Oil Change Intervals

[gregbark]

There is an old saying "You get what you pay for" and buying cheap oils is not economical in the long run. With the technical knowledge and the variety of Manufacturers these days it is possible to get the best. That refers to both product information and the oil to suit your needs. Companies like Fuchs, Penrite and others can all advise, along with forum site information, such as here.

[Maysik]

What are the opinions on engine cleaners?

If I was to purchase a car that has had the same oil in for 10 years and the oil is filthy, would these engine cleaners:

1/ Do anything?

2/ Would they damage anything?

I see some recommend running the car for no more than 15 minutes with the cleaners in.

Would you use them in a modern car such as an alloy V8?

Just curious, thanks.

[Kiwivan]

Do not use an engine flush! You could block the oil pick up
Run a good oil and just change regularly

Cheers Kiwivan

[Maysik]

No worries thanks for that.

Is that because it will dislodge sludge and that gets in the pick up or is it the actual chemicals that block it?

[Kiwivan]

No worries thanks for that.

Is that because it will dislodge sludge and that gets in the pick up or is it the actual chemicals that block it?

Because as you said it will dislodge slide and may block the oil pick up.
Regular change will slowly clean her up as it has done with ours

Cheers Kiwivan

[jason.ruff]

Only sample every 250hrs. Change as required, for engine with spinners its about every 2500hrs.

[Valencia]

All i know is we had big problems with Castrol in the 90s
Remember oils aint oils damm straight Castrol was and still is garbage

[Innuendo]

Friction Modifiers are plastics and accumulate if not flushed and replaced. That is why when you lift the valley cover/manifold or sump it can look like a dry muddy riverbed (cracked mud).
We used to call it the Castrol drought. Horrendous product and don't use Castrol to this day because of it.

Shell took over Pennzoil some time back and that is why we don't see Pennzoil in Australia like we once did.

[axistr]

I can remember when I was an apprentice removing the sumps from some cars and it looked like someone had thrown sulphur in them. The sump pan was yellow from all the sulphur and the bearing and rings look like they had been sand blasted. I have never used Castrol oils since. It ironic that Castrol GTX 2 was actually supplied to them by shell. Castrol GTX 2 was shells entry level oil (not a bad oil) but marketed by Castrol as a premium oil. I didn't find this out until 15 years later.

[wbute]

It's hard to know what's myth and what's fact. I remember everyone saying Castrol was no good. In the next breath they said Shell was no good as well.
We always used Mobil but only because that was the local fuel distributor. One Tractor we had did 8000 hours and we only rebuilt it because the liners got cavitation holes in them. Oil changed every 100 hours with Mobil 30 grade. Now Mobil has disappeared and I mostly use Gulf Western because the local heavy vehicle business uses and supplies it.
My John Deere Tractor is still under warranty and is using JD oil.
Westrac maintained all the gear at Cadia when I was there. They didn't seem to have too many engine issues. Very regular PM on the gear and the operators were kept in line. I did see one block out of a 793 dump truck (78 litre cat V12) that had hand grenaded from an over rev though.
It's interesting to read what people have found when they have pulled engines down though. Clearly not all oils are equal, just like filters and fuel.