Well, when you see how discolored and black oil is at a change I still have serious difficulty accepting that old oil creates less wear.

Subjectively, I have no doubt that every car I’ve owned sounds smoother and more quiet after an oil change.

Manufacturers want to minimize warranty claims, if timely oil changes didn’t help, they wouldn’t require them. Don

 

Frequent oil changes = a big profit driver for dealerships, plus saves any problems caused by people who neglect to check their oil level.

Black oil is not a bad thing, it means that the oil is properly suspending the carbon particles and keeping them away from the metal engine components.

Moral of the story: Run your choice of quality motor oil & oil filter, change at the factory service intervals, check the level every few tanks of gas, and never worry about your engine oil again Follow GM's recommendation for Dexos oil then run whatever decent filter you want including ACDelco, Bosch, Purolator, Mobil 1, K&N, Amsoil, Wix, Fram (their better filters aren't bad), Microguard, Napa Silver/Gold, etc etc etc.

 

I have run engine sequence tests on a number of types of oils. This test is required for combat operations and for many large fleet purposes. I have always found that Mobil 1 performs better and longer than most others, but I have not tested a number of the newer syn-oils, so my info is a bit outdated. The metal content in break-in oils is always high. So I like to get this oil out of the car after 1,000 to 2,000 miles even with a good filter and good pressure and good circulation. On iron motors I break in with standard oils with top SAE certs, then move to Mobil 1. With AL engines I break in with syn-oil, but do not push it hard until after 2,000 miles. Yes, I have heard the push-it-hard from mile one crowd. But I am not in this camp at all as I have see the sequence test results from hard-run break it periods. Yes, I know, the Corvette engine is well honed in production and parts are polished better these days, and wear is lower compared to just 20 years ago. But I like to go down the safer roads in life. So for me, break it with syn-oil for 1K to 2K then change, then go to good syn-oils and change every 4-6K in normal driving. My problem is that I am out of that business now and I do not know about Dexos. Is it as good or better than M-1? I do not know. I want to see full sequence tests on the difference before I decide. Now, I am clueless. But I will stick with M-1 for now until I see proof of it being better. And I will search for that proof. But opinion is something that is of limited value to me. Show me the shear-test results and the mic-results after 700 & 1,400 hard hours. Then the data will tell me what to use.

 

Dexos1 is a certification that certain Mobil 1 weights (0W-20, 0W-30, 5W-20, & 5W-30) and other oils carry; not an actual oil itself.

Basically, the Dexos1 certification means you are getting a good quality oil compatible with your engine, but the downside is the manufacturer had to pay to carry this license and therefore you're possibly spending a little more on this oil than it otherwise should be. That said, I ran Mobil 1 in both my Mitsubishi Evos and intend to continue doing so in the C7 (once the 2/24 free maintenance program is up) since it is readily available and reasonably priced at Walmart.

 

yes, I just talked to one of my peers at "snip" oil chemistry section. He said that DEXOS is a global oil quality certification program controlled by GM. It was needed because oil quality outside of the US (sometimes in) was becoming a problem with the need for better and better oils. Mobil-1 U.S. is not an issue and the certification to Mobil 1 was not needed and did not really change anything as it was already Dexos equivalent. But there needed to be a way to make sure that lower quality oils were not put in the car. The cert is more of a legal guarantee because there are places where what you get may not be what is on the label and GM wanted a way to capture damages if someone claims to have a high-quality oil, but does not actually have that oil in the bottle. Thus, if you have your own certification process, and someone claims to pass it, but your process has not actually passed that oil, then you can collect damages from that supplier. There is some talk also of making sure that some suppliers are not putting their oil in GM cars.

Wow. Glad I asked. I learned something new about this stuff.

 

Great info, makes perfect sense, thanks!

Some of these "pyramid scheme" oils that claim to meet certain specifications, yet don't actually carry said certification, scare me. I'm sure most of them are fine oils...but proper certifications is a nice reassurance to said claims.

 

The world sure has changed since I did this stuff. Must be some funny oil games out there and some real damage being done.

 

I know a few guys that swear by [pyramid scheme oil] in their street car yet are on their 4th engine in as many years...

Like everything else in life, you need to get past the marketing hype and look at the facts.

 

So whose hype are you buying into?

FYI, GM's term is licensed. The API's term is certified.

The oil industry has oversight groups to verify that oil's meet the specifications labeled on the bottle. Sometimes they don't. The Petroleum Quality Institute of America (PQIA) recently cited Valvoline's NextGen 5w20 for not meeting the requirements of API SN/ILSAC GF-5.
Petroleum Quality Institute of America

There are numerous other alerts on their website. There are also positive tests such as this one on AMSOIL Signature Series 5w30 that indicates it does meet API SN/ILSAC GF-5 though AMSOIL doesn't pay the API for starburst certification for their top tier Signature Series oils:
PQIA Test of AMSOIL Sig Series 5w30

Though NextGen is not on the list of GM licensed oils, five Valvoline branded oils' are.

