Anyone running straight-weight oils in their cars?

[ToyotaNSaturn]

After switching my lawnmower over to straight 40 weight Castrol 40HD, it got me to thinking, who is running straight 30 weight or thicker oils in their cars or trucks? Probably not many in Maine or Minnesota, and more likely in Texas, south Florida or Austraila...

Anyone?

 

[Tony Kimmell]

Just wondering... why you are using such a thick oil in a lawnmower?

 

[1maniac]

I run Amsoil "AFF" 0w-40 4-stroke synthetic oil in mine

 

[Stewart Fan]

My Dad's from the old school. He WON'T use anything but straight weight motor oil. He has had excellent luck with it though. He ran 30wt in his 1976 Chevy 4x4 and he really abused that truck. He ran up over 300K before he tore down the motor and rebuilt it. It was still running OK he was just bored one weekend and rebuilt it for something to do.

My Moms Yukon is getting 5-30 until its out of warranty,then its going to be 30wt. for it also.

 

[Chris142]

I switch back and forth with my old pickup. It had great oil pressure and low oil consumption using Shell Sae30.

Right now it has QS 20w-50 and has burned/used 2qts in 1100 miles.

 

[Flimflam]

quote:

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Originally posted by Stewart Fan:
My Dad's from the old school. He WON'T use anything but straight weight motor oil. He has had excellent luck with it though. He ran 30wt in his 1976 Chevy 4x4 and he really abused that truck. He ran up over 300K before he tore down the motor and rebuilt it. It was still running OK he was just bored one weekend and rebuilt it for something to do.

My Moms Yukon is getting 5-30 until its out of warranty,then its going to be 30wt. for it also.

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If you travel a lot around the Gulf States, you'll meet many old-timers who believe in using Straight SAE 30 dino, even in their late-model Chevy or Ford that calls for 0w-20, 10w-30, etc.

These guys have had in excess of half a million road miles under their belts, and they report nothing but good results with Straight 30 dino.

I use Straight 30 dino if I have to drive around the Gulf States in Summer. I don't want no residue from Viscosity Index Improver polymers gumming up my engine as the multigrade decomposes under extreme heat.

Straight 30, it is good stuff. You can depend on it.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tony Kimmell:
Just wondering... why you are using such a thick oil in a lawnmower?

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To reduce start-up smoke and blow-by. I also ran with MotorBike's suggestion and only pre-pump once, which helps.

 

[Motorbike]

I read on a bottle of the Castrol HD 40wt just last week to not use it under 60F ambient . Thats from Castrol , not Motorbike

Straight 30wts are good when the ambient permits in some engines .

German Castrol is one fine example of a year round version

 

[dropitby]

I am thinking of the 30wt. Schaeffer has to finish the life of my truck. But with Chevron Supream at $1 a qt. its hard to beat.

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Motorbike:
I read on a bottle of the Castrol HD 40wt just last week to not use it under 60F ambient.

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Wow, I never would have guessed it was that high!!! I would have figured, with proper warmup, it was good to at least 40ºF.

 

[jsharp]

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Originally posted by pscholte:

quote:

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Originally posted by Motorbike:
I read on a bottle of the Castrol HD 40wt just last week to not use it under 60F ambient.

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Wow, I never would have guessed it was that high!!! I would have figured, with proper warmup, it was good to at least 40ºF.

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I can believe it. I bought some straight 40 weight to use in my worn out Briggs and Statton. I could not believe how thick it was even on a 75 degree day. No way would I use that stuff in a modern engine in good condition...

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

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Originally posted by Motorbike:
I read on a bottle of the Castrol HD 40wt just last week to not use it under 60F ambient.

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I saw that too! "Only for use on the surface of the sun"!

On the bottle of Catrol's 30HD, it says not to use under 40F. And made me think how I will HAVE to change my oil at least once a year towards the end of autumn to the 30wt if I want to use the mower at all once it gets cooler out. Then again, it's stored in an unvented shed that's always VERY warm when the sun beats on it during the day.

 

[Motorbike]

If the mower is a Briggs with that paddle oiler on the end of the crank one can really tell when the oils thick when pull starting one .

The best test of sorts is when priming the oil pump on a race or performance Chevy V-8 with a 3/8 drill motor and it starts smoking before your done .

Stock motors with plain 5w-30 is a breeze and asbestos gloves for holding the drill are not needed

 

[Motorbike]

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Originally posted by ToyotaNSaturn:

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I saw that too! "Only for use on the surface of the sun"!

[/QB]

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Thats pretty comical

Whats the shelf life for transporting it there ? Fairly long trip I would think . Reminds me of :

Martian Honeymoon , we're going out there in July .

 

[Win]

I have straight SAE 40 in one of my AJ6 engine Jaguars. I ran SAE 30 for an ARX clean phase, and am running the 40 for the rinse. The engine has 230K miles, and is original.

This particular AJ6 engine would always burn about a quart every 1500 miles on multi vis oil. Consumption has stopped on the straight weights (or due to the ARX).

Win

 

[khager]

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I use Straight 30 dino if I have to drive around the Gulf States in Summer. I don't want no residue from Viscosity Index Improver polymers gumming up my engine as the multigrade decomposes under extreme heat.

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Yea you can probably get by with that on the Gulf Coast, but you might want to switch to 10W-30 around January. Wouldn't it be nice if they made a 20W-30!
On the other hand I have a Honda that uses 5W-20.
I have sometimes thought about using a straight 20W in the (summer only of course) here in the DFW area.

 

[pmt]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris142:
I switch back and forth with my old pickup. It had great oil pressure and low oil consumption using Shell Sae30.

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I checked some SAE 30 weight oil specs (can't remember the brands) awhile back - very low Noack volatility numbers compared to typical dino 10W-30 oils or even synthetic multi-grades. Probably accounts for the low oil consumption.