going back to conventional

[Tony10s]

Quote:
I think all you guys should ditch the 5W-20. I'm speaking my mind tonight.


This thread is not about 5W-20 vs 5w30 vs 10w30, etc ... you already started a thread about viscosity / 5w30 oil. I don't mind to use any of the above and I have. There's nothing to get excited about.

 

[oilchangeguy]

87 k on the Altima

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
but how may of you guys are using conventional oil in a vehicle that recommends synthetic?

Good question, most of us would probably use the correct synthetic oil required. Mostly it's an indirect synthetic requirement because the oil that meets the OEM spec only comes as a full or semi synthetic e.g. dexos or VW 505 or MB 229.3 etc.


However I live in a warm climate with no cold start issues, and in Australia I can get conventional oils like Castrol GTX 15w40 that are rated SN and ACEA A3/B3. I think it's easier for a heavy mineral oil to meet the more difficult specs like Euro A3, than a lighter mineral oil.

So yes, if I had a Mercedes that was out of warranty, and required MB229.3 (for example) and I was short of cash but had lots of GTX 15w40 A3/B3 in my oil stash, then yes I would probably use the A3 GTX mineral oil. But I would change the oil much more frequently, say every 5000 km or 3000 miles. With the oil filter every second (or third) oil change.

But if I wasn't short of cash, I would buy the correct synthetic oil.

BTW Shell Helix HX7 10W-40 semi-synthetic is SN, A3/B4, VW 502 / 505, MB 229.3 and is as cheap as chips at KMart and would be my first choice of non-full-synthetic.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
but how may of you guys are using conventional oil in a vehicle that recommends synthetic?


Indirectly... My wife's 2013 Santa Fe Sport 2.0T only requires SM/GF-4. In 2015, Hyundai began requiring A5/B5 for this vehicle. They never back spec'd and say they won't, "no need" per HyundaiUSA. I still use Conventional along with Synthetic at times / 3-4k mile severe svc oci. No issues whatsoever and owned since late 2012.

 

[jayg]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Well that's good. I candidly would have just a bit of reticent about running a true conventional in the VQ35. I have for the record run Havoline DS and Formula Shell in my 3.5 VQ. But Havoline admits that their conventional is a synthetic blend and I am willing to bet dollars to donuts Formula Shell is a blend too. My concern is it has a bit of a small capacity of 4 7/8 qts for a 3.5 L motor. Because of this small capacity the oil doesn't get as much time to cool off quite as much as if it had say 6.5 qts or more.

As everyone here knows by now most "conventional" oils now are really synthetic blends anyhow. This is likely due to the volatility needing to be less than 15% to pass API SN. At least Havoline admits as much on their PDS now. The rest of the majors should join in as well.


5 quarts isn't that small for a 3.5 liter motor. Several LS motors are 5.5 qts at almost 6 liters displacement.


Think about it, how big your pistons are don't effect how much oil you need and you cant make a straight correlation to displacement and oil capacity. While I agree that a high output motor should have a more oil cooling, it doesn't mean they necessarily need more oil capacity. You could have a 3.5l twin turbo v8 Lotus Esprit and have a similar oil capacity as you because they have more creative ways to cool it.