GM makes a lot of money off this license. Many oil companies including Chevron and Citgo have opted not to pay GM the fee and the FTC is investigating GM's practices.
Automakers' Warranty Ties Blasted
FTC Seeks Comments on Warranty Act
Coalition Seeks FTC Review of Dexos
Chevron, Citgo Pass on Dexos

For those that feel more comfortable buying a GM licensed oil over one that is not, I would continue to buy what makes you comfortable. For me, I view GM's licensing as another way for GM to make money off me (and they already have enough). None of my five GM vehicles has a GM licensed oil in it.

 

You're going to find that the dealer maintenance program provides an oil change when the oil life monitor reaches 5-10%. You'll find that's way too long for the first change so you might have to do that yourself...and DON'T reset the oil monitor.

 

ha ha, I reset the oil monitor and then said ,damn, could have had a free one, at 2500 hard driven miles I had almost 70% oil life

 

I’m not trying to be cranky here, I do know suspended carbon does make the oil black.

A large portion of the filters on the market in the US are made by one company. Talked to them on the phone, they said the Fram UltraGuard is if I remember correctly, one of only two or three totally synthetic media filters on the market.

I’d also buy into longer change intervals if the car was regularly used for long commutes or frequent long trips. Typical owners don’t do that and predominately short trips probably cause many of the issues. Don

 

Honestly, nobody's really. You could walk up and down the oil aisle at any Walmart or auto parts store with a high probability of randomly picking something just fine. I ran Chevron Supreme in my S2000, Mobil 1 in both my Evos (factory-fill so I just stuck with it), and whatever is cheap in my girlfriend's car (right now it has SuperTech in it). For the C7 I'll run the ACDelco stuff while it's free then probably Mobil 1 after that since it's readily available and fairly inexpensive.

 

Good thinking
You are definitely correct; many filters are identical with only a different colored canister/label.

I know it's not Corvette-specific, but here is a great recent oil filter comparison: http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-eng...63t-4b11t.html

The Purolator PureONE filter is probably the best bang/buck filters on the market, as is the Fram ToughGuard; both can be had for around $5-7. If you want the best filter money can buy get the Amsoil/Mobil1/Bosch (~$10-17), if you want the best cheap filter you can find, get the Purolator Classic (~$3). If you don't care and just don't want to worry about it, get the ACDelco from the dealership or elsewhere (~$4-9?).

 

As you probably already know, it isn't internal combustion equipment. As I stated in another post, it's used in power transmission equipment to put 52,000 HP per shaft to the water. With a total of 104,000 HP, it makes for some pretty extreme manuevers for such a large "object". I'll see if I can find a video to demonstrate...

 

Probably true!

 

OK, I'll play::

1) How much ZDDP, moly are in the factory fill?
What percentage of the factory fill oil are detergent, anti-foam agents, acid-neutralizers?
How much of the factory fill is:: a) refined, b) PAO, c) Ester; base oils?
Does the factory add anything to the oil? if so, what?
Does the engine assembly use various lubricants that do something to the factory fill oil (and additives)?
2) For the oil you want to put in your car:: same questions?

These are the kinds of questions one needs to know in order to compare and contrast one option versus another (lubrication wise).

And note: I did NOT take a position on whether one oil philosophy or another was better, just that unless you know stuff about both oils you cannot jump to conclusions either way, philosphically. That was my point--you need <somewhat> unavailable information to do the comparison to begin with.
Secondarily; most people who adopt one philosophy or another do so without sufficient data to actually make a sound decision one way or the other.

 

That is absolutely all out in the wild, for both types of fluids.

Those wanting to make an informed decision based on your criteria are well within their ability to do so.

 

Hmm, so educated guess might be a large ocean going vessel, might be steam turbine driven and probably not military. Close?

In any case, the plot thickens, and changes, when you start throwing combustion products into the mix. Agreed?

 

I know I had a tough time finding it too, this stuff is confusing isn't it?
Going to the UK Mobil 1 site shows that it is current Dexos approved. The product description sheet shows that 0w40 Euro formula (as marketed in the US) is the same product as Mobil 1 0w40 ESP in the UK:

"Mobil 1™ 0W-40 European Car Formula (North America) or Protection Formula (rest of the World) Advanced Full Synthetic Motor Oil is engineered for the latest gasoline and diesel (without Diesel Particulate Filters or DPFs) engine technology delivering excellent all-round performance. It provides exceptional cleaning power, wear protection and overall performance. Mobil 1 0W-40 keeps your engine running like new in all driving conditions."


Links:

http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub...l_1_0W-40.aspx

http://www.mobil1.co.uk/which-synthe...ngine-oil.aspx


Also reviewing those sheets shows that Mobil 1 0w40 does indeed have a colder pour point, higher viscosity index and higher temperature viscosity than M1 5w30