Engine oil spec

[MikeyH]

Hi all,

I need some oil to top up my wife's 2008 ford focus, she went to buy some part synthetic in Halfords and was told 'We don't sell it anymore we only have fully synthetic, it will be okay for your car'. Is this true because I don't trust these stores anymore? Cheers, Mike.

 

[B21]

Part synthetics were a way of claiming synthethic at a lower production cost..better manufacturing technologies means the cost advantage of part synthethic are largely negated..even for a 2008 Ford there are better more modern formulations that would benefit the car..

 

[MikeyH]

Thank you B21 for clearing this up for me, I just thought Halfords were pulling a fast one

 

[B21]

Thank you B21 for clearing this up for me, I just thought Halfords were pulling a fast one

A lots happened to oil specs over the last 20 years as part of the consequences of first pollution control systems and their demands on oil specs then economy driven reqs then issues arising like cam chain and follower wear and pre ignition issues etc etc..fascinating subject if you're a sad bunny

 

[MikeyH]

Thank you B21 for clearing this up for me, I just thought Halfords were pulling a fast one

A lots happened to oil specs over the last 20 years as part of the consequences of first pollution control systems and their demands on oil specs then economy driven reqs then issues arising like cam chain and follower wear and pre ignition issues etc etc..fascinating subject if you're a sad bunny

 

[2k35is]

Another bunny here. Seem to recall first seeing article re syndetic oils in Car Magazine maybe by the famous L. J. K. Setright. If recall correctly Mobil ran a car- think was an Audi 100 for 100k miles(or maybe million) with no oil changes then stripped it down. Cant find article but some of the pre history given in this article here
https://blog.amsoil.com/the-history-of-synthetic-oil-and-amsoil/
As to be expected its aircraft related so no doubt B21 well versed in this matter.
Surprising to me( as someone who has very little knowledge of the subject) that we are getting main bearing wear on many high revving engines) No doubt more stresses being placed on the new engines (turbo;s etc) but in my ignorance maybe support technology not kept pace- filters and egr systems.
Very interesting subject at the time and after reading the article used Mobil 1 in all the cars I owned for many years.

 

[smorris_12]

Surely a 2008 Focus came out of the factory with fully synthetic? I've not put semi-synthetic in anything made in the last 25 years. I know Ford are usually behind the times but that seems odd to me. Anyway, they only really have one spec (WSS soemthing or other) that they then apply to everything (including Jags & LRs); it's not a particularly high specification so always the cheapest to buy. In Halfords that's their 1 or 5 bottles (IIRC).