A most important video about oil...

[Krooser]

Like him or not Lake Speed Jr. knows lubrication. He helped Gibbs "Driven" brand become the gold standard for many race teams.

Viscosity breakdown is something I know about first hand. With 53 years of trucking under my belt I experienced oils going bad just by keeping track of oil consumption.

For decades the 10,000 mile oil change was the normal in class 8 trucks. And I routinely saw oil consumption go up in the latter stages of that oil change interval. @ 8000 miles I was adding a gallon of oil more frequently.

Some guys would run the engine one gallon low on purpose to cut down on oil usage....but it also increased wear.

I did routine oil sampling for almost 25 years in my equipment. I could see the oil viscosity drop as the miles increased. Oil usage increased... oil pressures dropped.

By the 2000's oils improved. The 15,000 mile service interval became the norm.

I rocked the boat and went to 50,000 miles!
By understanding the oil sample reports I saw which oil lasted longer...the viscosity index stated healthy for a longer period of time.

I saw great numbers by adding Lucas Oil Treatment to the oil. It's nearly a pure VII... viscosity index improver.

The last Pete I owned went 1,918,000 miles before its first rebuild. I bought it @ 900,000 miles and started those 50k service intervals almost immediately.

The engine went down after a cylinder liner perforated caused by the cheap coolant I was using.

The rings and bearings could have gone another 500K if not for the water intrusion into the oil caused by the hole in the cylinder liner.

My son, who has owned big trucks for 30 yr years, would cringe when I mentioned my long oil change intervals.

My point here is watch this video. Look past his presentation to listen to the facts.

You will here a slight prejudice against one particular oil brand...one that I share going back 40 years. Think "castor" oil...

HIs main point here is timing chains and gears kill oil viscosity. And that kills engines. Think about that the next time you buy a modern car with a 10' long timing chain and try to go 7500 miles between oil changes. Or something with cam phasers.

And his opinion on the oil additive packages is insightful. Looks like the Luberizol folks have the answer ..Shell/Mobil do not.

 

[Photon440]

Same thing on the railroads, they are always sending off oil samples to the lab. There's no point in changing the oil if it is still meeting requirements, especially when a main-line locomotive engine with extended oil pan holds 400 gallons of oil. The oil itself won't wear out, but contaminants from soot, fuel oil and ingested dirt are a problem. Filters get changed constantly.

Actually, the oil is constantly replaced anyway, as a locomotive in heavy service will consume 25 gallons of oil in a week, so there's always some fresh oil in the system.

 

[Ron H]

Interesting vid, all the abbreviations were a bit tough to keep straight for me; but think I got the gist. Few years ago while hunting down engine heat reduction tricks, came across an article by Lucas on racing oils. It prodded me to watch the oil pressure after my rebuild closer than I was. With some exceptions with engine builds, running high-viz racing oils such as the common 20/50w were not recommended, unless racing vs street driving. I don’t go racing anymore. They went on to discuss more heat retention with higher viz and HP drag.

Getting back to oil pressure, noticed oddly high pressure even after a 50-mile drive. At idle it was around 60-65. Switched to 10/30w (high zinc having solid lifters) and have to order it as the stores stock the 20/50 all day, not the 10/30 (Valvoline VR-1). Get around 40psi at idle. I eventually got the lower engine temp I was looking for; but did a bunch of things in the hunt: OEM shroud, 7-blade fan, top-seal for radiator (factory options for my ride it didn’t have) reduced the anti-freeze ratio, and added wetter.

As has been the routine, change the oil every spring and rarely put 1500-miles on it in driving season.

 

[WileERobby]

I recall sending out oil samples to labs, years ago, for analyzation for engine failures. When a manufacturer tried to deny a warranty claim for lack of maintenance. I was amazed at how well the oils were after so many miles.

 

[YY1]

I never subscribed to the 3000 mile oil change.
That is throwing away money.
...and I learned that castrol doesn't last as long as Valvoline thanks to our Mopar lifter tick telling me when it was time to change.

 

[Krooser]

I never subscribed to the 3000 mile oil change.
That is throwing away money.
...and I learned that castrol doesn't last as long as Valvoline thanks to our Mopar lifter tick telling me when it was time to change.

I do 3,000 mile changes on my daily drivers simply to keep the engines cleaner.

When I was doing 50K on my CAT engines I changed filters every 25k or so + or -.

I used to use a bypass filter, too but not on my last truck. I will say that the extra filter kept the oil clear as water for ever.

A guy needs to pay attention to all the details in this video ...I've watched it three times. More in the future.