I had a bad experience with conventional Quaker State oil in the late '70's. Seems they forgot to add some viscosity agents in their oil for cold weather. Living at home at the time in Northeast Wisconsin , we had 3 cars that had this oil in them and one early-January winter when it was -20°F NONE of them would turn over. I took the drain plug out of my parent's 1974 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon (400 C.I. V8) and it would not even drip. I took a screw driver, stuck it in the oil pan drain hole, and it was like a light grease. I ended up placing a Redi space heater under the oil pan for about a half-an-hour to heat up the oil so the engine could turn over to start and heat up the oil so it could be drained and changed. I literally froze my hands when I got oil on them, and boy, did that hurt when they "thawed out". It's like slamming your hand in a door, it stung/ached/hurt that much. The oil was later recalled by Quaker State after receiving many similar complaints and subsequent engine damage lawsuits. We never were reimbursed by QS nor could we exchange the oil for that which was kosher, as the oil cans (metal cans that required a piercing drain spout, not self-pouring plastic bottles) and box with the production code (days before UPC Bar Codes) had been discarded.
We continued to use Quaker State and it was great oil , except for this isolated incident.
I started using Mobil I when it first came out in 1980-81. It was great for my 1977 Mercury Monarch with a 302 C.I. V-8 that sat outside in the winter. It always started and turned over MUCH faster than when it had conventional oil in it. This was when 10W-40 was recommended. I had used conventional 5W-20 oil in the winter because when its -25°F with wind chill indexes in the -40° to -50°F range, cars do not turn over easily or fast enough to draw gas through the carburetor (before fuel injection). I used to take my battery out in the evening and bring it in the warm basement and re-installed it in the very cold morning to make sure the Monarch would start so I could get to work in Green Bay. While Mobil 1 was about $2 per quart when it came out, conventional oil was about $0.80 a quart, so you can see the price difference was quite drastic in those days.
Cold weather starting is the major reason I still use Mobil 1oil in vehicles. The price difference is still about the same and there have been quite a few debates/discussions/studies about the economic sensibility of this cost difference and the advantage of using conventional oil versus synthetic oil. You can decide for yourself. I do change my oil at 7,500 mile intervals or every 8 months. I use factory oil filters or Bosch extended- life filters. (2003 Subaru Outback with 168,000 miles and now a 2006 Ford Freestyle with 50,000 miles we bought from my Mom; sold my wife's 2000 Nissan Maxima to her sister with 113,000 miles on it when we bought the Freestyle) After reading on the internet about all kinds of horror stories about the cheaper low-end Fram Filters, I would not use them. (Do you believe everything you read on the internet??)
Let's just put it this way: when Chevy Corvettes and Porsche 911's come with Mobil 1 in their engines from the factory, I think that's a pretty good endorsement for a motor oil to use in one's own vehicle.
We continued to use Quaker State and it was great oil , except for this isolated incident.
I started using Mobil I when it first came out in 1980-81. It was great for my 1977 Mercury Monarch with a 302 C.I. V-8 that sat outside in the winter. It always started and turned over MUCH faster than when it had conventional oil in it. This was when 10W-40 was recommended. I had used conventional 5W-20 oil in the winter because when its -25°F with wind chill indexes in the -40° to -50°F range, cars do not turn over easily or fast enough to draw gas through the carburetor (before fuel injection). I used to take my battery out in the evening and bring it in the warm basement and re-installed it in the very cold morning to make sure the Monarch would start so I could get to work in Green Bay. While Mobil 1 was about $2 per quart when it came out, conventional oil was about $0.80 a quart, so you can see the price difference was quite drastic in those days.
Cold weather starting is the major reason I still use Mobil 1oil in vehicles. The price difference is still about the same and there have been quite a few debates/discussions/studies about the economic sensibility of this cost difference and the advantage of using conventional oil versus synthetic oil. You can decide for yourself. I do change my oil at 7,500 mile intervals or every 8 months. I use factory oil filters or Bosch extended- life filters. (2003 Subaru Outback with 168,000 miles and now a 2006 Ford Freestyle with 50,000 miles we bought from my Mom; sold my wife's 2000 Nissan Maxima to her sister with 113,000 miles on it when we bought the Freestyle) After reading on the internet about all kinds of horror stories about the cheaper low-end Fram Filters, I would not use them. (Do you believe everything you read on the internet??)
Let's just put it this way: when Chevy Corvettes and Porsche 911's come with Mobil 1 in their engines from the factory, I think that's a pretty good endorsement for a motor oil to use in one's own vehicle.
