Do you abide by manual rec's for warranty purposes, or do you use the oil you prefer?

[YZF150]

This issue is a constant consideration for many on this site, in any thread about "which oil to use". Let's take a survey: Please state whether you 1. Are in strict compliance with what the manual states because you don't want to risk a warranty claim denial, and will continue to follow the recommendations once the warranty has expired 2. Use what the manual states coincidently because you agree with the recommendations therein 3. Use an oil other than what is recommended and don't worry/care about being denied a warranty claim 4. Comply with the recommendations while under warranty, but will use something different once the warranty has expired For myself: 3

 

[Al]

I fall under catagory #5 #5. : I put in what I want and save oil filter/oil receipts for 6 different cars. I write down the dates of the oil change and if it is more than 6 months I write down "6 months" I'm like the bookkeeper in Shawshenk Redemption. I have two set of books. Come warranty time-I'll give them anything they want.

 

[J]

quote:

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Originally posted by YZF150: This issue is a constant consideration for many on this site, in any thread about "which oil to use". Let's take a survey: Please state whether you 1. Are in strict compliance with what the manual states because you don't want to risk a warranty claim denial, and will continue to follow the recommendations once the warranty has expired 2. Use what the manual states coincidently because you agree with the recommendations therein 3. Use an oil other than what is recommended and don't worry/care about being denied a warranty claim 4. Comply with the recommendations while under warranty, but will use something different once the warranty has expired For myself: 3

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Hi, Saab's recommendations for oil are somewhat suspect. I drive a 2002 9-5, and my dealership, if I did not ask, would put Saab semi-synth 5w-30 in my engine if I said nothing. Instead, I specifically ask for the Saab fully synthetic 0W-30 with 17.5 TBN and killer additive package. Saab 0W-30 is regular service oil only for 9-3SS. Jae

 

[Schmoe]

Number 4 all the way.....

 

[Matt89]

For my brand new Honda, I'm thinking #4. For the Chevy (out of warrantee), I'm running M1 10W-30 instead of the "preferred" 5W-30. 10W-30 is "allowed". Matt

 

[buster]

I use what I want knowing it's all about CAFE and that the dealer would probably never prove that you used an oil other then what was recommended. It really doesn't matter. I know so many people that go to jiffy lube and they havn't been using the 5w-20's until recently. So for all that time they have been using 30wt oils. Most car dealers i have spoke to say you don't have to use the 20wts. if you don't want to. I called two Ford dealerships that are very reputable and they said the same thing. They guys at Redline, Mobil and Amsoil will tell you also that it's all about MPG. I'd say there is a very slight chance of anyone having an engine problem due to the wrong viscosity. Most likely it will be because the oil wasn't changed often enough giving you a sludged up engine. In that case they would never even know what viscosity it started at. I kind of believe in the Stever Bergin article that Viscosity has little to do with wear. I think many engines can run high to low weight oils perfectly fine. Some will loose hp and wear might go up with heavier oils, but the biggest hit would be in MPG. [ June 20, 2003, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[timzak]

I probably fall under #2. I have 3 cars and haven't broken the manufacturer's recommendation so far. Two of the cars are out of warranty, high mileage and increasing oil consumption, so I'm considering going to heavier weight for them, but the manuals for both cars actually do recommend heavier weights for warmer climates, which I'm in, so even if I do go heavier, I'll still be in the manufacturer's compliance.

 

[Patman]

With my wife's Honda, they call for 5w30, which I've always used so far, but they also call for 6000km oil changes here in Canada, under all circumstances. But since the beginning I have used mostly 8 to 10,000km intervals. I haven't saved any receipts either. I honestly don't expect to need to make a powertrain warranty claim. It's good until 100,000km, and we're at almost 71,000km with the car, without a single warranty claim of any kind so far (not even minor stuff), in fact we've never been back to the dealer once since we bought the car. Next oil change I'm switching it to Redline too, which isn't even API approved. Doesn't bother me one bit. I'd do the same practices again if we bought a new one. With my 95 Firebird, I got a three year/36k aftermarket powertrain warranty with it, which strictly specified 3mo/3k oil changes done by a dealer or fast lube place only. I only followed those rules for 6 months, I couldn't handle having someone else do my oil changes. I don't expect to need that warranty anyways (and by now it's almost at the mileage limit anyways) [ June 20, 2003, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[bretfraz]

I'm kinda between 2 and 3. I follow Saab's recommendation of an ACEA A3/B3 oil and use full synth on oils thinner than 10W-30 which is their lowest suggested viscosity for a non-synth oil. I'm currently running Syntec 0W-30. I'm not the least bit worried about warranty claims and a lack of coverage. I change my oil every 4000-5000, use a full synthetic and a top quality filter, and let the dealer do their free changes every 10,000 miles. The chances of my engine having an oil related failure are so remote they're not worth me thinking about. I'm more concerned about my transmission life than engine life.

