Here's a quiz put up by the guy who's teaching us about modern lubrication requirements on iatn

See if you know the answers. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll post the answers and the reasons behind them.

The latest Modern Lubrication Quiz

Which of the following oil products is approved for use in
GM and Honda high performance engines that require 5W-30
oil? (LS6, LS2, LS7, HFV6, LC3, HFV6, Northstar VVT,
Supercharged, Ecotec, Acura RDX, etc)

a. Valvoline Synpower 5W-30

b. Castrol Syntec 5W-30

c. Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30

d. None of the above

Which of the following oil products is approved for use in
BMW engines that require 5W-30 oil?

a. Castrol Syntec 5W-30

b. Mobil 1 5W-30

c. Penzoil Platinum 5W-30

d. None of the above

Which of the following oil products is required to be the
thickest and provide the best shear protection at very high
temperatures?

a. SAE 0W-30 with API SM and ACEA A3/B3 approval

b. SAE 5W-30 with ILSAC GF-4 and ACEA A1/B1 approval

c. SAE 10W-30 with API SM and ACEA A5/B5 approval

d. SAE 10W-40 API SM approval

Which of the following oil products has the highest
allowable level of ZDDP anti-wear additives that help
facilitate flat tappet camshaft break-in?

a. SAE 10W-30 with API SM and ACEA A3/B3 approval

b. SAE 10W-30 with API SM and ACEA A5/B5 approval

c. SAE 10W-30 API CJ-4 approval

d. SAE 15W-40 API CJ-4 approval

Which of the following is the most common cause of oil
sludge related engine damage? And, what oil products can
help prevent sludge under these conditions?

a. Extreme heat API CF approved oil

b. High engine loads ACEA A1/B1 approved oil

c. Short trips ACEA A5/B5 approved oil

d. 7,500 mile oil drain intervals ILSAC GF-4 approved oil

I'm gonna take a stab at two, the rest I just don't know.
1. D
2. A But only if it is the German Syntec (Green)

Hmm lets see here...

1. C

2. B

3. D

4. B

5. C

Here are the answers:

1-- D, Castrol and Valvoline don't have any products in the US that meet GM4718M or Honda HTO-06 for cars sold in the US. There is only one Mobil 1 product that meets those and the listed one isn't it.

2-- D, No commonly available 5w30 from Mobil, Castrol or Pennzoil (Shell, QS) meet any BMW minimum requirements.

3-- A, SAE viscosity requirements are very 'wide' and the listed ACEA rating assures a much thicker 0w30 product at high temps than any 10w40

4-- A, ACEA A3/B3 approval indicates that it is an oil that contains highest allowable levels of wear additives. Most people in the US don't even know what ACEA is.

5-- C, short trips and oil not getting up to temperature to burn off acids and moisture causes sludge, ACEA A5/B5 oil is an extended service rated oil that contains much more acid fighting additives than other oils.

I'm gonna take a stab at two, the rest I just don't know.
1. D
2. A But only if it is the German Syntec (Green)



2, technically yes, but where do you get the REAL synthetic castrol. All Syntec products here aren't really synthetic. They're allowed to be called that by a nice LARGE labelling loophole.

I found this too late.... it had the answers already. The only one I know was the last one..... I get many lectures on that one!:yes:

Green German Syntec is available in the US. It has a mass following on BITOG. What stores? I don't remember since I don't use it, sorry.

Great post, shows me how little I actually know but in truth I only pay close attention to the oil(s) that concern our two cars.

You'd probably be fine running the closest grade of mobil1 and change it every 3-5k miles rather than wasting time and $$ on the details :dunno:

On a Honda, save the RDX's turbo engine I'd say I agree. Use the SAE viscosity stated on the oil cap. On most 5k intervals are well within acceptable.

However, if the wrong oil is used in any BMW, engine destruction is guaranteed in short order. Cam life and "liner" (or lack thereof) is severely affected with wrong oil use.

On MB when the wrong oil was used you'd see engine life of less than 70k.

VW/Audi with all of their gas engines suffer the same fate, usually in as little as 50k. The 1.8 turbos were the worst for sludge flaking and plugging the oil pump pickup.

VW's diesels since 1998 have required special oils, and intake plugging plus oil consumption issues arised with wrong oils. The introduction of PD diesels such as the V10 TDI and the newer 1.9s the cams would self destruct in short order unless the EXACT VW spec oil was used.

The same thing occurred with the Chrysler 2.7 V6, no matter the change interval, most avail otc oils will cause those engines to sludge up.

Toyota engines that had this problem would live usually to around 80 or 90k before they'd die.