Motor oil

I got these on Dev's recommendation https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JMCCE6U/

The Pennzoil platinum 0w-40 is a breakthrough oil.   Im going to be switching from the Euro Castrol which is also good but this stuff is revolutionary in two areas which is its clean formulation, very high viscosity index and the abundance of the Tri-nucular Moly as an anti-wear substance.  

Many of these oils will have to play catch up now especially the clean formulation technology that can actually improve an older engine just by using it.  

I'm currently running Motul at the recommendation of Ken at OTP Automotive.

I had been using Mobil 1 synthetic prior to this.  No complaints, everything is running smooth.  No idea if I'd be able to tell otherwise...

Is this my 10th post?  I believe it is.

I tried the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum on my last oil change, it was on sale on Amazon, plus there is a $2 rebate per quart up to 5 quarts until the end of the month.  After about a thousand miles, it still looks clean.

Just an FYI.

Posted by: kamlung

i recall over the years there has been tons of discussions regarding motor oil for our cars... IIRC the go to was the Euro spec Castrol Edge 5w-40 if i am not mistaken...

BOLD; Also know as GC(German Castrol), WAS 0w-30, but it's NOW 0w-40...it's GC, same stuff. Castrol just changed the 30 to 40, due to 1, imo, it tested at nearly 40, and, 2, imo, Merc, BMW and others(?) seem to like 40's, even tho Merc listed Castrol/Edge Euro Formula 0w-30 as an approved oil(I had an '06 SLK350, and was familiar with MB's recommendations).

For those that don't want to spend a fortune on the Motul 300v, you can get the Motul Econergy or Eco-Lite.  It's still full synthetic double ester based and lasts about 10K miles.  I use it in my wife's car (2017 Highlander).  I also sell it.  But, unless you live local to me, the shipping would eat up any sort of discount you could get from me.  Amazon would be your best bet.  Let me know if you're interested though.  5 Liter Jugs are the way to go with this oil.

ok now i know where i'll eventually end up, let's talk about the interim steps i need to tackle... 

i was going to do break-in oil for the first 100 miles then another 400 miles before running a cycle of dino in there before fully going synthetic... for the dino run, any recommendations on a high zinc oil?  i was actually thinking a diesel oil like Rotella but interested in hearing thoughts... 

ZDDP (zinc dialkyldithiophosphates) is an amazing additive to make a motor put up with so much more abuse and it used to be abundant in most quality motor oils but unfortunately it kills catalytic converters. There's a reason that ever since the early 2000's you don't really hear about people needing to replace their catalytic converters every 80,000 miles or so. They changed the oil specification to dramatically reduce the ZDDP.

That said, if you have a car without catalytic converters there's no better additive to use than ZDDP. I prefer Klotz but there's a half dozen "racing" oils that have high ZDDP which should all work pretty similarly. 

ZDDP does have its place and still does in formulations but it is being replaced by Tri-nucular moly that was developed by a company that is jointly owned by Exxon and Shell. One the main reasons it is used is to do away with zinc because of catalytic converter burn out and because it will not reduce the lubricity of the oil like zinc does. 

This means you can achieve better engine protection, better fuel milage and more power. It doesnt mean that zinc is entirely phased out as it is still use in these newer formulations but its a lot less than before.  

Insidently I was at the Toyota dealership picking up a gasket and noticed they had the new 0w-16 Toyota oil.  The guy behind the service desk said it was being used in all of the 2019 vehicles.  Interesting times we live in. Maybe in the next five years it will be 0w-10 oil. 

I admit i'm not an oil engineer (or whatever those people are called) but i have spoke to a few over the years. Both ones that sell oils high in ZDDP and ones that don't and it's always been the consensus those people that I've talked to seem to come to. I don't know when Tri-Nucular Moly became a thing, maybe it's just because some or all of those discussions are ones that i had were before that was a thing. Do you have experience abusing oil with this new additive?

My other experience is with offroad trucks and race cars. When i discovered ZDDP i stopped blowing up engines. 

That said, I'm still blowing synchros. I haven't found a good solution to improve longevity of synchros while racing. 

Posted by: Marc

I admit i'm not an oil engineer (or whatever those people are called) but i have spoke to a few over the years. Both ones that sell oils high in ZDDP and ones that don't and it's always been the consensus those people that I've talked to seem to come to. I don't know when Tri-Nucular Moly became a thing, maybe it's just because some or all of those discussions are ones that i had were before that was a thing. Do you have experience abusing oil with this new additive?

My other experience is with offroad trucks and race cars. When i discovered ZDDP i stopped blowing up engines. 

That said, I'm still blowing synchros. I haven't found a good solution to improve longevity of synchros while racing. 

A heavier zinc formulation might still be necessary  in much older engine designs depending on the valve train however oil formulations are ever changing and just getting better to the point where there are radical shifts in the anti wear formulations. Some of them are political and some like the Tri-nucular moly which came out ten years or so ago are producing some really good used oil analysis result.  The new Pennzoil SRT oil that is recommended for the hell cat  has a good amount of it.   Its not cheap  but it is being used quiet a bit now like in the Toyota 0W-20 oil which also produces incredible used oil analysis results with the specified 10k oil change intervals.

Pennzoil is a Shell company.  Mobil uses it in their Euro oil.