Re: [St] the dreaded oil question

[Jim Crate <jimcfl@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 6, 2007, at 12:20 PM, Young, Mike wrote:

> I swear by Mobil-1 and Castrol Syntech for my 4 wheel vehicles, and  
> will
> use the Mobil for the bike, but I just am not sure which one, and what
> grade.

I used to swear by Castrol Syntech for my 4-wheeled vehicles.  For  
the first several years using it, my motors would be very clean under  
the valve cover when opened up for valve adjustments.  But over the  
last 40K or so on the last car I used it in, it built up a thick  
black varnish layer on the valve cover, head, timing chain area,  
etc.  I had heard about a reformulation a few years ago, but never  
thought much about it until I took that motor apart.

Now, all my vehicles get Shell Rotella T synthetic, and they all seem  
to be staying very clean inside.  Castrol Syntec will never touch the  
inside of any of my motors.

However, the actual performance of the Castrol Syntec is excellent.   
That motor spun a bearing as a result of defective Nissan filters  
causing a complete loss of oil twice (no, I didn't through all the  
filters away after the first time).  However, the spun bearing did  
not occur until 10K+ street miles and hundreds of track miles after  
the second complete loss of oil, and other than the bearings, piston  
wear was minimal for 180K+ street miles and 4K+ track miles, and  
other moving parts showed no signs of damage from the loss of oil.   
I've heard of more than one person who spun a bearing in Nissan  
motors after just running low on oil once, so I will give the oil  
credit where it is due.  I just won't be using it anymore because I  
believe the Shell Rotella T Synth is better.

Just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions...

Jim
2001 Sprint ST
1991 Nissan 240SX
1985 BMW 535i turbo
1980 Honda XL500S


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