On 27-03-2021 21:14 Scott Dorsey wrote:

Yes, that's why you test it.

Of course.

Under the logic of most people here they should replace the oil daily.
That's because it breaks down daily.

The filter too.
Every day you replace the oil & filter and they won't break down too much.

But that's not the way the world works.
Instead you follow whatever specs your manufacturer recommends you follow.

That's why specifications matter.
That's why the specs that matter are usually printed on the oil container.

It's not a matter of price or convenience which most others claimed it was.
It's a matter of knowledge and understanding of meaningful specifications.

Alls these other people know are dollar bills.
They make all their decisions based only on money.

That's fine.
It works for them.

But I like to make my decisions based on an understanding of the product.
And specs are part of that understanding of the product (for synthetic oil).

I am wide open about not knowing how to compare two different synthetics.
At least not yet.

I don't see anyone else here who knows anything about synthetic oil though.

Everything almost everyone else said they pulled out of their own assholes.
Especially the ones who claimed it was all about money and not about specs.

They can't understand what the product is as they only understand money.
Everyone understands money (even me) so it's easy (for them) to decide.

But I like to make my decisions based on meaningfully relevent
specifications which I openly admit I don't know what they are just yet.

But neither does anyone else (at least not those who have responded).
So I guess I'm on my own.

It's been forty years since I took tribo class,
but at the time there was a standard measurement with a rotating drum inside
a stationary drum that creates high shear on the test sample. You measure
viscosity regularly and plot it against time.

Isn't all that supposed to be encompassed meaningfully within the oil spec?

Clean linear paraffin oils did well on the test, oils with a lot of
crosslinking or rings did poorly.

You'd think a "synthetic oil" base would be pure linear paraffin chains with a
very narrow range of molecular weights and you might be right or you might
be terribly wrong, depending. Also, of course, the VI breaks down, not just
the base oil.

I tried calling both Chevron & Warren Distribution but I'll have to wait
till Monday to get their technical people on the line.

Sometimes they tell us a lot and sometimes they just spit out the
advertising so it's a crap shoot whether or not that call will bear fruit.

I think the best test so far of the Kirkland synthetic oil was this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9il_piyuT8

And I think the best single description of the (euro) specs is this one.
https://addinol.de/en/products/lubri...pecifications/

If you have something better by all means please let me and all know.