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Oil questions

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John_Mc

John_Mc

Jedi Knight
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This is a very remedial question, but here goes:
What oil are you guys using? I have been using Castrol GTX and will likely continue on that path as it is the recommended oil. I was assuming 20w-50 but I was disappointed to find that Costco (warehouse club store) does not have 20w-50 and I would like to buy a box versus individual quart bottles. I checked the LAPS (Kragen) and Castro GTX sells for $3.99/qt. I always thought that was the service station price and that auto parts stores would sell it for under $2 qt. Have I just not been paying attention to price prior to this? So in summary, what are you using and where are you getting it to pay the best price?
Thanks for your knowledge and patience with my basic question.

ps I also have a high mileage VW vanagon. It would be nice if I could use the same oil in both. Any suggestions?
 
I've been allergic to Castrol products for a long time; and a believer in Valvoline full synthetic motor oil (ever since it appeared to undo the damage done by the last time I tried Castrol). Yes, it costs more, but I compensate by running it longer, 7-10K miles.

For the 20W50 I use in all my Triumphs, I watch the ads in the Sunday paper, until CSK has it on sale, then go look on the bottom of the shelf (or ask) for a full box. Usually it's limit one box (of 6 quarts), so I visit two or three stores.

For the LBC support vehicle, which takes 5W30, I buy the 5-quart bottle at Wally-mart.
 
John_Mc said:
Have I just not been paying attention to price prior to this?
Click to expand...
Ummm, I don't know quite how to tell you this but, while you weren't watching, crude oil went to nearly $150/bbl. It's back down to closer to $40/bbl, lately -- but I expect the price of motor oil to lag a bit longer than the price of gasoline.

The motor oil question has been bandied about regularly and passionately, hereabouts. My reading of the posts is:
1) Castrol has abandoned the use of ZDDP.
2) ZDDP is <span style="font-style: italic">good</span>.
3) Valvoline "Racing" 20w50 still has lots of ZDDP (last I heard) -- so that's what I'm using.

If my engine suffers a catastrophic failure, this year, I will:
1) Blame Valvoline, and
2) Let y'all know, just as soon as I can get back to my computer.
(I might get stranded in the middle of some god-forsaken desert -- y'all will just have to wait!)
 
How would one tell the difference, except every 100,000 miles or so? For what it's worth, I've used Castrol 20-50 for ever and ever and have recently begun adding ZDDP at each oil change. Nothing has gone wrong, so far as I'm aware, that I could attribute to the brand or composition of the oil.
 
It's interesting that Castrol GTX is 20-50 over there still. They changed it in the UK to 10-40 a few years ago. I have to use "classic car oil" these days!
 
Perrymip said:
How would one tell the difference, except every 100,000 miles or so?
Click to expand...
The problems I've had with Castrol (over many years so likely not applicable today) include :

1) Freshly rebuilt Chevy motor developed an almost invisible, sticky film on the oil pressure relief valve, causing it to stick open. Local old mechanic said "Castrol sometimes does that". Cleaned the valve, switched brands of oil, never happened again. Good thing too, as on that car the valve was inside the oil pan, and you had to partially remove the engine to get the pan off.

2) Having the viscosity improver break down in just a few thousand miles, leaving the oil thin as water (10W40 oil starts out as 5 weight oil, then gets an additive similar to STP to create "multi grade"). That TR3 motor was in an advanced state of wear anyway, so the viscosity loss was very noticeable. (The wear might explain the loss of viscosity too, but straight 40 weight Valvoline Racing worked great.)

3) Other people's engines I've worked on, that use Castrol, are frequently full of sludge. Not such a big issue in the crankcase, but I've seen more than one rocker shaft that was totally clogged with it. Using Valvoline, my shafts never seem to have more than a light brown film inside.

4) Another Chevy motor went from using about 1qt/5000 miles to more than 1qt/1000 miles within 10,000 miles of switching to Castrol. Switching back to Valvoline Racing did not help, but the Valvoline full synthetic brought it down to about 1qt/3500. After another 100,000 miles on the SynPower, it was still only using about 1qt/3000.
 
Welcome to the "Oil" Party!!

The winter 2008 issue of British Motoring from Moss Motors has a very helpful article on oil for British cars. Britishmotoring.net has a more detailed version. I need to compare it to what I am currently using to see if I have been doing the right thing.

Good luck!!
 
Haven't youse guys seen the Castrol ads. It fights sludge!!!!!!!!

I went back to Castrol after several posts here last year. I think I'm going back to Valvoline next oil change. I have some SLOB to add to it.

As I understand, Castrol has not removed all ZDDP from oil, just reduced it to well below 1200ppm. This is more of an issue with new engines getting broken in.

I wouldn't worry about stockpiling any oil until the prices comes down. My last trip to Wally world was a shocker!
 
My local Bi-Mart is selling out all their VR1 Racing oil. They told me that they aren't getting any more.
 
They are all over Washington and Oregon. They sell Hardware, food, electronics. Kind of like a Fred Meyers before they became a supermarket.
 
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