Anyone used 5w-20 in a GM Quad-4 engine?

[Klutch9]

Hello, everyone. Ive read on this site that some people are having good experiences switching to a thinner oil (sometimes even thinner than what the manufacturer specifies). My manual recommends either 5w30 or 10w30, ambient temperature being the factor. Ive used both grades, but my engine is still quite noisy. Granted, the engine has quite a few miles on it, and ive heard rumors of older GM 4-cylinder's being quite noisy to begin with. I've used synthetic Castrol 5w30, and synthetic Valvoline 5w30... no difference. I recently gave some 10w30 Chevron Conventional oil a try, with no results. In fact, it seems that my engine actually got louder with the thicker oil. So has anyone run 5w-20 in an engine like mine? Id really like to give it a try

 

[mpvue]

you've made it to 142,500 in a quad4; be happy w/ it. they are noisy as you've experienced, just the way it is.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
you've made it to 142,500 in a quad4; be happy w/ it. they are noisy as you've experienced, just the way it is.


Was thinking the same thing

 

[Klutch9]

I've only had the car since 133,xxx miles, but the car is a good runner. It burns little, or no oil at all, so mechanically it seems to be fine. But the constant ticking between 1500 and 2000 rpm drives me insane. Its more noticeable at low operating temps, but can still be heard when the engine is under load once it has warmed up. I suppose trying a 20 weight oil cant hurt...

 

[hate2work]

to Bitog.

You're in cold country up there, right? I'm sure you could run 5W-20 in the winter, and the summer too unless it gets really hot there.

 

[MGregoir]

I would not mess around with a Quad4, just run 5w30.

They are all horribly noisy and rough running because they are a high RPM engine without balance shafts.

 

[Klutch9]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes i suppose you could call it cold country. I had a similar thought... running in the winter would be fine. As for summer, it never gets too hot.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I've only had the car since 133,xxx miles, but the car is a good runner. It burns little, or no oil at all, so mechanically it seems to be fine. But the constant ticking between 1500 and 2000 rpm drives me insane. Its more noticeable at low operating temps, but can still be heard when the engine is under load once it has warmed up. I suppose trying a 20 weight oil cant hurt...


surprised it hasn't been said yet, so I will: an auto-rx treatment would be a good idea, and couldn't hurt anyway. get that lucas stabilizeer chrap out of there also.

 

[Klutch9]

Im not sure on the balance shaft end of it, but as for high rpm? I do believe the redline is 6,250 rpm with fuel cut at 6,500 rpm... that doesn't seem very high to me

 

[05Blazer]

Listen to MGregoir, Oldsmobiles used to be my specialty as are 80's Dodge Turbo 2.2 & 2.5L. The Quad4 was a poorly built but powerfull engine. If it was run hard for those 133k miles youre in trouble. Keep using a 5w30 oil and I would maybe do an AutoRX flush for it as well as flush the coolant and leave it alone thereafter! Otherwise youre asking for exspensive trouble!

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: 05Blazer
Listen to MGregoir, Oldsmobiles used to be my specialty as are 80's Dodge Turbo 2.2 & 2.5L. The Quad4 was a poorly built but powerfull engine. If it was run hard for those 133k miles youre in trouble. Keep using a 5w30 oil and I would maybe do an AutoRX flush for it as well as flush the coolant and leave it alone thereafter! Otherwise youre asking for exspensive trouble!


Thank you for your help. As for the auto-rx treatment though, ive heard very bad things about that... Things having to do with the fact that it breaks off chunks of sludge and clogs the oil pump pickup... i have run seafoam and atx fluid before ive drained my oil the last 2 times (not at the same time, but one each)

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: 05Blazer
Listen to MGregoir, Oldsmobiles used to be my specialty as are 80's Dodge Turbo 2.2 & 2.5L. The Quad4 was a poorly built but powerfull engine. If it was run hard for those 133k miles youre in trouble. Keep using a 5w30 oil and I would maybe do an AutoRX flush for it as well as flush the coolant and leave it alone thereafter! Otherwise youre asking for exspensive trouble!


