Recycled oil

I never had an engine failure with Dino oil either, and I must have put a half million miles on various cars with the stuff. Had a 71 Challenger (still kicking myself for selling it) that had 217,000 miles on it when I sold it. That being said, I've been using synthetics, including trans, transfer case and differentials, for more than another half a million miles on various cars since the early 90s. A Mobil 1 change costs me less than $25 for the oil on my daily drivers and about $30 for my tv. I believe it is the best oil for me so I use it. To each their own, right?

Airstreamer67 wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

Airstreamer67 wrote:
If I ever damage an engine or shorten its life due to dino oil, then I'll get synthetic. But since I started driving in 1958, I've never experienced that.

So, I save the difference and continue to use dino. But I'm always open for change when the time comes.

In 1958 most cars still had drum brakes in all 4 corners, had no ABS, rode on bias-ply tires, had headlights that you could easily outrun, and had no airbags.

But you survived anyways. I presume your current vehicle cost a lot more than what you drove in 1958 and has all of those modern improvements?

Why? What we drove before was just fine, it did the job.

BTW, they've long ago proven that synthetic is a better, CHEAPER, oil than conventional oil is.

As I said, I'll change to synthetics if and when the dino oils quit serving my engines until the day I pass them on to the next owner. Never have I had an engine fail or wear out due to using dino oil.

So, I don't know who "proved" "long ago" that synthetic is better and cheaper, but my experience proves to me that dino gives me all I can use, and then some. And the stores I shop at are cheating somebody, because all the synthetics aren't cheaper at all, au contraire, they are charging quite a bit of a synthetic premium. And if you say that synthetics allow longer oil change intervals, you should tell the car makers that.

I assume that dino oil has seen improvements since I first began driving back in the 50s. All I know is they continue to serve me quite well, and the vast majority of the public seems to agree with me.

The devil lives in the details.

I said "cheaper" not "costs less per quart".

With a 9,000 to 12,000 mile change interval instead of 3,000 miles if synthetic is only double the price per quart it's a bargain.

So out of curiosity, DOES your vehicle have 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS, seat belts and air bags?

For my vehicles, I use what the maker advises. My '03 Ford F-250 advises a synblend and that's what it gets. The BMW gets a full synthetic. My other stuff gets dino or, if it's used in cold weather, will get whatever is on the shelf.

I tend to change oil and filters in shorter intervals than what's advised since I do my own maintenance and run my rolling stock out to past 200K.

JaxDad wrote:

Airstreamer67 wrote:
If I ever damage an engine or shorten its life due to dino oil, then I'll get synthetic. But since I started driving in 1958, I've never experienced that.

So, I save the difference and continue to use dino. But I'm always open for change when the time comes.

In 1958 most cars still had drum brakes in all 4 corners, had no ABS, rode on bias-ply tires, had headlights that you could easily outrun, and had no airbags.

But you survived anyways. I presume your current vehicle cost a lot more than what you drove in 1958 and has all of those modern improvements?

Why? What we drove before was just fine, it did the job.

BTW, they've long ago proven that synthetic is a better, CHEAPER, oil than conventional oil is.

As I said, I'll change to synthetics if and when the dino oils quit serving my engines until the day I pass them on to the next owner. Never have I had an engine fail or wear out due to using dino oil.

So, I don't know who "proved" "long ago" that synthetic is better and cheaper, but my experience proves to me that dino gives me all I can use, and then some. And the stores I shop at are cheating somebody, because all the synthetics aren't cheaper at all, au contraire, they are charging quite a bit of a synthetic premium. And if you say that synthetics allow longer oil change intervals, you should tell the car makers that.

I assume that dino oil has seen improvements since I first began driving back in the 50s. All I know is they continue to serve me quite well, and the vast majority of the public seems to agree with me.

Airstreamer67 wrote:
If I ever damage an engine or shorten its life due to dino oil, then I'll get synthetic. But since I started driving in 1958, I've never experienced that.

So, I save the difference and continue to use dino. But I'm always open for change when the time comes.

