FYI - I received confirmation from Quaker State that they manufacture the brand "Supertech" oil. That is good news because it is very cheap. I also received confirmation from Champ Labs that they manuafactor the oil filters which are a good quality filter. Here is the email I received from Quaker State: Yes, Quaker State does indeed manufacture the brand "super tech" which can be found only at Wal-Mart. If you have further questions concerning thissuper tech, please contact our lubricants' hotline at 1-800-458-4998. Thanks.

It's still only Quaker State oil.

And Champion filters - "good quality filters"?

No warm fuzzy here.

QS may not be the best oil. But it's alright. It's not like the engine will blow up when you use QS. I've seen 300000 miles on a QS engine. Champ labs are better than Allied Signal(Fram).

What is wrong with Quaker State? What is the difference between this and other conventional oils? The Champ labs filters are a pretty good quality as well. Fram is the worst filter you can buy. I don't think you can go wrong for $2 a filter.

just becuase its made by quaker state does NOT mean it is quaker state oil

I understand. So if its made by Quaker State, then it is not Quaker State. OK. That makes a lot of sense....

It is made by Quaker State to Wal-Mart's specs. In otherwards, it may not have the same formula as the Green bottle does, and it may not have the same quality, because it is made cheaper and sold cheaper. Typically, companies do not bottle the good stuff and sell it under another name cheaper. One example is The house brand brake pads I sell at my store. They are made by Wagner, but they are not made to Wagner's specs. Therefore they do not last quite as long, and the make more dust. Make sense now???

whats better than fram ? who the hell is champ labs?

i wouldn't run quaker state in a weed eater or lawn mower let alone my car. i have an oldsmobile 350 that was a quakerstate engine and you wouldn't believe the ash deposits in it. quakerstate is junk and it will turn whatever you put it in to junk as well. too many bad experiences with that crap for anyone to convince me otherwise lol. catrol gtx all the way here.

ummm, GS could make the oil but it could be cheaper b/c of less additives. also i used QS 10w-30 oil in my old dirtbike trans, no problems, tried wal-mart, MESSED UP THE TRANS REAL BAD, will never use it again.
NO TRUST AT ALL

Funny, I had the same experience with a Castrol GTX engine, got flamed up one side and down the other for saying so in another thread.

No matter, it's still true, and I won't trust any major brand junk in any of my vehicles (or lawnmowers or snowblowers or whatever). Only exception I would possibly make is Mobil 1, and since I'm using something better than that already, I've got no motivation to use it.

Wal-Mart, Sears, Pep Boys, et al, spec products like oil, filters, tires, batteries, etc., for their brand, manufactured by someone else. Just because those Sears tires say "Bridgestone" on them doesn't mean they're as good as Bridgestone tires (another story, but I've got a school-of-hard-knocks diploma in that subject, too). Same for oil.

If you are having a hard time finding a better filter than Fram, you aren't trying hard enough. Actually, you aren't trying at all...

Isn't Quaker State a "parafin" based oil? I've heard this from many people. Supposedly it will eventually clog the oil pump pick-up screen. My brother is a long time mechanic and he won't oil his door hinges with the stuff
Just stuff that I've heard. I've also heard that Natural light is the stuff on the top of the Bud light vat. Not as thick or tasty. Heard that from an employee of Bud.

Oil Filter-- WiX
Oil -- Mobil 1 or Syntec

I used to be a "Fram" man... that orange radioactive color was great!

But now I'm strictly AC & Purolator... screw the rest.

Fram from what most say on these boards, and I mean the experts (old timers) , that they're products are crap now, and wouldn't use them. AC Delco is a lot better.
As far as QS, I never use it anymore, I've been told for awhile, they are known to leave a lot of buildup in the heads. Course I use Mobil 1 syn.

Build-up in the heads? I'm sure about every oil has a horror story that someone is telling. I know one on amsoil synthetic gear lube. Wal-mart knows nothing about oil, or filters for that matter. They ask the major companies if they can use their stuff and put the Wal-mart name on it. I doubt QS would reformulate their oil that they sell to wal-mart, but who knows? Does anyone on this board actually know? Change your oil and filter every 3000 miles--more important than brand.

I have used store brand oil and filters on a couple fo my vehicles for years. At well over 100,000 miles I decided to do a rebuild[rings/bearings,etc]. I changed oil and filter about every 5000 miles. Neither of these engines had a drop of sludge or required any machine work to block or crank. I'm not saying that theres not a differnce in oil or filters,but even the cheapest meet minimum standards. Now having said that , I plan to use synthetic on my new small block for added insurance.

