I've been wondering this for some time now, finally got a little time to post the question.
It obvious that more and more oils are using more Group III (and higher) to meet the ever increasing demands they must meet.
I know Group IV and V oils have the add pack in Group 1 or 2 carrier oil presumably because those lower group oils have the solubility to carry that add pack dosage, and the Group IV and V's don't.
This leads me to wonder as oils like Pennzoil Platinum (which is a fine oil in its own right) become more prevalent, if they will meet the needs of sludged up Auto-RX users?
Simply: Will the lower soluable but better oils have the ability to carry that disolved sludge, in addition to the original add pack, to the oil filter?
I'm wondering if using an oil like Rotella 10W-30 CJ-4 cut with whatever 20W or 30W that's needed (to get the desired cold and hot viscosities) would be a better fit for Auto-RX use than some of the newer lubes coming out?
Auto-Rx uses oil as a carrier only. Auto-Rx does not effect any oil,s additive package. However true synthetic oil,s have in there additive package i additive that holds oil to metal, this is not condusive to cleaning contamiants-sludge-dirt etc off the metal, so we suggest group 11 or group 111 oils. For the Auto-Rx Application.
After the application is done the Auto-Rx maintenace dose will work with clean metal and therefore oil choice is not critical.
I know Auto-RX uses the engine oil as a carrrier only, and it doesn't affect the additive package.
What I'm talking about is that as normal PCMO's get more and more refined (we advance up the Group I, II, II+, III, IV, and V ratio's), that I'm wondering if we're getting close to a point - or already have reached it - where the ability of PCMO's to carry the sludge that Auto-RX dissolves is dimished.
Lets say that Group IV's didn't have the cling properties to metal that it really does. If we ran a Clean and/or Rinse using just that Group IV oil, would that oil really have enough ability to truly carry those contaminants released in a suspension? Or, would some amount of Group I, II, II+, or even III oil need to be used?
Or, say we had a plain Group III oil, no Group IV or V in it. Does a highly refined Group III have enough solubility to hold in suspension all the cr@p that an Auto-RX Clean and/or Rinse is going to shake loose? Might it be better to have a decent amount of Group II or II+ in there to provide more for that ability?
From what I have seen group III's have plenty of carrying capabilities for cleaning and rinsing for use with ARX. That is not to say that a group II far superior in the rinsing mode in particular. I think we are a long ways away from seeing group II's go away. I think when you factor in the cost of using a group II for relatively short OCI run for the cleaning and rinse, it makes by far the best dollar and sense choice.
Group IV seems to work very well with the maintenance dose once a motor has been cleaned and rinsed. That would be particularly evident from the extended run on M1 in the Ford Explorer on the home page, with the maintenance dose installed.
I just started the first Clean phase in my '03 Ranger's 4.0L SOHC V-6, which actually calls for a 5W-30 rather than the common 5W-20 most Ford's are spec'd with; it holds 5 quarts w/ a filter change.
My thought was to run 35% Motorcraft 5W-20 (which is a dino), and then 65% Shell Rotella 10W-30 CJ-4/SM (this oil has been confirmed by Shell to be Group II). This works out to viscosities pretty close to Motorcraft 5W-30, yet should give me the benefit of the diesel oil's properties.
Do you think this is preferable to using just all 5W-30 PCMO in either Group II or III flavors?
Could someone please put out a concise essay on oil groups and how to identify which group an oil belongs to? I'm a bit confused on this.. I know that the ability to pick up and carry away dirt and debris varies wildly... That is the reason why Mobil oil had to replace thousands of piston aircraft engines years ago as their full synthetic aircraft oil failed to carry away metals (including lead) and Lycoming and Pratt engines needed rebuilds to clear impacted/clogged ring lands. (AFAIK all oil marketed for piston aircraft engines are now synthetic blends or natural/"dino" oil)
P.S. can we come up with a term to replace "dino" ,, after all oil pumped from the ground has NOTHING to do with dinosaurs , it's just hydrocarbons (methane et al) collected by our gravity from space during the planets formation.
The oil company,s make the rules you should be able to go to any parts store and ask for a group 11 oil. Thats a non synthetic -non semi synthetic -non high mileage oil. Plain Jane motor oil.
If you think you require a higher grade of additives in your oil ask any for group 111 oil .
If you want to save money use group11 with Auto-Rx, it will out perform 99.9% of any other oil.
