Early "Change Engine Oil" message

[trevskoda]

It might very well all come from the same shop BUT not all of it is the same quality .

Same with fuels

Straight from the horses mouth (well a good friends mouth with 40 odd years experience working for Shell )

They all fill from the same tanks in belfast.

 

[trevskoda]

It doesn't all come from a single shop. Some of it comes out of the ground, some of it (the majority for newer vehicles) is synthetically manufactured. It is refined or manufactured to individual producers' specifications, and each blend and add additives to create their desired products, before it even ends up in a shop.

Vehicle manufacturers also produce specifications for the performance of the oil that should be used in their engines.

So whilst I wouldn't necessarily use the specific make and type of oil recommended by the vehicle manufacturer, as that has more to do with commercial advertising and promotional agreements than being the "best" oil, it is important to establish that the oil you intend to use meets or exceeds the specification demanded by the manufacturer of the vehicle you intend to use it in. Individual oils have to be tested to gain specific approvals and for the oil producer to be able to quote the approval on the container.

So buy any old 5W30 oil for instance, and you might have no idea whether it was designed for use in diesel or petrol engines, or both, or whether it meets the specification required for the vehicle you intend to use it in. Plus modern synthetic oils intended for diesel engines are engineered to perform acceptably when diluted by up to 9% fuel, to cater for fuel post injection cycles during DPF regeneration processes. An emission control system compatible diesel oil should still perform at least as well when diluted to that level as a cheap generic off the shelf oil of the same viscocity straight out of the bottle. You can't guarantee the same of the generic oil if it ends up being diluted to a similar level, and cheaper mineral oils may not have the longevity or offer sufficient protection in all circumstances of use in modern engines.

All the spec is on the bottle, asda have a book hanging on a chain with details for every veh.

 

[SquirrellCook]

It doesn't all come from a single shop. Some of it comes out of the ground, some of it (the majority for newer vehicles) is synthetically manufactured. It is refined or manufactured to individual producers' specifications, and each blend and add additives to create their desired products, before it even ends up in a shop.

Vehicle manufacturers also produce specifications for the performance of the oil that should be used in their engines.

So whilst I wouldn't necessarily use the specific make and type of oil recommended by the vehicle manufacturer, as that has more to do with commercial advertising and promotional agreements than being the "best" oil, it is important to establish that the oil you intend to use meets or exceeds the specification demanded by the manufacturer of the vehicle you intend to use it in. Individual oils have to be tested to gain specific approvals and for the oil producer to be able to quote the approval on the container.

So buy any old 5W30 oil for instance, and you might have no idea whether it was designed for use in diesel or petrol engines, or both, or whether it meets the specification required for the vehicle you intend to use it in. Plus modern synthetic oils intended for diesel engines are engineered to perform acceptably when diluted by up to 9% fuel, to cater for fuel post injection cycles during DPF regeneration processes. An emission control system compatible diesel oil should still perform at least as well when diluted to that level as a cheap generic off the shelf oil of the same viscocity straight out of the bottle. You can't guarantee the same of the generic oil if it ends up being diluted to a similar level, and cheaper mineral oils may not have the longevity or offer sufficient protection in all circumstances of use in modern engines.

It's even more complicated when the term "synthetic" is abused. Synthetic based oils used to have a synthetic base stock to which additives were blended too. Then they tampered with the mineral base stocks and called them synthetic too. I used to run engines that were only just viable with life expectancy measured in hours. I didn't take long to discover the fake oils. Not to say these oils would have been fine for there intended road use.

To back up Deneb I used to have an ex castrol chemist work for me. The base stocks were produced by a castrol company, but the add packs were bought in.
It doesn't always go well, one version dissolved plastic engine parts!

As for Trevor, I expect he knows about the easily available snake oil. Production only came to an end when Ireland ran out of snakes

 

[wildebus]

It's even more complicated when the term "synthetic" is abused. Synthetic based oils used to have a synthetic base stock to which additives were blended too. Then they tampered with the mineral base stocks and called them synthetic too. I used to run engines that were only just viable with life expectancy measured in hours. I didn't take long to discover the fake oils. Not to say these oils would have been fine for there intended road use.

To back up Deneb I used to have an ex castrol chemist would for me. The base stocks were produced by a castrol company, but the add packs were bought in.
It doesn't always go well, one version dissolved plastic engine parts!

As for Trevor, I expect he knows about the easily available snake oil. Production only came to an end when Ireland ran out of snakes

They had to move to Leprechauns when the snakes ran out. That is what they mean by 'Going Green'

 

[Deneb]

They all fill from the same tanks in belfast.

I assume you are referring to the old BP bulk storage fuel terminal?

