cold climate, what oil?

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I run conventional SuperTech 10W30 except for the winter months when I switch to 5W30. On the otherhand, my Elantra calls for 10W30 as a primary weight oil. As for Mobil 1, my feeling would be it's properties would be such that either weight would do well at any time.

I had run 5W30 exclusively in a Cavalier for the first 75,000 miles and switched to 10W30 because the engine was beginning to (slightly) use oil-- one quart in about 3000 miles. I didn't notice any better oil consumption by going to a heavier oil.

Here is a comparison of various weight SuperTech specs. for their SJ oil. I've bugged the Pennzoil people enough over the years. You might want to contact them through their web page and see if they have updated specs. also if the specs. will change when they close down the Shreveport blending plant. My suspicion is that production will shift to one of the Equilon plants and the oil will look a lot more like Shell-- or the old Havoline, but that's just a guess.

Super Tech SAE Grade(SJ) 5W30 10W30 10W40 20W50
API Gravity 30.7 30.3 31.3 27.9
Viscosity cSt 40C 67.0 73.2 104.0 170.5
Viscosity cSt 100C 10.7 11.0 15.2 19.4
Visc@100F SUS 342.0 376.0 532.0 887.0
Visc@210F SUS 62.8 63.9 80.3 98.3
Visc. Index 155.0 140.0 152.0 121.0
Flash Point c (F) 207(405) 210(410) 221(430) 227(441)
Fire Point C(F) 221(430) 227(441) 232(450) 235(455)
Pour Point C(F) "-37(-35) "-34(-29) "-34(-30) "29(-20)
Viscosity cP, Max 3500@
"-cp Max, 4500 "-25(-13) "-20(4) "-20(-4) "-10(14)
Low Temp Pumping C(F) "-30(-22) "-25(-13) "-25(-13) "-15(-5)
Viscosity cP Max 30,000.0 30,000.0 30,000.0 30,000.0
 
How cold does it get in the winter there? You could run 10w30 Mobil 1 down to pretty cold temps, I'd only go with the 5w30 if it was consistently below -20F all the time.
 
quote:

Originally posted by sprintman:
M1 0W40. Better than the 5/10W30 in just about every way IMO.

Yes, but really hard to find in some areas. I haven't yet found a retailer than can even order it. My next stop will be checking with the local ExxonMobil distributors to find a retailer. (No, I'm not yet ready to mail order oil and pay full retail + shipping).

Ken
 
For both cold crank and cold pump capability, I recommend regular Amsoil 10w-30 or 5w-30, at least the formulations I tested 2 years ago.

Amsoil was 500 cp less than any competitor on cold crank( ASTM 5293)

Pumping vis was tested at 6151 cP ( ASTM 4684) nearest competitor 10w-30 was M1 tri syn at over 8600 cP.
This was independent double blinded tests, not the bull the companies publish themselves, highlighting their strengths and ignoring or glossing over the weakness of their oil ( they all have weak points) .

Look AL and dealers, I don't always bash your oil!
patriot.gif


TD

[ November 04, 2002, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: Terry ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by jessealan:
I have a 99 escort, and a 88 legend. Both manuals recomend 5/30 year round. We have pretty cold winters here also. Should I be running 5/30 or 10/30 mobil one synthetic in the acura, And the escort supertech conventional 5/30 or 10/30. THanks for the input.

This is not a plug for Terry, but.... I'm running Amsoil 0W30 series 2000 in my Acura RSX, last week one night it went down to -21°C and the car started without any problems without being plugged in. Can't wait till I'll put around 7-8k kms on it so I can have it tested.
 
I have a 99 escort, and a 88 legend. Both manuals recomend 5/30 year round. We have pretty cold winters here also. Should I be running 5/30 or 10/30 mobil one synthetic in the acura, And the escort supertech conventional 5/30 or 10/30. THanks for the input.
 
quote:

I haven't yet found a retailer than can even order it. My next stop will be checking with the local ExxonMobil distributors to find a retailer

Ken


Ken, if there is one in your area, AutoZone carries M1 0w40.

[ November 05, 2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: Quattro Pete ]
 
honest question:
why would Mobil1 10W30 be better than M1 5W30 for any application? I thought the point of using synthetic was you get a higher VI [a good thing] with less or no VII [even better].

For the same reason, why would Mobil1 5W30 or 10W30 be better than M1 0W30 for any application?
 
quote:

Originally posted by impala_sc:
honest question:
why would Mobil1 10W30 be better than M1 5W30 for any application? I thought the point of using synthetic was you get a higher VI [a good thing] with less or no VII [even better].

For the same reason, why would Mobil1 5W30 or 10W30 be better than M1 0W30 for any application?


For exactly the reason you state above, the 0w30 and 5w30 will contain too much VII, which is bad.
 
Do we know that M1 0W-30 and 5W-30 actually contain more VIIs than M1 10W-30, and that they shear significantly in service?

These all are rated ACEA A1-02 & A5-02, and especially the A5 has a stringent shear stability test (must stay in grade per CEC-L-14-A-93 and must pass the CEC-L-36-A-97 HT/HS test with minimum of 2.9 mPa.s. Only ACEA A3-02 has higher specs; >3.5 mPa.s.

