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USA Castrol GTX is apparently a poor dino oil choice?

Old 08-31-2010, 07:47 PM
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USA Castrol GTX is apparently a poor dino oil choice?

I just filled up with CastrolGTX and got response stating that USA CastrolGTX has poor TID ratings. A second poster mentioned Valvoline, which surprised me as I had only seen, in passing, poor things about Valvoline here.

I ask the first poster to elaborate. Elaboration below. Posting this just because I had never heard of anything negative about CastrolGTX before this.

First of all, Valvoline has been making quality products for decades, so you shouldn't be surprised.

Next, here is an article explaining what TID is, where you get it, and how to interpret it: http://micapeak.com/info/oiled.html

Here is the current TID from Valvoline on their 'Premium Conventional Motor Oil' product (which is their lowest level product and was formerly known as 'All-Climate Oil'.)


Here's the one for Mobil Clean 5000, Mobil's lowest product.


Now, here's the one for Castrol GTX. Notice all the omissions.


There's a reason for that. If you go look at the now-outdated data in the first link of this post, you'll note that Castrol GTX (despite manufacturer claims) really sucked in many areas (like, you know, actually lubricating your bearings) compared to not a few of its contemporaries, and especially in the 20W50 class I pay the most attention to. Well, after that document got out and their phone switchboard started melting down, Castrol decided to stop posting most of the TID for their oils because it was being used to call BS on their marketing claims for GTX.

Castrol is not to be trusted, for this and because of what they did with Syntec.

And this should prove that no, all oils are not the same - they do tend to fall into several bands of performance, but some have other properties that make them useful for some applications, others have superior performance, and then there's Castrol's garbage. But you need not take my word for it; if you read that first link you now have the tools to go look for yourself. Motorcyclists take note - due to formulation changes since that article was written, we can't use car oils in wet clutch bikes any more, so don't use the article's info to compare bike oils to car oils.

Last edited by DanMaxima; 08-31-2010 at 07:54 PM.
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Old 08-31-2010, 08:53 PM
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Nice, I have always liked Valvoline based on reputation alone. I started with Valvoline dino oil in my car and shortly switched to Mobile 1. I've always been suspicious of Castrol and I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because all the Honda guys I know, who are also the "world's best" shade tree mechanics, use nothing but Castrol. (not hating on Honda, just the people ) I disliked Castrol more after seeing all their more recent commercials. Now I know I was pretty much on the money. Thanks for the info.

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Old 09-01-2010, 01:26 AM
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^^^ Same! I always seemed to avoid castrol, probably because it was strangely cheap. Just like the saying goes you get what you paid for.

-Another crackhead
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Old 09-01-2010, 06:53 AM
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Marketing 101

The spread sheet in the fluid and lubricants section on this site tells a very different story about Gastrol GTX. The information was collected by a number of members, including myself. Used oil was analysed by Blackstone Labs, the results speak for themselves.

The best conventional motor oil was clearly Gastrol GTX.
The proof is in the data.
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Old 09-01-2010, 10:26 AM
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Either way, I've been using Mobile 1 and a Wix Gold or Mobile filter for the past few years. I don't really remember if I read much of the info in that section. Just a thread or two in the 4th gen section talking about how awesome Mobile1 is. Having just checked, the server is dead for the forum that the used oil analysis page was on. Anybody know where else we could get more accurate info to update the stickies with? I do trust you njmaxseltd, I personally just don't like Castrol as a company I guess.

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Old 09-01-2010, 11:04 AM
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Pennzoil Ultra with a Wix Filter.
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Old 09-01-2010, 11:07 AM
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time to switch over again lol. thanks for this thread. i used valvoline in my truck until i got rid of it...been using castrol ever since and never really looked back to going to valvolinen again, but i do recognize that castrol burns more...ill switch back now.
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Old 09-01-2010, 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by njmaxseltd
Marketing 101

The spread sheet in the fluid and lubricants section on this site tells a very different story about Gastrol GTX. The information was collected by a number of members, including myself. Used oil was analysed by Blackstone Labs, the results speak for themselves.

The best conventional motor oil was clearly Gastrol GTX.
The proof is in the data.
+1 njmaxseltd...


DanMaxima -
Slamming a product, based on the research of it's competition is just not smart. - Do your research, get information from reliable NON-BIASED sources, THEN you can make a claim of Yay/Nay for a product choice.

As for me - EVERY vehicle I've owned had Castrol in it, why, because the data from independent labs shows that it does it's job rather well, it has a good price point, and it's available in every parts store, including some obscure local shops that I use to get parts for friends cars.
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Old 09-01-2010, 11:43 PM
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Haha actually none of this really matters if you change your oil every 3k miles. I mean its when you start getting lazy and putting it off for 6k or 8k miles that it really starts to matter.

