Oil...

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but - is there a real difference
between the high mileage oil and filters vs the regular oil and filters?
Just wondering if the extra cost is justified.

TIA,

-TRogers

 

Dunno.

My personal conclusion on oil was that when I owned a turbocharged
car, using oil with a higher temperature rating (ie Mobile 1 or
Castrol Syntec) seemed worth it, since the turbo bearing hits really,
really high temperatures right after shutdown. Everything I own now
is normally aspirated, so an oil at current API standards seems
sufficient (though my old car with conventional lifters needs
additives since the SM standard has reduced phosphates and zinc).

On filters, it's really clear from all the oil filter dissection sites
that Wix is much better constructed than anybody else, and is in a
whole 'nother league from the ubiquitous Fram. Is Fram "good enough"?
I don't have any way of knowing. But the difference in price between
them is small enough that when I'm replacing the filter every few
thousand miles, Wix seems a reasonable investment.

 

if you go to the oil makers websites you can find the spec sheets on the
different oils, from what I've seen there is no difference.

 

Spec. sheets or MSDS sheets. There's a big difference.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

why would you check the MSDS? I'm looking for the oil's specs not how many
fish its going to kill

here's some examples. I assume the only difference in a high mileage should
be zinc right?

castrol high mileage dosnt bother to report it
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/b...ts/downloads/p,q/pds_gtx_high_mileage_usa.pdf

looking at the other ones castrol dosnt report much
here's standard valvoline
http://www.valvoline.com/products/All-Climate.pdf

Max Life
http://www.valvoline.com/products/Maxlife.pdf

looks pretty similar to me but check it out and draw your own conclusions.
not sure what all the crap stands for? I dont but this guy does
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/misc/all_oilfaq.html

 

I wouldn't. I was expecting to find only the MSDS sheets due to the
proprietary nature of anything meaningful that would distinguish their
product from a competitor's.

That is my point.

 

the msds sheets give the chemical make up of the compounds as well as the manufacturer

 

If it really were intended for older cars with slider lifters, then zinc
would be key. But what those "high mileage" oils are really aimed at are
5-year-old econo-beaters that leak oil like sieves, so they have
seal-swelling additives. You can look at the API ringlet to see if its a
low-zinc oil. IF its anything higher than SJ rated (SL, SM, etc.) then
its a low-zinc oil. Diesel engine oils rated higher than CI (CJ, for
example) are also reduced zinc compared to older diesel engine oils, but
still higher in anti-scuff additives than current gasoline engine oils.