10W30 is obsolete for winter performance, 5W30 is easier to start in the cold, but 10W30 is a good, middle ground oil.
it is not too viscous, or too watery for older engines, it is cheap to find on sale, it protects adequately throughout the on-off cycle. I used 10W30 in my 1992 sable that took 5W30, in the manual it had 5W30 as reccomended, but 10W30 was okayed for an alternative to it, as long as the tempratures did not dip much below 0F. In NJ that is true 95% of the time in winter.
my grandfather ran 10W30 in both of our 1997 escorts, and in the 2002 focus til walmart near us started to carry 5W20 for the focus, we realised our mistake on the escort when i read the manual one day and found out that it was a 5W30 car, 1997-2004 or so in winter it ran 10W30 no problem.
bottom line.
If your car calls for a 5W30 and all you have is 10W30 around, use it. you will not kill the engine at all, only time it will come around to bite you in the bottom is in winter, if it dips below 0F. 5W30 was developed to be a better all season oil, as such i say use that instead in anything that is supposed to run on 10W30, i ran the sable on 10W30 due to it being a 230,000 mi 3.8L 1980s ford copy of a 60s GM V6. I was not too much in the know for oil, i knew fram filters with the cardboard were not the best, so i did use motorcraft. Now i know that 10W and 5w 30 Are equally good.
it is not too viscous, or too watery for older engines, it is cheap to find on sale, it protects adequately throughout the on-off cycle. I used 10W30 in my 1992 sable that took 5W30, in the manual it had 5W30 as reccomended, but 10W30 was okayed for an alternative to it, as long as the tempratures did not dip much below 0F. In NJ that is true 95% of the time in winter.
my grandfather ran 10W30 in both of our 1997 escorts, and in the 2002 focus til walmart near us started to carry 5W20 for the focus, we realised our mistake on the escort when i read the manual one day and found out that it was a 5W30 car, 1997-2004 or so in winter it ran 10W30 no problem.
bottom line.
If your car calls for a 5W30 and all you have is 10W30 around, use it. you will not kill the engine at all, only time it will come around to bite you in the bottom is in winter, if it dips below 0F. 5W30 was developed to be a better all season oil, as such i say use that instead in anything that is supposed to run on 10W30, i ran the sable on 10W30 due to it being a 230,000 mi 3.8L 1980s ford copy of a 60s GM V6. I was not too much in the know for oil, i knew fram filters with the cardboard were not the best, so i did use motorcraft. Now i know that 10W and 5w 30 Are equally good.
