Discussion
leigh1050 said:
Why is it you can do your weekly shop in a petrol station but try to buy oil and all they've got is two stroke or 15w/40 and I want 3w/30?
3w/30 is pretty special, I've never even heard of it. 10w/40 and 5w/30 were the two most common weights for some time (20 odd years?) So they're the two you're most likely to find in my experience. leigh1050 said:
Why is it you can do your weekly shop in a petrol station but try to buy oil and all they've got is two stroke or 15w/40 and I want 5w/30?
Simple - cars are reliable enough that they don't need oil often, so why would petrol stations carry it instead of more profitable things? These days your best bet if you need a litre is to stop at the biggest supermarket you can find.
Krikkit said:
leigh1050 said:
Why is it you can do your weekly shop in a petrol station but try to buy oil and all they've got is two stroke or 15w/40 and I want 5w/30?
Simple - cars are reliable enough that they don't need oil often, so why would petrol stations carry it? These days your best bet if you need a litre is to stop at the biggest supermarket you can find.
ker wants a chocolate bar , no one can be bothered to top up with overpriced oil , enthusiasts that do bother buy it elsewhere?Darkslider said:
3w/30 is pretty special, I've never even heard of it. 10w/40 and 5w/30 were the two most common weights for some time (20 odd years?) So they're the two you're most likely to find in my experience.
3w/30 would be pretty special, but the OP said 5w/30 in his original post?Because there are too many variants of oil now and it would not be cost effective for a petrol station to stock them all. The idea of buying oil on grade alone is obsolete.
For example - my car requires an oil that is typically 5w30 but it also needs to have an ACEA C1 rating for lows SAPs content to prevent fouling the car's particulate filter, and about 95% of the 5w30 oil available for general sale would not be suitable.
Another example - a friend of mine has a car with variable valve timing controlled by an oil-pressured solenoid. He had a service done and the garage put oil in that was of the correct grade but not the correct type for the engine, leading to the solenoid valve gumming up shortly afterwards necessitating it being replaced at a cost of £300.
There is a reason why today's run-of-the-mill engines produce power outputs and fuel economy that engineers only 20 years ago could dream of, and it is partly down to oil technology being tailored to the engine design.
For example - my car requires an oil that is typically 5w30 but it also needs to have an ACEA C1 rating for lows SAPs content to prevent fouling the car's particulate filter, and about 95% of the 5w30 oil available for general sale would not be suitable.
Another example - a friend of mine has a car with variable valve timing controlled by an oil-pressured solenoid. He had a service done and the garage put oil in that was of the correct grade but not the correct type for the engine, leading to the solenoid valve gumming up shortly afterwards necessitating it being replaced at a cost of £300.
There is a reason why today's run-of-the-mill engines produce power outputs and fuel economy that engineers only 20 years ago could dream of, and it is partly down to oil technology being tailored to the engine design.
The Mad Monk said:
Darkslider said:
3w/30 is pretty special, I've never even heard of it. 10w/40 and 5w/30 were the two most common weights for some time (20 odd years?) So they're the two you're most likely to find in my experience.
3w/30 would be pretty special, but the OP said 5w/30 in his original post?leigh1050 said:
The Mad Monk said:
Darkslider said:
3w/30 is pretty special, I've never even heard of it. 10w/40 and 5w/30 were the two most common weights for some time (20 odd years?) So they're the two you're most likely to find in my experience.
3w/30 would be pretty special, but the OP said 5w/30 in his original post?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff