Adding a quart of 15w-50??

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I have noticed alot of you guys have been adding one quart of 15w-50 to your oil changes.

Example: i once read someone put 4 of 5 quarts of 5w-30 mobil 1, and finished with 15w-50 as there 5th quart. Why are some fo you doing this?? I dont know much about any of this besides my synthetic does a really good job of protecting my engine. Can someone let me in on why some of you are doing this? I am running all 5w-30 m1 in my 03 cavalier, is there an advantage to adding 15w-50?
 
Ok, they are doing this because they are afraid that running the right weight of oil for the ambient temps. will be too thick and cause their engine to self destruct. It is mostly GM owners that have been brainwashed into thinking that they must run 5W30 or else in their engines will self destruct. They have found out through UOA and sound that their engine actualy does better with a really thick 30Wt. right at the limit of being a 40Wt.M1 5W30 and 10W30 are really thin 30wt. oils! Mobil-1 did not have a 40Wt. until rcently under the 0W40 product banner and Delvac-1 5W40 and now Truck and SUV 5W40. S0 for a long time guys mostly Y and F body types were mixing M1 15W50 and 5W30 to try and get a thicker 30Wt. or light 40Wt. that was not going to shear out quickly or burn off. THe 0W40 has a reputaion of shearing out of grade quickly and burning off in domestic engines. Delvac-1 was not used primarly due to oil predudice it is a diesel oil and is too thick etc......

So their is no magic in mixing it was born out of a twisted need for more protection then M1 5W30 could give!! Their is nothing wrong with mixing weights it is just a bit silly when you can get the oil you need.
 
quote:

Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
Ok, they are doing this because they are afraid that running the right weight of oil for the ambient temps. will be too thick and cause their engine to self destruct. It is mostly GM owners that have been brainwashed into thinking that they must run 5W30 or else in their engines will self destruct. They have found out through UOA and sound that their engine actualy does better with a really thick 30Wt. right at the limit of being a 40Wt.M1 5W30 and 10W30 are really thin 30wt. oils! Mobil-1 did not have a 40Wt. until rcently under the 0W40 product banner and Delvac-1 5W40 and now Truck and SUV 5W40. S0 for a long time guys mostly Y and F body types were mixing M1 15W50 and 5W30 to try and get a thicker 30Wt. or light 40Wt. that was not going to shear out quickly or burn off. THe 0W40 has a reputaion of shearing out of grade quickly and burning off in domestic engines. Delvac-1 was not used primarly due to oil predudice it is a diesel oil and is too thick etc......

So their is no magic in mixing it was born out of a twisted need for more protection then M1 5W30 could give!! Their is nothing wrong with mixing weights it is just a bit silly when you can get the oil you need.


Or economics. Mobil 1 3.90 a quart at Sam's. Mobil 1 15w/50 4.77 a qaurt at Wal_Mart. I go through a lot of oil with my racing.
 
I did the same thing on my 2000 Trooper. I used 4 qts M1 10w-30 and one qt 15w-50. It gave me (supposedly) around a 11.4 viscosity at 100 celcius. Next change I may go 3 qts 10w-30 and 2 qts 15w-50. OR maybe 3 qts 5w-30 and 2 qts 15w-50 hmmmmmmm.
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Just one quart? When the weather is warmer, I fill 'er up with ONLY 15w-50! Admittedly, it's probably a bit too thick, but NVH is way down, and can't tell any MPG difference compared to M1 5w-30.
 
ncirish:
How does your isuzu trooper like the M1?

We just bought a 04 isuzu axiom with the 3.5L
switched to M1 at 1k miles, then at 3K switched to Amsoil 10w-30 for the summer.

The 3.5L seemed smoother and quieter with the Amsoil. Next change I will go with the S2 0w-30
 
Jammer the Trooper likes M1 better than conventional dino juice. It actually seems to quiet the valve train down a bit, and the addition of the 15w-50 helps even more. It does NOT like any 5w oils be they M1 or dino, hence that little experiment will likely not happen. Make sure you keep the PCV changed yearly (it's only like $4) and you shouldn't have many oil issues (the rings on those engines are redesigned).
 
I have done it. I kept a jumbo jug of 15w-50 for topping and the occasional addition to crankcase fill. All the grades of Supersyn have the same additives, no probs. It's better than going out there with M1 30 weight...10cSt or whatever.
 
