Are all oil brands the same?

Maintenance/Repairs
41

No. Cars are designed to wear out and be replaced. Single viscosity oils perform slightly better, are more forgiving of neglected oil changes, and handle over heating better. They just can’t be used in the winter. Someone might try to use a single viscosity oil in the winter and cause a lot of damage, and then try to get the power train warranty to cover it. Multi viscosity oil works just fine as long as it is changed on schedule.

If there is a way to take a vehicle off the road, and have the owner to blame for it, then the auto industry will do it. Making cars expensive to repair after a minor accident is commonly done. The person who got in the accident is the cause, not how the car is built. A lot of cars are junked because people don’t change the oil. They’re not going to put expensive sythetic oil in at the factory so the first owner can drive the car 30,000 miles without changing the oil and cause minimal harm. They’ll lose money on that, and it will hardly bing in any new customers, since every customer knows that they can just put quality oil it themselves if they want to.

They reason why they don’t say that you can use a single viscosity oil is partially the same reason for why the factory fill oil is the minimun that is specified for the vehicle.

42

I’ve never heard any “expert” claim that.

2 Likes
43

I always use Filippo Berio extra virgin.

3 Likes
44

Would you consider Mobile an expert when it comes to mixing Synthetic and Regular oil, they say…

" . . . However, we would not recommend mixing oils as a general practice because oils are complex mixtures of additives and base oils that can be destabilized."

Would you consider United Chevrolet Buick GMC an expert when it comes to mixing different brands of synthetic oils, they say…

" . . . Even though you can mix the two, most mechanics will not recommend that you do it regularly. The additives in the different types of products may interact, or the mix of two different oils may cause the mixture to become less stable, and you might lose the benefit of the synthetic. If you have a vehicle with a high-performance engine, mixing conventional with synthetic might not allow the expensive additives in the synthetic to work the way they should."

And would you consider AMSOIL Distributers an expert when it comes to mixing different brands of synthetic oils, they say…

" . . . Yes, you can safely mix one brand of oil (e.g. Mobil 1) with a different brand (e.g. AMSOIL) or conventional oil with synthetic oil (in fact, that’s what a synthetic blend is). Most synthetics today are fully compatible with conventional oils and can safely be mixed.

However, just because you CAN it doesn’t mean that you SHOULD. Let me explain.

Even though AMSOIL motor oils are totally compatible with conventional and other synthetic motor oils, mixing AMSOIL oils with other oil brands or types will shorten the oil’s life expectancy and reduce their performance benefits. AMSOIL does not support extended drain intervals where oils have been mixed.

The base oils and additives that make up an ‘oil formulation’ are carefully selected by the oil companies and blended together in a way that ensures that the finished product achieves the desired effect that they set out for it to achieve. The various additives in the ready-formulated oils are coordinated to each other and are properly proportioned."

Can I Mix Different Oils? - Select Synthetics - AMSOIL Authorized Dealer.

45

SN 0W20 for my 2012 Camry

46

Interesting, as I recall, my ‘49 Champion did not have anything like that. Car had very hard steering, I greased every zerk on that car, never got any better.

47

Yep, use that EVOO in my SF90😀

48

I’m sure that there are some people in Mobile, or Birmingham, or other cities in Alabama who are experts on the topic of oil, but I would rather take the opinion of someone from a major motor oil manufacturer, such as Mobil.
:wink:

2 Likes
49

What mechanics? Source! This is just anecdotal. Then it says the oil MAY interact. Huge difference between MAY and it will. There is ZERO evidence that there’s any problem mixing oil. And the probability of it happening is extremely low. I’ve might have done it a couple times over the years. But that 1-2 times never affected any of my vehicles reaching over 300k miles and engine still running great and not burning oil. If petroleum engineers really thought there was a potential problem, they’d be doing research and publish the results so they can scare people into not switching brands. Where’s that study. You’d think they’d be all over that. This is like a solution (don’t mix oils) trying to find a problem.

