I have a question about oil and viscosity improvers. What synthetic oil has the least or no viscosity improvers? I am looking for 5w30 or 10w30. I am looking to get an oil that is as shear stable as possible. I really don't know much about viscosity improvers and their makeup, could someone please explain them?
Newbie....oil question?
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Need more info. There is more to picking an oil than VII's. Many synthetic oil's have little or no VII's. Some are more shear stable than others.
Vehicle
Weather
Driving situation
Total miles
Miles driven each week
...and so on.
Vehicle
Weather
Driving situation
Total miles
Miles driven each week
...and so on.
A 10w30 has less VII than a 5w30. There are many different types of VIIs that vary in performance as well, so going by viscosity only may be misleading. All oils live with thickening and thinning effects; they are designed to accommodate such effects as they age to get to the end of the drain. UOA can tell you how your vis is holding up.
Amsoil ACD 10W30 has no VII.
Will the Amsoil ACD work as well as the Amsoil ATM in a gasoline engine?
I live in Ohio, and the weather is pretty mild. Winters get down to 10 degrees or so farenheit. Usually no less than that. We have been having mild winters lately. I have multiple vehicles that all call for 5w30 or 10w30. Most of the driving is highway, probably 80/20 highway/city respectively.
What are you planning to use it in that you are wanting no VII's at all in the formulation?
In some ways yes. But I wouldn't necessarily but ACD in a new car, for example.
What part of Ohio do you live in?
We have at least a couple of zero degree mornings here in the Southwestern part of the state each winter.
This past winter, we had two weeks in February where it was below zero, or very close to it, every morning.
Also, since when is ten degrees F mild?
We have at least a couple of zero degree mornings here in the Southwestern part of the state each winter.
This past winter, we had two weeks in February where it was below zero, or very close to it, every morning.
Also, since when is ten degrees F mild?
I live in Columbus. You have to admit, the weather has been mild the last few winters. The temps have been higher, and we haven't seen too many very cold days. It usually is in the 30's in the winter, or so it seems.....
All of my cars have 75k or more on them, so none of them are close to being new in mileage at least.
All of my cars have 75k or more on them, so none of them are close to being new in mileage at least.
That should be PUT not "but"....not sure where my mind was.
Anyway, a true synthetic 10w30, has pretty decent cold weather characteristics, like sub -50° pour point and very decent -25°C viscosity. I would have no problem running it in temps you guys are talking about. Sure a 5W will be better, but this is really where true synthetics shine and allow use of 10W and 15W labeled synthetic oil to be used in some pretty cold places.
So, What would be the better oil? Amsoil ATM 10w30 or ASL 5w30? Is there other oils that are easy to purchase that are just as good? Base oils, less VII, add pack, length of OCI, etc...? Amsoil is very easy for me to purchase because I live 5 miles from the Columbus wharehouse.
On just a straight answer without knowing the application I would say ATM 10w30.
Well, I want to streamline my oil. I have multiple applications all calling for 5w30 or 10w30. I would like to have just one oil in the garage.
Cars are.....
1995 Ford Explorer....4.0 v6 155k
1997 Ford Windstar.....127k
2001 Toyota RAV4.....75k.
2002 Nissan Altima...85k
2006 Ford F-150 V-8 12k.
These are all the cars that I have in the family, and will service them all.
Cars are.....
1995 Ford Explorer....4.0 v6 155k
1997 Ford Windstar.....127k
2001 Toyota RAV4.....75k.
2002 Nissan Altima...85k
2006 Ford F-150 V-8 12k.
These are all the cars that I have in the family, and will service them all.
All of the cars are driven mostly highway, and mostly longer than 6 miles per trip. Not a whole lot of stop and go as we live very close to the freeway.
I would say ASL 5w30 would be your first choice if you want to stock one oil, but what's the fun in that? I'm a big believer in tailoring your choices....which engine in the Altima?
Altima is the 4 cyl. engine.
Since I have so many cars to service, and they drive a lot of miles. I would like to do less frequent oil changes. Something like 10k or so. I don't think I am comfortable yet extending past that. I don't have money to be spending on oil analysis, so would this be reasonable?
10K is very reasonable and because of the newer truck I'm sticking with leaning toward the ASL 5w30 recommendation. Look at the specifications of the 10w30 ATM - if you think the cold weather properties are good, then go with that. (Compare the ATM cold temp #'s to a 5w30 conventional) IF that was my posse and I had a choice of one oil, I'd go with the ATM.
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