[MrMCar]

Sorry I typed incorrectly:

TITAN Supersyn LONGLIFE SAE 5W-40

I forgot the "Longlife" part.

 

[Anticdubai]

All oils leave behind a thin colored film. Some more than others. I haven't used Castrol in some time.
It used to be, that it left a light to medium brown color under the valve cover.
Redline also left behind a film, owing to more oil/less detergent IMO.

The newer Shell/BMW oils are very clean in this respect.
The "Castrol Film"as I call it, is of no harm.

I am trying to stay away from oil discussion as it is almost a religious one. Being devoted member of Castrol caste for many years, have to say that knowing it now as much as I do now, no Castrol in my engine anymore. Not for last 2 years. that ''goldplating'' by its polymers is the least of a reasons (I actually liked the color). castrol provides excellent lubricating, without doubt ; however, that powerful package being kept really unstably in a base, so unless you change it every 3k (and that it pretty much where it's washing power vanishes as well as ability to keep impuritiess suspended in oil)) and all those combustion products together with package minerals successfully drop leaving nice deposits everywhere. It happens with pretty much any oil, some earlier, some last longer, but in Castrol case, it is unacceptable, not for that money (55$ a gallon).

 

[doukas007]

I am trying to stay away from oil discussion as it is almost a religious one. Being devoted member of Castrol caste for many years, have to say that knowing it now as much as I do now, no Castrol in my engine anymore. Not for last 2 years. that ''goldplating'' by its polymers is the least of a reasons (I actually liked the color). castrol provides excellent lubricating, without doubt ; however, that powerful package being kept really unstably in a base, so unless you change it every 3k (and that it pretty much where it's washing power vanishes as well as ability to keep impuritiess suspended in oil)) and all those combustion products together with package minerals successfully drop leaving nice deposits everywhere. It happens with pretty much any oil, some earlier, some last longer, but in Castrol case, it is unacceptable, not for that money (55$ a gallon).

I am a user of castrol too and I consider them not the top, but adequate. So what are you using now?

 

[MrMCar]

This was a long time ago.
I was a religious user of Castrol, it was factory fill. Then the price went up yet again. I switched distributor. When looking at two different 55 gallon drums of 10-40, one was a different color than the other.

Long story short. Castrol didn't have a refinery in the USA. They bought overstock from other oil companies and blended.

Just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Again a long time ago.

 

[doukas007]

This was a long time ago.
I was a religious user of Castrol, it was factory fill. Then the price went up yet again. I switched distributor. When looking at two different 55 gallon drums of 10-40, one was a different color than the other.

Long story short. Castrol didn't have a refinery in the USA. They bought overstock from other oil companies and blended.

Just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Again a long time ago.

Aha, I see. I found online Shell helix ultra LL01 for 62€ including shipping from Germany to Greece so these will be my next oils probably

 

[Anticdubai]

This was a long time ago.
I was a religious user of Castrol, it was factory fill. Then the price went up yet again. I switched distributor. When looking at two different 55 gallon drums of 10-40, one was a different color than the other.

Long story short. Castrol didn't have a refinery in the USA. They bought overstock from other oil companies and blended.

Just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Again a long time ago.

Pretty much same story. Plus now I know a lot about oils and lost that blind believe that Castrol is magical one. Had a chance to compare chemical compositions of many oils, and they are very similar to each other. I cannot say anything about liquid cryptonite titanium- smart nano-shmano molecules, but basic package is not showing any significant difference- same principles, same elements. Synthetic base is pretty much the same too. Cost was not an issue, at least while I was using Castrol.
Always had respect to Liqui Moly (mostly for their smart design of packages, I am not kidding), and tried it recently with influence of @MrMCar experience. Good oil, cannot say yet how effective washing package is, but I have feeling if is more stable than Castrol. Important - With understanding general principles of how oil works, I do not expect any magical changes, as oil could wash things upto the point - as it isn't designed to CLEAN DEPOSITS, it meant to prevent its building up. Like if you have new frying pan and wash it with dish washing soap after every use, you will have it clean practically forever. If you do it once a week, soon enough you'll find that there are some deposits you cannot just wash away with soap, you need something stronger. Keep doing it same way, and you have black pan impossible to clean even if you leave it soaked in detergent for a week. And as it is clear now that LL idea definitely failed ( I won't be surprised if manufacturers quietly reduce recommenced intervals for new cars - cannot say if they did, maybe someone has experience with new models?), only way to make sure engine not getting dirtier is to change oil as frequent as you can afford. And it comes to the point that any modern oil (even mineral one has anti-friction package and washing features, plus its base holds package if not more effectively than syntetics) will protect engine well enough for it's long life.
So now I use MANNOL oil (german company, having extended line of products from OEM line to general purpose oils) and 2 gallons cost me 30$ - against 110$ Castrol - so I can change it every 5K.

 

[doukas007]

I have a simple dumb problem so I thought to resurrect that thread
My car when in high gear and low rpm jerks or jumps slightly on the throttle when I slowly accelerate. It's almost unnoticeable and it's not the stuttering or rpm hunting as it has a vacuum leak let's say (the car doesn't have vacuum leaks),
So I thought classic symptoms of stuck icv ( it does it only below 2k rpm)
I cleaned it once with windex (didn't have proper cleaner) it made the car more smooth and the problem seemed to be fixed. I decided to do it again, with carb cleaner and I also lubricsted the valve, the problem got back. I cleaned it really thoroughly for a 3rd time without adding oil, still the same
And the symptoms are exactly these of a sticking icv. Am I for a new one? It freely articulates when I have it in my hand. Did anyone have similar issues?