Deal on oil @ AutoZone

[wilcom]

AutoZone  has Shell Rotella T6 full synthetic diesel  in gallon jugs for $19.99 with an instant $7 off so it was $12.99 with another $7 off mail in rebate. The rebate can be done on line. With rebate it's $5.99 a gallon

Full synthetic oil for $1.49 +tax per qt. isn't too bad.

[Tony Smith]

Good price - depending on what you are going to use it in.

As a later formulation it is rated as safe to use in diesel or petrol engines, but note Shell do not recomend its use in petrol engines.

Also note particularly a byproduict of the formulation change:

"Rotella T6 is a Non Energy Conserving Oil, and does not meet GF-5 Oil specifications. ... Higher(content) Zinc Additives(ZDDP) are required for flat tappet engines and cartridge bearings, which In previous formulations Rotella T6 had desirable levels of Zinc(ZDDP)."

So I very definitely would not put it anywhere near an airhead.

[Justin B.]

Well crap, Tony, I didn't know they did that.  Seems like most oils now have less and less ZDDP in them.  That was one of the reasons I switched to Valvoline Racing Oil.  I suppose we could use the Rotella and put in a ZDDP supplement like Eastwood carries.  I used to do that when I was using Mobil 1 synthetic...

[Tony Smith]

I'm seriously tempted to set up a little business exporting Australian Penrite and Nulon oils to the world.

Penrite market a range of oils specifically for air-cooled falt tappet engines with as much ZDDP as the Australian rules allow them to put in - https://www.penriteoil.com.au/

I run their 20W60 or 20W70 in the BMWs and 15W40 in the KLE, G650GS and Yamaha.

Recently Nulon introduced a "Street and Track" oil 25W60 which has become an instant hit with VW owners. I'm not tempted to change as I've been using Penrite since the mid 1980s and have had superb service from it.

Details on the Nulon oil is at https://www.nulon.com.au/products/premium-mineral-engine-oils/high-zinc-mineral-25w-60-street-and-track-engine-oil

[wilcom]

I went with the 5w-40 and am going to run it in everything that rolls around here. Even if you are not allowed multiple rebates,  at $3.25/qt, it's still 1/3 the cost of anything else they had on the shelf.


On the bike, Eastwood zddp treatmernt adds about $3.50 to the oil change and NOW you know the zddp is in there without spending hours on line figuring which oil has the right amount. 

[wilcom]

AutoZone 

Full synthetic oil for $1.49 +tax per qt. isn't too bad.

I went back today for 2 more gallons and found that the Autozone scanner had gone crazy and gave me a deal.

Today the same oil is $29.99 on sale for $22.99,  a $10 difference. As you can imagine my level of excitement diminished quickly.


I produced my reciept from yesterday and gave her my best "wounded puppy" look and she comped me another gallon of the sythetic oil at yesterdays price.


Interestingly, her register log from yesterday, showed the full price charged, but the reciept it gave me showed the cheap price........... maybe we better hold off on all that AI stuff for awhile.

[tiggum]

Here in the states, Valvoline makes several oils, including "Valvoline Racing VR-1".  That is their ZDDP-fortified oil, and the label says "high zinc/phosphorous for extreme anti-wear protection, including flat-tappet and performance cam applications".  It comes highly recommended by the flat-tappet gang, just as was the Spectro bottled BMW oil was in the past.

[wilcom]

It comes highly recommended by the flat-tappet gang,

I just checked the local store and the Valvoline Racing VR-1 is $13 per quart.(ouch) With the miles we put on our bikes, which generally is not very many, so the oil gets changed not that often. That makes $13 oil not such a big deal when you consider it's the "right" oil for our bikes

[Justin B.]

I'm pretty sure that's what I've been using for the past several years.

[tiggum]

Well, the mechanic I use recommended it, and since my Spectro hoard is about empty, I am going to use it.  When I finally fire up this LS, I will have filled it with the last of the Spectro (which is only 10w40) and will use it gently on cooler days for just a couple hundred miles and then change to the VR-1, plus a filter change.

I agree with Wilcom; at $13/quart, tain't cheap, but keeping an old bike operational in a prudent manner means 'spend the dough".