Havoline Motor Oil
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peter78
Super Moderator
Going to a oil forum such as this:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi
may be the way to go. I searched Havoline under Car and Truck engine oil and got 300 hits. I read about a dozen threads. Most were favorable. It seems like pretty good oil with good additives for the cheap side of oil.
Consumer Reports once did a study of oil and said most conventional oil is pretty much the same, but I am like you and I like Castrol GTX for conventional oil. Bottom line if the dealership uses Havoline, I see no real strong reason to change. Keeping the oil changed on a regular basis would be more important to me.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi
may be the way to go. I searched Havoline under Car and Truck engine oil and got 300 hits. I read about a dozen threads. Most were favorable. It seems like pretty good oil with good additives for the cheap side of oil.
Consumer Reports once did a study of oil and said most conventional oil is pretty much the same, but I am like you and I like Castrol GTX for conventional oil. Bottom line if the dealership uses Havoline, I see no real strong reason to change. Keeping the oil changed on a regular basis would be more important to me.
Sac State said:
I'm going 3750 with Castrol GTX and I also stress-out over anything more than 5000 miles. I was going to switch to Mobil 1 but feel like I would have to go too many miles to justify the increased cost say 8000 miles. Since oil is regulated and now meets the SM classification, I think I would reather have clean/fresh dino versus old dirty synthetic. Who really knows?
Depending how my mileage goes on the 4Runner with M1 I may switch back to the Castrol GTX, that stuff was, had to have been one of the best oil I ever put in my Pathfinder, I switched to Mobil Drive Clean and never thought the Drive Clean was as good, it was cheaper in BJ's so I figured WTH, seems like a lower quality, as far as breaking down I think the Drive Clean does not hold up the same way the Castrol GTX does.
I change my own oil and strain it and use a magnet to see what comes out and I can say if my next M1 drain is similiar to what it was with this 5500 miles, I'll go back to dino juice and just stick with the 3-4k changes.
I change my own oil and strain it and use a magnet to see what comes out and I can say if my next M1 drain is similiar to what it was with this 5500 miles, I'll go back to dino juice and just stick with the 3-4k changes.
EDGE said:
Edge, that's good info. I use Mobil Drive Clean in my 350Z but it is changed every 3K miles (only drive it around 700 miles a month avg.) for some reason Nissan perfers dino juice. Figure that the 4.7 V8 will last a long time on Castrol GTX and 3750-4000 mile oil/filter changes. Plus I'm trading it at 80-90K miles for a new one anyway
Plus on www.bobistheoilguy.com site, they seem to like the Castrol GTX even better then the Castrol Syntec full synthetic.It's interesting to hear people say an engine likes one oil better than another or their engine feels better or runs smoother with a paticular oil. And to infer that Havoline is a lesser brand of oil is like calling Ford a minor player in the car market. What you see of Castrol is a very agressive marketing machine, but who's to say one oil is better than the other. Oils meet a spec and stops there. It costs money to make oil and more money to make it better. So you can figure that most oils that meet a certain API or ACEA spec are pretty much the same. If an oil was better you would see a new spec printed on the bottle and probably pay more. We build racing engines and break them in on Havoline and then switch to synthetic. I use synthetic in my personal vehicles because it is better in every way except cost. I just hope that reduced wear and maybe better mileage might pay me back. But in the end, most people pick an oil they like or they don't know or care. And the 'like' part may not be based on facts. If you are worried get a UOA and read some real information about your favorite oil. If twenty bucks is too much, then just go to a quick lube and be done with it.
Larry, I agree there are a lot of factors that effect the oil you should use. If the oil meets the spec's called for by the engine manufacture you should be in good shape. I've read all of the UOA on bobistheoilguy site by owners of Toyota/Lexus 4.7 V8's. The consensus is that this engine is real easy on oil no matter what oil you use. Based on that I doubt no matter synthetic or dino the 4.7 V8 won't have a lube problem as long as the owners manual is followed. The only reason I would use synthetic at this point is after the warranty period for a longer change interval like say 7-8K miles, then it would be cost effective and still cover the lube needs. JMHO at this point in time, could change tommorrow
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peter78
Super Moderator
About 28 years ago I was driving my Volvo in 105' heat and I noticed a wierd sound in the engine. I stopped and looked at the oil to see if it was OK. I then opened the oil cap and saw a mass of white oil foam. I was using Quaker State. I decided to switch to Castrol GTX and I have been very pleased. I have stayed with that ever since, except when I decided to go with synthetic oil on my 4Runner, but I still use Castrol GTX on my other cars. So yes I guess I am brand name type.Larry said:
Oh one more thing, I swear I can hear the difference and feel the smoothness of the 4Runner when I switched to Mobil 1. So I guess I am one of those people you are talking about.
Edge, I was not aiming at anyone. If you are getting metal that you can see on a magnet or in a strainer, maybe you want to stick with the oil that produces the most. It's washing metal that's already there out of the system. There might be some in a new engine. If I were seeing any, I'd do a few short cycle oil changes and get a UOA. If current engine wear is producing such particles you've got real problems. Also I'd put a pint of Marvel Mystry Oil in the oil a couple of hundred miles before that short cycle oil change. If there's any junk there, the MMO will find it so you can drain it out. It's the particles that you can't see that get pumped through the bearing that cause the real wear. Particles that you can see are most likely too large to get into the bearings.
Keep us in touch with what develops....
Keep us in touch with what develops....
JungleJim
New member
peter78 said:
I had to respond to this one. I always used Castrol GTX back in the 80's until one day I noticed the same thing that you noticed with the Quaker State....white foam when I took off the oil cap. Up to that point, I had also noticed similar foam on the dip stick. During the winter, the Castrol GTX clung to the dip stick in like molasses (and yes, I was using the correct weight according to the manual).
From that point on, I refused to put any Castrol products in my vehicles. I think they do a great job at marketing, though.
I have a "go to work car" that has only seen Penzoil. It currently has over 206,000 trouble-free miles. ('87 VW Golf).
I use Mobil 1 in our newer vehicles.
Castrol is probably an okay oil, but we all make choices based on personal experience.
JungleJim said:
I use the Castrol GTX based on the fact that in used oil analysis it gets excellant results in the Toyota 4.7 V8. Sounds like your engine had water mixing with the oil to create white foam, any oil will do that, even Mobil 1 and Penzoil. I wonder if you had a antifreeze leak?
