Silly question
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Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Central Mizzippi
Silly question
I've read that some of you are using "X"brand oil (Castrol, Amsoil, ect.) in "all three holes". Does this mean you are using, say 20W50 in all three holes, or are you saying that you are using that particular BRAND in all three holes? Inquiring minds wanna know.
Grand HDF Member
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From:
RE: Silly question
ORIGINAL: FLHTCU Rob
I've read that some of you are using "X"brand oil (Castrol, Amsoil, ect.) in "all three holes". Does this mean you are using, say 20W50 in all three holes, or are you saying that you are using that particular BRAND in all three holes? Inquiring minds wanna know.
I've read that some of you are using "X"brand oil (Castrol, Amsoil, ect.) in "all three holes". Does this mean you are using, say 20W50 in all three holes, or are you saying that you are using that particular BRAND in all three holes? Inquiring minds wanna know.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2005
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RE: Silly question
I have heard and read that you may use 20W50 synthetic oil in all three holes but when I talked to the guy at my local Hog shop, he said that he still uses tranny oil for the tranny and engine oil for the crankcase. They have sythetics for all applications. "Synthetic" oils are only about 20% synthetic and the rest is dead dinosaurs.
Grand HDF Member
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RE: Silly question
Tripper you are right about the oil's that are a blend being 20 or 30% syn., but if you use another brand such as Mobil1 or Amsoil or other true synthetics then that theory is gone. As far as running the gear oil I guess it's up to the dealer or the person, my dealer said to run 20w-50 in the trans. so that's what I did, some do and some don't.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2005
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RE: Silly question
Seems most of the information on synthetic oils is cloaked in advertising hype. I did find a decent explanation of the difference between mineral oil and synthetic oil at
http://www.volvocars.com/Services/Re...ance/channel2/
The upshot is that to manufacture synthetic oil, crude oil (dead dynosaurs) is processed and tweaked so all the little molecules come out the same size. I don't think that Volvo has any special interest that would make them fabricate the tale.
http://www.volvocars.com/Services/Re...ance/channel2/
The upshot is that to manufacture synthetic oil, crude oil (dead dynosaurs) is processed and tweaked so all the little molecules come out the same size. I don't think that Volvo has any special interest that would make them fabricate the tale.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 11,068
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From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?
RE: Silly question
Pretty simple explanation of a complex process; makes it easy to understand. Only thing that concerned me was the Castrol reference. I'm pretty sure it was Castrol that had a court decision in their favor vs. Mobil. The two companies manufacture their versions of synthetic oil differently, and Mobil claimed Castrol's wasn't completely synthetic. Some scientists pretty much sided with Mobil, explaining their "scientific" definition of synthetic, but the judge decided otherwise.
Dang, now I've gotta go do some searching to satisfy my curiousity!
Dang, now I've gotta go do some searching to satisfy my curiousity!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 11,068
Likes: 1,479
From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?
RE: Silly question
Quick search turned up this: (Paraphrasing here)
Originally all synthetic oils were built from scratch, one molecule at a time. When the building process gets 10-carbon molecules, three of them are combined to form polyalphaolefin (PAO) base stock. This is how Mobil 1, Amsoil, and some others are made. (My opinion: I consider these "pure" synthetics.)
Castrol and other companies discovered a shortcut of sorts. They break down some undesirable molecules in crude oil and change them by chemical reactions into desirable molecules. These are known as hydroisomerized base oils, and have similar properties PAO's, but are only half the cost of PAOs. (My opinion: I call these synthetic synthetics!
)
Both types are allowed to be called synthetic. Most of the online research I've seen shows the Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc. to have better overall ratings than the oils made from petroleum base stocks. And if the dyno-***-synthetic base stock only costs 1/2 as much to make, why are the prices so similar?
I ran the Castrol Syntec in my bike a couple times. Seat-of-the-pants observation was it didn't seem to last as long as the Mobil 1. It got "dirtier" quicker, and seemed to "thin out" earlier.
Originally all synthetic oils were built from scratch, one molecule at a time. When the building process gets 10-carbon molecules, three of them are combined to form polyalphaolefin (PAO) base stock. This is how Mobil 1, Amsoil, and some others are made. (My opinion: I consider these "pure" synthetics.)
Castrol and other companies discovered a shortcut of sorts. They break down some undesirable molecules in crude oil and change them by chemical reactions into desirable molecules. These are known as hydroisomerized base oils, and have similar properties PAO's, but are only half the cost of PAOs. (My opinion: I call these synthetic synthetics!
)Both types are allowed to be called synthetic. Most of the online research I've seen shows the Mobil 1, Amsoil, etc. to have better overall ratings than the oils made from petroleum base stocks. And if the dyno-***-synthetic base stock only costs 1/2 as much to make, why are the prices so similar?
I ran the Castrol Syntec in my bike a couple times. Seat-of-the-pants observation was it didn't seem to last as long as the Mobil 1. It got "dirtier" quicker, and seemed to "thin out" earlier.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 11,068
Likes: 1,479
From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?
RE: Silly question
More searching and it gets better!
Up until 1998 Castrol made its Syntec from Mobil PAO base stock. Castrol stopped when they started buying Shell base stock made with the extra refining processes necessary to make the dino oil into a product similar to PAOs.
The 100% synthetic Mobil 1 isn't. The additive package is mixed with non-synthetic "carrier" oil and mixed in with the 100% synthetic PAO base stock. Result is Mobil 1 is about 81 - 91 % synthetic. Castrol's "not-really synthetic" runs about the same, as do most synthetic oils.
There is one company that buys PAO, and other synthetic base stocks, and mixes its synthetic additive package with synthetic base oil. It's called SynLube. But the stuff is about $26/liter for the universal version, and more for some other stuff. You never change this stuff, just change the filter with their special brand ($20-30 per filter) and add what's needed to top off.
Too expensive to use in my Sloptail, even if they did make 15w or 20w-50!
Up until 1998 Castrol made its Syntec from Mobil PAO base stock. Castrol stopped when they started buying Shell base stock made with the extra refining processes necessary to make the dino oil into a product similar to PAOs.
The 100% synthetic Mobil 1 isn't. The additive package is mixed with non-synthetic "carrier" oil and mixed in with the 100% synthetic PAO base stock. Result is Mobil 1 is about 81 - 91 % synthetic. Castrol's "not-really synthetic" runs about the same, as do most synthetic oils.
There is one company that buys PAO, and other synthetic base stocks, and mixes its synthetic additive package with synthetic base oil. It's called SynLube. But the stuff is about $26/liter for the universal version, and more for some other stuff. You never change this stuff, just change the filter with their special brand ($20-30 per filter) and add what's needed to top off.
Too expensive to use in my Sloptail, even if they did make 15w or 20w-50!
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