Which reminds me I can't remember the last time I change my oil, which probably means I should do it ASAP.
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Old 09-10-2010, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Leo_Koneval
Haha actually none of this really matters if you change your oil every 3k miles. I mean its when you start getting lazy and putting it off for 6k or 8k miles that it really starts to matter.
Right on - very good point.

I use Mobil 1 and send the used oil in for lab analysis after each change.
Why do I do this? Because I change the oil at 10 K miles. Each lab report says that I can go further on the oil. But I don't want to run the filter past 10 K miles and I don't want to do a filter change in the middle -- between oil changes. So I change my oil at 10 K miles knowing that -- while I'm throwing out oil with some life remaining -- I still have good engine protection running the oil that far.

Even some of the worst motor oils should give reasonably good protection for only 3 K miles.

Last edited by SilverMax_04; 09-10-2010 at 01:22 PM.
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Old 09-10-2010, 03:51 PM
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Ive used castrol for years. And Ive had 4th gens go over 200k , and take some serious beatings while doing it.


But times are changing, Who knows whats to believe. There was a few thread a while back on other forums about mobil 1 being to commericial and being junk now.

In the end its all just marketing I think.
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Old 09-29-2010, 07:22 PM
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My aunt had a 85 Toyota Tercel that she put over 350,000 miles on it before she got rid of it due to major rust issues. Since she bought the car new, she only used Castrol GTX oil in it's entire life. The engine ran strong, didn't smoke, and was never torn down or rebuilt. It never knocked, or tapped, and that's proof there that the oil is good oil! Whoever wrote that article about Castrol must be bashing them because Castrol is a BP company, and alot of ppl are pissed off at BP because of the oil gusher that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. I use Castrol GTX in my Maxima since the owner didn't use synthetic. My DE-K 3.0 now has 148,000 miles. My Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, however, gets Mobil 1 since the previous owner used that and I've stuck with it. I've seen Mobil 1 engines torn down that had over 200,000+ miles on them and the cylinder walls still had their cross-hatching still clearly visible! To wrap this up, I use Castrol GTX, and will continue to do so.
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Old 09-29-2010, 07:37 PM
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Oil is oil, when u change it is more important than what u are using aslong as its a decent oil. And Castrol fits the decent oil bill.
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Old 09-29-2010, 10:27 PM
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[QUOTE=T_Behr904;7754756] Whoever wrote that article about Castrol must be bashing them because Castrol is a BP company, and alot of ppl are pissed off at BP because of the oil gusher that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. [QUOTE]

BP bought out Castrol about 5 years ago. Before that, it was a stand-alone company without an affiliation with a major oil company. One reason BP bought it was the excellent reputation Castrol had for making high quality lubricants -- something that BP lubricants before this did not have.

Last edited by SilverMax_04; 10-09-2010 at 02:45 PM.
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Old 09-30-2010, 01:56 PM
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I buy $12.99 oil changes... wix filters stp, no fram and i use cheap oil I just make sure to change it at 3000 miles and i've never had a problem. My 1995 240sx has 280k hard miles on it an runs great no smoking everything great and it has never seen a drop of synthetic in the engine.
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Old 10-09-2010, 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by maxspeed96CT
Ive used castrol for years. And Ive had 4th gens go over 200k , and take some serious beatings while doing it.


But times are changing, Who knows whats to believe. There was a few thread a while back on other forums about mobil 1 being to commericial and being junk now.

In the end its all just marketing I think.

I think its ironic and a little goofy that people would stake that Mobile is somehow more Commercial and crappy now. It is, and has always been owned by the one of the biggest Oil/Gas Companys on earth and the quility hasnt changed. Nothing has changed except its popularity. I wouldnt change my brand of Oil/Filter based on peoples feelings being hurt that their "ultra exclusive High Performance Oil" is now being used by their neighbors in their Minivans and RVs.
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Old 01-12-2011, 09:12 PM
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Originally Posted by njmaxseltd
Marketing 101

The spread sheet in the fluid and lubricants section on this site tells a very different story about Gastrol GTX. The information was collected by a number of members, including myself. Used oil was analysed by Blackstone Labs, the results speak for themselves.

