Quaker state oil bad?

[endlesszeal]

I got my oil changed at walmart and the employees commented that its the wosrt oil ever and that's why its on sale for the wlamart 24 dollar oil changed. They notably gringed on the thought of putting it in a diesel. My gfs dad is ase certified (if that means much) and agreed with empolyees opinions.

So I was just wondeing why? Also is there really an appreciatble differences in performance say between major brands? Say castrol vs valvoline and their respective oil types (high mileage vs high mileage or syntethic vs synthetic)?

 

[K2e2vin]

They're actually differential compositions(or lack of certain additives) and also the quality of the base and additives. Pretty much they have different wear properties, breakdown at different temps/mileage, etc. For instance, some people use Shell Rotella-T synthetic because of the high amounts of zinc and phosphorous(which helps prevent wear on rocker pads, etc; though later formulas have less due to API restrictions). The added zinc and phosphorous also affects the emissions which is why many oils have low levels.

 

[reckedracing]

Walmart and just about any shopp out there gets bulk oil, which takes quality to a whole new lower level.
I know back in the day consumer repoorts tested oil and found castrol to be the best, but that was a long time ago.
Something worth looking into if you want the best bang for your buck.

 

[K2e2vin]

How do they determine what's best?

I always buy oil from Advance Auto Parts except for Shell Rotella or any specialty oils; they always have some sort of sale(usually Castrol) and includes an oil filter(usually Purolater, which is much better than Fram). Wal Mart may sell the actual oil for less but the combo at AAP makes it cheaper than if you were to buy the oil from Wal Mart and filter separately: Just this weekend I think I paid like $21 for a gallon of Castrol High Mileage 10w30 and Purolater Premium filter.

 

[Dustin_m]

The added zinc and phosphorous also affects the emissions which is why many oils have low levels.

Care to give a little more detail about this? What does it effect in the emissions? I'm curious because I started using Rotella 15w-40 in my jeep XJ on the last oil change after reading about many guys preferring it for the 4.0. I have needed to smog it but it's failed twice in the last month, running way high for NO both times. I'm wondering if these might be related.

 

[endlesszeal]

Care to give a little more detail about this? What does it effect in the emissions? I'm curious because I started using Rotella 15w-40 in my jeep XJ on the last oil change after reading about many guys preferring it for the 4.0. I have needed to smog it but it's failed twice in the last month, running way high for NO both times. I'm wondering if these might be related.

ZDDP (Zinc dithiophosphate) is the additive used to reduce metal to metal contact that also acts as an anti-oxidation agent. Its 1 part zinc and 4 parts phosphorus with zinc providing anti-corrosion and phosphorus providing anti-wear. ZDDP is used because of its non polar properties and can be easily dissolved in oil. In the product itself, the ratio is roughly 1:1.

Unfortunately, the phosphorus is the bad guy because it partially vaporizes due to heat, forming heavy metals and damaging the cat.

Phosphorus Additive Chemistry and Its Effects on the Phosphorus Volatility of Engine Oils
Valvoline.com > FAQs > Motor Oil Car FAQs > Racing Oil
Zinc dithiophosphate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyway, thanks Kevin. I never really thought about it too much and kinda thought oil was oil unless it was conventional vs synthetic. I guess ill be changing my oil sooner than the 3500 miles are up.

PS Shell/Pennzoil now owns Quaker State.

 

[invisibledemon]

personally, i would never take the opinion of any "tech" working at a walmart.
not sure about the areas where you are, but the walmarts here never hire anybody that actually know about cars, because they would have to pay them more than $8/hr. the walmarts here always screw something up. every shop i have ever worked at always had cars that were last worked on at walmart, and we had to fix it.

i have used quaker state in my subaru for the past 3 or 4 oil changes, never had an issue.

 

[eg6sir]

his GFs dad is ASE certified and agreed

 

[K2e2vin]

There's different types of ASE techs; unless he specializes in oil then in general I wouldn't assume it to be fact. Companies have separate divisions for oil testing and analysis(done by scientists/engineers, not technicians); I know Volvo has a division just for that and many heavy machine dealerships send oil samples out for analysis. With that said, some of the tests on Quaker oils do not look as good as some other brands(you can say it's just a "simple" oil).

 

[invisibledemon]

eh, i think its just a matter of opinion most of the time.
people are going to endorse what they personally use.

i only put mobile 1 synthetic in the wifes car since brand new.
me, i have had many cars, and used many oils. i have used most of the different quaker state lines, and never had any issues or complaints.

worked in shops with ase certified techs, and some master techs that used quaker as well.

 

[K2e2vin]

I agree with that; plenty of different techs use and endorse different products.

Dustin; Rotella is recommended on a lot of older motors, and they're popular with sport-bikes too!

 

[jeffie7]

Rotella makes like 6 different blends of oils.

Rotella T6 I believe is the one people run in bikes. The rest are not good for the clutches.

Oil is like assholes, however in the asshole world, assholes while in real life serve a purpose where in the oil world, without using a testing lab, those assholes are nothing more then filled with shit.

You need to find sites like this

Motorcycle Oil Filters & Air Filters

While its for motorcycle filters it carries over into cars.
There's handful of oil pages where they take all different types of oil brands, run them for X many miles and send them out for testing.

If someone says anything about 1 motor oil being better then another, ask them where they had the oil tested at, Blackstone Labs is one of the more popular places.

Another good place that will keep you busy for a long time.

- Bob is the Oil Guy

 

[Jeef]

I got my oil changed at walmart
My gfs dad is ase certified

IF gfs dad is ase ceritfied wtf are you doing getting your oil done at Walmart?

Well you can't trust Honda dealers either, they don't know how to tighten drain plugs near me.

 

[endlesszeal]

i was like at 5000 miles since my last one, i was in a hurry to get out of town and had plenty of other errands to do before i left so i just went there cuz it was easy on the funds. also, i rather not bother someone for something i could easily do myself.

anyway, thanks jeffie. that forum was pretty informative and confirmed what i suspected; it really comes down to brand preference and other variables (mileage, driving conditions, etc...) that leads to no definite"best."

i did R&D and manufacturing for a cosmetic company and a lot of the top salon companies share the same basic formula for their products. the difference between them were mainly marketing bs. the only real difference was how much water generic used vs salon brand, where as the 99cent store used 80% water in their shampoos and the salon brands used 70% h20 in their formulas.

note: im not sure what my gf's dad is certified in, but he said it required getting an associates degree at a local junior college. mainly does basic stuff like brake, suspension and maintenance.