rotella T 5w-40 Synthetic and both of my brothers run it. The brothers have good luck with it and still run it, '97s with ~110K miles on them. I had a startup chain rattle with it in my truck, switched to Mobil 1 15W-50 and no more rattle. It would suck to buy a barrel and find out your truck dosen't like that oil!
 
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