Ken
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ken:
Do we know that M1 0W-30 and 5W-30 actually contain more VIIs than M1 10W-30, and that they shear significantly in service?


Based on oil analysis results I've seen on 5w30 TriSynthetic compared to Trisynthetic 10w30, I'd say yes. The 5w30 almost always thins out to a 20wt, while the 10w30 does not. I haven't seen any data on 0w30, but I'd expect it to thin out even quicker.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:

Based on oil analysis results I've seen on 5w30 TriSynthetic compared to Trisynthetic 10w30, I'd say yes. The 5w30 almost always thins out to a 20wt, while the 10w30 does not. I haven't seen any data on 0w30, but I'd expect it to thin out even quicker.


Patman,
However, recent analysis results on the Mobil 1 Supersyn product indicate that this problem appears to have been resolved.
patriot.gif
 
I run M1 5w-30 in my 87 grand am in the winter and my car always starts fine at -35 deg. C. My dad's old and thinks 5w-30's no good (I'm sure it wasn't nearly as good when he was younger as it is now) so he runs M1 10w-30 all year round in his 80 suburban and according to him, the oil pressure goes up instantly after startup, which it never used to do even with 5w-30 conventionals at the really low temps. 0w-30 and 5w-30 synthetics seem to work fine for this cold climate, but if you prefer I'm sure a good 10w-30 synthetic will work for anything down to about -35 deg. C (it has for my dad). If I see 0w-30 in the near future I'll probably run that for the January to April stretch. Our Januarys sometimes don't see much above -30 deg. C.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Scott in WI:

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:

Based on oil analysis results I've seen on 5w30 TriSynthetic compared to Trisynthetic 10w30, I'd say yes. The 5w30 almost always thins out to a 20wt, while the 10w30 does not. I haven't seen any data on 0w30, but I'd expect it to thin out even quicker.


Patman,
However, recent analysis results on the Mobil 1 Supersyn product indicate that this problem appears to have been resolved.
patriot.gif


I sure hope that is true, although I don't think we've seen quite that many 5w30 SS results just yet to be 100% sure. I'd like to see more 5w30 SS results in very hard driven cars as proof that it isn't thinning out. If it doesn't thin out, then I'll have to rethink my distaste for 5w30 in higher performance cars.
 
jessealan,

For what it's worth, I have an 88 Legend that I bought new and just can't part with. Has 182,000 miles of year round Texas diving. For its entire life up until last May I used Mobil One 5w-30 in it (whatever their latest formulation of that weight was at any given time). Oil changes every 3-4000 miles. Almost needless to say, but it runs great, except for some cold start lifter noise which is not unusual for that engine. Last May I experimented with Amsoil 5w-20 for about 3500 miles. Gas mileage increased by about 1 mpg in the city (to about 18.5 mpg). The oil stayed exceptionally clean for the duration (even better than the M 1 5w-30). Also, the cold start lifter noise diminished noticeably. After trying the Amsoil I exerimented with Mobil One SS 0w-30. Have only about 600 miles with this oil, but I like it a lot. Gas mileage is almost as good as the 5w-20 and the lifter noise reduction is even better than the lighter oil. Sorry, I have never done analysis on either oil (they don't call me LubeRUBE for nothin'!). Hope this helps.
 
Isn't the 0-30 a thinner oil than the 5-20? After all, it's the 0 number that refers to the weight when the engine is cold....
 
quote:

Originally posted by Dr. T:
Isn't the 0-30 a thinner oil than the 5-20? After all, it's the 0 number that refers to the weight when the engine is cold....

It actually doesn't refer to the weight of the oil at the lower end, it's just an arbitrary number that means it qualifies for a particular cold cranking number. And an oil that qualifies as a 10w40 for instance, could actually be labelled as a 15w40 (as is the case with Schaeffers)

It's entirely possible to have a 0w30 that is thicker at 40 celcius than another oil that's rated as a 10w30.
 
quote:

Originally posted by impala_sc:
honest question:
why would Mobil1 10W30 be better than M1 5W30 for any application? I thought the point of using synthetic was you get a higher VI [a good thing] with less or no VII [even better].

For the same reason, why would Mobil1 5W30 or 10W30 be better than M1 0W30 for any application?


I think the big difference between these oils is volatility. The 10w-30 will be least volatile and the 0w-30 most. I tried M1 0w-30 in my car and tested it at 7250 miles. I was happy with the way the oil held up. It didn't thin at all and my wear metals were OK, but I had fairly high consumption with it. I'm running M1 5w-30 now and my consumption is much lower. I wouldn't recommend the 0w-30 unless you lived in Arctic conditions. And conversely, I wouldn't recommend the 10w-30 unless you have high consumption with the 5w-30.

[ November 14, 2002, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Jay ]
 
I'd go with the 10w-30. besides, the pour points betwen the 5w and 10 are only a few degrees, and thats at -45 and such. I dont think it gets that cold, even in washington.
 
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