NA — Harvest King Motor Oil

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JGoodish

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JGoodish
Anyone ever use this? Available at Rural King stores, carries API SN rating, and the full synthetic version is also Dexos certified. Wisdom elsewhere on the Internet suggests that it’s rebadged Citgo, and the VOAs I’ve seen look pretty decent. Or, really good if you consider the price.

Just curious as to whether anyone has used it and did a UOA. Haven’t found too many of those out there.
 
I don't know, SN rated is SN rated. It's fairly difficult to find it in a non-synthetic version but likely the oil that leaves the car from the factory these days is a conventional SN rated oil for break in.
 
One airplane engine shop owner used to say "any oil is a good oil". The key to performance differences for most of us lie in how we operate and/or care for the engine otherwise. Change oil and filter at appropriate intervals (engine hours/miles or calendar intervals) and you'll be fine.

I'd bet that to be true pretty much across the board unless you're consistently trying to extract the power of every hamster available or letting the engine sit for extended periods.
 
I’ve used it in older engines- tractors, 70’s V8s, etc. no problems, works like any other oil.
 
Warren Oil is the largest independent lubricant manufacturer and marketer in the United States. Warren Oil markets it lubricants, both conventional and synthetic, domestically and internationally, under the WARREN OIL brand, the LUBRIGARD brand, the ITASCA brand, the COASTAL brand and the GOLD BAND brand. In addition to manufacturing and marketing a full line of automotive and heavy duty chemicals, including anti-freeze and brake fluids, under its proprietary AUTOGUARD brand name, Warren Oil also manufactures and markets private label products for a number of Fortune 500 companies.
 
I've used it almost exclusively in my vehicles for the past 10 years and 400,000ish miles. I've never done any oil analysis on it but the research I've done and my own experience suggests that the oil is fine.

Personally, I think people get far too worked up when it comes to oil choice. I've taken apart a lot of engines and have yet to see a failure that could be contributed to an oil problem, provided the proper viscosity oil is used.
 
It's fairly uncommon to find a non-synthetic SN rated oil. But, I suspect new cars leave the factory with it for break in. For big truck and tractor engines it doesn't matter much what kind of oil you use as long it's the right viscosity, although for modern, super boosted small displacement engines you really should use synthetic.
 
I had a 6 cylinder Chevy pickup in Bethel, Ak that I used used aviation oil in it. Everytime a plane would go in for an oil change, I would catch a gallon of oil. Then when the oil pressure light came on, I would pull over and add the gallon of oil.

Of course it was hard to get much over 30MPH in Bethel because of the roads.
 
Zeldman said:
I had a 6 cylinder Chevy pickup in Bethel, Ak that I used used aviation oil in it. Everytime a plane would go in for an oil change, I would catch a gallon of oil. Then when the oil pressure light came on, I would pull over and add the gallon of oil.
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My Grandpa always had a decently new car for Grandma, and an old beater pickup for himself. When the car got an oil change, he'd drain the oil from the pickup and put in the used oil from the car, so each batch of oil got a double run! And even then, that oil out of the pickup wasn't done. He cut it 50% with weed killer and used that as a spray for weed control around the farm. Yes, back in the days before people were environmentally conscious.
 
Bill Jennings said:
My Grandpa always had a decently new car for Grandma, and an old beater pickup for himself. When the car got an oil change, he'd drain the oil from the pickup and put in the used oil from the car, so each batch of oil got a double run! And even then, that oil out of the pickup wasn't done. He cut it 50% with weed killer and used that as a spray for weed control around the farm. Yes, back in the days before people were environmentally conscious.
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Whaddya mean? Grandpa was VERY environmentally conscious; he got maximum use out of the oil (conservation of resources), and he was certainly conscious of the weed environment.
 
Bill Jennings said:
My Grandpa always had a decently new car for Grandma, and an old beater pickup for himself. When the car got an oil change, he'd drain the oil from the pickup and put in the used oil from the car, so each batch of oil got a double run! And even then, that oil out of the pickup wasn't done. He cut it 50% with weed killer and used that as a spray for weed control around the farm. Yes, back in the days before people were environmentally conscious.
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Back when I was younger, we would pour our used motor oil along the slab of the shop and along the base of the barn to keep weeds down, keep bugs and other vermin out and to keep the soil from washing away when it rains. We also spread used motor oil along the gravel driveway to help hold the soil in place and keep dust down. Other uses including putting used motor along the top of the wooden pens to keep the horses from chewing the wood, and pour on fire ant beds.

