Shell Formula motor oil...good stuff?

[JDgreen227]

+1 Only problem I know of personally is having the screen get covered with debris and quit pumping because of it. Actually got the engine stopped quickly enough when pressure got low, tore down and figured out what the problem was. Put the old pump back and was back in business.
Oh, great deal on the oil! I missed a $1.49 promotion here at Ace hardware a while back on Pennzoil - still kicking myself over that one.

While on the subject of oil, I want to pass along a funny story....about ten years ago I was at the local K-mart, they had an advertised special on Mobil oil for 99 cents a quart, limit 12 quarts. Well I took the case of 12 to the register, and the scanner rang it up at the regular price, I paid then took the case and receipt to the customer service counter, they gave me a refund of the overcharge but also gave me a very difficult time about the $5 bounty for the scanner overcharge I was entitled to under Michigan law. Well it ticked me off, I took the oil to the car and went back in and purchased another case, went to the customer service counter again and they gave me a hard time about the $5 bounty again, took the case out and went back in, got another case, this time they summoned the store manager to the customer service counter, she asked me "are you trying to defraud us by doing this" and I said "No, Ma'am, looks to me like Kmart is trying to defraud the customers by overcharging them"...she slammed my $5 down on the counter and said "very funny" well I took the third case to my car and went back in, there were a pair of clerks just finishing removing the last of the stack of Mobil oil cases from the shelf, so I went to the customer service counter and asked "can I get a raincheck for this oil, looks like you are out of stock right now", if looks could kill I would have been dead and buried.

That was the best deal on oil I ever got, 36 quarts for $24 with tax after my $15 bounty.

 

[clemsonfor]

While on the subject of oil, I want to pass along a funny story....about ten years ago I was at the local K-mart, they had an advertised special on Mobil oil for 99 cents a quart, limit 12 quarts. Well I took the case of 12 to the register, and the scanner rang it up at the regular price, I paid then took the case and receipt to the customer service counter, they gave me a refund of the overcharge but also gave me a very difficult time about the $5 bounty for the scanner overcharge I was entitled to under Michigan law. Well it ticked me off, I took the oil to the car and went back in and purchased another case, went to the customer service counter again and they gave me a hard time about the $5 bounty again, took the case out and went back in, got another case, this time they summoned the store manager to the customer service counter, she asked me "are you trying to defraud us by doing this" and I said "No, Ma'am, looks to me like Kmart is trying to defraud the customers by overcharging them"...she slammed my $5 down on the counter and said "very funny" well I took the third case to my car and went back in, there were a pair of clerks just finishing removing the last of the stack of Mobil oil cases from the shelf, so I went to the customer service counter and asked "can I get a raincheck for this oil, looks like you are out of stock right now", if looks could kill I would have been dead and buried.

That was the best deal on oil I ever got, 36 quarts for $24 with tax after my $15 bounty.

That is hilarious!

 

[clemsonfor]

ThAT IS A little after the time when i worked at Kmart. just as they were transforming all the locations into the Big K stores where they sold groceries. Well it may have been more like 12 yrs ago, i was a junior in HS, We were always understaffed and always had wrong prices on the shevels and just the way it was run i knew they were not going to do well long term. Then several years later they filed for bankrupcy. That place is a disaster, still have junk in the isles high prices on same stuff as walmart and just outdated stores. Here im not speaking of the one i worked at cause it went out of business 8 years or so ago! Im talking about the ones that are left.

Edit: When i worked there you noticed that more than half the customers were there for the sales and not much else.

 

[WilliamTO-35]

Speaking of oil and oil pumps, about 30 years ago I knew a man who seemed to live rather high on the hog , considering he had no job or skills. I learned that he had married a woman whose father had invented and patented a new type of oil pump pickup for engines. It may have been a free swinging oil pump pickup, if I recall correctly. I suppose it always amazed me how a seemingly small invention provided a life of leisure for at least two or more generations of unemployed heirs. Needless to say, the wife controlled the purse strings. It was also notible that this unemployed son-in-law with the wealthy wife was more often the subject of ridicule and theft , than of any measure of admiration. It made me glad to have an honest job.

