In many of these postings...all I ever read is praises to Havoline, Castrol, Mobil, etc.... But I can't find anyting about Valvoline...
In one of my vehicles I used Valvoline All Climate for many years and never experience any problems. I admit, I never ran any UOA's on it either... So I don't know if it is a good dino oil. I just got finished reading a thread comparing Havoline to Castrol GTX, and everyone voted for Havoline.
As far as Valvoline All Climate is concerned, is this a good oil as well?
I'm only speaking of conventional oil with regard to this question.

 

Does is say "SJ" or "SM" on the bottle?

If your answer is yes, then yes, it is good oil.

 

it is way overpriced for what you get. its a 2.00 oil worth .98 cents. the valvoline shears back bad and they are always cheap when it comes to add packs. they try to do bare minimum. check out BITOG. you can get a lot better oil for a lot less.

 

I used to use Valvoline and was happy with it, but recently the price has went up so high and there are other good oils like Citgo or Havoline at half the price that are as good or better that I have switched. Some people bad mouth Valvoline, and there is merit to it based on UOA's, but it is not a bad oil. As JSCHIRA said, if it is rated API SM, it is good.

 

Do you think that Castrol and Pennzoil are more or less the equal to Valvoline with regard to add packs?

 

If X grams of zinc (or whatever) per quart has been tested and determined to be sufficient for 3000 miles, or 5000 miles or whatever oil change interval your engine manufacturer recommends, then that's enough. The fact that an oil has X + 1 grams of zinc looks good on paper is just that. Good on paper.

That's what the SJ, SM ratings mean.

A while back, I posted an article on the committee that determines these standards. Every industry is represented. Oil companies. Additive companies. Engine companies. Quikie-Lube companies. The standards are thoroughly hashed out. To dismiss them as insufficient is foolishness.

 

well the valvoline uoas have shown it to be a poor preformer. the new sm oils cut the amount of zddp allowed in the oil.

 

Does this mean that the Valvoline All Climate rated SM is pretty good?

 

no its just meets the api requirements. but it does meet the api specs so its no bad just not very good. there is way better out there. valvoline does not even use moly.

 

That's like saying Flintstones vitamins are better than One-A-Day because Flintstones have 200% of the Vitamin C requirements and One-A-Day only has 100%. So, do you really believe that eating Flintstones vitamins will help you to live longer than eating One-A-Day? If all you look at is lab test results, you probably do. Personally, if it has 100% of what I need, I figure it's good enough.

Any oil with an "SJ" or "SM" rating is quite capable of getting your engine to 150,000 miles or more provided that you follow the manufacturers oil change interval. In short, even with "cheap" oils, properly maintained, your engine will outlast the rest of the car.

I deal in 1950s and 1960s cars. Many of them have 100,000+ miles and still run fine (without any rebuilds), even having used the crappy, practically additive-free oils that were sold in the 1950s-1970s for almost their entire lives.

Oil companies have spent billions of $$$ to convince you that their oil is better than anything else. OK, under spectroscopic analysis, they may be correct. But my engine doesn't run in their test lab. If the additive pak is good enough to last between oil changes, I could really care less if there is 25% remaining or 50% remaining at oil change time. So long as it did not go to 0%.

BTW, when API spot checked oils last year, nearly 1/2 of the samples marked "SJ" did not meet API specs for an SJ oil. API would not give out names, but did say that the failed samples were across the board. Brand Name to Brand X. So all the extra $$$ for a brand name "Premium" oil may not be buying you much.

If you are in doubt as to my opinion on this subject, let me know and I will try to clarify. Otherwise, pull up a chair, read what is being said and make up you own mind.

 

You mention that Valvoline contains no moly. Do other oils such as Castrol GTX and Havoline containe moly?

 

I would never use All Climate. Maxlife is what All Climate should be. Use Maxlife, but buy it on sale. Pep Boys will occasionally have it for under $2 a quart. I believe Walmart still has the 5 quart jugs for $8.97 which figures to around $1.79 a quart--a great deal for a great oil with (SM version) 290 ppm moly and, per the MSDS, abut 15 percent PAO.

 

Even if given to you free?

 

Look, if you V-All Climated changed every 3-3500K, do you really think this oil is ever going to cause an oil related problem?

 

Ok, ok, I didn't figure on a wiseguy. Yep, I will take it for free and either use it for a rinse or donate it to charity.