If the oil carries the API donut with the appropriate designation you have NOTHING to worry about. Don't listen to all this speculation about different formulas. It is BS. It is strictly packaging and gross orders, nothing more. No manufacturer puts production runs in effect for mass merchandisers, just doesn't happen. If any oil you purchase carries the API certification then it is PERFECTLY OK to put in your car. The ONLY marketer with the clout to get Mobil to repackage thier synthetic has been WAL-MART. If you follow the market, they just became the largest corporation in the world. *** help us. Danno

It amazes me how the advertising the oil companies do seems to brainwash people in to thinking that their products are so much superior to others. Fram is a good example. There advertising has led many people in to thinking that it is a superior filter. Now I'm not saying it won't work but I have personally cut one open and compared it to other filters and it is a not a quality filter in my opinion. If you used a brand of oil that seemed to destroy it after just a few thousand miles, I would say there were more problems than just the oil. The only reason that WalMart could sell these products so cheap is that they don't have to pay for the advertising. You will not see a SuperTech commerial or a SuperTech sponsored Nascar. Danno is absolutely right. If it carries the API donut, there is nothing wrong with it and it is good to put in any vehicle. I could understand the argument with a synthetic oil because it is a completely different product. But I can't imagine there would be much of a difference between different brands of conventional oils.

Yes, there actually is. I'm not going to go over all the deatils of conventional motor oil but there are many things that happen to certain brands of conventional oils especiall the big "Penz" even with regular oil changes.

If you want to keep your car running change the oil and filter regularly! If you want to keep your engine going for 3k good luck with any oil. It can be done though, 340,000 on the 300-6 in the bronco and it still runs great and thats with dino juice.

U know when i used to work at Trak Auto we sold pro trak oil filters under the trak auto name, but to tell u the truth the trak oil filters are really AC Delco filters ( WINK WINK)Shhhh, keep this info in the down low !

Just some more data here...... I got my daily driver V8 with 57K miles on it. Been using QS and Pennzoil conventional ever since. Changed the oil, and filter, every 2 to 3 K miles. Now have 334,000 miles on it. Still running. Sometimes used some Marvel Mystery Oil to clear up lifter tick. Engine has never been opened. Knock on wood.

I ve been using Exxon Superflow and a PF52 in my 3.1 Lumina for 12 years. Pulled the intake last year to fix a coolent leak at 130,000 and it looked beautiful inside.

C'mon guys. Wal-mart doesn't have a tribologist (or however it's spelled...a guy who studies lubrication) on staff sitting around "writing up specs" on engine oil. I suppose you guys think the gas from from the different gas stations doesn't come out of the same tank too (?).

I work for a major automotive supplier who recently underwent a restructuring and makes very good steering and suspension components that many of us use (that should give it away nicely) and let me tell you. There's more buying and selling of stuff between competitors and repackaging that it would blow your mind. When autozone gets a new contract on their "house brand" of ball joints. The new supplier comes in and takes the ball joints out of the old company's boxes and puts them in their box and then puts them back on the shelf. After they're gone, the new suppliers parts arrive. Funny huh?

HTH,
Clem

the differences from 1 dino oil to another are virtually nill. QS got a bad rep a while back because it used Pennsilvania oil which had a ton of ash in it, but that hasn't been the case for quite some time now.

I run the wal mart oil along with a delco filter on my 2.8 camaro. I've pounded the snot out of it since I bought it, and I don't even change the oil on regular intervals. She's a 163k miles, down a quart currently, and running like a brand new car.

Your filter selection is 5x more important than your oil selection.

the more i read into oils and filters the more i agree with Jim, but my question is, how do the Supertech oil filters hold up agaist other filters. They are 2 dollars and for my beater 85 datsun pickup, it is better then fram from what i can tell. So i am running Supertech 10w-30 and a Supertech oil filter. But i want to know if i can get better **** for cheaper or same price.....

i tried to make a link but wouldn't work, but you can type in ''ENGINE OIL FILTER STUDY'' and they have a 100 brands tested etc,.

Royal purple by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For Oil Filters:

http://minimopar.net/oilfilterstudy.html

For Air Filters:

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...rs/index.shtml

As said previously, if it passes the certification process and you change your oil religiously you really should have no problem stemming from the conventional oil itself. Now, synthetic is an entirely different item.

I've heard that stuff is even better than Mobil 1.

horsepower tv showed it to be the best , seen it with my own eyes!!:hail:

Did i think oil could give u more horse power! I was wrong!The dyno showed that.....More$$$$$$$$ more horse,, they say u don't have to change it as much!!I only can find it in Speed shops ,so what does that tell ya!!!

Change your oil and filter when you're supposed to, and it doesn't matter what you use, as long oil you use as long as it has the same additive specification (SL, SG, SH, etc etc). My mother has a '98 S90 with the 2.9L DOHC I-6. I've been doing the oil changes for her since almost day one. Even now, I still go over and do them. I've put Fram and Pennzoil filters, and just about any oil (walmart, Pennzoil, you name it). At 151000 miles, it still runs great and the only thing on my mind with this engine is getting the timing belt replaced. Thats it. No funny noises. No oil burning. No leaks. Just for ****s and giggles, I pulled the VC's off one time, and the heads were clean enough to eat off of. And thats a high-revving long-stroke motor (seems like it would wear out fast wouldn't it). I only see a real need for $5 a quart oil in engines producing a lot of power for a relatively small displacement, like a sport bike, and not 98% of the motors we talk about on this board. When I had my old VFR 700, you bet your *** I put synthetic in it. Some people say synthetic lasts longer before the fortifiers break down. True. But synthetic or not, oil will still get contaminated with acids, dirt, and other debris. And no oil is going to do its job very well with those elements present. So in the end, you wouldn't want to leave in there very long anyway. Don't get me wrong, synthetic oil is great. But in many cases, at least IMO, its unnecessary.

