Patman
Staff member
I believe that John is agreeing that 5w30 synthetic is good though, that's what I read from his statement anyways.
Dino 5W-30...worthless?
- Thread starter Matt89
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Sorry if I misinterpreted...
I think it depends on the oil. We run Chevron Supreme 5w30 in 100 degree + weather and Ford buys it from me for the whole country in all their vehicles under warrantee. I've never seen it shear down in any analisis, and my 97 Ranger 4.0 now has 120,000 km with less than 250 ml below full at 6,000 km changes. My 98 Ford Courier had 80,000 km on it last week when my salesperson shifted from 4th to 1st instead of 5th. With the exception of holes on both sides of the block and a broken rod, the engine looks real nice, with no real wear.
somthing i have noticed through use of an oil and water and cylinder head temp guage (3 guages!) is that the oil tempature is irrelivant to ambient tempatures when the car is warmed up.
if i drive around in 50F weather, my oil temp is the same as when i drive in 100F tempatures. my coolant temp and cylinder head temp are also the same.
my oil runs at around 220F, my cylinder head runs around 230F and the radiator fluid is around 200F reguardless of the ambient tempature.
so to say higher ambient tempatures are harder on an oil is misleading, unless of course, your cooling system is not up to par. but on a modern liquid cooled engine outfitted with a thermostat, this whole hot weather vs cold weather thing is irrelivant. the only thing hot vw cold wearher has an impact on is start up, and this is only for the couple minutes an engine stays cold.
to me atleast, it seems i would base an oils grade only on the coldest tempature i would encounter,and leave the hot grade as high as possible.
5w30 should perform just as good as 10w30 in hot tempatures, except for the fact that 5w30 shears more easily, but this is not because of higher tempature, it is because its in the nature of the oil.
so a recap, 5w30 for the winter, and 10w30 for the summer. the only reason to use 10w30 in the summer is because it shears less.
jmo....
if i drive around in 50F weather, my oil temp is the same as when i drive in 100F tempatures. my coolant temp and cylinder head temp are also the same.
my oil runs at around 220F, my cylinder head runs around 230F and the radiator fluid is around 200F reguardless of the ambient tempature.
so to say higher ambient tempatures are harder on an oil is misleading, unless of course, your cooling system is not up to par. but on a modern liquid cooled engine outfitted with a thermostat, this whole hot weather vs cold weather thing is irrelivant. the only thing hot vw cold wearher has an impact on is start up, and this is only for the couple minutes an engine stays cold.
to me atleast, it seems i would base an oils grade only on the coldest tempature i would encounter,and leave the hot grade as high as possible.
5w30 should perform just as good as 10w30 in hot tempatures, except for the fact that 5w30 shears more easily, but this is not because of higher tempature, it is because its in the nature of the oil.
so a recap, 5w30 for the winter, and 10w30 for the summer. the only reason to use 10w30 in the summer is because it shears less.
jmo....
cryptokid,
What kind of vechicle is it your are taking readings of?
Does it have an oil cooler?
Thanks
What kind of vechicle is it your are taking readings of?
Does it have an oil cooler?
Thanks
widman: "We run Chevron Supreme 5w30 in 100+ degree weather and Ford buys it from me for the whole country (Bolivia) in all their vehicles under warrantee. I've never seen it shear down in any analisis ..."
I agree that we've seen some excellent results with Chevron Supreme ... both in 5W30 and 10W30. I'm using the 10W30 in my Sentra Spec-V right now. Anyway, I think they stayed in grade up to 4,500 or so miles (my memory is far from perfect). But, the last sample of this oil in 10W40 sheared down after only a moderate drain interval. Why?
Back to the original question, I think 5W30 dinos have their place, you just can't push them too hard (5,000 mile drains, especially in high heat, high RPM applications). The price-competitiveness most likely keeps the quality of the VII mediocre and this will limit their shear stability.
--- Bror Jace
I agree that we've seen some excellent results with Chevron Supreme ... both in 5W30 and 10W30. I'm using the 10W30 in my Sentra Spec-V right now. Anyway, I think they stayed in grade up to 4,500 or so miles (my memory is far from perfect). But, the last sample of this oil in 10W40 sheared down after only a moderate drain interval. Why?
Back to the original question, I think 5W30 dinos have their place, you just can't push them too hard (5,000 mile drains, especially in high heat, high RPM applications). The price-competitiveness most likely keeps the quality of the VII mediocre and this will limit their shear stability.
--- Bror Jace
CryptoKid;
Very interesting! I wonder why my Volvo manual says you can use 5W-30 unless the ambient temp will be >86F? I've never noticed a difference in coolant temps in my car (dash gauge) regardless of the outside temp.
The car is 6 years old, maybe they were not as confident about the old formulations of 5W-30?
As an aside, I put 10W-30 in both my cars this weekend and they seemed to run a little quiter, esp under acceleration. Could also be the "oil change placebo effect"
Very interesting! I wonder why my Volvo manual says you can use 5W-30 unless the ambient temp will be >86F? I've never noticed a difference in coolant temps in my car (dash gauge) regardless of the outside temp.
The car is 6 years old, maybe they were not as confident about the old formulations of 5W-30?
As an aside, I put 10W-30 in both my cars this weekend and they seemed to run a little quiter, esp under acceleration. Could also be the "oil change placebo effect"
MolaKule
Staff member
No Matt, you have a thicker oil film on the average, and this thicker oil film does quiet the engine a bit.
I live in Mexico City at almost 8,000 foot elevation. I had to move from a 5W-30 SYNTHETIC to a 15W-50 SYNTHETIC, just to avoid burning oil. I even went to several automotive stores yesterday, and also Walmart and Costco....no 5W-30 to be seen not even a 10W of any kind, just 15W and higher.
Lex, I'm not surprised. The thinner oils are good for two things: fuel economy and cold weather pumpability. I doubt Mexico is terribly obsessed with either.
What car/engine did you have which was so tough on 5W30?
--- Bror Jace
What car/engine did you have which was so tough on 5W30?
--- Bror Jace
Bror,
I have a 99 Lexus RX300 AWD with about 59K on it. Normally calls for 5, but the 15 has been doing all right. I use Mobil 1 as we have no Red Line, Royal Purple, Amsoil whatsoever. Importing it would be awfully expensive given the Mexican taxes. Mobil won't even sell anything but the 15W-50.
I have a 99 Lexus RX300 AWD with about 59K on it. Normally calls for 5, but the 15 has been doing all right. I use Mobil 1 as we have no Red Line, Royal Purple, Amsoil whatsoever. Importing it would be awfully expensive given the Mexican taxes. Mobil won't even sell anything but the 15W-50.
I just sent in a 5k Mobil DC 5W30 sample from my Impala. I'm very interested in seeing how it held up. I went ahead an splurged for the TBN, so it should be pretty informative.
This is also the first interval with my ITG Maxogen Air filter, so I can't wait to see if my astronomical Si readings are down.
This is also the first interval with my ITG Maxogen Air filter, so I can't wait to see if my astronomical Si readings are down.
Patman
Staff member
So you've abandoned the 0w40 Mobil 1 for your car then? Or will you be going back to it later?
The DC was post AutoRX.
I went ahead and put M1 SS 5W30 for this run, and will do a 0W40 for comparison on the next one.
I did not feel like going thru the hassle of getting the 0W40 for the first run with moly. I figure after the AutoRX app and the DC, the moly oil is going to have to sacrifice a lot to plate everything.
I've not given up on 0W40, yet.
I went ahead and put M1 SS 5W30 for this run, and will do a 0W40 for comparison on the next one.
I did not feel like going thru the hassle of getting the 0W40 for the first run with moly. I figure after the AutoRX app and the DC, the moly oil is going to have to sacrifice a lot to plate everything.
I've not given up on 0W40, yet.
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