Thank you for your help. As for the auto-rx treatment though, ive heard very bad things about that... Things having to do with the fact that it breaks off chunks of sludge and clogs the oil pump pickup... i have run seafoam and atx fluid before ive drained my in my oil before ive drained it the last 2 times (not at the same time, but one each)

 

[Kruse]

If you hang around this group long enough, you will find every other person will tell you to "RX it!", even if you've had many good trouble-free miles on your motor.

I'd say if it aint' broke, don't fix it.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: Kruse

Actually, my mistake... i had confused auto-rx with another product... since there are literally a million out there. So my apologies. Ive heard about auto-rx alot and it works slowly. hmm...

 

[bobfather99]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
I'd say if it aint' broke, don't fix it.


I agree, run conventional oil, flush the coolant.
Then drive it til the wheels fall off.

 

[MGregoir]

Actually, if it's the car in your signature, that is the smoother running "twin-cam" that was an evolution of the Quad4. Quad4 refers to the 1987 to 1994 LD2 2.3 litre engine. Twin-Cam refers to the 1996 and up LD9 like was used in your car.

It has balance shafts, is a longer stroke and lower revving engine. The original Quad4 had no balance shafts and I believe in some production models had a redline as high as 7400 rpm. GM had a 190 hp four cylinder engine as early as 1992, but reliability and NVH suffered because of it.

Personally, I still wouldn't run 5W-20 in it, but I would probably AutoRX it and see if that quiets it down any.

 

[addyguy]

I've never owned one; but from my experience at an oil change shop, and with friends who owned them, is that older high-mileage Quad 4's are just naturally rough, noisy engines. They also, from what I've seen, tend to burn a fair amount of oil as they get up in miles.

I wouldn't use a 5W-20 in these engines. You might have situation where you current 'modest' oil consumption will become very high, very fast. I'd try a High Mileage oil in 5w30 or 10w30 to see if it helps - sometime the High Mileage oils, even in the same viscosity, can quiet down engines a bit...beyond that, just keep the oil clean and topped up, and the car will probably go for quite a while. They may be rough, but the DO last!

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: MGregoir
Actually, if it's the car in your signature, that is the smoother running "twin-cam" that was an evolution of the Quad4. Quad4 refers to the 1989 to 1995 2.3 litre engine. Twin-Cam refers to the 1996 and up LD9 like was used in your car.

It has balance shafts, is a longer stroke and lower revving engine. The original Quad4 had no balance shafts and I believe in some production models had a redline as high as 7800 rpm. GM had a 190 hp four cylinder engine as early as 1992, but reliability and NVH suffered because of it.

Personally, I still wouldn't run 5W-20 in it, but I would probably AutoRX it and see if that quiets it down any.


Yes, i do believe you are correct. Although several times i have heard of the "twin cam" motors referred to as "quad4's". Maybe just some bad information :no-no:

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
I've never owned one; but from my experience at an oil change shop, and with friends who owned them, is that older high-mileage Quad 4's are just naturally rough, noisy engines. They also, from what I've seen, tend to burn a fair amount of oil as they get up in miles.

I wouldn't use a 5W-20 in these engines. You might have situation where you current 'modest' oil consumption will become very high, very fast. I'd try a High Mileage oil in 5w30 or 10w30 to see if it helps - sometime the High Mileage oils, even in the same viscosity, can quiet down engines a bit...beyond that, just keep the oil clean and topped up, and the car will probably go for quite a while. They may be rough, but the DO last!


hmm... i never put much thought into the High Mileage oils. But i do suppose it is worth a try

 

[addyguy]

High Mileage oils are great oils - add-packs are often better, and they are thicker within the given viscosity range - the 30-weights are usually 11.3cst to 12.1 cst. Maxlife is a 'favourite' on here; but others are great as well. You want the thickest? Go with Castrol GTX High Mileage 10w30 - they advertise this oil has the lowest 'burn-off' rate of all conventional 10w30's....