Anyone use Royal Purple?

[murphy1244]

in LA I just spent $11 for a single quart of mobile 1 0-20 for my Honda... the royal would have been cheaper.. not happy

In Ohio a single QT from Autodzone is 10 bucks.but a 5 QT plus jug is 35.00

 

[ericher69]

My automotive mechanic in LA is a great guy. Fair, talented, one of those who tells you what to fix and what to wait on...

We were talking oil as I saw he had cases of royal. Mentioned this to him and he starts going off on how wonderful it is. How it reduces engine temp even further than mobile 1.

I know, I know, oil conversations are heated, and unless you spend lots of cash, subjective. But this stuff is $2 a quart more than Mobile 1. I wouldn't mind running my oil cooled diesel at a lower temp and if this does drop it that would be exciting (I feel I lost 10 degrees when I went from dyno to mobile 1 but it is subjective).

Carl

Switched both diffs and transfer case in the truck and picked up some mileage. Don't know about running cooler though.

 

[Foxtrot08]

The people who use royal purple, like it. But as already mentioned, it is way over price for a pretty much standard additive package that is dyed.

They recently changed owners, they are now owned by a company called Calumet. So they're going to have access to Calument's base oil line. Whether this will be a good thing, or a bad thing for Royal Purple, it's too soon to tell. For the most part, Royal Purple was buying Conoco Group III's, as well as a mix of SK and Mobile PAO's. Calumet produces a group I, last I checked on them. However, they have a large investment in a new Re-refinery which is on track to produce a Group II+ and they have ties to another large independent blender.

It's going to be a wait and see thing on how Royal purple pans out in the next year or so. As of right now, decent product, over priced but good product. By no means 'the best bang for the buck'. Especially for a 15w40 engine oil, there is better out there. Tractor hydraulic fluid and hydraulic fluids in general, there is better out there for the dollar.

But it all comes back to what was already mentioned - Are you following the MFG drain intervals or going for extended?

 

[Z71]

The story I read said Calment was a current supplier to Royal Purple (Lubes'n'Greases July 12).

It also said it has net sales 110 million in 2011. About 1/10 of that of AMSOIL Inc in Superior Wisconsin (not mentioned)

 

[Foxtrot08]

For their Group I and naphthenic oils, they probably use Calumet as a base oil suppliers. But you cannot make a full synthetic out of a Group I.

Royal Purple has a rather extensive line of Industrial products - EP Gear oils, Specialty Hydraulics, Rust preventatives, etc. Some of which are Group I base stocks, and even napthenic base stocks.

But for their consumer line - I.e. HDMO's (10w30 diesel, 15w40, etc.) Light hydraulics (AW32 / 46 / 68 / Tractor), PCMO's (5w30/5w20/10w30), Calumet doesn't make a base stock to support royal purple - right now*.

*This could be changing. Which is a long and another story.

 

[Z71]

They want to cash in on the Synthetic revolution and what better to buy into it than start from scratch. They also bought 2 other companies, TruSouth Oil and Hercules (former Ashland Subsidiary, the article states).

 

[Foxtrot08]

Yeah, they basically bought 3 blending facilities.

With their investment in the Re-refinery, all they would have to do is buy PAO's on the open market to make most oils. Makes sense to me. Plus, they have a decently recognized brand with a full line of products.

 

[PoorMansCat]

I'm going to go against the flow here. Disclaimer : First, I have never used RP. I have used or am using Redline, Amsoil and Mobil1 Synthetics. I am a member on several internet boards regarding vehicles and equipment. Many people swear RP is as good or better than other synthetic branded oils. I can't say one way or the other. I have also seen several reports (on different boards and by different members), claiming that they had engine failure or serious engine damage occur after using Royal Purple (spun bearings predominantly). I have seen some of the data they provided and do believe these were oil failure related issues. But I am no expert. Was it RP's fault or not, I can't say. I have no real data to support what I am saying other than, I don't see the same type of failures mentioned using other premium synthetic motor oils, only RP. But I am not sampling the entire internet either. I guess all I am saying is, go in with your eyes open and find any data that you can. I'm sure there are tens of thousands of folks using it and having absolutely no problems. I just wanted to present the other side of the coin.

DEWFPO

I can tell you that I have personally witnessed complete engine failures when using RP... These are not small automotive engines, but larger industrial diesels. The two common failures associated with it are crankshaft bearings and turbocharger bearing failures. Several failure analysis were performed on multiple engines and random failed parts, in each case, the root cause was determined to be the oil. We had three engines running the same load on one location, all using RP, that were having turbo failures at an alarming rate... I convinced the customer to replace the oil in one engine with dino oil. Only that engine ceased to have turbo failures!. Needless to say, the drums of RP got hauled off shortly thereafter.
Maybe the stuff can be used in an automotive application where high loads are not continuous, but, IMHO, it is not a durable enough oil for an industrial application. Interestingly though, the customers that were using RP stated their fuel consumption was down while using it and also stated that fuel consumption went back up when they switched back to dino oils!. SO RP does free up some hp..

 

[Rob_Roy]

I can tell you that I have personally witnessed complete engine failures when using RP... These are not small automotive engines, but larger industrial diesels. The two common failures associated with it are crankshaft bearings and turbocharger bearing failures. Several failure analysis were performed on multiple engines and random failed parts, in each case, the root cause was determined to be the oil. We had three engines running the same load on one location, all using RP, that were having turbo failures at an alarming rate... I convinced the customer to replace the oil in one engine with dino oil. Only that engine ceased to have turbo failures!. Needless to say, the drums of RP got hauled off shortly thereafter.
Maybe the stuff can be used in an automotive application where high loads are not continuous, but, IMHO, it is not a durable enough oil for an industrial application. Interestingly though, the customers that were using RP stated their fuel consumption was down while using it and also stated that fuel consumption went back up when they switched back to dino oils!. SO RP does free up some hp..

RP was founded as an industrial lubricants company...it sure seems odd that their product wouldn't be up to the task you described. Did you contact RP or pull a sample of the oil from the failed engines/drums? I'm just wondering if their was a packaging error, wrong oil poured in the engine, etc. We nearly lost an engine when someone changed the engine oil and refilled it with hydraulic oil...thankfully it was caught before the equipment left the shop.

The only RP products I have used are their Syntractor III torque fluid and Max ATF; both products performed great in cold weather and the Syntractor fluid reduced the operating noise of a hydrostatic transmission.

 

[brucew44guns]

Back in the forties, Union Oil of California (Union 76) had a diesel oil called T5-X, and the car version oil was named Royal Triton, both oils were a distinctive royal purple color. Customers of union affectionately called it "Grapejuice". It was on of the first decently addotized oils with detergents to keep lifters and engines reasonably clean. Big trucks got outstanding service from T5-X. When Union purchased "Pure Oil" company back in the later 60's, (an east coast oil company). they dropped the purple oil, as it was an west coast rage to use it and they felt east coast customers would not buy into purple oil. Many out west did buy the stuff due to the color, and because it worked fairly well were sold completely, but color had a lot to do with mindset. I feel in my gut, that RP is a top notch product, but that Royal Purple color has a lot to do with peoples insistance of it being the best. If it was black as coal, or yellow as piss, or brown as dirt, would it sell and be praised as much?---I think not. I bought a brand new John Deere 6330 last spring, it cost a ton. I will put Delo 400 in it, and would be equally content with Rotella T or Delvac. My total happiness would not reside in RP oil in that tractors engine, not at double the money. I cannot believe for double the money, I get double the quality.