Just curious what the consensus is on using recycled oil like Valvoline NextGen etc.
Not sure if I could ever bring myself to put it in the crossfire but for a beater car, lawn mower or dirt bike I couldn't see it being a problem.

Recycled Oil | Read About The Benefits of Using Valvoline Recycled Oil
Universal Lubricants signs recycled oil deal with Enterprise
Valvoline introduces NextGen recycled motor oil; now, who wants it?

Anyway thoughts?

 

you know the answer to this question.....going green in this instance is putting junk into the junk yard sooner....not sure of the concept here...but, if you want to do it...go ahead... I will admit to using old oil in my chain saw to lube the chain....

 

Thats about all I'd use it for too. Oil is not that expensive that I would take a chance on compromising an internal cumbustion engine for sake of a couple bucks. But hey, that's just the way I feel.

 

They don't make it in synthetic (yet) so i don't really consider it an option for any of my cars. If they do start making it in synthetic, it will be a while before it comes in 0-40w.

 

I can certainly understand ones reluctance to use a recycled oil in their car, but look at crude oil that is initially used to make the oils (as well as gasoline and diesel) we all use today. You'd certainly never put that in your car, either. I'm much less concerned with what the product started life as than I am with what the resulting product is.

Even pure synthetics like Mobil1 start life as dead dinosaur juice. It's all in the refining process and the additives put into the oil that make it what it is. If sea water treated, and even waster water recycled, to make drinking water, why can't there be a viable process to recycle motor oil?

 

I am with Doc on this one! Even if it was available in synthetic in the right weight, I would let someone else test this out for a few years before putting in my engne. I would probably also wait for Nascar and F1 teams to start using it first.

 

Basically the oil we use is made by recycling crude oil. The oil that we take from our cars if allowed to settle will produce an oil that looks just like new oil and at the bottom there will be a sludge. It will have contaminants in solution that may give it a slightly different color.
When I was poor apprentice I added this cleaner looking oil back into my motorcycle between total oil changes. The additives were probably all gone and it is the additives that make the quality oils we use today. Not the best thing to do but I saved money and that was the main thing. I would never do this today, but that used oil can be and is re refined and makes good oil after the re addition of the additives. There is more money to be made refining a barrel of used oil than a barrel of crude I'm sure.

 

Here's the real deal. If you were to take an oil, any oil and look at thru a microscope before it is used, then once used, then once refined again, what do you think you would see. Dirt, debri??? You would see all that, from start to finish, but a lot less in the beginning, a whole lot less. It is a refined product from the get go. So, it depends on how good the the refinery is. The addictives will be cooked away over time. So, if additive are re-added to refined oil, maybe have a mediocre oil. Just isn't worth the risk. When managing a fleet of over 100 trucks in my former life, we sent out samples of our higher mileage trucks for testing. Recommend oil changes would range from 10k-25k depending on the truck, and it would give us break downs of metal found in the oil as well as other things. High brass content, would look at main bearings etc etc...We always changed our oil at 10k... I change my own oil in the cars I drive daily every 7k, the XF's once a year, and the rig 10K....Don't skimp on the oil...vecosity is key to long life...that is what breaks down with mileage and heat...wouldn't risk used oil, even though it still has mileage left in it....

 

Can I post this explanation on Wiki Doc?

 

Kind of like catsup Dave...if you looked at it thru a microscope, you probably wouldn't eat it....lol Do as you wish...but oil is a refined lubricant...we did this experiment in a shop class in HS 40 yrs ago, and I really don't think much has changed...other than only a handful of refineries are left here in the US...The Good Lord only knows what we are getting from your back yard....

 

And if you want to use a re-fined oil, it will contain about 70% of good oil mixed back in after the contaminants are removed from the old oil. You only hope they removed all those contaminants with their filtering before adding in the new oil. Again, not worth the risk in my opinion...I will stay with my routine, I haven't had an engine fail yet, and my Cummins is at 540,000 with plenty of miles left. Still doesn't use any oil between the 10,000 mile changes. Lastly, always buy a good oil filter, don't skimp there either... There are vast amounts of lubricants that come from crude, just use quality oil...

 

They can re-cycle oil with no problem. The crude used to make it the first time is some nasty stuff. I used to process the stuff. I'm not using re-cycled oil as I use Mobil one. If they get around to making it and it meets the specs I would not have a problem.

 

If oil can be pulled out of the sand and ultimately used in our cars, trucks, lawnmowers, etc why can't that same or similar process clean it once again? As mentioned, it's the additives more than anything that make up the "good" of the oil. Heck, read Mobil1's website - even what everyone refers to as a "pure synthetic" motor oil started life as dead dinosaur juice pulled out of the ground.

And if waste water can be recycled to where it's safe to drink, I'm pretty confident that these oil engineers can make a perfectly safe and usable motor oil from recycled stuff. Even if right now they can't quite do it to where it meets certain requirements for higher performance engines, give them time. Look at the differences between today's high tech oils and the stuff we were using in the '60s. Technology advances everything.

 

I f you don't recycle it what do you do with it? Everything should be recycled except politicians. gary

 

We should recycle it and then sell it to China. I have always recycled used oil since I was a teenager in the '70's Back then we poured it on the ground in areas we didn't want weeds to grow. It came from the ground so nothing wrong with putting it back were it came from, right?

 

Oil processing is done using thermal DISTILLATION. THere would not be any dirt carried forward. The additives is a product of the reseller. If you have faith in them its all good, the only reason that you know its reprocessed is that the law requires it. Its the name on the can that gives it the additives or not. Woody

 

I like your thinking....lol....
You are right Mike, as Germany developed the synthetic due to not being able to get enough oil after WW I. And yes, prof. Woody, you are very correct....