Quaker State Synthetic Oil European
 

Hello All,

I know, I know, the oil stuff has been beat to death, but I have a slightly different issue to discuss (I think.) I went over to www.bobistheoilguy.com . (Unbelievable--- I thought we were fanatics over here on this board ;-) . Anyway, I've been looking for an alternative to Mobil 1 10w-30 for the winter in central Indiana. I use Mobil 1 15w-50 in the summer, but I think that might be a little thick for safe cold starts that could occasionally be slightly sub zero. The problem with the 10w-30 is that the oil pressure runs slightly low and I hear more valvetrain noise than I do with the higher viscosity stuff.

Now, after some research, it seems that 10w-40, or 5w-40 would be ideal. Quaker state full synthetic and Castrol Syntec come in these ranges, but Castrol is getting knocked pretty hard over in the oil guy forum.

Anybody know where to get Quaker State Full Synthetic European Formulation 5w-40 in the midwest? If I can't find this, I'll probably try Quaker State Full Synthetic 5w-50.

what about Mobil 1 0W-40? Walmart carries it.

Hmmmm..., maybe. I'm a little worried about 0w in my vintage 1994 150,000 mile motor.

What does the manual recommed for cold temps? I know my Toyota's manual gives a temp. range for oil weights. 10w30 over 0 degrees, 5w30 less then 50 degrees. I would use what the manual says in your prefered brand.

Some of the MB Dealers in the Toronto area use Quaker State 5W40 Euro Synthetic on non-AMG cars and Mobil 1 on AMG vehicles. Its on the MB approved oil list.

Your MB dealer parts department may have Quaker State.

I use 15w50 Mobil 1 in CO temps in the single digits are common. I have had no problem in fact it flows well even at this temp.

I've been told that 0W-40 Mobil 1 actually has the characteristics of about 12W-40. It would work fine and would be my choice for temps below 4F.

The 30 weight Mobil 1 oils no longer use a true synthetic base. It's a long story but they changed to compete with Castrol who began using a petroleum base for their popular viscosity's and called it synthetic. The 40 and 50 weight Mobil 1 oils are true base 4 oils. Compare the pour points of the old 30 weight Mobil 1 oils with the current ones and you will see the new version has much higher pour points. Mercedes no longer approve the 30 weight Mobil 1 oils.

I've used 15W-50 Mobil 1 in my car in Minnesota winters but this wasn't my daily driver.

Quaker State is now part of a conglomerate who also owns Slick 50. If that doesn't tell you something I don't know what will. The last I heard the conglomerate had sold all it's processing plants and was buying oil from other suppliers. The good old days of Quaker State are long gone.

Actually, Quaker State is now part of Pennzoil, and probably, Pennzoil Synthetic European and Quaker State Full Synthetic 5w-40 are the same stuff based upon my review of their spec sheets. Unfortunately, my manual doesn't specify the proper oil viscosity, but other sources point to recommendations by Mercedes that any multi visc should have 40 as the upper number rather than 30 and that 5 or 10 would be better as the lower number in the temps around 0 F. I have found a few Pennzoil/ Quaker STate distributors that I will contact on Monday to see whether they can get me the smallish quantity that I need for 1 or 2 oil changes, then I'll go back to Mobil 1 15w-50 for the summer. I was really hoping that maybe someone has "spotted" the European visc of 5w-40 at a retailer in the midwest somewhere.

I would like to get away from the Mobil 1 10w-30 for the reasons I stated as well as those who added that this particular viscosity is different than the other Mobil 1 formulations, and accordingly, not approved by Mercedes.

In summary, I am looking for an easily obtainable, retail, synthetic in either 5w-40 or 10w-40 to use in my 94 E420 in the coldest Indiana months, then back to 15w-50 for the summer, with 5w-50 as my fall back choice if I can't find the above.

Thanks for all your input so far. Any others?

It would be hard to go wrong with the 0W-40 Mobil 1. It appears to be the oil of choice with MB, BMW, and Porsche.

You can get Mobil 1 0W-40 at just about every Walmart. I hav eye to see anyone selling 10W-40 synthetic. You can get 5W-40 from Vavoline. The trick is to find someone selling it. Around here I can only get through a local NAPA auto parts store. I was using this oil in my VW Passat. The owner's manual for that car clearly states to only use xxW-30 oils in the case of adding, not for full oil changes. I don't know of any European car that calls for anything less than xxW-40. I haven't found out why, but all European cars call for the "thick stuff".

Not to hijack the thread but why do most European cars call for 40wt or 50wt oils? Most American and Japanese cars call for 30wt. Usually a 5w-30 or 10w-30. Some Honda's even call for a 5w-20!

The answer is easy. The U.S. government passed a law (Moss/Magnuson) requiring auto makers to meet a minimum fuel economy rating for the entire fleet of vehicles they produce. If the auto maker fails to meet this requirement, they are charged a *gas guzzler* tax.

The bigger the company, the easier it is for them to meet the requirement and to cheat a bit. For example, Ford produces lots of gas guzzling vehicles but Ford can balance that by producing enough small cars to balance out the big stuff.

Fuel economy is simply the calculated EPA ratings. Now if a company produces millions of vehicles any small improvement in their EPA ratings helps a lot. Hence, big American and Japanese companies recommend very low viscosity oils so they can claim an improvement of one or two tenths better *calculated* economy. Multiply that by millions of vehicles and it helps them balance their gas guzzler problems. They tell the public that these are *economy* oils recommended to improve economy when in fact they have almost no impact in the real world and would never be recommended if it wasn't for Moss/Magnuson.

European auto makers are now the only ones who put reliability ahead of their fuel economy problems.

BTW, a Mercedes V12 owner getting better mileage has to pay a gas guzzler tax while Ford Expedition owners do not.

Of course Detroit gets a big break from the politicians. Half of their production are trucks and SUV's. These vehicles have a lower fuel economy standard than cars.

Finally, the fact that both Honda and Ford recommend 5W-20 viscosity's indicate where their priorities lie.

"Hmmmm..., maybe. I'm a little worried about 0w in my vintage 1994 150,000 mile motor."

I put 0w-40 in my 130,000 mile 400SEL and peed oil everywhere I went. I put up with it for about 500 miles and changed back to 15w40. No more leaks.

I couldn't find the Quaker State full synthetic european 5w-40 locally, so just put in Mobil 1 0w-40. So far, it has brought the oil pressure back up to where it ought to be and no leaks noted yet. I let you know if it turns up otherwise down the road.

Likewise, I went to 0W40 Mobil One in my not vintage yet, 191,900 miles 560SEL. Got the oil at Wal-Mart and the only beef I have is that they had every weight except 0W40 in the 5 quart jugs. Bummer since the jugs are priced under $20.00.

I had no leaks since resurrecting the 560 and I've been running semi-synthetic since I got the car. I don't expect any leaks now, but will keep an eye on things.