10w30 even in cold winters?!

[Patman]

I agree with John, I would not run a 5w30 dino in any of my cars either, at least not one of the cheap 5w30 dinos you find at Walmart. They just thin out too easily. I'm hoping the 5w30 GTX High Mileage I'm running in my mom's car will prove itself to be an exception to this, although it's not a 100% dino oil (it's base oil contains some esters)

 

[icruse]

I would stay with the 10W30, that is what it calls for, and the Mobil 1 10W30 will do just fine all year long.
I live in northern Minnesota and have used the 10W30 in a Cadillac I used to have all year long. It went from the extreme cold up here to the humid heat in Virginia, and when I got rid of the car it had 265,000 miles and was still running perfect.

Good Day,
Steven

 

[George Farra]

Sorry John I have to disagree with your statement regarding the N/A 3.8 V6.....it calls for 10w-30 as does the GTP.

I have 1 of each engine sitting in my driveway...2003 GTP and a 2003 Bonnie SLE. the oil cap on both the L67 and L36 engine calls for 10w-30.

Prior to my '03 GTP I had a '00 GT with the L36 and used 10w-30 dino all year long.....NYC winters lately have not been fun anymore!

In the GTP I will be using Mobil 1 10w-30, the Bonnie will stay with Chevron/Texaco Havoline 10w-30.....all year long.

I cannot vouch for colder climates than mine...in NY it has worked out fine for me....cars run smooth even at start up. I may start doing some UOA to satisfy my curiosity

George

 

[labman]

Remember http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=000720;p=2#000046 where the filter was crushed internally? I wonder if this happens more frequently, but unnoticed because nobody cut the filter apart. I see that problem as the positive displacement oil pump pushing cold, heavy oil into a filter with thinner, warmer oil inside not providing much back pressure. There was also a recent thread claiming viscosity has little effect on wear. Last winter was bad. This one might not be, but could easily be worse. I doubt I will see -40, but my car and truck will have 5W-30 dino.

 

[mikemc]

I would recommend changing viscosities with the seasons. 5w30 for the winter months and 10w30 for the rest of the year.

 

[JoggingGuy]

quote:

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Originally posted by mikemc:
I would recommend changing viscosities with the seasons. 5w30 for the winter months and 10w30 for the rest of the year.

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This is exactly what I do. Except my truck is approaching 60K miles, and with the Houston heat I'm probably going to start using 15W40 in the summer. Or try Mola's LC/132 "brew" with 10W30 since it thickens it up some.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by mikemc:
I would recommend changing viscosities with the seasons. 5w30 for the winter months and 10w30 for the rest of the year.

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A good 5w30 synthetic can easily handle summer weather though, so there honestly isn't much need to switch to 10w30, just use the 5w30 year round. Most good synthetic 5w30s won't thin out, and therefore offer just as much high temperature protection as a 10w30 would.