valvoline

Allium asked me a question about gear lube and it reminded me of a topic I meant to bring up..

Last Thursday I attended a seminar for Valvoline products. I can tell you over the years I have been sent to alot of vendor sponsored training and I am always the one that question's the so-called Bull Crap you hear on products they are pushing made by their company. At the beginning of the class I already started some shit when they were asking what type of oil we use in our own vehicles. Myself and the company trainer both have diesels and we got into a discussion about Royal Purple. The Valvoline rep started on me saying I am wasting my money. After a few minutes he finally realized we were discussing diesel's and he backed out of his original comments. So i took that as he didnt want to compare his products when considering a diesel engine.
But to the point... Valvoline has a newer product called Max Life.. This products has two additives. A anti oxidant agent to help with viscosity breakdown and a conditioner to help with the seals of a engine. Basically it is like a lotion for the seals. With the common rear main seal leak in a jeep this product might help out. The rep. gave us information on studies conducted by outside sources promoting the product works.
I have documentation on this product if anyone is interested. I dont have the patience to type it all out..
Tom with the red yj that ran with us last time out was with me during the class and he also stated he wants to try it in his yj..

The other thing that really surprised me was that Valvoline and other manufactures besides MOBIL 1 are saying that when using a synthetic do not go over your normal 3-5k mile oil changes. I always thought that was the reason to use synthetic. Thats why I use it in the diesel. I have read alot on diesel forums about guys who run 8-10,000 between changes and send the oil out for tests and its like new. Apparently it is because a diesel is no where as hard on oil as a gas motor.

Mobil 1 is who started the extended life intervals. A synthetic oil will not break down as fast as conventional oil but it does lose the additives just as fast and holds the dirt just like a conventional oil..

We were told that the difference in products like Royal Purple is that the oil part of the oil is a higher quality but it still looses the additives and collects the dirt just like conventional.

According to my company trainer he has been using the Max life and really likes it and the price at WalMart.. All the info we received is stating that the conditioner for the seals really works. I am going to try it in the jeep and in Tina's caravan.
I think I will stick to the Royal Purple for the diesel just because of the stress put on it at times. I havent decided if I will continue to go to 5-6k or go back to 3k. Its hard to justify a $100 oil change every 3k. All the diesel fanatics swear by some of the higher grade synthetics. I dont abuse mine like some of them do so I dont think its as much of a factor..

Just my $.02 for what it was worth.....

Hey, that's good info to pass on, thanks. Maybe I will beginto use it too.

Thats not bad info. I run Mobil 1 in my van and have since day 1 with it. The Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Civic (Emily's commuter car) and soon with the Toyota all get regular oil. Normally we hit the 3 month date on the oil change before I hit the mileage mark for the oil change. This as always been my practice but since we are on the oil changing subject is this good practice?

Now that I think about it we didnt discuss time at all. I would think that with the newer additives time might not be as much of a problem as it used to be. My dad consistantly passes time before mileage.

I've heard nothing about time deadlines for oil changes. I believe it is a waste to change oil every 3k miles. Somewhere I recall a long term study of NYC taxi cabs and oil changes as well as slick 50 and other engine treatments. basically the study showed the oil treatments don't work and oil changes every 3k is a waste. I change every 5k miles because it is less than the 6k recommended by the study and easy to know when it is due.