What are you going to do?
#22
Drifting
Castrol, Valvoline, or Mobil 1. Which ever is on sale for $22.97 at Walmart, or a coupon or rebate makes cheapest. Wix filters most always.
#24
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Left Coast, San Diego
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I wait for Mobil 1 (and the M1 filters) to offer rebates, buy a few gallons for our small fleet and change them when they need it.
#25
Safety Car
#26
Team Owner
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: altered state
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St. Jude Donor '05
I use whatever cheap dino oil is on sale and a wix filter. Did the "only Mobil 1" thing complete waste of money!
Your dealer is uninformed.
#27
#28
Melting Slicks
The code matters, at least it used to. But today I'm betting you'd be hard pressed to find oil anywhere that wouldn't be appropriate for any modern car (aside from non-detergent). Because of that I make zero effort to keep up with it all. Everything that follows is only what I remember, which may or may not be accurate.
The last code I remember was "SE," which stood for "Severe Extreme." That was around 1970, give or take a couple of years.
The last code I remember was "SE," which stood for "Severe Extreme." That was around 1970, give or take a couple of years.
https://www.oilspecifications.org/api_eolcs.php
#29
Instructor
You could literally mix 10 brands of oil, some synthetic, some not, all different weights, and as long as the viscosity remains acceptable, it would never hurt a thing. My dd is an 02 s10. That's basically how I get oil for when I change it. 220k and hasn't skipped a beat yet.
I make a living as a mechanic and I've seen lots of problems from lack of changing the oil but NEVER from changing brands or any nonsense like that.
I make a living as a mechanic and I've seen lots of problems from lack of changing the oil but NEVER from changing brands or any nonsense like that.
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#30
Team Owner
Member Since: Mar 2014
Location: Below the bottom of Berby Hollow, NYS
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Sorry, the S stands for Spark Ignition, as opposed the C grades that stand for Compression Ignition (Diesel) and the E was just the next letter after D.
https://www.oilspecifications.org/api_eolcs.php
https://www.oilspecifications.org/api_eolcs.php
My comment was retained knowledge from what I read a half century ago, right or wrong. I obviously don't remember the source, but was most likely a car magazine because that was about the only source.
#31
#32
Melting Slicks
That list happens to come from the organization that creates the specifications, The American Petroleum Institute. If you prefer to go by your faulty memory of something you read in Popular Mechanics that was probably wrong in the first place, go right ahead.