For numerous years, I have been running Castrol Syntech, their product have protected the drivelines in our vehicles without fault. That being said, today while doing an oil change, I found the British Petroleum "BP" logo on the back side of the bottles, until then, I did not realize that Castrol was a "BP" brand.

In short, I am mad as heck at BP's failure to stop their blowout leak in the Gulf of Mexico, as a result I can no longer fund them through buying their products. No, I am not a "green weenie", keep drilling with proper safety precautions rather than excuses and payoffs to the US government which is also complicit in this disaster!

So, what synthetic lubricants are you using/recommending? The one at the top of my list at this time is Royal Purple. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I hate it when a valid technical decision I have made in the past becomes untenable on a moral level.

jorrell

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92 245 287K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

I too vote Mobile 1 (buy a couple of cases on sale only) but mainly because I only see the cars when they are home from school so it can be 8,000 miles before I get a hold of my kids' car for the oil change, and a plus, the flame trap never seems to get clogged.

Maybe instead of changing you could just go to Costco and buy a dozen crying towels. Your 1 or 2 hundred a year in oil products from BP will not affect them.

Replace Syntec with Mobil 1. Cost will be about the same. My cars have lived on Mobil 1 for a long time. Somewhere along the line I think Mobil changed the formula and now there is one preferable to the other (one is extended life or something like that--and don't quote me). My Avalon with the sludge-prone 3MZ-FE engine, lived on Mobil 1 its whole life. So did the transmission. My S80 lives on it. My 940 lived on it for most of its life, with Mobil 1 still in the transmission today.

I've used Mobil 1 in the differentials, transmissions, and engines, of a number of cars. When unavailable, I've purchased Pennzoil synthetic or Syntec as well.

For the manual transmissions, I found that Redline worked very well. Amsoil is great, used that before with good success also. You have a lot of very good choices to replace your ex-favorite brand.

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Chris Herbst
Phoenix, AZ

1992 940 2.3 160-something-k
2005 S80 2.5T 39k

FWIW Syntec is a Group III synthetic where all of the other oils discussed ie: M1, Amsoil, RP etc. are Group IV. For the money Syntec is overpriced being that it's a Group III oil. I buy it when it's really on sale but will spend a bit more for M1 when it's on sale. I have used Amsoil as well but find you need to run long OCI's to get your moneys worth.

The world of oil is a messy one... almost by definition. Motor oil comes from oil companies, and oil companies are sleazy. Yer gonna have to check your personal ideals/morals/ethics at the door regardless.

Every once and a while, I take a deep gulp and buy a few jugs of Mobil 1.... and at Walmart, to boot! Such a dirty feeling.... but Mobil 1 has been pretty rigorously tested by a number of individuals and independent sources. One particular, well-documented oil analysis found Mobil 1 to still be usable after 15K miles... there's a fairly well known gentleman in Volvo diesel circles who runs 25K mile drain intervals with the stuff. Basically, it's good stuff. Supposedly more "clingy" to metal parts when the engine isn't running, compared to other synthetics.

It's relatively cheap at Wallymart, too: Like $25 per 5-quart jug. It's hard to beat the cost-benefit. I'd probably be just as happy using another synthetic, but with 4 Volvo's the bottom line is really noticeable at oil change time.

-Ryan


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Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 324k, Dog-mobile, E-codes
1990 245 DL 137k M47, E-codes, GT Sways/Braces, Dracos, A-cam
1990 744GLE 189K 16-valve project
1991 745 GL 304k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

I'm an Amsoil guy. Have been for 28 years.

Of course people can use whatever oil they choose, that is certainly none of my business, but I must comment that I find it odd for generic brands to be chosen over Mobil-1. I wonder how many cars come off the assembly line with AmsOil or Royal Purple in the crankcase? Maybe someone can enlighten me. I thrive on factual info, not advertising. Would not the makers of luxury cars use the best possible oil they can purchase in their vehicles, or am I missing something here?