 

[mikemc]

Number 2 In the case of the wife's Cavalier. Chevy says 5w30 is best, 10w30 OK if over zero degrees F. Thanks Chevy! Definitely number 2 for my '02 Ranger. 5w20 for now but at 36,001 miles its 5w30 or 10w30, depending upon the season.

 

[Quattro Pete]

#3

 

[labman]

Maybe about a 1.5 on my 02 Cavalier. It took me a while to accept 5W-30. Likely it is best for my short trips, cold starts, etc. I have nothing against betttter millage either. I ran 10W-30 for a long time in my 92 Grand Am. but eventually switched to the recommended 5W-30. Recommend, specify? If only recommended, I don't have to follow it. We have some, but not much below 0 here. My car and truck usually spend the night in an attached garage warmer than outside. *** for my 77 truck, I switched from 6 month oil change to 3 month when I bought the Grand Am and carefully read the new definition of severe duty. The truck is driven less often and fewer miles. The Phoenix I had before the Grand Am sludged up badly on 6 month oil changes, Pennzoil- Quaker state part of the time and mostly AC filters, maybe some Fram. I think most of the time I had the Phoenix was the good old days when we had a K-Mart and they did $2 AC specials. Why use anything else?

 

[RTexasF]

#3 for me. The '03 Corolla manual pushes 5W30 but currently I'm running 10W30 Red Line. They show 10W30 as "acceptable" stating that a change back to 5W30 should be done as soon as possible. With temps that have already exceeded 100F I'll stick with the 10W30 thank you. Since Red Line is not API rated nor SL rated, technically I'm voiding the engine warranty but not concerned. Next change will be to M1 (10W30 of course)simply due to availability and cost.

 

[2K2AcuraTL]

#3 for both my vehicules, the minivan is still under the extended warranty and the TL has only 15K Km s on it. Jean

 

[Mike_dup1]

3. Use an oil other than what is recommended and don't worry/care about being denied a warranty claim 'comments' Its very easy for dealers and car manf. to not want to take the blame for inferior products and design. Any dealer that would give me a hassle in demanding maintenance receipts etc for a known vehicle problem is not worthy of my business> Warranty work is a big drain on the car manf's and any way the can defer to cost to the customer it means more $$ for them. They have heads hunters out there riding the dealers to cut costs. I know this for a fact. A long time friend in the business and under the gun from these head hunters from GM. Every month out comes a list of the dealers with the lowest warranty claims. Those low on the list are constantly pressured to improve. What does that tell you? It tells me, they know they have a product that has problems but lets try to keep the customer from complaining about it till the warranty expires. Better yet, we call sell them an extended warranty for $$$ and still give them a hard time if something goes wrong. Its like a drug dealer, the sell you the car and now they got you hooked. They get you to blindly follow their advice designed to get you into their shop on a regular basis where they can sell you more services and parts. They are constantly looking for ways to get you to come into their shop. Most new car dealers are now into the quick lube business. They claim its to provide a service to their customers? If it was a service, they would be doing it at cost and not trying to sell you a front end alignment every year, new tires (yah many dealers are now in the tires business) but it all just to serve the customer. Yah, with parts that are 2x to 5x more expensive than the same parts sold elsewhere. For instance, new front rotors for my truck are listed at $180. I said put on Bendix, he said I can let you have the GM ones for $110? $70 off just like that and still he can make a buck??3. The local GM dealer gets a big truck with parts 3x a weeks. Massive parts sales, 3 employees and a service shop that takes about a 2 week lead time to get a oil change. I doubt all this is because some persons are using 10W40 oil in thier casr when he should have used 5W-30!!

 

[Spector]

# 3 Love a disagreement with a dealer etc. but so far no areas where the dealer could have an issue.

 

[mikemc]

Earlier I said "Definitely number 2 for my '02 Ranger. 5w20 for now but at 36,001 miles its 5w30 or 10w30, depending upon the season." DUH...I meant number 4.

 

[Whimsey]

A combo of 2/4. I'm to old to fight warranty problems if they should happen. And so far the UOA of the 5W-20's have been ok if you don't stretch the change interval. After the warranty I'm going with Schaeffer's blend or Mobil 1 @ 5W-30 due to where we live. That way all 3 of our vehicles can use the same oil and change intervals can be extended. Whimsey

 

[Whimsey]

Brain fart, should be #4. Ah, more coffee please . Whimsey

 

[Chris 2421]

I use what I want.I'm using 15w40 in my truck,and if I have an engine failure with 15w40,I'll have the same failure using the suggested 10w30. Note I said "suggested"... there is no wording stating that any other viscosity than 10w30 will void the warranty.