Castrol Full Synthetic 10-40

[art miller]

I have been using Castrol Full Synthetic Power RS Racing Oil 10-40. I now find it is seemingly not available. I am seeing Power 1 Synthetic. Did Castrol change labels? Anyone know of special prices available? Seem to recall buying the Power RS 10-40 some time ago on line for about $36 per 6qt cast, free shipping.

 

[RossKean]

A web search found this on another forum...

So I just changed my oil in the 800XC and the DR 6-fiddy I used Castrol Power RS Racing 4T from Canadian Tire. I bought just enough and thought I should have one on hand, but on my next visit to CT all they had was Castrol Power 1 4T. I asked the young fella at CT if they were the same and he had no clue, not surprising.

So I searched the web, not a real firm answer. I then sent an email to Castrol and they confirmed it is the same Power RS has been rebadged Power 1. Here is the response below.
=========================================================================

Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

Castrol Power RS Racing 4T 5W-40, 10W-40 and 10W-50 oils have been rebranded to Castrol Power 1 4T 5W-40, 10W-40 and 10W-50 oils -- product specifications remain the same.

Castrol always recommends following the guidelines of the original engine manufacturer for the recommended oil for use in your specific application. This information can be found in the owner’s manual or by contacting the manufacturer directly.

Thank you again for contacting Castrol, we value your patronage!

 

[Niehart]

Good job Ross.

 

[art miller]

A web search found this on another forum...
So I just changed my oil in the 800XC and the DR 6-fiddy I used Castrol Power RS Racing 4T from Canadian Tire. I bought just enough and thought I should have one on hand, but on my next visit to CT all they had was Castrol Power 1 4T. I asked the young fella at CT if they were the same and he had no clue, not surprising.

So I searched the web, not a real firm answer. I then sent an email to Castrol and they confirmed it is the same Power RS has been rebadged Power 1. Here is the response below.

=========================================================================

Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

Castrol Power RS Racing 4T 5W-40, 10W-40 and 10W-50 oils have been rebranded to Castrol Power 1 4T 5W-40, 10W-40 and 10W-50 oils -- product specifications remain the same.

Castrol always recommends following the guidelines of the original engine manufacturer for the recommended oil for use in your specific application. This information can be found in the owner’s manual or by contacting the manufacturer directly.

Thank you again for contacting Castrol, we value your patronage!

Ross,

Many thanks for doing what I should have done. I owe you a favor in return!

Art

 

[redzgrider]

I like Castrol, and have run it in many a vehicle -- but I'm pretty sure they are the ones that successfully sued to have the term 'synthetic' degraded to marketing, rather than technical formulation.

 

[garyahouse]

I like Castrol, and have run it in many a vehicle -- but I'm pretty sure they are the ones that successfully sued to have the term 'synthetic' degraded to marketing, rather than technical formulation.

degraded to marketing? What's that mean? Lawsuit? What are you talking about?

 

[Fred W]

The definition of the term "synthetic" as it applies to motor oil was allowed to be used for any oil that is synthetically formed regardless of the product source. This allows companies that start with a base mineral oil and synthetically refine them to use the term to describe their product. Certain "purists" disagree and believe that synthetic only describes oils synthetically formed from other sources than mineral oil.

 

[redzgrider]

I'm not a purist in application -- I figure the best option is to use any good oil, and change it often. But I don't like it when marketing pretends one thing but does another. Chaps my *** when I see what should be half gallon ice cream containers with three pints.

The degradation of the term 'synthetic' was the result of a lawsuit. Mobile sued Castrol for using the term 'synthetic' for highly refined dino oil. The court found that for many criteria (though not all...) the Castrol dino oil performance was similar to the Mobile 1 performance.

Grain of salt for it being internet information, but this page sums up a lot of the information I've gleened from long term readings:

https://www.pca.org/news/2015-11-02/synthetic-word-relates-motor-oil

 

[Klubis]

Crap. I've been using Mobil 1 in my Super Prius, but to save a few bucks I switched to Castrol synthetic on the last oil change. Is it going to blow up?

