Ex-Mechanics Oil Choice...

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: tinmanSC
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Why the straight weights? because the multi-vis oils will thin out after 1000 miles. And all his vehicles have been driven in excess of 200K miles.

That's actually true, most multi-vis oils do thin out after 1-1.5k. Just look at some of the used oil analysis where samples were taken every 1000 miles or so.


But they are still within grade! Aside from the big shear-offenders (Mobil 0w40) this probably is so minimal as to be safely ignored unless it gets out of grade.

Not always.

 

[shpankey]

The boutique oils have some grades that have no VII's at all to even shear. So this is not always true. Old timers are still stuck on 60's conventional oils and still use all those old rules as if they still apply across the board. It's neigh impossible to actually tell them anything as the fingers go in the ears and na na naaa naaaa naaaaa comes out the mouth. Either that or you have to listen to tons of 3rd hand anecdotal evidence, most made up, the rest exaggerated.

 

[Panzerman]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I know a mechanic up here who is very old school, and knows his stuff. One thing he does not know is oil.

He recommends 10w30 in everything, no matter what the OEM spec is.

5w30 is just too thin to protect the engine.

Also castrol GTX is the oil to buy, and fram filters are the best.

No he hasn't ever had a problem with oil, that just proves that you can run just about any multi-weight grade in a modern engine and not have a problem.

I stick with what the book says..
I ll agree with your mechanic, 10w30 is the one shoe fits all oil and I agree you could run it in any modern engine without any problems. Most people are, since its the most sold bulk oil-period. Now the Fram oil part, well, no comment on that.

 

[cbear]

But...my car specs 10w30 year round.

 

[Loobed]

Originally Posted By: Jakegday
mechanics and motor oil are like police and radios.
they know how to use it, but they really have no knowledge as to how it works


+1

 

[KrisZ]

OK I will play the devil's advocate here.

The old timer is old and is stuck in his "ways", you can't change his mind and he apparently doesn't know any better, despite years of nothing but good experience with 10w30 oil.


So, can somebody please explain to me, why if someone posts a question "what oil should I run?", the usual response from a number of people on this forum, that apparently know more than some old timer, is "any synthetic will do for 5k intervals"

How is one blanket statement coming from a mechanic automatically disregarded just because it doesn't fit the current "wisdom", and another one repeated with such following like it's the bible?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

My uninformed opionion.

That may be true to some degree, but if you follow this mantra you're stuck changing oil every spring and fall or just in the summer (You're in Michigan afterall). Multi-viscosity oils (esp in winter months) give you more wiggle room not to mention the ability to go a year or more on one OCI.

 

[Steve S]

Actually a straight 30 will work well during the summer.You have just have to know better than the masses to do it. There is a big problem with thinking you know rather than really knowing.

 

[sxg6]

No reason to use a straight grade oil anymore, period. This is kind of like the whole 5w-20 debacle we've had over the years, consumers thinking they know more than the engineers. Sure, his vehicles may have a lot of miles, but so do countless other vehicles running multigrade oils.

 

[mechtech2]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Don't think he's making poor choices at all.

It's old-fashioned thinking, for sure, but with 200k on his vehicles - who are you saying is making the wrong choice?

I would just love to know where he gets a steady supply of strainght 20W...don't see THAT too often!


Why?
Because 200k on the engine is not the whole story. This is not a big huge deal nowadays.
What extra gas was consumed?
What power was lost?
What extra wear on the starter and remote bearings?
All sorts of stuff.

 

[shpankey]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
So, can somebody please explain to me, why if someone posts a question "what oil should I run?", the usual response from a number of people on this forum, that apparently know more than some old timer, is "any synthetic will do for 5k intervals"

Any time I've ever seen a statement made like that, I've seen it be corrected very quickly (usually by Bill, lol!).

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Was talking to a co-worker/ex-mechanic about oil (of all things)

and he said he runs straight 30W or 40W in the summer and straight 20W or 10w30 in the winter. Why the straight weights? because the multi-vis oils will thin out after 1000 miles. And all his vehicles have been driven in excess of 200K miles.


There must be a reason why it's a ex-mechanic.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I know a mechanic up here who is very old school, and knows his stuff. One thing he does not know is oil.

He recommends 10w30 in everything, no matter what the OEM spec is.

5w30 is just too thin to protect the engine.

Also castrol GTX is the oil to buy, and fram filters are the best.

No he hasn't ever had a problem with oil, that just proves that you can run just about any multi-weight grade in a modern engine and not have a problem.

I stick with what the book says..


Neither do they know other fluid like coolant, ATF, brakes, etc. I learned that a hard way.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: cbear
But...my car specs 10w30 year round.


And now your car will work fine off of most any 5w30 and 0w-30. There's very few legitimate reasons to use 10w30 anymore.

 

[cbear]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: cbear
But...my car specs 10w30 year round.


And now your car will work fine off of most any 5w30 and 0w-30. There's very few legitimate reasons to use 10w30 anymore.


My car is a 2007 Dodge Nitro 4.0L V-6. 2007 was the first model year for this motor. It was derived from the 3.5.

 

[PandaBear]

My ex mechanic uses whatever oil he can get on sale regardless of viscosity. I've seen a pellet of 10w50 on his floor and that's it.

That's why he's my ex mechanic.