Pick your poison: The Engine Oil Megathread

[AARP]

Alright, since we seem to have quite a big variety of oils used in the community, post up the oil you're using (or have used) and your impression of it.

Name:
Brand:
Viscosity:
Type:
Grade:
Comments:

[AARP]

Name: Rotella T6
Brand: Shell
Viscosity: 5w-40
Type: Full Synthetic
Grade: A
Comments: Wow. Wow is all I have to say after prematurely changing my oil (Castrol Edge 10w-30 ) at 2000 miles due to terrible HLA tick. The first thing I noticed is how much smoother the power band is now. Acceleration is now smooth as butter. For $21 at WalMart you can't go wrong.

[xjdesertfox]

Name: GC (german Castrol)
Brand: Castrol
Viscosity: 0w-30
Type: Synthetic
Grade: API-SM
Comments: Previous owner of my car was using 20-50 to quiet down the lifters, I ran this oil and it eliminated my lifter tick all together. Car is super easy to turn over. Ive got a giant stash of this oil.

Name: Mobil 1
Brand: Mobil
Viscosity: 0w-40
Type: Synthetic
Grade: API-SN
Comments: This oil is what I used during the colder months of the year in most of my cars, or whenever I can get it on sale. I like this oil a lot.

Name: Rotella T6
Brand: Shell
Viscosity: 5w-40
Type: Synthetic
Grade: CJ-4/API-SM
Comments: Good lord, could anyone have made a more perfect oil? This is my go-to oil for any car that needs a cleaning. Ive run this in my truck as well since brand new, its a little on the thicker side at operating temperature, but the trade-off is an absolutely smooth running motor. Between my chevy truck, miata, toyota camry, or ford mustang, this is my oil of choice.

Name: PYB(Pennzoil Yellow Bottle)
Brand: Pennzoil/SOPUS
Viscosity: 5w-30
Type: Conventional
Grade: API-SN
Comments: Running this oil I notice my motors sound slightly different, this is a high moly content oil. I have pulled some good UOA results with this oil and I buy it whenever I can get it for about $2/qt.

[TheFrohn]

so the rotella does a good job with the lifter tick?

[WASABI]

so the rotella does a good job with the lifter tick?

Frohn,

Just be aware that these guys are running a thicker grade oil in California. A 40 weight oil will be too thick in the colder Michigan climate. Also, if it makes any difference,a thinner grade will also extend your gas mileage. At the end of the day, always check with your owner's manual for the proper grade.

-Jim

[TheFrohn]

Understood, figured maybe it'd be something I could run in the summer months.

[xjdesertfox]

Frohn,

Just be aware that these guys are running a thicker grade oil in California. A 40 weight oil will be too thick in the colder Michigan climate.

Tons of guys on BITOG up north run GC and M1 0w-40 in cars spec'd for a 30 weight with absolutely no problem.

In a cold weather climate youre going to want to go with M1 0w-40, It has better cold weather characteristics than the other two oils I mentioned.

But at the same time, the coldest my cars start in is about 10-15 degrees, so I dont know how bad the winters are up there.

[WASABI]

Name: MAX1 ADVANCED
Brand: Irving
Viscosity: 5W30
Type:Full Synthetic
Grade:GF5-SN



Comments:Good stuff, no knocks, made in Canada by a (fairly small) oil company. I pick up a few cases every time I'm up there. Oh, and they also have MAX1 ADVANCED 5W30 that is dexos (new GM spec) approved as well.

-Jim

[The Driver]

Name: Rotella T6
Brand: Shell
Viscosity: 5w-40
Type: Full Synthetic
Grade: A
Comments: Wow. Wow is all I have to say after prematurely changing my oil (Castrol Edge 10w-30 ) at 2000 miles due to terrible HLA tick. The first thing I noticed is how much smoother the power band is now. Acceleration is now smooth as butter. For $21 at WalMart you can't go wrong.

Word!

[xjdesertfox]

Should we throw Oil filters into the mix as well? I could pull up some pictures of all the filters i've cut open if i still have them around.

[AARP]

Should we throw Oil filters into the mix as well? I could pull up some pictures of all the filters i've cut open if i still have them around.

That would be most excellent. I've generally just stuck with K&N which I understand to be the M1 filter that you can crank with a 25mm bolt. FRAM filters scare me.

[Caoboy]

Last I remember reading, the K&N filters are basically a fram filter with a nut welded on the end.

Personally, I use PureOne, Wix, Bosch, or OEM filters only.


In terms of oil, I haven't found the "magic" oil yet. I've used Castrol Edge, G-Oil, M1 0w-40, RP, Redline, Pennzoil Ultra, Amsoil, and Motul. Redline for sure I felt a butt dyno bump in power. The others all felt the same initially. Just different times where I would get the valve tick. Edge and Pennzoil having the tick come the earliest.

[xjdesertfox]

That would be most excellent. I've generally just stuck with K&N which I understand to be the M1 filter that you can crank with a 25mm bolt. FRAM filters scare me.

Ill go digging for the pictures.

Personally, I use nothing but wix filters. They have good beta ratios, silicone ADBV's, and a good amount of filtering material.For the price they cannot be beat. The purolator pureone filter is a great filter as well in the same class as wix, however we dont carry them at oreilly(where I work). So the wix filter comes out even cheaper for me, especially when I order by the case. If you click on the second link, youll see why im not too keen on the M1 filters either, although their media is effective in trapping particles, they have such a small amount of media in each filter.

Some valuable links for comparing filters.

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters/index.html

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1662838

http://www.300cforums.com/forums/gen...dissected.html

[The Driver]

Rspeed sells Mann filters for the NA/NB. This is the same brand that are factory installed for Porsche/Volvo. The sell 'em for like $5, IIRC.

[xjdesertfox]

Thought Id bump this thread up with what im planning. This past Oil change was a cleaning cycle for me in the miata I just picked up about 3 weeks ago. The previous owner was hiding the lifter tick with some 20w50 royal purple. I cleaned it up with a Mahle s2000 sized oil filter and 3.75 quarts of german castrol 0w-30 and .75 qts of marvel mystery oil.

Im guessing this combination of detergents knocked a ton of grime loose internally because now Ive got 2-3 different SLOW leaks. We're talking 2-3 drops/week.

Which brings me to my little experiment. In 400 miles, Im going to drain this oil(at which point it will have 1.5k on it) and start a few runs of different oils to see what I can get to slow down/stop the leaks.

I will do 2 OCI's with each oil.

First run will be Mobil 1 HM 5w-30
Second run will be SN Pennzoil HM 5w-30
Third run will be SM Valvoline maxlife 5w30 (hopefully I can find some around my store) If not will be the new weaker SN version with less moly.

I really didnt plan on running mobil 1 or any synthetic in this car really since I plan on swapping it, and I do short trips so it would be subject to fuel dilution. But we have it on sale right now at work for $5.50/qt so why not?