Answerpail Q&A - Recent questions and answers in Maintenance/Repairs

Answered: What is the world's no. 1 engine oil brand?

Tue, 19 May 2026 16:11:33 +0000

The world's no. 1 engine oil brand is Mobile 1.

Mobile 1 engine oil brand is owned by ExxonMobil and is widely recognized as being the world's no. 1 motor oil brand, especially when it comes to synthetic motor oil.

Mobil 1 engine oil dominates the retail sales and is also the factory fill oil for many high performance vehicles.

Shell engine oil brand, which includes Shell Helix as well as Pennzoil is also the worldwide leader in engine oil, when it comes to total global lubricant market share.

Pennzoil is also known for it's innovative "Gas to Liquid" PurePlus technology, that yields exceptionally clean base oils.

Other popular engine oil brands are AMSOIL, Valvoline and Castrol engine oil.

AMSOIL, engine oil is praised highly among car enthusiasts for it's pioneering work in extended drain synthetic engine oils.

Valvoline engine oil is also one of the oldest names in engine and motor oil since as far back as 1866 and remains a favorite brand of engine oil for racing applications as well as engines with high mileage.

And Castrol engine oil is also a historical engine oil that is very popular.

Castrol Edge engine oil is also regarded very highly for it's strength under extreme heat and pressure.

For budget oils, Walmart's engine oil brand is also good and I use it in my vehicles without any issues.

The same with the Walmart brand transmission fluid.

As long as you change out your engine oil and transmission fluid often enough, most any engine oils will keep your engine running smooth.

And most transmission fluids will work just fine in your transmission as long as you use the correct transmission fluids.

Answered: How tight should a new oil filter be installed?

Tue, 19 May 2026 15:19:37 +0000

A new oil filter when installed should be installed only hand tight and do not use any tools to tighten the oil filter as it could cause leaks.

You can overtighten an oil filter and overtightening of an oil filter can lead to leaks of oil as it compresses the gasket too far.

Oil filters do only need to be hand tight.

When you install an oil filter, you place a bit of oil on the rubber gasket of the oil filter.

And also ensure that you wipe down the area where the oil filter seals to the engine so that you remove any old oil and possible debris that could cause a leak.

Once you clean the mounting surface of the oil filter and apply some oil to the gasket of the oil filter, you simply need to spin the oil filter on until it snugs up.

Then use your hand to continue turning the oil filter until you cannot turn it any more by hand.

Hand tight on an oil filter should always be enough tightness to seal the oil filter and prevent leaks.

Once you have the oil filter installed, make sure you fill the oil back up on your vehicle after ensuring you have installed the oil plug.

Then once the oil is filled back up, start the engine and let the engine idle for a few minutes and look around the oil plug and oil filter for any possible leaks.

If there's no leaks, then everything is okay and you can shut the engine off and let it sit for a few minutes.

Then once the vehicle is sitting level, check the oil again and add any more oil a bit at a time until it reaches full.

Then start the engine again to allow the oil to circulate and then shut the engine off and check the oil again, to ensure that the oil is to the full level, but not overfull.

If the oil is too overfull, then you need to drain it.

But if you overfilled the engine oil by less than 1/2 a quart, you're usually okay.

Answered: Can you overtighten an oil filter?

Tue, 19 May 2026 15:17:33 +0000

You can overtighten an oil filter and overtightening of an oil filter can lead to leaks of oil as it compresses the gasket too far.

Oil filters do only need to be hand tight.

When you install an oil filter, you place a bit of oil on the rubber gasket of the oil filter.

And also ensure that you wipe down the area where the oil filter seals to the engine so that you remove any old oil and possible debris that could cause a leak.

Once you clean the mounting surface of the oil filter and apply some oil to the gasket of the oil filter, you simply need to spin the oil filter on until it snugs up.

Then use your hand to continue turning the oil filter until you cannot turn it any more by hand.

Hand tight on an oil filter should always be enough tightness to seal the oil filter and prevent leaks.

Once you have the oil filter installed, make sure you fill the oil back up on your vehicle after ensuring you have installed the oil plug.

Then once the oil is filled back up, start the engine and let the engine idle for a few minutes and look around the oil plug and oil filter for any possible leaks.

If there's no leaks, then everything is okay and you can shut the engine off and let it sit for a few minutes.

Then once the vehicle is sitting level, check the oil again and add any more oil a bit at a time until it reaches full.

Then start the engine again to allow the oil to circulate and then shut the engine off and check the oil again, to ensure that the oil is to the full level, but not overfull.

If the oil is too overfull, then you need to drain it.

But if you overfilled the engine oil by less than 1/2 a quart, you're usually okay.

Answered: Do oil filters only need to be hand tight?

Tue, 19 May 2026 15:15:34 +0000