Re-refined oil

[Clintster]

Local oil change place is advertising this service any info on this service.  Well this is probably Earl with the fangs worthy.  I wonder are they just treating oil for re-use, if you are using there product.  Don't have a clue, just curious? 

[HDSlowride]

I remember you could buy this stuff in gas stations back in the sixty's and maybe early seventy's. It was about 30 cents a quart. I had a buddy with a Mustang that used so much oil, he poured that stuff in it all the time. Pretty nasty as I recall. Had the big chunks filtered out of it probably.

[Phu Cat]

Re-refined?  Where?  I am positive running used oil thru a refinery cat-cracker will ruin the catalyst.  I asked this very question of the refinery manager about 1973 as I too was looking for cheap oil at the time.  He suggested, as Slowride did, that it might just be a refiltering of the oil.  I sure wouldn't use it in anything I planned on keeping, much less, cared about.

PC

[boooby1744]

that's like eatin' re-refried beans.

[Phu Cat]

05Flhtc,  I was a cocky young assistant stillman when they told us they were going to quit producing asphalt and put it in the feed to the cat cracker.  I told 'em it will dive straight to the bottom of the fractionater.  They admitted I knew the stills pretty well, but what I didn't know was chemistry.  They were right.  That asphalt made 104 octane (clear) on the alkylation unit.

No doubt, things have changed a great deal since '86, tho.  Really miss that job.

It always made my butt pucker to dump 1400 degree catalyst as there was one valve stem that they couldn't get to quit leaking.  Have the catalysts changed since I worked on the 'Cracker?  Back in those days, when catalyst got above 600 degrees it ran like water if there was a leak.  You ain't likely to outrun a sizable leak.  Hope things have changed in that regard for you guys!

PC

[Clintster]

Lube stop is advertising this, just surious if anybody had first hand knowledge what the freak they are doing.

[Phu Cat]

Goggling re refined oil produced:

The re-refining process separates base oil from the depleted additives and contaminants found in
used motor oil. The reclaimed base oil is further re-refined into a state-of-the-art Group II+ base
oil then blended with a new additive package, resulting in a dual-refined, “upcycled” product that
meets or exceeds ILSAC GF-4 and API “SM” certifications. ILSAC and API certified re-refined
motor oil is approved for use by all major auto manufacturers, including Chrysler, Ford, GM,
Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and VW and is covered under new vehicle warranties.
“Our ProGuard ECO Motor Oil utilizes high quality re-refined base oils that are combined with
premium additives to create a fully certified, high-performance motor oil,” said Breen Lyden,
president and CEO of Lyden Oil Company.

It sounds like they filter the oil alright, then add  what they call 'premium' additives back in to it.  maybe they are the best additives going, but how do we know? 

I'd rather see us reuse existing lube oils rather than burn them for heat.  While we know oil doesn't wear out, I'd also like to hear a lube oil engineer give us the pros and cons of re refined lubes.

Personally, Clinster, I don't think this is "earl-worth" yet as it's pretty interestin IMHO.

PC

[Clintster]

Earl gives me mewbie flash backs.  I will not be using the re-refined products.  Just tapping the braintrust, with the wealth of knowledge here, many topics find good responses.  Thanks for those who responded.  Good to see some members contibuting again, members whos knowledge was sorely missed during the later days of MSN HTT.                            clint

[BART]

I recall an oil labeled Cen-Pe-Co (Central Petroleum Company) that used to market re-refined oil in the later 1960's.  I always kept a rack of it in my service station at the time.  I see they're still around (http://www.cen-pe-co.com).  We had a local Cen-Pe-Co salesman in our small town.  His claim was:  oil never looses it's ability to lubricate but the additive package wears out and the oil becomes contaminated.  He claimed Cen-Pe-Co cleaned the oil back to the origianl ISO cleanliness level and re-added required the additive package.  Also we used to purchase re-refined hydraulic oil from Safety-Kleen (sp) out of the Chicago area through a local distributor for a number of years.  It worked well. 

BART

[Princess Butt]

What is the cost of processing used oil versus getting fresh from the ground?

I imagine at $140 per barrel, processing used oil for lubrication is a financially viable option. When oil drops to $50 per barrel, then it's not so attractive?

A side note: An engineer at work used to have a Mustang GT 5.0, and a Ford Courier pickup. This was 20 years ago, he used to run his oil thru the Mustang, then he would drain it out after 3000 miles, and use it in the Courier, which was his beater. The Courier lasted over 200k miles, and when he sold it, the new owner took off the valve cover and couldn't believe how clean it was inside.

BnEUC

[Redleg]

He's Back....

[attachment removed after 60 days by system]

[BART]

EARL!! You look better than ever.  He (or she?) found his way to the new HTT!

BART

[Ultrashovel]

It used to be called "reclaimed oil". It's definitely a no-no for your bike,. Any other name brand oil of the proper grade would be the minimum for a motorcycle engine.

There's no such thing as "re-refining" oil. As someone said above, it would destroy a catalytic cracker.

This is a non-starter.

[truck]

Doesn't sound so bad when you read this.

The reclaimed base oil is further re-refined into a state-of-the-art Group II+ base
oil then blended with a new additive package, resulting in a dual-refined, “upcycled” product that
meets or exceeds ILSAC GF-4 and API “SM” certifications. ILSAC and API certified re-refined
motor oil is approved for use by all major auto manufacturers, including Chrysler, Ford, GM,
Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and VW and is covered under new vehicle warranties.