We never thought it was bad to put oil in the ground, we thought that was were it came from.
 
Sac Arrow said:
It's fairly uncommon to find a non-synthetic SN rated oil. But, I suspect new cars leave the factory with it for break in. For big truck and tractor engines it doesn't matter much what kind of oil you use as long it's the right viscosity, although for modern, super boosted small displacement engines you really should use synthetic.
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From what I’ve seen, conventional SN rated oil is quite common on the shelves of every Walmart, auto parts store, or convenience store, at least in the eastern half of the U.S. Selection is often limited to 5W30 and 10W30, though it seems that many/most newer vehicles recommend or require a lower viscosity.

It also appears to be more common these days for new vehicles to ship with full synthetic or synthetic blend. I suspect that the costs have come down to the point where conventional doesn’t make much sense even for normally aspirated engines.

Harvest King oil used to be sourced from Warren, but now appears to be sourced from Citgo. All reports I’ve seen suggest that it is a good, if not very good, oil. At $12 for 5 quarts of fully synthetic, it really makes you think about the $30-$40 that the name brands charge—sure, the additive package may be different, but I suspect that most of the difference is in the marketing. I have some of the synthetic blend in my wife’s Murano, and might just take a sample for UOA when it’s due to be changed in 5k mikes. I am expect that all will be fine.
 
JGoodish said:
From what I’ve seen, conventional SN rated oil is quite common on the shelves of every Walmart, auto parts store, or convenience store, at least in the eastern half of the U.S. Selection is often limited to 5W30 and 10W30, though it seems that many/most newer vehicles recommend or require a lower viscosity.

It also appears to be more common these days for new vehicles to ship with full synthetic or synthetic blend. I suspect that the costs have come down to the point where conventional doesn’t make much sense even for normally aspirated engines.

Harvest King oil used to be sourced from Warren, but now appears to be sourced from Citgo. All reports I’ve seen suggest that it is a good, if not very good, oil. At $12 for 5 quarts of fully synthetic, it really makes you think about the $30-$40 that the name brands charge—sure, the additive package may be different, but I suspect that most of the difference is in the marketing. I have some of the synthetic blend in my wife’s Murano, and might just take a sample for UOA when it’s due to be changed in 5k mikes. I am expect that all will be fine.
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Good point on the standard viscosity oils, but many newer sedans and minivans require 0-20W oil, which you generally can't find in a conventional form on the auto store shelves here but it does exist.

We don't really know what oil the manufacturer puts in the engines, just what they specify to use on subsequent changes. Conventional practice has been to either use some form of break-in oil, or bench run the engine on dino oil if it's going to ship with a full synthetic. Bench break-ins aren't happening with passenger cars. I mean you might be right but I would be surprised.
 
SCCutler said:
Whaddya mean? Grandpa was VERY environmentally conscious; he got maximum use out of the oil (conservation of resources), and he was certainly conscious of the weed environment.
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And I'll add that the oil came out of the ground didn't it?

edit: Zeldman beat me to it.
 
Timbeck2 said:
And I'll add that the oil came out of the ground didn't it?

edit: Zeldman beat me to it.
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I’ll point out that the oil didn’t look like motor oil or have the same make-up or properties when it came out of the ground.

Now let us discuss where and how it came out of the ground. In the vast majority of cases the Oil came from at least hundreds and more likely thousands of feet underground and isolated from typical potable water sources. If any hydrocarbon is poured on the ground it will pollute shallow aquifers and/or surface waters. Any hydrocarbon renders water non-potable. Sure, the hydrocarbons can be removed from the water but it is best to avoid the contamination in the first place.
 
Clark, I fear that you are so embroiled in your world of synthetic food additives that you fail to recognize a joke when you read one.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Clark, I fear that you are so embroiled in your world of synthetic food additives that you fail to recognize a joke when you read one.
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If you haven't dotted every I crossed every T or even use a generic term, he'll be all over you like a paint job.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Clark, I fear that you are so embroiled in your world of synthetic food additives that you fail to recognize a joke when you read one.
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I am certain that you fail to understand that deliberate pollution is not a joking matter. No fear here.
 
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