1 Like
50

Isn’t that what I have been saying all along? I said that going from one brand to another brand at each oil change should not cause any problem; I only “cautioned” those who think they know better than the chemists who designed the oil and try blending their own concoction; like the cartoon I posted above…

51

I’m waiting for the chemists to publish a detailed report saying that there’s a problem and what exactly will happen. All I’ve seen is conjecture. It MAY be harmful, or we don’t know what problems will arise from the different additives. Well WHY NOT? If there’s a potential problem, then any good engineer would try to find out. This is engineering 101.

52

All oil gets mixed a little bit when someone changes brads. Some oil is left inside the engine.

What I gather is if two oils are mixed, don’t expect the performance of the mixture to exceed the worst of the two oils.

53

And how often does that happen? Based on my experience and others…it’s EXTREMELY LOW.

Again - just conjecture with no proof. If there was, you should be able to find and post this study.

54

If someone publishes findings that say combining Brand X, Y, or Z with our Brand would cause (disparaging words: like “excessive wear” or “premature failure”) would open themselves up to being sued. This is Tort Law 101 (Redress of Grievance “Suing”)

55

Gee folks, what I do is carry a quart of oil with me, then never a problem. I put it in with the spare tire and usually forget about it until time to trade. But then I buy the 5 quart bottles and usually have about a two year supply on hand so I’m covered depending on who is right. I just don’t trust experts anymore.

The last time I bought a quart on the road though, I was a half quart down with break in oil yet. I stopped at the Acura dealer for the correct oil. I don’t know what I paid but think I knew more than they did.

56

It seems to me that there is a government standard that oils of a particular grade and viscosity have to be compatible if an oil company wants to sell its products to the government. The last time I rented a U-HAUL truck, I was told what viscosity to use if I needed to add oil, but it didn’t matter what brand.
I bought a new Oldsmobile Cutlass in 1978 with a 260 cu in V8 engine. I drove the car 240,000 miles and I used many different brands of 10W-30 oil. I once bought Valvoline for 25¢ a quart with the mail-in rebate. This bargain was topped by Citgo oil which, after a mail in rebate, was 0¢ a quart-- free oil. I never had to add a quart of oil between 5000 mile oil changes on that Oldsmobile. I think the purpose of these rebates was to get a car owner hooked on a particular brand of oil. I think the oil companies started this myth about mixing brands of oil. Some years back,Consumer Reports tested motor oils. The same brand of oil bought in one region of the nation tested differently than the same brand bought in a different part of the nation. I would guess that a refinery in one location in the country bottles the same oil and puts different brand labels on the bottles.
As far as mixing the same viscosity of non-synthetic with synthetic, I don’t think there would be a problem. I attended a French horn players clinic and we were told not to mix synthetic and non- synthetic oil for the horn valves. I bought a bottle of Hetman synthetic rotor oil. It stated on the bottle that the oil was compatible with non-synthetic oil. When Hetman synthetic rotor oil was not available, I used AlCass non synthetic oil and had no problems. French horn players have more myths about horn valve oils than auto owners have about motor oil.
I had a lawnmower that specified 30 weight detergent oil. The engine burned oil so badly that I fogged for mosquitoes as I mowed. I was buying oil at my local Rural King store. The house brand 30 weight non synthetic was $1.79 a quart. The house brand 10W-30 full synthetic was $2.79 a quart. I paid the extra dollar. The synthetic oil reduced the oil consumption in the mower 75% and I got 3 more seasons out of the mower before the oil consumption went up.

57

Surf over to www.agcoauto.com . What do they say there?

58

Tester

1 Like
59

The only one I have some issues with is the dark oil. I’ve heard this for 50 years. I will say that when drained it is dark even after 100 miles, but on the dipstick it will not be dark until thousands of miles later. Maybe this is just the case with cars I’ve had since new or near new and still cleaning the others, but I do look at the dipstick color, even on the lawnmower.

60

Who here knows of an actual problem created by mixing oil brands? I can’t think of one that’s been posted here. Oil brands probably get mixed tens of thousands of times a year.