I noticed that Patman mentioned that adding a quart of 15w-50 also gives it a larger anti-wear kick? I have read that 15w-50 has more anti-wear supersyn properties then the other viscosity M1 products. If this is true, why wouldnt I go all 15w-50 in the summer? I do extended drain intervals and to me it sounds like have 15w-50 formulation is a plus next to the others in extended OCI. Is 5 quarts of 15w-50 to thick for a 03 2.2L Ecotec engine? Or should i mix a quart with 5w-30? What do you guys think is the ideal mix for extended drains?
 
RedWolf4000. Why would you first put
synthetic oil in a Cavalier? My wife
and one daughter drive a Cavalier and
Sunfire. I've been using regular oil
in them with no problems. These are
cheap cars. The engines will outlast
the bodies with cheap oils anyway.
Now, I do use synthetic oil and mix
Mobil 1 10w30/15w50 in summer in my
personal car (toy) which is a BMW.
In that car, the specs call for a A3
oil which is thicker. I cannot find
any 0w40 in Canada so I mix the two
grades to get it slightly thicker.
The 2.2 engine calls for a 5w30 or
10w30 in summer anyway so I wouldn't
go with a mix of 15w50.
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SAM's Club has 15W50,10W30 and 5W30 in M1. I buy mine at Sams Club as well. My Dad also buys his their. THe only time I buy at Walmart is when they have their 5 quart sale. Even then I usualy do not buy it unless I am their and need it. The wife buys a lot of fabric at Walmart so I am their more often then I am at Sam's!
 
Redwolf, my sentiments exactly! Even my old 94 Nissan pickup is being converted to Mobil 1. I am running the drive cleaan high mileage blend in prep for going to Mobil 1 next change. People will not hestitate to spend thousands on visual improvements, tires, repairs, etc; but balk at a $4 a qt (or so) motor oil. That logic does not make sense to me. The Trooper 3.5 has 6 bolt mains, steel sleeved cylinders, coil on plug ignition, DOHC, throttle by wire, etc. Now why would I put a $.79 oil in such a motor? Hmmmmm, just makes no sense to me.
 
RedWolf4000. I guess I see your point if
you want to keep cars a long time. Me, I
might keep a car for 7 to 8 years max.
They will last with three oil changes a
year using regular oil. Another thing to
consider is warranty. They want you to go by
5000 km(3000 mi) or three month intervals.
If something goes wrong with your engine
and you have not done an oil change in the
past year because of synthetics, you will
be screwed. The last thing to understand
my point of view is that here in Canada,
synthetic oil is double the price in the U.S.
I just cannot justify spending $8.00 CDN.
(tax incl.) per litre of oil for a cheap
car. I've got four cars to maintain and
I rather put the expensive oil in my BMW
because it calls for it. Again it's my
$0.02 worth. (CDN.)
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cheers.gif
 
2KBMW, with all respects, my choice of synthetics really has nothing to do with the kind of car i own. This is in fact, the cheapest car i have every owned, as our family is big on toyotas, and Nissans. I have had many vehicles that have lost most of there body, it doesnt bother me at all, my 1987 toyota PU for example, i have a wooden bed on it now because the whole back end has rusted away.

The ecotec 2.2L engine from GM is the new platform engine on which most GM models are being built. Cavailers, Sunfires, Cobalt, Saturn VUE, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn ION and many more, over a dozen at least. I feel this engine due to its design and quality engineering (not like the last engine in the cavalier) is really worth a synthetic oil. Actually, i believe a $7,000 KIA is worht synthetic oil. I always keep my car as long as i can. I dont need a new car every 3 years. I enjoy looking at the odometer and seeing a huge number on there so 10+ years from now i can say "wow, i spent 10k on this cavailer back in 2003 and its running great, i really got my moneys worth, and im saving so much having a reliable car that i havnt made a payment on in 7 years."

In short, all motors should run on synthetic. Why wouldnt you run synthetic oil in ANY new car? It just doesnt make sense.

Either way you look at it: one path is the car is cheap so i will run mobil 1 with extended drains and save money and get the same protecting on 3k changes from dino. OR, you can change the mobil 1 with only slightly extended intervals and really keep the car for a long time.

Also, i have never had a chevy body rust out on me, and i dont have a garage, the cars are always in NY weather. As long as you wash them and treat the body, it will never rust out. I have a 1990 lumina sitting in the back yard and its perfectly fine, no rust anywhere, not even on the back wheel wells.
 
I agree with Red, the synthetics are the way to go with any vehicle. I wish that I could take back what I know now and utilize it on my 85 Toyota pickup. Had I used synthetics with it I would still be driving it instead of my Tacoma. That vehicle should have been handed down to my daughter in 10 years, but you live and learn. Mistakes cost!

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil1 Synthetic SS 5W-30.
ODO 8900 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30.
ODO 90800 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer
 
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