motor oil trivia

[Timothy B.]

Re: differentiating between sb and bb oil pump

Duke,

I bought the walmart house brand also CI-4/SL rated but I can't remember if someone here made reference to recycled oil for the walmart brand. Last week I was at a BJ wholesale outlet and looked at Rotella six gallon case and it was mixed gallons of CI/SL and CJ/SM and I didn't think it such a good deal at $9.50 gal BJ's price compared to 1.50/quart Walmart price.

[Duke W.]

Re: differentiating between sb and bb oil pump

There are a couple of refineries in the US that are set up to make motor oil base stocks from recycled motor oil, and there are a couple of brands that advertise their products as made from recycled oil to attract the greenies with minds full of mush (like Cheryl Crow - recall her recent public suggestion that we ration toiler paper). Of course, the car guys with minds full of mush would not touch this product with a ten foot pole. Completely opposite decisions for completely irrational reasons!

I don't know the source for Walmart's C-spec oil base stock, but, frankly, I don't think it makes any difference. Most crude oil is a lot more knarly looking (and smelling) than used motor oil and has as much if not more contaminents as used motor oil.

It all comes down to process control to manufacture a base stock from whatever raw material you choose that, along with a suitable additive package. passes the target API specification test suite. If someone can come up with a way to economically produce motor oil base stocks from used plastic grocery bags - more power to 'em!

All motor oils have gone up in price with the rise in crude oil price, and the new specs are probably more expensive to manufacturer, especially because more expensive blends of base stocks are required to meet tough anti-oxidation requirements. Most SM oils are pushing two bucks a quart at typical outlets, so paying $2.50/quart for a C-spec oil is no big deal in my opinion because you are getting a higher quality product, and one which is better suited for vintage engines.

I usually buy a name brand C-spec oil at Costco (case of six gallon jugs), but picked up four quart bottles of the Walmart CI-4/SL at $1.48 because it's convenient to have one quart containers for a five to six quart changes and adding between changes when required.

Interestingly, when I bought that oil the Walmart gallon jugs were about $7.50 compared to about a buck more for the name brand gallons, so their quarts for a buck and a half represent a 20 percent discount from the same product in a gallon jug. It's an excellent deal!

Duke

[Paul J.]

oil trivia

The archive on 1509 was informative. I was suprised that CI had more "good stuff" in it than CJ or CM.
Paul

[Duke W.]

Re: oil trivia

The P limit on CJ-4 is about equal to what typical CI-4s had, which is why I not longer care about finding CI-4.

Duke

[Dick W.]

Re: differentiating between sb and bb oil pump

Just checked Sam's for Rotella $52.24 case