15W-40 in a Japaneese 4-banger

[Russ]

It's about time for an oil change for the '95 Galant
(148,xxx miles). For about 6 months now I've ran TropArtic 10W-40 in it in hopes of reducing oil consumption (1 qt/1,000 miles). Although the engine seemed to have taken quite a liking to this oil, the consumption did not improve. Auto-Rx got it down to 2 qts/ 3,000 miles.
I have read on this board that 15w40 is not a whole lot thicker than 10W-40, so I figured I'll experiment with it a bit. I do realize that the engine needs another A-Rx treatment, and plan on doing it, but while the money's a bit tight, I want to try 15w40.
What do you guys think? Should I do it? And if so, what oil should I use, Rotella, Delo, or Delvac? After reading a few posts here, I was leaning towards Delvac.
Now, I know that people have expressed some strong opinions on this subject in the past, but, like I said, this egine does not seem to mind 10W-40, is used primarily for 30-min highway trips, and the weather is warming up.
Thanks.

 

[HerkyJim]

Why heck yes! I use Walmart SuperTech 15w40 in my Plymouth, Chevy 327, and Toyota 22RE. Works good! Price is right too. p.s. engine is a machine, it doesn't "mind" anything.

 

[Ugly3]

40 is 40 is 40. Why not some 5w40?

 

[BlazerLT]

Russ, have you ever changed the PCV valve?

 

[Russ]

Only 5W-40 available to me is Mobil 1 Truck and SUV and Rotella Synth. M1 is $4.77/qt. and Rotella S is $3.52/gt. Delvac is $5.88/gal. So cost is the issue here. Quite frankly, I think that 5W-40 in this situation would be like pouring perfume on a pig. Then again, who knows.

PCV valve was replaced last summer (13x,xxx miles) with no effect. It's not OE, thought (Fram). I don't know if that makes any difference.

 

[michaelc80]

Before I did that I think I would try one of the high mileage oils. I don't think you'll gain much by going to a 15W40 from a 10W40.

If you wanted to see if a "thicker" oil will reduce consumption, put in a 20W50.

 

[n8wvi]

I think HDEO's are the best 'high mileage' oils, and you're right, the price can't be beat for the quality you're getting. They're much more shear stable than a 10w-40 too. Last summer, I ran Delvac 1300 in my "Japanese 4 banger", a '97 2.2L Subaru, not trying to solve any problems, just wanted better protection than I felt I was getting from xW-30's.

Dave

 

[AndyH]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Russ:
Only 5W-40 available to me is Mobil 1 Truck and SUV and Rotella Synth. M1 is $4.77/qt. and Rotella S is $3.52/gt. Delvac is $5.88/gal.

---

If you have a Wal-Mart near you, look for the Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5w-40 in the 5-quart jugs for $20. I'd think it would be priced the same (or pretty darn close) out in the Midwest as it is here in PA.

 

[haley10]

My Mitsu has 168K and I don't have any consumption issues. I actually use Pennzoil 10w30 and or GTX and have found it consumes less than it did with old Equilon Havoline 10W-40 when I ran that.

It may not be all about viscosity, just a better built oil. Then again it might make a big difference for you. I've never been a big fan of conventional 10w40 oils. Other than GTX, I've never seen them improve consumption much even though they start out thicker.

I put Delvac 1300S in the diesel. Good stuff. I like it.

 

[1sttruck]

My local Ford dealer use to carry a Motorcraft 10w30 HDEO, for $2.60 a quart. Since no one was using it he shipped it all back to the warehouse.

 

[VTEC01EX]

Last weekend I converted the fog machine aka 94 Corolla 1.8 over to 15w40 Rotella. You can't beat getting a gallon of that stuff for $6 and change at wally's. So far the car runs great on it. I changed the PCV and a bunch of other maintenance items at the same time, with my goal being to reduce the absolutely insane oil consumption. It uses a quart between two gas fillups, best case scenario. So that's a quarter every 500 miles or so. I know the rings are likely shot, and the main seal leaks, but it's worth it to just carry around a case of oil in the trunk to keep this 185K mile beast on the road for a little while longer. So far, consumption is still at the usual rate.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

quote:
So far, consumption is still at the usual rate.

Well look at the good side of that high detergent oil -- at least your consumption will be cleaner... lol.

Really thou... there's no sense in draining oil that likely never sees beyond 2K due to constant replenishing. If this fails to reduce it, do a cheapo motor flush & use SuperTech conventional at 99 cents.

 

[VTEC01EX]

The 15w40 is basically an experiment. I agree - usually when I drain it, there's maybe 2 quarts that comes out anyway ;-) I just change the filter a few times a year because they're cheap, and I feel bad if I don't. Every time there's a decent deal on conventional oil I pick up a case. I think right now there's a case of Citgo 10w40 in the trunk, which will be going in as soon as the Rotella gets burned up. The trunk looks like an auto parts store, oil and various fluids all over the place.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Quote:
...right now there's a case of Citgo 10w40 in the trunk...

Someone on another board here at BITOG reported over 240K using CITGO conventional exclusively. I'm using Citgo synthetic in my S-10 P/U right now. Meijer Thrifty Acres house brand (Auto Trend) is Citgo in our neck of the woods. The only two dinos I ever witnessed considerable less oil consumption in older vehicles was Castrol GTX in my Caravan and Kendall in my former, now deceased Pontiac 6000.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

VTEC01EX

Stinky Peterson did a Virgin Analysis for me on Auto Trend full synthetic in 5W-10W-30. Go to the Virgin board & scroll down a little to find it. I was not real happy with the viscosity reading... so I beefed my last oil change using more 10w30.

Your Ohio Auto Trend is Citgo.... at least last time I looked at your Toledo store. Further evidence is in the Citgo/Auto Trend platic bottle comparison .... identical.

 

[VTEC01EX]

If Meijer house brand oil is Citgo here (Ohio), then the car has seen a good amount of Citgo oil over the last year and a half or so! Generally I just go to Meijer and get whatever is least expensive, it just so happened to be the Citgo instead of Meijer-brand last time. It must be doing something right - the car still drives great, just uses a ton of oil!

 

[VTEC01EX]

Well **** , I guess you really do learn something new every day. Thanks a lot for the info, Triple7!

 

[the_oil_dealer]

i notice a clear difference between oil consumption of 40wts... ie 0-40 and 15-40, 0-40 burning off just as fast as 5-30 and 15-40 not burning ... at all

of course this is with very hard driving and high rpm's

 

[n8wvi]

slightly

Meijer synthetic and Semi Synthetic ARE NOT Citgo, they're from a company called Warren (can't remember the full name). I asked for the MSDS's as it was the only way to get a difinitive answer as to who the mfgr was.
The Meijer conventional oils ARE bottled by Citgo. Not sure why they use two companies, but they do.

Dave

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Meijer uses Warren in significant parts of the country ... not here. Best way to tell is by the quart jug design. Here in Lower Michigan, it's a Citgo jug for both dino & synthetic.... at least the last time I looked a few months ago. If Kalamazoo is using a different supplier than Macomb County... that would surprise me.