Mineral Oil Recommendation (1 Viewer)

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I'm trying to figure out a good mineral oil to use in the winter. Did the search thing, came up with either Chevron Delo 400 or Shell Rotella T 15W-40 for the summer. But that seems a little heavy for the winter. Should I use something like Chevron Supreme 10W-30?

Waiting on switching over to synthetic until I figure out what I'm going to do about a minor main seal/retainer leak.

Thanks for any input.
Rookie2
 
Cary is the oil man.

He has indicated that the Chevron base stocks are the best. I think 15w40 is a bit heavy for cold weather usage. I use Valvoline all climate 10-30 in cold weather. Cary has also indicated that Valvoline's base stocks are not what they used to be :'( Sad news indeed for an old Valvoline dog. :-\
 
Chevron 5w-30 for winter. Pennzoil 5w-30, Quaker State 5w-30 (owned by Pennzoil) are also good choices. Valvoline base stock is fine, their additive pack seems to be a little weak. If temps in your area never drop below 30F, 15w-40 is find, and if it never goes bellow 0F you can use 10w-30. I still prefer 5w-30 when temps get below 20F because it flows better at low temps.

Cary
 
Chevron = Chevron Supreme?

Thanks for your input guys.
Rookie2
 
Yep, Chevron Supreme, AKA, the 69 cent/quart stuff on sale.

Cary
 
Dang, will I still be able to post on this site if I put 69 cent/quart oil in my rig?? I got the high dollar OEM filter if that makes everybody fill better :D.

Thanks for the info.

Rookie2
 
The Cary "bat light" hits the skyline

Cary - Over drinks last night with an old buddy of mine we got to talking motor oil. He performs about half of the oil changes on his vechicles and the other half are done by our mutual mechanic. He's been going out of his way to get the same brand of motor oil as the mechanic. He's subscribing to the "pick a brand of oil and stick to it" paradigm. I remember hearing this years ago on my first car.

So any merit / truth in this? or should a guy that's running dino oil pick a good brand and stick to it.

BTW... the mechanic is using Havoline (spelling?).

Thanks for settling this drinking debate. :beer:


Riley
 
Seems like I recall that Cary didn't necessarily prescribe to the "same oil paradigm", since different oils use different detergents and additives, may provide some benefits over using the same oil over and over.

Hope I haven't put words in his mouth. I'm sure Cary will chime in.

BTW, I haven't found anyone locally who carries the Delo 10W-30 version. Only thing I can find is the 15W-40. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet. May end up trying the synthetics and see if the leak comes back.

:beer:
Rookie2
 
Change oils at will, weights and brands. It is an old wives tale that you should always use the same brand and weight of oil.

For winter use, Chevron Delo 10w-30 is very hard to find. You will probably only find Chevron Supreme. My advice if you use mineral, don't worry to much about the brand as long as it is from a major supplier. For winter, 5w-30 is the grade to use, Chevron Supreme, Pennzoil, Quaker State are all fine. Temps above 40f, use 15w-40, Chevron Supreme, Shell Rotella Mineral, etc.

BTW, there is a new thread on the Bobistheoilguy.com. A Mobil rep posted some information on the new Mobil "Mineral Oils." Mobil Drive Clean is now a Group III hydrocracked basestock (what many companies in the US like to call Synthetic) and Drive Clean Plus is a Group III/Group IV PAO blend. For the money, I would say these will be the best oils you can get. Mineral pricing with some Synth benifits.
 
cary said:
BTW, there is a new thread on the Bobistheoilguy.com. A Mobil rep posted some information on the new Mobil "Mineral Oils." Mobil Drive Clean is now a Group III hydrocracked basestock (what many companies in the US like to call Synthetic) and Drive Clean Plus is a Group III/Group IV PAO blend. For the money, I would say these will be the best oils you can get. Mineral pricing with some Synth benifits.


That is interesting :beer:
 
Thanks Cary, great info as always.
 
I couldn't find Delo 400 10w-30 in any auto store in town, even asked a few of them if they could order it, and they said no. So I went to the Delo400 website, looked under dealers, and got a whole list of local dealers. (Most of whom I'd never heard of.) I called the one closest to my house, and they had it in stock. Min purchase is a 6 gal box - but w/two cruisers, and my wife driving 25,000 miles per year, that'll go quick.
 
Cary, what do you think of these "high mileage" oils? Are they just a slightly higher viscosity or do they have additives or what? Are they great, crap, or nothing special?
 
Hi mileage oils are typically a heavy in grade oil (i.e. heavy end of the 30weight range, heavy end of the 40weight range) with extra additives to help seal sweals and stop leaking. Also many are a synth blend. My thoughts, you are getting some benifits for the extra money, but if I were to use a Semi-synth, I would go for the new Mobil Drive Clean Plus.
 

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