USED Motor Oil is being sold to you as NEW

Flatfish

Thanks for the "heads-up!"

Actually, I haven't used regular motor oil in any gasoline engine for over 30 yrs.. On the other hand, the fact that you are using regular oil may very well have something to do with the fact that your engine loses and/or burns oil now.

I've been using fully synthetic motor oil in all my engines and I've put over 250,000 miles on each of the last three trucks I've owned without any of them burning and/or leaking oil. I usually change the filter at 5,000 miles and add a quart to refill it, then I do complete oil changes every 10,000 miles. The fact that I'm not having to do oil changes every 3,000 miles, (as recommended by most regular oil manufacturers) seems to negate the cost difference between regular and synthetic oil.

you seem to have forgotten something important. you don't change oil because of it breaking down and stuff like that, you change oil because of the contamination it gets from the combustion. all the filter does is trap grit and such, it doesn't clean out those contaminants. you may think it is all fine and dandy, but some of those contaminants are nasty stuff and rather bad for your engine. i have noticed however a lot of newer cars now recommend an oil change every 6,000 miles instead of 3,000 synthetic oil or not. i have also owned trucks with 250,000 miles that didn't leak or burn oil, yet never used synthetic oil in them.

don't get me wrong synthetic oil is better, it just doesn't last longer. and at sometimes over 5 times the cost it really is not worth it for most people to use regardless of the benefits. i know it has to be better since it was a real hassle to try to clean, when some leaked or spilled on the shelves or floors. synthetic was all but impossible to clean without leaving a "slick spot" behind,, normal oil could be difficult but not near as bad, the re-refined crap was ridiculously easy to wipe up and get a non slick surface.

I learned long ago that regular oil and regular gasoline are two of the worst things you can put in your engine and both will cause you headaches on down the road.

Especially when it comes to using "regular" gasoline in small engines, like chain saws, weed-eaters, lawn mowers and even outboard motors. My repairman told me that if I wanted to save some money, I should quit being a cheapskate and spend the little extra it takes to stay away from the "regulars."

again i have to disagree. unless you drive a piece of crap, or have your engine performance tuned, you should never use the higher grade gas, it is not only a waste of money because it costs more, but a waste of money because it hurts your fuel consumption rates. also it can cause some cars to run like crap.

Well, I'm here to tell you he was right as rain. If you don't believe me, just try switching to mid-grade gasoline on all your small engines and you too, will soon realize that he is right. I doubt you'll ever have to pay to have the gum cleaned out of another carburetor and they'll start quicker and run better than ever before.

wrong again, normally the cause of a gummed up carb in a small engine is the fact that your gas has "gone bad" while sitting unused for half the year. not the grade of gas used. and like a car engine most small engines run worse with higher grade gas. that is because of the higher amount of octane a chemical used to reduce "knocks" and "pings" caused by an engine being high performance tuned, or an old failing piece of crap. nice to know advertising does work at brainwashing though. a GM mechanic at a "new car question night" made that remark, when a customer asked why his sports car ran like a piece of crap even though he used the high grade gas in it. the mechanic went on to say if he wished to use the high grade stuff, just to come in and he would adjust the tuning of the car to run on it. not to mention i had learned it from the mechanics i worked with throughout the years. NOT ONE mechanic i have ever known ever recommended using anything other than regular, unless you had the vehicle performance tuned or drove an old piece of crap. and i always track my mileage and whenever i have used the higher grade gas, my mileage has dropped, and gone right back to where it had been once i ran through a tank (of where the hightest was mixed with regular), afterwards.

generik
you seem to have forgotten something important. you don't change oil because of it breaking down and stuff like that, you change oil because of the contamination it gets from the combustion. all the filter does is trap grit and such, it doesn't clean out those contaminants. you may think it is all fine and dandy, but some of those contaminants are nasty stuff and rather bad for your engine. i have noticed however a lot of newer cars now recommend an oil change every 6,000 miles instead of 3,000 synthetic oil or not. i have also owned trucks with 250,000 miles that didn't leak or burn oil, yet never used synthetic oil in them.

don't get me wrong synthetic oil is better, it just doesn't last longer. and at sometimes over 5 times the cost it really is not worth it for most people to use regardless of the benefits. i know it has to be better since it was a real hassle to try to clean, when some leaked or spilled on the shelves or floors. synthetic was all but impossible to clean without leaving a "slick spot" behind,, normal oil could be difficult but not near as bad, the re-refined crap was ridiculously easy to wipe up and get a non slick surface.