 

[FJRay]

Of course it's going to blow up. Just be glad you have battery back up .

We haven't had a really good oil thread in a long time.

 

[dravnx]

What kind of oil should I use?

 

[Klubis]

Either 3 in 1, or pure whale oil, if you can get it.

 

[MrZappo]

If you don't use amsoil, you won't make it another 50 miles.

I have a degree in useless lubricant studies so you should listen to me.

 

[Fred W]

What makes an oil synthesized from ethylene intrinsically superior to one synthesized from crude oil?

 

[RossKean]

What makes an oil synthesized from ethylene intrinsically superior to one synthesized from crude oil?

Chemical synthesis MAY give better control over carbon chain length, amount of branching, degree of saturation, presence and location of functional groups (i.e. esters). This can result in an oil with improved lubricity, tougher film strength, better chemical stability with respect to heat, less oxidation, less polymerization and better resistance to physical shear. Ideally, you could have a hydrocarbon fluid much better than the best automotive synthetics available today but at a cost that would be prohibitive. Still, the "fully synthetic" oils generally have better longevity than oils made from dead dinos due to (theoretically) better control over the chemical structures.

Conventional oil used to be a simple distillation "cut" from the refining of crude oil. These oils didn't last long without breaking down but many processes are employed today to make them more chemically stable and better lubricants - additives, detergents, hydrotreating, cracking, reforming etc. along with appropriate incantations and a little black magic. I would suggest that there is far more difference between conventional oils of today vs 30 or 40 years ago than there is between modern synthetic and conventional oils. I think that referring to conventional oils as semi-synthetic is more than fair. I still feel better using "fully" synthetic oil, whatever that might be.

Since we are already in NEPRT - In the chemistry laboratory that I run, I have a specialized rotary vacuum pump on a piece of equipment. Instead of an expensive ester-based, chemically stable, low vapor pressure fully synthetic hydrocarbon pump oil, this one uses a 100% synthetic fluorocarbon (perfluoropolyether) based fluid. The standard pump oil lasts a couple or three months and looks fairly grotty at change time due to 24/7 operation in a fairly harsh chemical environment. The fluorocarbon oil in the same environment looks pristine after a year. The colorless fluorocarbon oil has similar viscosity and lower vapor pressure and the density is about double that of the regular pump oil (a liter weighs over 1.8 kg). Oh yeah, it goes for about $750 for the one litre needed to fill the pump. Even worse than motorcycle-specific synthetic!!!

 

[sullivan]

Either 3 in 1, or pure whale oil, if you can get it.

Oil of Olay

 

[HotRodZilla]

Vitalis *******!

 

[Fred W]

@Ross - Thanks for the reply. I had a suspicion that you would know the answer, though in reading through, it all I get from it is that it is due to better manufacturing control. I guess I have to ask in follow up: If money were no object, couldn't they process the crude oil base to the same degree and end up with the same results? Or is it easier / less expensive to achieve that control when starting with ethylene?

As for "full synthetic" (vs semi or non) as it applies to the bikes this forum is here for, it is probably over-kill to spend the extra money on the full synthetic stuff that is already widely available, nevermind something made with an even more expensive process. But these are our babies, and so we tend to try to take the best care of them we can. It generally isn't about increasing the service intervals.

I do extend my oil changes from the manufacturers recommendation of 4K miles by 25%, but that is mostly to have conveniently even service events that I'll actually remember to do.

 

[RossKean]

Manufacturing control is the issue in a nutshell. At what point could you consider "conventional oil" to be synthetic? You could start with pure dino and end out with something chemically almost indistinguishable from synthetic, but it would be pointless and more expensive than the synthetic in the first place. Easier to start with a simple molecule and build it into what you want than it is to take a high molecular weight complex hydrocarbon mixture and fully transform it. No matter which way you go there are compromises because of manufacturing costs.

I also extend oil change intervals - sometimes even more than 25% if I am using synthetic oil and especially if I am on a road trip. People here have reported lots of engine oil analysis results that suggest that the oil is not "worn out", degraded or too heavily contaminated during the recommended interval.