punomatic wrote:
..."Anything but Pennzoil." Interestingly, I had been using Pennzoil in my Chevy 454 MH, when the engine blew. Coincidence???
My wife's mom bought a new Buick and had it serviced at the dealer, who proudly used Pennzoil. She bought another Buick and gave the first one to us. We ran it quite awhile, but it got to running poorly and had a valve train noise. I found the oil pump and timing set were worn out. Damage on the camshaft sprocket led me to pull the camshaft. That particular engine has sprocket integral with shaft. At that point, found the noise was a flat spot worn on a cam lobe.
To replace cam and lifters, intake manifold/valley cover had to come off. That's when I found the interior of the block covered with a thick black cinder-like crust. Pulled oil pan and the inside of the bottom end of the block was full too. Removed with scraper and shop vac plus spray parts cleaner. Pennzoil deposits! The Cam wear? Timing set wear? Lubrication failure? Just saying. The process may have changed, but you could pour Pennzoil and when the last pretty golden fluid had flowed, there'd be a black trace, maybe a tar. Enough to give Pennzoil a bad name. Some shy away from Quaker State, being another Pennsylvania Crude product. These were from the dino oil days, doubt any of this applies to synthetics.