The best conventional motor oil was clearly Gastrol GTX.
The proof is in the data.
Got a link? I would be very interested in seeing analysis. Thanks,
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Old 01-12-2011, 10:47 PM
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Originally Posted by DanMaxima
Got a link? I would be very interested in seeing analysis. Thanks,

Besides our members take a look here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

Wal-mart, 5qt. supertech conventional oil + filter = $10 oil change. And if you want synthetic it's $17 for 5qt. Believe what you want or do your research and know the facts.
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Old 01-13-2011, 07:21 AM
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Originally Posted by DanMaxima
Got a link? I would be very interested in seeing analysis. Thanks,
My350z has a nice thread for UOAs from VQ35DEs that includes some good #s for castrol GTX. I would avoid taking UOA results from other engines as evidence for how it will perform in your particular engine.

http://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-d...-and-info.html
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Old 01-13-2011, 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Dave_Magos
I think its ironic and a little goofy that people would stake that Mobile is somehow more Commercial and crappy now. It is, and has always been owned by the one of the biggest Oil/Gas Companys on earth and the quility hasnt changed. Nothing has changed except its popularity. I wouldnt change my brand of Oil/Filter based on peoples feelings being hurt that their "ultra exclusive High Performance Oil" is now being used by their neighbors in their Minivans and RVs.
i believe mobil 1 changed their stock from group 4 to group 3.
so i wouldn't say "nothing has changed".
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Old 01-13-2011, 09:41 PM
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I use whatever is on sale at my local parts store. Usually its either Mobil 1 synthetic or Currently Castrol syntec. I notice no difference in gas mileage or how my car runs. I used to run royal purple but its just way too expensive and IMO not worth it. Ive never had an issue with either oil. I do however prefer Mobil 1. It seems cleaner when I change it. I also cut apart my oil filter after every oil change to see if anythings been trapped in it. Once again There seems to be less crap when I use Mobil 1.
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Old 01-13-2011, 11:07 PM
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That may well mean that the Castrol is doing a better job of cleaning than the Mobil 1. You need to get a lab test of the used oil -- a much better determination of what is going on than just trying to judge "how dirty" the used oil appears -- which mean next to nothing.

Another minor point. By swithcing brands at each change, you do not get a consistent addative package in your motor oil. There is always some of the old oil remaining after an oil change. When you put the same oil back in that had been there before, you have the same package. This does not mean you should never change brands -- but I would try to stick to one brand for a number of oil changes. Again- this is not a big point, only minor.

Last edited by SilverMax_04; 01-13-2011 at 11:11 PM.
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Old 01-14-2011, 12:23 PM
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Originally Posted by SilverMax_04
That may well mean that the Castrol is doing a better job of cleaning than the Mobil 1. You need to get a lab test of the used oil -- a much better determination of what is going on than just trying to judge "how dirty" the used oil appears -- which mean next to nothing.

Another minor point. By swithcing brands at each change, you do not get a consistent addative package in your motor oil. There is always some of the old oil remaining after an oil change. When you put the same oil back in that had been there before, you have the same package. This does not mean you should never change brands -- but I would try to stick to one brand for a number of oil changes. Again- this is not a big point, only minor.
Idont change every time I do 3 or 4 changes with the same stuff I buy ahead because I do a lot of driving. I should get it analised but honestly as long as I change it every 5k I should be fine. If it was a race car id be more concerned but its not
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Old 08-22-2011, 09:02 PM
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I love an oil thread.

I guess I am the only one here that uses Shell Rotella 5W40 Synthetic, huh?

Why you may ask? The diesel pickup truck needs it. The motorcycle prefers it. The yard equipment doesn't care, so both Maximas get it because I don't feel the need to have more than one type of oil on hand. The old Max has 185K, the motorcycle has 70K, the truck has 150K and all were run on Rotella their whole lives.

And you can buy it cheap for like $18.00 a gallon.
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Old 08-22-2011, 09:39 PM
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Switched to Pennzoil when I first saw BP on the Castrol Label.
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Old 08-24-2011, 12:37 AM
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Originally Posted by S76
I love an oil thread.

I guess I am the only one here that uses Shell Rotella 5W40 Synthetic, huh?

Why you may ask? The diesel pickup truck needs it. The motorcycle prefers it. The yard equipment doesn't care, so both Maximas get it because I don't feel the need to have more than one type of oil on hand. The old Max has 185K, the motorcycle has 70K, the truck has 150K and all were run on Rotella their whole lives.

And you can buy it cheap for like $18.00 a gallon.
There are a bunch of us who run Rotella T and Rotella T6 and who have posted about it. Lots of the guys who run these cars really hard use it. You just didn't search well enough...

I'd like to know where you're currently finding it for $18.00 a gallon though. It used to be that price about 3 years ago when I first started using it, but now the cheapest I can find is like $24/gal (still nice and cheap, but not as nice and cheap as $18/gal).
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Old 08-24-2011, 05:51 PM
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My car ran on Castrol GTX 5W30 for years of diy. It's way too expensive now for dino juice. One day my wife's uncle borrowed the car and he changed it with synthetic. Ever since then, I've used synth. Mobil 1, then Castrol. But at $27/5 qt. maybe it's not really worth it on a 13 1/2 y.o. car....
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