Mobil 1 10w30 year round in Colorado?

[Chris B.]

Right now I'm using M1 5w30 in the winter and will switch to 10w30 in the summer. Some folks say that M1 5w30 is to thin and to use 10w30 year round. Would this be ok in Colorado which I've seen it get to -20 degrees F in the coldest part of winter? The cars are a Silverado with a 5.3 liter Vortec engine and a Camaro Z28 LS1. Thanks!

 

[ramair8]

I have always run 10w30 here in IL, but it doesn't get below 0 very often. But if it gets to -20 I would suggest running 5w30 in the winter and switch to 10w30 in the summer. btw, how is the mobil 1 holding up in the ls1?

[ April 07, 2003, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: ramair8 ]

 

[Chris B.]

-20 f is the worst I'v seen in 25 years I've lived here. Normally it won't dip to far below -5 f.
So far using Mobil 1 5w30 I don't think I hear any engine knock in the LS1 and it runs strong! I think It burned less then a 1/2 qt in the first full 3000 miles I ran it(now has 8,000 miles). I think I put in a little over the 5.5 qts the book calls for and I got out 5.5 qts. It was a little low on the dip stick though??????

 

[J]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris B.:
Right now I'm using M1 5w30 in the winter and will switch to 10w30 in the summer. Some folks say that M1 5w30 is to thin and to use 10w30 year round. Would this be ok in Colorado which I've seen it get to -20 degrees F in the coldest part of winter? The cars are a Silverado with a 5.3 liter Vortec engine and a Camaro Z28 LS1. Thanks!

---

Hey,

I even know of some wild and crazy guy who
has no problems with 15W-50 during Colorado
winters.

If you look at pour point of 10W-30 below
(from my now well-stocked oil shrine), you will
see that it's much below -20.

Don't worry.

Jae

[ April 07, 2003, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: J ]

 

[DEWFPO]

Hi Chris B.

I live at 7,200' elev. in Colorado and use M1 10W30 in one of our vehicles year round and M1 5W30 in our other vehicle year round. The vehicle with the 10W30 stays in a heated (50 degree) garage in the winter, the other vehicle with the 5W30 stays in an unheated garage. The lowest we got this winter was -12F (for 3 nights straight)

I'm not sure I understand what people mean when they say that a 5W30 is too thin compared to a 10w30.

M1's Cst's at 100 degrees C are almost identical.

 

[Eiron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by DEWFPO:
I'm not sure I understand what people mean when they say that a 5W30 is too thin compared to a 10w30.

M1's Cst's at 100 degrees C are almost identical.

---

I agree. Any of the M1 xW-30s should give you the same summer performance & only show different winter cold-start performance. Find one of 'em you're happy with in the winter, & it'll protect just the same as the other M1 30wts in the summer.

I've been running M1 15W-50 since last Oct in my weakling 14yr-old 2.0L 128hp 4cyl here in Northern Colorado. The car's in an unheated garage overnight, but the engine's still warmer when it's -10*F out than it is after sitting all day in the parking lot at +12*F. (I don't think the garage got much below the low 20's this winter.) It's the short 2mi-3mi daily trips which wreak havoc on my car's startup, not the "eek!, it's too thick!" motor oil.

 

[sprintman]

IT ISN'T TO THICK!!

 

[unDummy]

I service one car that runs Mobil1 15w50 year round. The vehicle runs perfectly and had no issues with any of the cold weather that the northeast experienced this winter.
Some claim that Mobil1 15w50 flows better than the 5&10w mineral oils in the cold.
Don't confuse bottle numbering with all oil performance.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by unDummy:
I service one car that runs Mobil1 15w50 year round. The vehicle runs perfectly and had no issues with any of the cold weather that the northeast experienced this winter.
Some claim that Mobil1 15w50 flows better than the 5&10w mineral oils in the cold.
Don't confuse bottle numbering with all oil performance.

---

Just because the Mobil 1 15w50 has a low pour point, don't assume it will flow better than a 5w30 conventional. In order to qualify as a 5w, that oil will show better cold cranking numbers than 15w oils would, otherwise Mobil 1 15w50 would actually be a 10w50 or 5w50.

 

[dickwells]

One year I left 15W50 in my 79
Chevy 350 truck to see how it would do. At 20 below it would not start. As soon as it got up to about -12 it popped right off.

 

[Eiron]

quote:

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Originally posted by dickwells:
... As soon as it got up to about -12 it popped right off.

---

Ow!!

That sounds painful!! Were you able to stick it back on?


(Sorry; it's Friday ... )