 

[tulenutn2o]

The local Menards store sold me 48 quarts of Shell Formula motor oil yesterday at the bargain price of $1.68 per quart (I had a 90 day old raincheck from their last sale) and this week they have an in-store rebate deal on all purchases, the 11 percent rebate check I will earn on my 48 quarts effectively reduces my cost per quart to a buck and a half. This is probably the first time I have ever purchased the Shell brand, for the past 15 years I have stuck with Mobil in all my cars, trucks, and 4 stroke lawn care equipment.

No, the oil I purchased isn't for use my my John Deere...it's for gasoline engines. Does anybody here have something good or bad to say about the Shell brand I got a great price on...? Thanks.

I got a shelf full of it and have used it, as well as the Quaker state brand for years. In fact, that's where I have bought my motor oil for the last 10 years or better.

 

[tulenutn2o]

Technically tht is an oil related failure. That pump is lubed with oil, unless a nut or something came loose. Not trying to start anything though, i know what you mean.

Pieces of valve seals getting loose are notorious for locking up oil pumps.

 

[Diamondpilot]

One morning about 6-7 years ago I heard my neighbor fire up his truck, late 90's Dodge 1500 with the 5.9L 360 and strait pipes. Sounded great. Anyway 6:30 every morning I would hear him leave his drive. He got in front of my house and I head the most awful screech ever. I got up and looked out and his truck was stopped in the middle of the road. I went out and it was dead as a door nail. Fired up the tractor and towed it home.

He had it towed the next day and it was the oil pump that had failed. Motor was trashed so he picked up a Junk Yard motor for $850 with 45,000 miles on it and some hill jack dropped it in.

Only two oil pump failures I have ever seen personally happened to me and him and I was there for both so to speak.

Chris

 

[Maxamillion]

I have never used the shell oil in my vehicles, but I started to use the Shell Rotella 5W40 Synthetic in my skid steer. I have used Shell Rotella 15W40 and it seemed to get black real fast. I changed out to the Shell Rotella 5W40 and have about 40 hours on the oil change and you can still see the dipstick with the oil on it, seems to be cleaner. I am going to continue to use Shell Rotella 5W40 year round in my skid steer.

 

[tulenutn2o]

I have never used the shell oil in my vehicles, but I started to use the Shell Rotella 5W40 Synthetic in my skid steer. I have used Shell Rotella 15W40 and it seemed to get black real fast. I changed out to the Shell Rotella 5W40 and have about 40 hours on the oil change and you can still see the dipstick with the oil on it, seems to be cleaner. I am going to continue to use Shell Rotella 5W40 year round in my skid steer.

While I am not a petro chemical engineer, I have always considered the oil turning color a good thing in the sense that it means it is holding whatever contaminants in suspension. I know this could be looked at both ways. One could be that if the contaminants were to drop out in pan, that would be good. I would agree with that, but who's to say the oil that stays cleaner is transporting the contaminants there in the first place? Possibly a reason you are noticing less color change is that you dropped to a ligter weight in 5w40 so everything is sealing up internally quicker?(rings and seals). I prefer the synthetics, but only use when price makes it feasible.(SALE). When I used synthetics faithfully in my 2000 F150, oil changes went to 12K miles with absolutely no issues. I did change filters at 6k though. My thinking could be flawed on this, but that is my $.02

 

[Dargo]

Apparently some engines will run on just about anything for 3 months/3000 miles. I didn't even bother to argue with an old fella who was a friend of one of my friends who got talking about his "secret" to keeping his vehicles running great. He claimed that after his '69 Nova engine blew up in the first year that some "mechanic" (some people consider themselves a mechanic if they can change a tire) told him to run transmission fluid in his engine rather than engine oil.

The conversation came up because apparently his local Walmart got a new service manager who refused to put transmission fluid in his engine no matter what "waiver" or "against recommendation" note was written on his receipt. He was asking me if I knew who would change his oil and fill it with transmission fluid. I just shrugged and said "Nobody I know. You may want to consider why that is a fact." That went right over his head.

I'm not a chemist or lubrication specialist, but I've never heard of running transmission fluid in an engine. If it was 'better', I'd have to assume that manufacturers would recommend such. I'd never heard of doing that. Anyone else heard of that practice?