Hello,

I have a 1993 Dodge B250 Van V6 w/ 175k miles.

I usually use cheap Walmart Brand SureTech Oil. My question is should I be using name brand oil or does cheap brand oil do the same as name brand? My grandfather tells me I should be using name brand and that there is a difference but I wanted to see others opinions first. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Oil is oil with the big difference being the additives. Name brand oil has detergents and other additives to prolong the life of the oil and to help keep the engine cleaner. But as far as lubrication qualities, there's no difference.

 

Heres some Oil reading especially for those who think oil is oil.

http://63.240.161.99/motoroil/

 

I read all the pages at the link you provided.The gist of the article is about comparing different oil weights as well as mineral based oil versus synthetic oil. But since the question was about cheap versus expensiveregular mineral oil in this thread, I'll focus on that. The article talks of additives being added to the oil by the manufacturers. As the oil "wears out" those additives are depleted and the oil reverts back to it's original state. This backs up what I originally said, that oil is oil with the additives being the difference. Mind you, I am not throwing synthetics into the mix, because that's a whole different product. I'm making reference to $.99 Walmart oil versus the $2.99 brand name oils.

 

I did not visit the site, this is only based on my experience in the IT industry which I make my living.

One thing about the link, the site in question is some home AT&T broadband users website,(based on the IP and lack of DNS) anyone can make any claims on a website and this doesn't make them true, or false dispite that the information is "On the web".

The other thing to watch out for is that by visiting such a site, their webserver gets a certain amount of access to your computer though the browser. I give this site a very low level of trust because the DNS isnt properly registered, this could mean either the provider doenst support users providing their own services, or the user hasn't taken the step to at least register with a secondary DNS provider. Both of which should be considered clues to the acuracy of the data.

Cavet Emptor

 

Acutally, the Wal*Mart brand is SuperTech.

The a majority of the SuperTech brand oil is made byWarren Petroleum Company that wasa division of the Gulf Oil Corporation which recently was acquired by ChevronTexaco, Inc.,

Warren Petroleum (ChevronTexaco, Inc) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, based in San Francisco.

Warren Petroleum Co., is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., with plants in Maysville, Oklahoma and Saint Bernard, LA

WPC is the primary maker of SuperTech oils for Wal*Mart. The secondary producer of SuperTech oilsis Mobil. The oil is based on the drive-clean 5000 formulas.

As of lately, the Wal*Mart SuperTech oils are being made regionally by various named brand manufactures. Some of them are Costal, Kendall, Mobil, Pennzoil, Havoline, etc. To find out the oil supplier/manufacture, just turn and look at the logo on the bottom of the bottle. If it's a little "c" inside a big "C", then it's Costal. If it's a WPP, it's Wareen, if it's a "K" it's Kendall, if it's "HV" it's Havoline.

If the dino oil is API rated, then changing the oil at regular intrevals should poise no problems.

 

Mobil 1 synthetic... because oil changes are alot cheeper than an engine repair. Since switching to synths about 15 years ago, I have not had an internal failure related to any surface coated with oil. Probably about 500k miles by according to my quick calculations of avg 35k/year over 15 years.

Using mobil 1 has helped keep my engines clean on the inside which helps further...

 

Alloro basically you are right the base stocks of most motor oils are very similiar, but that's where the similarity ends, as you stated its all about additives, you mentioned nothing of viscosity and I realize neither did the OP, the link is for those who self educate. Had you ventured over to the link at the bottom which is to Bob The Oil Guys page he does disucss brands, and does some great filter tests. Both of these siteare well know in most racing circles especially Dr. Haas's site. Also to the IG fellah, are men in black suits following you? the link is to respected racer and is the best site where one can learn exactly what you should try and acheive when selecting an oil, this is all automotive industry standard info posted in a way many can understand.