500,000 mile motor oil??

[Reynard]

I ran across this Pennzoil ad that guarantees oil life of half a million miles. The fine print say you have to register with Pennzoil, keep receipts, change filters per the car.manufacturers recommendations. Additionally the program and guarantee is only good for engines 72 months old or newer.

 

I know this guarantee is not for older cars, but for those old cars with an engine oil filter, could you say good-bye to oil changes, per their advertisement, and get by with only filter changes for the next 15 years? It sounds pretty outrageous to me after changing oil periodically in my vehicles for 60 years, and only having a had a few reach near 200k miles, much less 500k.

 

What do you think? Who wants to try this first?

 

 

[leomara]

Don't really know what is motivating this narrative, you would think Pennzoil would want to sell oil not curtail it.  However, on a non-automotive but oil related topic last year I bought a new pressure washer with a Briggs & Stratton gas engine and their narrative was that I would never have to change the oil, just add more as needed.  It all sounds rather bizarre and I don't get it.

[Dave Wells]

Maybe there's more money in selling filters🙂.

 

 

[TAKerry]

Last new car I bought came with a lifetime warranty on the motor. Little did they know I typically keep cars until they have been well used up. Hopefully I will never have to worry about it, but we shall see............(and it does qualify for the penzoil agreement, maybe I should double up!)

[Skvitt]

How much does it sell for? Perhaps answer is there.

[JACK M]

Isn't this the recommendation for the full synthetics? Just change filters?

Or is that old news?

[rocketraider]

I've been told for years that oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Clean and dewater it and should theoretically last forever. There are filtration devices that can do that.

 

With modern metallurgy and fuel injection oil stays cleaner than it did when our class of vehicles were built. My money says Pennzoil is banking on that.

 

Plus they're getting props and cred with the green crowd, which seems to be important in the corporate world nowadays.

[Dave Wells]

19 minutes ago, Skvitt said:

How much does it sell for? Perhaps answer is there.

$71.34 for a 5 quart bottle, which is $14.26 per quart (on Amazon).

The days of 39 cent oil at Pep boys, when I was in high school, are long gone!

 

[JohnS25]

Not for me.

 I change my oil every 3000-3500 miles religiously. And if it is one of my hobby cars, it gets the oil changed every 12-18 months regardless of mileage. 
 

[Grimy]

Show me the filter that removes water and other liquid contaminants such as acids--that is, all the  *liquid* byproducts of combustion.  Granted, today's cars produce less than older iron, but still....

[Rusty_OToole]

There are over the road transport trucks that have gone farther, like a million miles, without changing oil. They use a second oil filter that has a roll of paper towels or toilet tissue for depth filtration. You must change the filter periodically and that means adding fresh oil to make up what was discarded in the old filter, and any that was lost or burned.

 

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, Grimy said:

Show me the filter that removes water and other liquid contaminants such as acids--that is, all the  *liquid* byproducts of combustion.  Granted, today's cars produce less than older iron, but still....

 

Sure, it's stationary. But it will clean, dewater and decontaminate oil.  Once I saw one of these in action "reprocessed" oil lost its stigma.

[Grimy]

22 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

 

Sure, it's stationary. But it will clean, dewater and decontaminate oil.  Once I saw one of these in action "reprocessed" oil lost its stigma.

OK, Glenn, you got me:  I should have qualified "filter" with "on-engine."  🙂 So how much does one of these cost, so I can calculate how many times I can drain, process, and refill to amortize the equipment cost?

[28 Chrysler]

But if the factory warranty calls for an oil change every 7,000 / 10.000 miles  I could see a problem.

[rocketraider]

Grimy, you're better off to just keep changing the oil and filter at regular and sensible intervals!🙂

 

We had those on every turbine-generator set plus a portable that we dragged all over the powerplant. The things kept that TG oil at near virgin cleanliness. They had three different types of filter elements, a heater to boil off entrained moisture and vacuum treatment to remove contaminants and non-condensibles.

 

As I said, "reprocessed" oil lost its stigma after I saw it work. I asked the Gulfgate rep if it could clean used engine oil. He assured me it could clean it to near new oil specifications, but it couldn't separate it by viscosity/weight.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Remember "Slick Fifty"?

[Grimy]

If I understand correctly, modern oils lose their additives to oxidation by both (1) mileage and (2) time open to the atmosphere.  So was there a make-up dosage of anti-foaming, anti-corrosion, etc agents after the oil was purified by this hip-pocket contraption?

[Rusty_OToole]

Friend of mine was in charge of lubricating all the machinery in a factory that recycles paper and cardboard. He told me they had filters on some of the machines that made the oil cleaner than new oil from a name brand oil company. The filter was like a giant roll of toilet paper, like the rolls of paper towels you see in commercial establishments. He knew this because he inspected the oil under a microscope before and after filtering, and also the new oil, and had the oil tested from time to time.

[prewar]

Oil doesn't "wear out". I work around mining equipment, some of these engines hold a staggering large amount of oil making regular oil changes an expensive task. We send oil samples to a lab and they give us a report on what the contaminants are and how much the oil has broken down along with they're recommendation for changing it. We have diesel engines working in harsh environments that have NEVER had an oil change in thousands of hours over several years, we change filters and add detergent/anti oxidation packages as recommended by the lab. This process is approved by the engine manufactures warranty. 