While I agree that contamination is probably the biggest enemy for motor oil, it definitely is NOT the only one and just for the record, motor oil does indeed "break down and stuff like that."

The whole reason I change the filter at 5,000 miles is to reduce contamination and yes, if you purchase the right filters, contamination can be minimized. There are even some filter applications out there, (for those willing to spend the extra money) that have efficiency ratings as high as 98.7 percent at 2 microns, which is extremely good.

With respect to oil "break down and stuff like that," I would suggest that you check out some of these articles regarding that very subject;

auto.howstuffworks.com...

First off, synthetic oil is better than conventional oil when it comes to its form and function. Conventional oil could never stand up to synthetic when it comes to longevity and ability to handle extreme high temperatures without breaking down.

Synthetics can last as much as three times longer than conventional oil, which means that you could be dumping less than 15 to 24 quarts of oil per year.

Depending on where you drive (dusty, dirty climates), and how much and far you drive (shorter distances don't heat oil enough to boil off condensation in the engine), you can probably last between oil changes for 10,000, 15,000, on up to 20,000 miles with some brands of synthetic.

www.drivenracingoil.com...
www.carcraft.com...
www.edmunds.com...

generik
wrong again, normally the cause of a gummed up carb in a small engine is the fact that your gas has "gone bad" while sitting unused for half the year. not the grade of gas used. and like a car engine most small engines run worse with higher grade gas. that is because of the higher amount of octane a chemical used to reduce "knocks" and "pings" caused by an engine being high performance tuned, or an old failing piece of crap. nice to know advertising does work at brainwashing though. a GM mechanic at a "new car question night" made that remark, when a customer asked why his sports car ran like a piece of crap even though he used the high grade gas in it. the mechanic went on to say if he wished to use the high grade stuff, just to come in and he would adjust the tuning of the car to run on it. not to mention i had learned it from the mechanics i worked with throughout the years. NOT ONE mechanic i have ever known ever recommended using anything other than regular, unless you had the vehicle performance tuned or drove an old piece of crap. and i always track my mileage and whenever i have used the higher grade gas, my mileage has dropped, and gone right back to where it had been once i ran through a tank (of where the hightest was mixed with regular), afterwards.

I will agree that many, if not most, cars will run just fine on regular gas. That's why I said "especially when it comes to small engines," when I was speaking to it's use.

Automobiles are generally driven on a regular basis, (not sitting on a shelf for months like a mower or weed-eater) which doesn't give the gum in the regular gas time to settle out and "gum" things up. Since I started using mid-grade in my small engines, (10 yrs. ago) I've yet to have one gum up, fail to start and/or run bad, even if I leave it on the shelf for a year. This is because mid-grade has a lot less gum in it to begin with.

That's not to say you're not entitled to your own opinion and free to use whatever works for you. But if it's all the same to you, I think I'll stick to the mid-grade.

Keep in mind that the motor oil you just bought is probably recycled...

If you personally change your car's oil, you must know you must collect the used oil and put it in a special bin usually outside of automotive stores or vehicle service shops. It is there for recycling.

I always inspect the new oil I just bought, especially before I pour it in. I kinda obsess myself with things about cars and I actually love the smell of new oil! - especially the Valvolines and Shell automotive and diesel oils.

Some oils smell like fruit juice or some kind of sweetened drink - I especially hate those!

originally posted by: Flatfish
I will agree that many, if not most, cars will run just fine on regular gas. That's why I said "especially when it comes to small engines," when I was speaking to it's use.

Theoretically, you are correct. But the regular gas is also lacking additives that can actually keep the fuel lines and the injectors clean.

I used to run on regular gas on my 1300 liter EFI (stock). But when I checked the plugs after 15k kms, I saw signs of lean mixture (could be due to bad injectors) or possible detonation (knocking). The plugs (factory specs) showed signs of slight overheating. The engine also experience random misfires.

When I switched to 95 octane (the next better gas, usually). All the problems disappeared. Fresh batch of plugs this time and after 15k kms, no sign of lean mixture or detonation.

I also observed, if you alternate use of regular and premium (95 octane) between top ups, I get just as good results so I conclude the problem must be from lean mixture caused by clogged injectors. Premium gas solves this.

However, if you really want to be on the safe side, just top up with premium always.

If anyone has heard of the 98 or 100 octane "racing gas". That is absolutely useless unless you drive a car with an engine tuned for those fuels or unless the car manual states the use of such fuels. I have tried it on my 1300 EFI, absolutely no discernable difference against the 95 premium.