Well......I changed 1000's of cars oil ......at WALMART

they used pen at the time . the stuff in the guns ( pen) is a total different grade in the guns ( pen) the bulk oil was called " B " grade oil by another tech there ( I am not sure if this is the tech term ) At any rate I can tell you the following . As far as a visual inspection of the oil ........( which is all I had )

Valvoline was the best Never seen anything !
castrol GTX 2 ocasions
Penzoil too many to count
Quakerstate too amny to count

this is all just conventional oil . and this rateing was based on what was in the oil ........when opening the caps I found that white cream ( and alot of it ) under the foil you peal off of the jug. This is the same looknig cream that you see when your oil & coolant mix . SO ....there is water in the freaking oil !!!!!!!!! I don't know if this is a shelf life issue, quality control , or quality in general . Have you ever heard of the term " clay based oil " I heard it once when compareing Valvoline to Quaker by some expert .....can't remember what Valvoline was but I remember it was DIFFEENT

based on 2 years ....1000's of oil changes
just my 2 cents .....thought I'd throw in

I've always seen discoloration of the oil (i.e. milky)when water contaminates it. Never seen cream with clear oil show water... Anyway...

As said before so long as you are religious about your changes, and the oil has passed all the red tape it's supposed to, you should have no problem from the oil. HOWEVER, if you use some of the 'questionable' filters, you may possibly have oil going back into your engile unfiltered.

I have used this stuff quite a bit because it was 'available' to me for my car, lawn mower, motorcycle, etc...and it is an excellent oil. I probably would have never even tried the stuff even I didn't get it for free at one time.

I used to use Fram oil filters just because I didn't know any better, thought it was supposed to be good stuff. With my 87Z they absolutely will not last more than 10 minutes before they apparently blowout and start leaking slowly but steadily. My pressure on the new engine runs up around 50-60 psi most all the time and it just destroys them I guess. I tried like 5 different new Fram filters when the engine was new thinking I was getting a bad seal due to the filter mount or something. Tried a different brand filter (Bosch, not sure if they're supposed to be good or not...) and have yet to have a problem in a half dozen oil/filter changes now... I won't be running fram in anything ever again...

AC Delco is supposed to be good too right?

I worked for an oil company called energy release. we made products a lot of times for other people...


we made it to how they wanted it.... not how our stuff was made...


so yes it can be made by quaker state and not be quaker state oil....


nice sarcasm though

there are other things though in oil that make a difference.

just having the API means it meets the test cirteria. but there are still different amount of things in the oil that make a difference can't remember all of them right now will look for the website and see if I can find it though

here is part of it

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-overview.html


but some oils are a little better then others

I was going to use walmart oil in my old garbage hauling truck, but the guy at walmart said it was REPROCESSED oil and he would not use, quote, "that $hit for a bike chain lube" so I bought mobil reg 10-30 for 1.09 qt. I use supertech filter for my daily drivers.

But the GTA only gets AC synthic gold filters and Mobil 5-30 synthic, the bad thing is I drop the oil at 3k and it looks as clean as the first day.

Has anyone cut open a supertech filter????

Check out "Natural Ice" (but not before driving) 5.9 percent... and smoooooth

Sure some offer different advantages, no argument there. However the API certification means the oil will meet manufacturers requirements using standardized testing. Ed Hacketts article has been around for a while and is required reading for the motorcycle nuts I hang out with. As far as Quaker State, I had hear some issues with it a few years ago. Parrafin based oil is basically any non-synthetic, it is not relegated to QS only. I stopped running syn in the bikes due to the wet clutch, and I have found that Shell Rotella for being relatively inexpensive is a fine product. I found that in the sportbikes either water or air cooled it has very low consumption even after very aggressive riding. The reason I reference the bike is that I can see faster the differences between lubricants. It is not unusual after 8 hours of hard riding to see consumption. Of the various brands I found the Shell Rotella to have the least amount of consumption for a given weight.

makes a lot of sense

off and on I do some work through a temp agency here tha tplaces me at a company called energy release
they market and sell an oil addative
but we make oil addatives for many other companies

just because we make there stuff though doesn't mean we make them to our specs.

we make them how THEY want it to be made.

if they say use 10w-30 we use 10w-30 as the oil base in there

even though lets say we might use 20w-50

they might say use this percentage of this type of polymer even though we might use more or less of a different type


it all varies generally though we just make it for them cause they might not have the ability or capacity to make enough so they outsource their work

I have run the wal-mart stuff in everything I have owned for 10+ years. Vette has 267k. Although I usually toss a new motor in every 6 or 7 years. My wifes buick has 120k My old work truck had 435k with only 1 motor change. The only time I changed brands of oil was in 2000 when I bought a brand new work truck. I switched to valvoline and it blew the motor at 16k. Go figure. Now it gets the cheap stuff. Never have I had oiling issues running the wal mart junk. Saved enough money over the years because of my tight budget regarding oil. In my opinion, change oil often and it doesn't really matter much in the average car.