what type of fluids do you run in the xj

[kastein]

Max Life is a synth blend, says so on the bottle at least.

There are some vehicle manufacturers (Either Benz or BMW comes to mind, I think it's BMW) that spec ONLY synthetic engine oil, and some that spec never to use synthetic (many Subarus.) We had a lot of customers requesting oils that broke these rules when I worked at VIOC, we usually would enter something like "customer was advised of required oil type and requested that we use <x>" in the comment field on the receipt so we had a record of it, with their signature on it. Never did have someone come back claiming the wrong type of oil blew their engine though.

EDIT: wow, things have changed. The MaxLife in a red bottle is synth blend, the MaxLife in a silver bottle is full synth. Both have red labels.

http://valvoline.com/pdf/Maxlife.pdf - red bottle
http://valvoline.com/pdf/Maxlife_Synthetic_PI.pdf - silver bottle

They claim they have wear reducing agents in them - I suspect this means ZDDP, it looks like both have 0.083% by weight Zn, 0.076% by weight P. Not sure what the older oils before ZDDP reduction had, too lazy to google.

 

[Pelican]

Just to be sure there is no confusion here, I was referring to the Valvoline Max Life (DexIII compatible) ATF as being 100% synthetic. At least it was when I talked to the tech and I assume that it still is although I haven't had occasion to look at a bottle recently.

 

[kastein]

The info sheet claims "premium base stocks" (not sure if that's natural or synth) and the MSDS claims "hydrotreated light paraffinic distillate" (hydrotreated = synthetic?) and "distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated heavy paraffinic" as well as polyalkyl methacrylate (viscosity index improver.) Any organic/petrochem engineers on here? Now I'm curious.

 

[X-defector]

Engine - cheapest 5w-30 I can find (usually Wally World brand)
Filter - Wally World Super Tech
Diffs - cheapest 80w-90 I can find (usually Wally World brand)
Trans/Tcase - Cheapest conforming fluid I can find
Brake Fluid - cheapest conforming fluid I can find

Why all cheap stuff?

Even the cheapest off-brands today are far superior than even the best stuff of ten years ago (excluding some super-high-end stuff) and go far beyond the required protection for the Jeep. Even the $2 Super Tech filter is a solid 20-micron unit from Champion Labs. Just stay away from the proven crappy stuff like Fram orange-can filters and you'll be fine. It's old and worn in, the fluids get changed regularly....so springing for super premium fluids is like tossing money out the window. In my opinion of course.

Now, for my JK, I do use a NAPA gold filter and 'cheap' synthetic, because its new and the wheeling I do with that rig definitely puts it well into the 'severe duty service'. Even so I wouldn't hesitate for a second to use the cheapest oil and filter I could find for it.

 

[Pelican]

Kastein, I'm not sure if you are just commenting in general about Valvoline high mileage products or responding to my comments about the synthetic ATF but I am talking about transmission fluid and it appears that you are talking about motor oil.

Again, just to clarify for anyone glancing at the thread.

 

[kastein]

Understood - my first post is about motor oil. Second post is about their Dex III / Mercon ATF, in the MaxLife flavor. I hate finding old threads full of useless but non specific info, so the more specific the better! Forgot to mention that in my second post, so it's a good thing you reminded me to.