We also have one in Hemel Hempstead. Yes, the products being sent to the distribution terminal do all come down the same pipes. What happens is that the control room are notified of the type of product coming down, and the quantity, which they divert to the required tanks. Of course there is some slight overlap between different types or blends of fuels, but when they are being sent in quantities of tens of thousands of litres at a time, slight mixing at the overlap isn't a problem.

The distribution tankers fill up from the correct tank according to the product they require, and what is being delivered to Asda or Tesco filling stations won't necessarily be the same product being delivered to Shell or BP, because each supplier will have blended and added their own additives and other ingredients before distribution.

But you are talking about petroleum products and fuel oils. Engine oil is distributed in various sized containers direct from the producer, be it Shell, Fuchs, Motul or whoever. I don't think they send a lorry full of empty plastic bottles to the Belfast terminal to fill them under a tap before taking them to Adsda and putting them on a shelf!

 

[wildebus]

I assume you are referring to the old BP bulk storage fuel terminal?

We also have one in Hemel Hempstead. ....

Was that the one that blew up in Nov(?) 2005? I remember the rather large bang which woke me up when I was in my house in St. Albans

 

[Deneb]

Was that the one that blew up in Nov(?) 2005? I remember the rather large bang which woke me up when I was in my house in St. Albans

Yes, Buncefield. I was in a hotel in Coventry on the night of the explosion, and woke up at the exact time it happened, although not aware why at that point.

I returned to work the following day and spent a week as liaison between the forward command point at the seat of the fire and incident control nearer to the motorway, which meant constantly shuttling back and forth between the two locations engulfed in smoke and with fires still burning. It was like a war zone.

Prior to that I had also found myself stationed at the terminal for various reasons on a couple of occasions, which is when I was given a tour and an explanation of how the fuel was received and delivered, by the control room manager. I spent several nights sat in the control room watching the products come in and be diverted to different tanks.

 

[peter palance]

Matter of interest .. how much were you charged?

£70+ vat ok not happy but its done, ok pj.

 

[harrow]

Yes, Buncefield. I was in a hotel in Coventry on the night of the explosion, and woke up at the exact time it happened, although not aware why at that point.

I returned to work the following day and spent a week as liaison between the forward command point at the seat of the fire and incident control nearer to the motorway, which meant constantly shuttling back and forth between the two locations engulfed in smoke and with fires still burning. It was like a war zone.

Prior to that I had also found myself stationed at the terminal for various reasons on a couple of occasions, which is when I was given a tour and an explanation of how the fuel was received and delivered, by the control room manager. I spent several nights sat in the control room watching the products come in and be diverted to different tanks.

View attachment 88924View attachment 88922View attachment 88923

I heard the bang and felt the bump in Harrow.

 

[trevskoda]

Last time i was shotblasting the big tanks in Belfast harbor estate they strip searched me looking for metal or cigy lighters and steel on boots, we had to go in with only our blast outfit on, itchy and as rough as hell.
What i did learn from the lads there is all fuel going into tankers is the same, but drivers add a little tiny drop of a secret chem to the tanks wink wink which keeps them within the law as to there claims of special additives to make you go further and more power, its a con.

 

[wildebus]

Last time i was shotblasting the big tanks in Belfast harbor estate they strip searched me looking for metal or cigy lighters and steel on boots, we had to go in with only our blast outfit on, itchy and as rough as hell.
What i did learn from the lads there is all fuel going into tankers is the same, but drivers add a little tiny drop of a secret chem to the tanks wink wink which keeps them within the law as to there claims of special additives to make you go further and more power, its a con.

I think all refinaries are like that. I had to leave any combustables in the security gatehouse when driving into them (They did allow pagers IIRC, which seemed a bit strange as they were not "safe" pagers).
Talking about fuel additives, the worse site I used to visit was Associated Octel in Merseyside. Think they used to (maybe still do?) make lead-replacement additives for Petrol. A rather unpleasant atmosphere and the Floppy Drives and CD-Drives in the computers would just stop working quite early on in their life due to contaminents in the air settling on the heads.

 

[Deneb]

Last time i was shotblasting the big tanks in Belfast harbor estate they strip searched me looking for metal or cigy lighters and steel on boots, we had to go in with only our blast outfit on, itchy and as rough as hell.
What i did learn from the lads there is all fuel going into tankers is the same, but drivers add a little tiny drop of a secret chem to the tanks wink wink which keeps them within the law as to there claims of special additives to make you go further and more power, its a con.

"Learnt from the lads". Hmm. They're probably industrial chemists who drive tankers as a hobby then! It's a good con though, because I get 32 - 33 mpg out of my van running on normal diesel, and 39 mpg using Shell V-Power. I'm not claiming it's financially cheaper due to the better mpg, because the fuel is more expensive, but it's definitely not the same fuel. I notice similar differences with my car which is recommended to use 98 RON fuel, but can run on 95 RON.