In 1958 most cars still had drum brakes in all 4 corners, had no ABS, rode on bias-ply tires, had headlights that you could easily outrun, and had no airbags.

But you survived anyways. I presume your current vehicle cost a lot more than what you drove in 1958 and has all of those modern improvements?

Why? What we drove before was just fine, it did the job.

BTW, they've long ago proven that synthetic is a better, CHEAPER, oil than conventional oil is.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:


For shame. 15 months and 5,600 miles it was discovered to be down exactly a quart. 5W-30 Castrol GTX.

Sayyyy. Your previous post stated you change the oil every 4000 miles. How did you use a quart of oil at 5,600 miles if you changed it at 4,000 miles???

If I ever damage an engine or shorten its life due to dino oil, then I'll get synthetic. But since I started driving in 1958, I've never experienced that.

So, I save the difference and continue to use dino. But I'm always open for change when the time comes.

B.O. Plenty wrote:
The computer in your vehicle has now way to sample the oil itself. Your comment about it monitoring the oil is not true. It can only monitor how the oil has been used in the engine referring to staring and driving cycles, engine temps during those cycles etc. It will then provide information as to when to change the oil based on that info.

B.O.

I beg to differ, the FSS (Flexible Service System actually uses a proprietary sensor setup that actually sense oil QUALITY as well as the driving duty the vehicle is doing to adjust when the oil should be changed.

From an article back 1998 (yes, more than 15 years ago) when the system was first introduced;

"The Flexible Service System, which is standard equipment on the new V-6, was developed by Mercedes-Benz and Shell Oil Co.'s Deutsche Shell of Hamburg, Germany.

Similar systems have appeared on other vehicles, but none has used a sensor precisely monitoring oil quality, says Fred Heiler, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc. The other systems have computed how quickly an oil change is needed based mainly on a person's driving style. An aggressive driver, for instance, would be notified sooner than a casual driver that an oil change is necessary."


Mercedes Flexible Service System Article.

I've a feeling my engine would not like 600F temperatures regardless of lube oil type.

After TWENTY YEARS untouched, a camshaft cover came off last week to replace an o-ring gasket. The cad plating on the inside of the cover looked like brand new oil had been smeared over a brand new cam cover.

The engine has 80,000 miles on it now.

For shame. 15 months and 5,600 miles it was discovered to be down exactly a quart. 5W-30 Castrol GTX.

JaxDad wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Can someone respond and post a link to an unbiased report about any purported benefit of using synthetic motor oil?

I can probably dig up such a study, but there aren't many because to those in the industry it would be like having to get a study done about why a steak from grass-fed beef is better than ground beef from Costco.

The bottom line is that because conventional oil has several important short-comings that synthetic doesn't, namely;

The presence of waxes, which can lead to poor lubrication at low temperature.

Poor oxidation stability at continuously high temperatures, which can lead to sludge and acid buildup.

The dependence of viscosity on temperature, which can cause the base oil to thin excessively at high temperature.

A natural high temperature application limit of about 320°C (608°F), above which the base oil decomposes and begins to coke (turns to a sooty substance).

Now granted, in the case of most m/h's most of that isn't an issue, but in the case of say an F-150 with an EcoBoost engine as a TV it could be almost critical.

In the case of many vehicles, several of mine included, the synthetics really isn't any more money than conventional would be. It costs me ~$150 for an oil change, including 9 litres (9.5 quarts) of oil and a very high quality filter. However, that's only needs doing every 15,000 km (9,000 miles) or so. The vehicles computer monitors driving style and conditions as well as monitoring the oil itself and determines when it's time for an oil change. So if I pay about 3 x the price, and go about 3x the distance, I'm paying roughly the same.

The computer in your vehicle has now way to sample the oil itself. Your comment about it monitoring the oil is not true. It can only monitor how the oil has been used in the engine referring to staring and driving cycles, engine temps during those cycles etc. It will then provide information as to when to change the oil based on that info.

B.O.