Motorcraft 5/30 vs 5/20?

[CardGuy]

I hear a lot of talk about how good motorcraft 5w20 is and that it's basically a syn blend oil. Does the same hold true for the 5w30 weight? currently I'm using either Penzoil, Halvoline, in one vehicle and M1 5w30 in another. It'd be nice to keep one oil stocked for both. (02 Protoge) and (03 Silverado)

thanks.

 

[FL-400S]

only the 5W20 is syn blend, AFAIK. It says on the bottles which is syn blend.

 

[Whimsey]

I would not use a 5W-20 in the Silverado, period, but especially while you're under warranty. And I'm a 5W-20 guy

. Are you using 5W-20 or 5W-30 in the Protoge? If you are using 5W-30 then why not stick with Mobil 1 5W-30 for both. Or if you change your oil in the 3,000-5,000 mile range and your driving is not severe use Penzoil or Havoline in both vehicles. It'll sevice your needs just fine. If your worried about engine cleanliness then you can do an Auto RX treatment at 50,000 miles. Or use LC with the dino oil. It seems to extend the life quite a lot from what I remember reading here.

Whimsey

 

[CardGuy]

My Protoge calls for 5w30 so I guess I'll keep to what I'm doing. The Silverado has 5w30 in it and I'll continue to use that. I tried a batch of 5w40 T&SUV but I didn't like it. It had very noisy warm starts with it. Warranty is up on the silverado but I'm still changing M1 by the Oil life monitor. The Protoge is still under warranty so I'm doing 3000m changes on that to be safe. Manual says I could do 5000m but it takes so little to do an OC I do it early.

 

[Whimsey]

quote:

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Originally posted by CardGuy:
My Protoge calls for 5w30 so I guess I'll keep to what I'm doing. The Silverado has 5w30 in it and I'll continue to use that. I tried a batch of 5w40 T&SUV but I didn't like it. It had very noisy warm starts with it. Warranty is up on the silverado but I'm still changing M1 by the Oil life monitor. The Protoge is still under warranty so I'm doing 3000m changes on that to be safe. Manual says I could do 5000m but it takes so little to do an OC I do it early.

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I'm curious as to at what mileage the Oil Life Moniter comes on usually in your truck. Especially since it can't differentiate between SL rated dino oils and synthetics. If it's coming on @ over 5,000 miles then it pays to use the Mobil 1. If it is coming on at 5,000 miles or below then you could save some $$$ and use a quality 5W-30 dino such as the Penzoil or Havoline you are now using in the Protoge for both vehicles. Just a thought

.

Whimsey

 

[CardGuy]

GM Oil life typically comes on about 6000-7000 miles for me. Personally I don't feel comfortable going that long on dino oil so that is why I use M1. I usually start thinking about changing it anytime after 5000 miles that I've got the time to do it or when it hits the monitor limit.

 

[Whimsey]

quote:

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Originally posted by CardGuy:
GM Oil life typically comes on about 6000-7000 miles for me. Personally I don't feel comfortable going that long on dino oil so that is why I use M1. I usually start thinking about changing it anytime after 5000 miles that I've got the time to do it or when it hits the monitor limit.

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I don't blame you in using Mobil 1 if you use your oil monitor which comes on at the 6,000+++ miles range. It's more of a personal comfort level if you change the synthetic oil before or at 5,000 miles. But why don't you do an UOA on your next oil change in the Silverado to see how far you can really extend the oil change interval. Terry Dyson through Blackstone has been really helpful to me in extending OCI's. It'll most likely save you money and time.

Whimsey