How cold is to cold for 10w30 t-5

[simplistic]

Update, t-5 did just fine. Back home early, long story. At -10 it did drag the starter harder then normal. Ran just fine once I got some heat to the cylinders.

The 10w30's can really handle temperature extremes. Alot cheaper then 5w40 and proven to take abuse and come back for more. Another believer.

 

[dnewton3]

Good to hear it.

Having strong batteries (especially in diesels with intake grid heaters) is as much, if not more, important than worrying about the grade. Obviously, diesels rely on cranking speed to initiate the heat of compression to fire off the air/fuel mixture. Thinner oil certainly can help here, but weak batteries cannot be overcome regardless of what's in the crankcase.

I've had great luck (even down to -17F last year) with conventional 10w30 HDEO because I have kept the OEM batteries in my 2006 in great shape by using a BatteryTender during storage time. After nine years, they are still very strong and will start it up with no problem. It was -4F this morning locally, and expected to be lower tomorrow morning. I have no fear in starting my truck with good batteries and conventional 10w30.

 

[SilverC6]

I've been starting fine in single digits with house brand (Warren) 10w30 in my work Jeep.

 

[simplistic]

I have as well in gas engines. Diesel engines are another animal. There for my concern.

 

[dnewton3]

You can rest assured T5 is going to be fine in your area in TN. Even dino in a diesel is not going to be an issue there.

 

[simplistic]

I agree completely,and soo satisfied with the thinner oil that i'm a believer for use year around. I was responding to SilverC6's post.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dnewton3
You can rest assured T5 is going to be fine in your area in TN. Even dino in a diesel is not going to be an issue there.

Back in the day when my dad ran a lot of diesel vehicles, 10w30 was specified for winter, and that's all he did - conventional 10w30 HDEO all winter. As long as things were plugged in, he had no problems.

 

[jrmason]

Originally Posted By: simplistic
Update, t-5 did just fine. Back home early, long story. At -10 it did drag the starter harder then normal. Ran just fine once I got some heat to the cylinders.

The 10w30's can really handle temperature extremes. Alot cheaper then 5w40 and proven to take abuse and come back for more. Another believer.


In the first post you asked about switching to 5w40 since you were going to a colder climate, yet now its a better oil because your truck started in -10 degree weather? I'm a little confused here.

I run 5w40 year round and never have had any issues in negative teens and -20s down to -39F this winter. Truck always had immediate oil pressure (manual gauge).

I know thinner is better here on this forum, but I have followed a gentleman's threads on another forum who does towing at high GCW in the hot southwest with a Duramax and Cummins pick up. He regularly does used oil analysis and is [censored] on every oil he's ever ran. The 30 weight oils were the worst of them with the Duramax dinging the low oil pressure light at idle after a good tow and only a few thousand miles on the oil. They didn't fare much better in his Cummins engine. Maybe there are other factors involved that I'm not aware of but his used oil analysis were enough to keep me on a 40w diet, particularly since I run my engine at high GCW.

 

[SilverC6]

Originally Posted By: simplistic
I have as well in gas engines. Diesel engines are another animal. There for my concern.


Not if you are talking about cold weather flow of an engine oil.

It flows the same whether it's in a Cummins diesel, a Jeep Cherokee 4.0L, or a laboratory beaker.

But FYI the 15w40 works just fine in single digits in the RAM Cummins.

It's still good for a few more degrees without a problem.

The 10w30 would work fine at -15 degrees F.

But if you are going to change it anyway, go for the T6.

 

[simplistic]

I never said that 10w30 was a better oil just because it started at -10. I stated that I have a cheaper alternative then using 5w40 for my application. In the temperatures that I encounter and duty cycle that I do 10w30 is as thick as I need.

I'm well aware of the temp and weight recommendations for my engine. My point of questing about using 5w40 vs 10w30 was making sure that I've got enough cranking rpm's combined with the glow plugs to start. Also the fact that per the supplement manual 0 is the limit for 10w30 and 15w40.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Our mountain house in the Poconos is only supposed to go down to -6F. Are you sure its -10 or -15F? Not wind chill.

Here is a chart that Daimler Benz created which I like. CCMC G5 is the stouter oils with higher HTHS and better base stocks, which is what Id consider T5.

Here is the chart from my 91 BMW. Slightly different recommendations. Special oils are generally ACEA A3 synthetics...

For a limited number of starts, Id likely not worry about it at all. Just let it idle a bit to stabilize and drive nice and gentle until the engine warms a bit.


Umm.... Why does that chart show that I shouldn't be using 0W-20 in my Toyota?
0W-20 is for CAFE.