17 replies to this topic

[bluedragon]

I can't cite any studies regarding zinc and catalytic converters, but the removal of ZDDP in oil was done at the behest of the oil certification bodies like ACEA in Europe and API in the USA. These in turn decreed this because of the demands of the environmental agencies in those regions (EPA for example in the USA.)

 

I'm pretty confident those certification bodies wouldn't impose such a major change in oil formulation on their clients unless they had some reasonable research proving the case of the government agencies. Certainly you would think the big oil companies would refuse to do this without some evidence. As far as I know, the USA, Japan and Europe have all followed suit.

 

 

Dave

[Quinlan minor]

Oil companies will always make changes that they think might raise their profit margins. Wrongly, in the case of Shell's V-Power early iteration, to name only one.

Governments, too, allow formulations that are not in the best interests of the public. Ask anyone who lived in W11 1TG?

[bluedragon]

Here, a conspiracy would require the governments of three continents and their associated oil companies to collaborate. There's nothing in it for the governments involved if there isn't any damage to cat converters, so it would be likely the oil companies paying off the governments to institute this requirement. I just can't see that happening over ZDDP, to be honest.

 

If you ask me, the real profiteering is coming from the companies playing "the ZDDP is indispensable" card for old cars and selling heavy-ZDDP oil, usually at a premium, as a result. But only small specialty oil makers are really mining this. The major motor oil firms aren't, because it's not worth their time to do so.

 

I could be mistaken about this, but I seem to recall ZDDP is one of the cheaper additives. If so, no profits added by getting rid of a inexpensive additive and having to use substitutes. If there were cheaper substitutes the oil companies would have already used them in place of ZDDP.

 

 

Dave

Edited by bluedragon, 24 January 2020 - 11:18 AM.