Oil & Fuel SAE or Synthetic

[Bull Of The Woods]

Anyone use Schaeffer's products? I have heard only good things about them. But since I have been on TBN I have read a couple of threads about oil and Schaeffer's is just not mentioned much. Does anyone use it and if so, what's your opinion of it?

 

[Copperhead]

Schaeffer is the majority of what I use. From my portable generator right on up thru my class 8 semi truck. Their grease is king. I am presently using a HDEO 10w30 syn blend in all my diesels and even small stuff that has an additive package that would make a professional racer drool. Decided to give it a try in my factory remanned Detroit Diesel Series 60 12.7L with almost 500,000 miles on it at the prodding of my Schaeffer rep. At almost 21,000 miles on the oil, the used oil sample showed it doing better and holding up better than the 15w40 syn blend I had previously run, and wear metals were at the same or slightly lower. So, I think I will stick with it. Just ordered 4 more 6 gallon cases of the stuff along with a case of full syn 5w30 for my pickup. Shipped free to the house at $115.68 a case for about $19.28 a gallon on the HDEO 10w30. Would have bought drums like in the past, but Schaeffer changed their jug design and 10 of them fit perfect in the side box of my semi truck and the price isn't much different per gallon that way. Worth the convenience.

 

[LD1]

Mobil1 uses Group III, which many claim is just uber-good dino oil with a false "synthetic" label. There was a big court case on it with Catrol vs Mobil; see articles, below. Red Line Oils are all from ester, which is in Group V.





Automotive Perspectives: There are only two Real Synthetic Oils in America

Your article seems to say just the opposite. Mobile1 is Group IV

 

[JRobyn]

Another fan of Rotella T6. I have used the 5-40 synthetic in my Kubota since its first change. As others have noted, available cheap at Walmart.

 

[nikerret]

Your article seems to say just the opposite. Mobile1 is Group IV

Yes, you are correct. I typed the wrong name in the wrong spot. Will correct the original post. Thanks.

 

[Copperhead]

For those that seem to want to waste their time on whether Group III is a "faux" synthetic and concern themselves that only a Group IV PAO is the "true" synthetic are looking at things a little myopic. While Group III is indeed a severely refined mineral oil, Group IV is made primarily from ethylene gas which is primarily derived from natural gas. So both are carbon based sources. Not like some dweeb in a lab coat with coke bottle glasses is cooking up batches of synthetic in a lab out of thin air or from whale snot. But this article from Machinery Lubrication ought to give a better picture on the issue and show that worrying about such things is a waste of time.

Performance of Base Oils and Future Trends - The Evolution of Base Oil Technology - Part 3

From that article.....

A modern Group III oil can actually outperform a PAO in several areas important to lubricants, such as additive solubility, lubricity and antiwear performance. Group III base oils can now rival PAO stocks in pour point, viscosity index and oxidation stability performance.

Based on the article, it would seem the best overall synthetic oil would be a blend of both Group III and Group IV. Which just happens to be the mix of the full synthetic Schaeffer products.

While Red Line may be ester based, the Group V label is misleading. Group IV is everything that does not fit is Group I thru Group IV. Group V is not a synthetic classification.

API Base Oil Definitions | Global Industrial Solutions