quote:
Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
heyjay, I want to congratulate you on being brave enough to try something thicker then 5W30! It also relives me to see that you use your common sense to decide what oil to use based on ambient temps!!! Good for you!!!
I have been on a one man mission to free the thin oil people from their oil ring genicide but it is a hard fight!
It is common sense, isn't it? I've always believed in matching an oil viscosity to the ambient temps. Indeed, for HD diesel motors, the specifications may require 3-4 different grades depending on at what extreme you operate at.
How about "the good 'ole days" when we had to use SAE 10W with 10% kerosene? I must admit, the motor was squeaky-clean by next spring, though the oil filters would plug every 2,500 miles.
I don't bash "thin" oil and indeed I was one of the first in my area to switch to "thin" oils for winter. I just wanted the d*** thing to start at -42.
That was back in 1980 when I used Esso XD-3 0W-30 "Arctic" HDEO in my 1980 Toyota pickup. Much improved cold starts, especially colder than -30.
In summer, I ran Esso XD-3 15W-40 in the motor, same grade I used in my HD equipment.
For a long time I was a big fan of Mobil Delvac 1, as it appeared to be a truly "universal" oil. With the CI-4 reformulation, the oil appears to be quite a bit thicker, especially in temps colder than -35.
There aren't too many places on the planet where in winter one can experience -42, and in summer +35 C. So I still end up changing my oil twice a year.
Since joining this forum, I've seen a lot of posts from Widman in Bolivia, and our friends in Oz, who report that oil grade recommendations are FAR different than here in North America.
I've always been leery of the API/SAE "Starburst" recommendations as they are truly lame. My goodness, the oil can thicken +275% and still "pass" the test?
As an example, Ford and Honda only appear to recommend xW-20 oils in North America, where in the rest of the world they recommend up to 15W-50/20W-50 oils.
Thanks to CAFE, they can apply the theoretical 0.01 MPG "improvement" fleet-wide and earn CAFE "credits."
I don't think using a dramatically thicker OR thinner viscosity for 1-2 OCI's will hurt a mechanically sound motor. I'm more concerned about +10 years.
Since motor clearances really haven't changed much in 30 years, and since the same exact motor carries a 20W-50 recommendation in Oz (The fellow with the 2001 Camry), I feel quite safe running a non-Starburst oil in summer.
I'm still surprised that most Vortec truck owners are afraid to play with thinner viscosity grades in winter (To avoid the dreaded "cold start knock") and with thicker viscosity grades in summer (To minimise oil consumption).
In April when I change out my Mobil 1 0W-30, it should have around 8,900km on it. Will do the UOA and see what the results are. Running the 15W-50, will see what the results are when it gets changed out in Oct or Nov.
FWIW I was traveling yesterday and stopped in at a Wally World. They carry the Castrol Syntec 0W-30, sez "Made in Germany." The bottle also stated "unassisted starts to -40."
I guess colder than -40 you had better use something thinner?
Jerry