In the late 1990s, Castrol started selling an oil made from Group III base oil and called it SynTec Full Synthetic. Mobil sued Castrol, asserting that this oil was not synthetic, but simply a highly refined petroleum oil, and therefore it was false advertising to call it synthetic. In 1999, Mobil lost their lawsuit. It was decided that the word "synthetic" was a marketing term and referred to properties, not to production methods or ingredients. Castrol continues to make SynTec out of Group III base oils, that is highly purified mineral oil with most all of the cockroach bits removed.

Shortly after Mobil lost their lawsuit, most oil companies started reformulating their synthetic oils to use Group III base stocks instead of PAOs or diester stocks as their primary component. Most of the "synthetic oil" you can buy today is actually mostly made of this highly-distilled and purified dino-juice called Group III oil. Group III base oils cost about half as much as the synthetics. By using a blend of mostly Group III oils and a smaller amount of "true" synthetics, the oil companies can produce a product that has nearly the same properties as the "true" synthetics, and nearly the same cost as the Group III oil. The much more expensive traditional synthetics are now available in their pure forms only in more expensive and harder to obtain oils. To the best of my knowledge, Delvac-1, AMSOil, Redline, and Motul 5100 are the only oils made from pure traditional synthetics.

I just became a distributor of AMSOIL.. I should have some Xterra product up soon. And they are less expensive than RP [Smile]

--------------------
Carlton

Originally posted by RockSkier:

Quote:

I just became a distributor of AMSOIL.. I should have some Xterra product up soon. And they are less expensive than RP [Smile]

--------------------
Carlton

Sign me up...I could use some AMSOIL. My MTF tranny fluid is not cutting it anymore...I can't even find a Nissan dealer in San Diego that can tell me what kind of fluid to use (they started to pour ATF in my tranny when I took it to them to change the fluids. They still argue with me that ATF is supposed to go into the transfer case on a manual tranny X. wtf?)

Transfer fluid 2-3/8 qt Nissan Matic ‘D’ (Continental U.S. and Alaska) or Canada NISSAN
Automatic Transmission Fluid or API GL-4. *4
-------
*4: DexronTM III/MerconTM or equivalent may also be used. Outside the Continental United States and Alaska contact an authorized Nissan dealership for more information regarding suitable
fluids, including recommended brand(s) of DexronTM III/MerconTM Automatic Transmission Fluid.

Transfer fluid (TX10A) 2-3/8 qt NISSAN Matic ’D’ (Continental U.S. and Alaska) or Canada NISSAN Automatic Transmission Fluid*2 or API GL-4 Viscosity SAE 75W-85 or 75W-90.

Originally posted by RockSkier:

Quote:

I just became a distributor of AMSOIL.. I should have some Xterra product up soon. And they are less expensive than RP [Smile]

--------------------
Carlton

Sign me up...I could use some AMSOIL. My MTF tranny fluid is not cutting it anymore...I can't even find a Nissan dealer in San Diego that can tell me what kind of fluid to use (they started to pour ATF in my tranny when I took it to them to change the fluids. They still argue with me that ATF is supposed to go into the transfer case on a manual tranny X. wtf?)

Not to argue with you, but the owners manual (at least on the 02) says:

quote: Transfer fluid 2-3/8 qt Nissan Matic ‘D’ (Continental U.S. and Alaska) or Canada NISSAN
Automatic Transmission Fluid or API GL-4. *4
-------
*4: DexronTM III/MerconTM or equivalent may also be used. Outside the Continental United States and Alaska contact an authorized Nissan dealership for more information regarding suitable
fluids, including recommended brand(s) of DexronTM III/MerconTM Automatic Transmission Fluid.