Did I get ripped off on my first oil change?

I only pay $20 for a Cat oil filter at the stearship. Sounds like some kind of mark up they have.

 

What shop is this?

 

So what if it is "inexpensive", by that I assume you mean cheap quality and inferior.

Truth be told, the majority of the base oil for ALL of the major and minor brands is one company out of Port Arthur, TX.. Motiva. The majority of the add packs for every major brand out there is made by Infineum. I found out this information from the oil and lube V.P. at my oil supplier and it has been confirmed by the guys over at the BITOG oil forum site. If you doubt me, go over there and take them on regarding oils. Just make sure you wear your cup. There are some very knowledgeable people there that have extensive experience in the oil industry.

All of the blenders use the same base oil stocks and very close in similarity add packs. The API CJ-4 specification does not allow for much variance.

Whether is it Rotella, Delo, Delvac, Wally world, or the oil I get.. Allied, it is all from the same sources. I have seen the detailed spec sheet on the oil I use and it is darn similar to all the major brands synthetic blended oils, except they only use 25% synthetic, whereas my oil supplier blends 50% synthetic and delivers it to my door for the whopping price of $9 a gallon and take my used oil away for free. And is Allied a "cheap" quality oil? I kinda doubt it. Their heavy duty transmission and gear lubes are on the PRIMARY recommended list by Eaton for their transmissions and diffs. (the major brands of lubes are only on the "approved" list... they didn't make the Primary list) The oil samples on my over 700,000 mile EGR equipped ISX engine at 25,000 mile OCI's are better than most younger engines I have seen. Last sample 8 on iron, 2 on lead, .1 on soot, well within viscosity grade.

The main reason that the major brands are more expensive is that you are paying for all their advertising, fancy lableing, race car sponsorships, truck show entertainment sponsorships, etc. No problem with that, but I prefer to just pay for the oil.

Don't be fooled by the slick advertising in the magazines. Do your research on the oil you are looking at, and don't overlook those good buys on oil you are not used to seeing. Nothing wrong with the big name brands, they are good oils. But you get nothing more for the higher price.

 

Thanks Cowpie and all true. I think the op was referring to the recycled oil though and personally I wouldn't use the stuff unless the motor was already gone, but that's me. The shop likely uses it because the lower cost boosts their bottom line.

Got any leads on filter quality? I've always used Wix or Napa ( same ) . I'd be curious if the "Cat" upgrade is worth it or more fluff.

 

exactly my point. it may not be rotella or name brand but i bet it is good enough quality since its refined. i dont think you will have any problems from it. also most dealerships sale bulk oil in thier sevice departments and its not rotella but they tell you it is. when i worked at a dealer here (not gonna say any names) they used SPX brand oil from Simons Pertrolium. Great oil but not name brand. Still good quality.

 

cowpie is correct when he said they are all made the same. in my younger days i worked at Sunoco and thier bottling plant filled 3 different brand name oils from the same machine with the same oil.

 

I can understand most people's perceptions on re-cycled oil. But it is not well founded. Northland Oil has a solid reputation in the Midwest (mostly in the agricultural community) and the products are primarily from recycled oil. And no one can afford to put a mediocre oil in those big ag tractors and combines.

I guess filters start as many fights as oil brands do. I have been sold on Donaldson filters for quite a long time. Wix makes several of the other brands out there. I found out recently, that Baldwin is making a lot of the Fleetguard stuff. Wix (napa) is the same filter and is darn good quality. If you do regular oil sampling (as you should), then try a different filter like Cat, and see how the samples compare to the Wix you are using. I highly doubt you will see much difference. The only area where I have seen filter brand make the biggest difference is in fuel filters. Cat engines seem to do better overall with cat fuel filters. I have not seen that big of a difference on brands with Detroit or Cummins. The only filters I would avoid is the Fram line. They have had a lot of quality control problems over the years. But most class 8 owners don't use that brand anyway.

I get my Donaldson filters in bulk from a local supplier that gets me darn close to wholesale pricing. Hard for the dealerships and parts outlets to beat the pricing.

 

Just a note: Fleetguard is owned by Cummins. and I tend to lean more towards cat filters on cat engines. and i agree fram is big no no.

 

Thanks, Never seen a class 8 Fram though. I'll stick with the Napa and Donaldson. No need for spectroanalysis either. 'Ole dog has 710k and has never been opened up. Whatever damage has been done is done IMO.

 

Aaaaa, still a young engine! If you take care of it. I have taken a couple of trucks over a mil and they were never opened up and still ran good and didn't really use that much oil. Last one I took to 1.4 mil without opening it up, except for overheads and one injector. That engine still only used about a gallon of oil every 8-10 thousand miles and got around 7 mpg average. Kick myself every time I think about it. Should have just gotten a glider kit truck, and rebuilt that engine and put it in there. Oh well.

It lived on Baldwin filters its whole life.