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Factory_Fill/Vehicles_Filled_Mobil_1.aspx?pg=1#Chevrolet%20Camaro%20SS

I don't believe that carmakers of ANY brand would spend the extra for the best oil if the vehicle's sticker price is under $100,000. Carmakers are in the business of making car PARTS not cars. They make cars so they can sell parts. So it would be to the manufacturers advantage for your car to wear out sooner (within reason) because then you'll need a new one. They also have a budget they have to stay in when they build them. When I used to sell cars at a GM dealer all of the new cars came in from the factory on the transports with just enough fluids to get it onto that transport. In other words, they had to go through the service department to have all of the lubricants, antifreeze, even windshield washer fluid topped off. True story!

i use walmart full synthetic ....identical to penzoil platinum plus

of much great concern not mentioned much /YET is the damage the unstable solvent corexit 9500 bp is using the disperse the oil but is in fact driving it under the surface. this highly unstable solvent will in time change phase and get absorbed into cloud cover through evaporation off the warm gulf waters. next year we will see this poison falling on land worldwide as highly toxic rain. the trouble is just beginning as this crap works its way into our land based food chain.

how many of you plan on eating any seafood caught in the gulf anytime soon?
how about in 10 years time? still think it will be edible?

Okay, so several of my fellows have already recommended AmsOil, and I'll ditto what they suggested.

Of course, I could tell you how, over the past decades, each of my Volvos have lasted for many miles (well over 200K each) using that oil (and lately I've also been using their marine lubricants on my boat), but we all know that Volvos last long regardless of the oil we use (as long as we change the oil regularly), so that isn't much of a noteworthy argument.

The only other thing I could suggest that I have never heard from others and which might suggest positive attributes concerns my garden tractor. I have a John Deere with a small B&S engine that has been run on AmsOil since new -- and new in this case is 1981. I mow my lawn in spring through fall, and use it with the big snow-thrower attachment in the winter, so it's had a hard life (the shop owner where I bought it was reluctant to also sell the snow-thrower, saying that he thought it would be underpowered and that I should buy a bigger tractor to use it). Yet over its nearly 30 years, it has never faulted -- the engine still seems as powerful as it ever was, fires up every time with merely a touch of the starter, still doesn't burn any more oil than when it was new, and seems like it will go on for as long as I keep using that oil. That's my $.02.

Have fun.

Mobil-1 in all the engines, Redline MTL in the manual gearboxes, Redline 75W90 gear lube in the axles. Plain old Dexron III/IV in the automatics, flushed and changed about every 50k miles or so.

As for the Gulf of Mexico oil leak from a BP-operated well: yes, it's a horrible environmental disaster, but the one thing we can say for sure is that we don't know all the facts yet about who may have been complicit, who may (or may not) have been guilty of shoddy drilling practices, and who may have taken shortcuts around the rules. I worked for BP in England a long time ago, and recall a company focused on quality and technical excellence. Perhaps that has changed - as have most things - but let's not be too quick to lynch them. I've also worked for a USA oil company drilling and producing oil in Federal waters offshore California, and there at least the Minerals Management Service was extremely diligent about the rules, to the point of breathing down our necks at every turn. And there are a LOT of rules.

The media are always anxious for a story, and are prone to make that story as compelling (sensational?) as possible, so take everything with a large grain of salt. And let's all pray the considerable expertise assembled on the task finds a way to stop this mess soon.
--
Bob: son's 81-GL, dtr's '94-940, my 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.

I use Dino oil but I know in the motorcycle world, Royal Purple gets the thumbs up Available at Pep Boys too. Caution: Bring your wallet
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html

Talk is that we could also blame the activist whackoes for forcing the industry to go a mile under sea for oil when there is a much safer and ample supply in much shallower waters and on dry land.
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David Hunter

David,

I won't disagree with you, but the fact is that BP took on the project and failed in the most miserable possible way, put the responsibility where it belongs. Since I'm not trying to climb on a soap box, do you use a synthetic oil? If yes, what brand?

jorrell
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92 245 287K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

Yes, sorry about that diversion. I have used Mobil 1 synthetic 10W30 for years, usually wait at least 10K to change.
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David Hunter

I use Amsoil and here's why: my father buys it by the case for his own vehicles, so I steal it from him. I can't really say that it performs better than something else because I haven't tried anything else. I only know that the price is right and the engine keeps turning.

Sean,

Can I have a key to your Dad's garage? Just kidding! I used Amsoil lubricants 20 to 25 years ago during my biker years, I will add them to the list of consideration.

jorrell
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92 245 287K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

I've used both Amsoil (In my 85 chevy big block) and Mobil I in my Volvo. Both work very well. Ran a 96 small block for 275000 miles with Mobil I and it still got 27mpg after 11 years and the high miles

I use Pennzoil Platinum on both my 240 and S70. $22 for 5 quarts at Wally World. It gets good reviews on Bob is the Oil Guy. Not in the same league as Amsoil, but it is very good for over the counter.