Our pickup trucks (35 of them)  get an oil change every 10,000 miles with conventional oil and we average 300,000 miles with no issues before we trade them in. 

The 3000 mile oil change went out in the 70s, changing modern oil in modern engines at that interval is simply a waste of resources and not even recommended by any auto manufacture today. Some modern cars don't even have dipsticks anymore which is frightening to someone like me who still doesn't trust a computer to tell me the oil is good.

[Grimy]

2 hours ago, prewar said:

add detergent/anti oxidation packages as recommended by the lab

Thanks for this information!  I'm glad to hear there are such products, but apparently not found at our FLAPS.  I haven't seen anti-freeze make-up packages, which used to be available at local parts houses, for 20 years or so, but I suspect they too are available from industrial suppliers and in industrial quantities.

[rocketraider]

10 hours ago, Grimy said:

If I understand correctly, modern oils lose their additives to oxidation by both (1) mileage and (2) time open to the atmosphere.  So was there a make-up dosage of anti-foaming, anti-corrosion, etc agents after the oil was purified by this hip-pocket contraption?

Texaco supplied our oil and lube products and offered oil analysis as well, though we had in-house testing too. If in-house lab testing showed the R&O (rust and oxidation inhibitor) levels had changed, we'd send Texaco a sample. They had an additive package to bring it back into spec and would calculate how much to add.

 

I don't remember ever having to add any to turbine oil systems. Some of the other equipment such as boiler fans and pumps that operated in harsher conditions sometimes did.

 

The TG oil systems provided both bearing lubrication and hydraulic pressure. Sometimes if a turbine's steam sealing system got out of whack you'd see increased moisture levels in the oil. The filter press would remove it, you just had to be ready to change its filter elements more frequently and sometimes on short notice.

[60FlatTop]

Pennzoil gets a gold star from the EPA for reducing waste oil.

 

It's like The Peace Corps for Millennials.

 

[John348]

16 hours ago, 28 Chrysler said:

But if the factory warranty calls for an oil change every 7,000 / 10.000 miles  I could see a problem.

You beat me to it, I was thinking the same thing. Explain that to the service manager when he says "sorry it is not covered, the manufacturer recommends that BOTH the oil and filter be changed at 7-10,000 miles"

So at that point you would have to pay for the repair and take it up with Penzoil.

It's cheaper to pay for the oil change, because they will find a way out of it. 

 

[Pfeil]

10 hours ago, Grimy said:

If I understand correctly, modern oils lose their additives to oxidation by both (1) mileage and (2) time open to the atmosphere.  So was there a make-up dosage of anti-foaming, anti-corrosion, etc agents after the oil was purified by this hip-pocket contraption?

That's true, when they are recycled those remaining additives are removed along with water/acids and other impurities, I believe this is a three or four step process that returns the oil to what they call base oil. The final step is to blend additives with the right detergent and anti-friction stocks.

 Oil that is used for IC engines is different than oil used for the sole purpose of lubricating gear boxes, turbine bearings, or even compressors because the oil is not exposed to the combustion process. That's why your owner's manual is not telling you to change your transmission oil every 7500 miles.

[charlier]

From the Pennzoil website in the ad:

 

MAINTAINING THE WARRANTY
1. Change your vehicle's oil and oil filer at least as often as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer
2. Replace the air filter and air cleaner elements, maintain the emission control system and follow scheduled engine maintenance in accordance with the vehicle's manufacturer recommendations
3. Update your oil change records online at least once every twelve (12) months, even if no oil change has taken place, on this website
4. Remember: Save all service receipts in order to be eligible for reimbursement under this warranty

 

The way I read #1 is that you are REQUIRED to change the oil not that it lasts 500K miles. Pennzoil is saying that if you use their oil  (and perform other maintenance, etc)  your engine will last 500K.

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by charlier (see edit history)

[28 Chrysler]

Charier

I had a 1962 Dodge slant 6 pickup that I gave away running with about 300,000 miles on it in 1989.

[Hemi Joel]

I agree, for the Penzoil warranty, you have to change the oil at the recommended interval, and the filter. 

 

THese types of guarantys have been around for ages. It is a totally worthless gimmick.  Here is what they have calculated: 

 

1) They will make more profit up front. They will sell a lot more oil because people will think that the guaranty is a strong indication that the this is a high quality product. And only the highest priced, most profitable grades of oil are eligible.

 

2) They will pay out next to nothing on warranties, and if they do pay any, it will be many years down the road. Because:  almost nobody will keep their car long enough to make a warranty claim because the rest of the car will be a worn out pile of junk. Of those that do keep there worn out pile of junk long enough to wear out the engine, almost none of them will have met all the strict requirements to maintain the warranty. The warranty only covers certain parts, and only if the Pennzoil fails to properly lubricate the part. Of course properly lubricated parts can still wear out. How will the owner PROVE that the oil failed to lubricate and that the failure was not normal wear and tear? Most likely it is not possible.

 

 

Don't buy the oil for the warranty. You will never collect. 

 

[ericmac]

On 8/17/2023 at 2:24 PM, leomara said:

would never have to change the oil, just add more as needed.

Sounds like the same thing us Ford Model T owners have always done. "If it isn't leaking oil, it's out of oil..."