it got down to about 10 degrees all day yesterday, and my car really hated starting in it. it's about time for an oil change anyway...so I thought i'd put some lighter stuff in it. what do you guys recommend?
0-30. ALSO replace your coolent temp sensor, thats why its having trouble, it thinks its about -300 degrees
I put Redline 5w30 in mine. It was fine all last winter, and it worked OK this morning, too, when I had to leave for work while it was 5 degrees out. Stuart.
I actually left a quart of synthetic and a quart of non-synthetic 5w30 on the deck one of the really cold days last winter. You wouldn't beleve how thick the non-synthetic stuff was when I checked on it. I shoulda taken a video and poured some out of each.
actually....it's not hooked up....but that doesn't effect the cranking speed. my battery's in good shape, but the first few revolutions are VERY slow.
i am running 5w-30 dino. have been for the past few years, and never had a problem. I think my dad used to run 10w-30 in some of our older subarus and those also never had any issues, and this was back when we had real winters.
I always run 10w-30. never had any problems cranking....I think my starter is dying tho, so I thought I'd go a little lighter to ease up on it.
Well I run Schaeffer Oil in all my cars, 5w30 in winter and 10w30 in summer. Buy it from a guy in town and he can send in some of my old oil to have it checked for whats in it if I want when I change it. I change my oil every 5000 miles http://www.schaefferoil.com/
The lower the base rate, the thinner it is when cold. A 0 is the best you can currently get, although, there are negative weights being tested. 0w30 is the best you can get. You may consider using a 0w40 if your car is a little older or you notice the oil dropping a bit between oil changes. The thicker hot vicosity will help prevent the oil from slipping by the rings and such. 0 / w / 40 base weight(cold viscosity) / all-weather designation / equivalent hot viscosity(equiv = SAE40 when hot) Synthetics have a clear advangage over regular dino oils when temps get cold. A good number to look at is the pour temp of the oil. This is the coldest the oil can get and still be considered pourable, i.e. still a liquid. For example, Mobil 1 0w40 has a pour point of -54C. Standard Valvoline is -36C You basically get an oil that behaves as if it was about 20C/30F degrees warmer. The same applies to gear oil too, a big difference between regular dino and synthetic. Is there a benifit to getting a 5w30 or 10w30 over a 0w30 oil? Just cost. The lower base weight requires more refining and more cost into the additives to keep that thinner oil thick when it gets hot. As well, you generally gain the benifit of a better refined, cleaner oil with less impurities. This lets the oil do its work better and also keeps your engine clean and sludge free. A Group IV oil is the only real synthetic, as in not petrolium based and completely free of impurities. Group III oils are marketed as synthetics although they're pertrolium based. They simply have a very low impurity level, very similar to synthetics. Group II is your standard, well made oil. It works very well and is generally clean but not clean enough to be labeled as Group III. Group III is a marketting gimick. They get to say "synthetic" and charge you more. Group I is your low end stuff, a less refined, dirtier oil. Looks like a good read: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html There are tons of articles discussing the different oil types and how they vary. Just type key words like Group IV and PAO into Google.
I currently run Mobile1 Syn 5w30. It works great, and stays thinner than dino oil when it's below freezing. I checked Valvoline Syn 5w30 and it's only good to -22F....Mobile1 Syn says -53F. I used to run Mobile1 0w30 Syn in my S-10.
well...I'm not going synthetic or anything. we've gotten 240k trouble free miles out of this motor with cheap-@$$ 10w-30. we've gone down to 5w-30 a couple times, but I just didn't know if 0w-xx was safe... I've got zero burning oil problems, although I do lose some through my rusty oil pan. AND, I intend to start boosting this motor next summer...with the intent of blowing it. I'm not really concerned about longterm longevity...
