No more Chevron in Cincy, perhaps 5w-20?

[Brad]

Well, it looks as if I need to find a new oil. I went to WalMart today, they have no Chevron Supreme 5w-30 in stock. There isn't a tag on shelf for it anymore either. According to the manager, they are no longer stocking the 5w-30.

The oil is for a 1997 Ford Explorer, 4.0L OHV. It has 88K miles now. This engine is spec'ed for 5w-30. I'm wondering if I could run Motorcraft 5w-20 in her? I can get that for $1.77/quart at Walmart. The UOA's I've seen posted here for this oil seem to be very good. Plus with winter coming up, I would not mind the increased flow either.

So, what do you guys think, 5w-20 ok in this 88K mile engine spec'ed for 5w-30? Or, should I start looking for another 5w-30.

Thanks!

 

[TC]

Why not just get Texaco Havoline 5w-30 at WalMart? It's the same company, both oils' spec sheets are identical, and supposedly their formulations are very similar except Havoline might have the subtle difference of using a bit more mag in lieu of calcium (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Other decent 5w-30 oils, going strictly by the manufacturers' specs, include Pennzoil Multigrade, Kendall GT-1, Citgo Supergard, and Union 76 (see link below). I wouldn't compromise on oil weight just because Chevron 5w-30 is no longer available to you.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003925

 

[Brad]

Considering the fact that most 5w-30's shear down to a 20wt anyway, I didn't view it as much of a compromise.

 

[TC]

But what do 5w-20 oils shear down to? You can rarely go wrong in following the owner's manual.

 

[Brad]

From the analysis posted, it appears the 20wt is pretty stable and does not shear down. It's probably because it's a mix of group III and group II+ baseoils.

 

[Mystic]

It is unbelievable to me that Chevron Supreme is not avialable. Do you have Checker Auto Parts Store? That is where I find Chevron.

If you totally cannot find Chevron there are other good motor oils like Pennzoil and Castrol.

And it gets cold where you live. There is a limited amount of evidence that Chevron does not flow well in the cold. Pennzoil flows good for a conventional motor oil, and Mobil 1 would be hard to beat in the cold.

 

[Brad]

It's hard for me to believe too, Mystic. This particular WalMart always carried Chevron 5w-30, now, nothing. Not even a tag on the shelf for it. I was disappointed after my chat with the manager.

We don't have Checker Auto parts here, only Advance Auto, Autozone, Pepboys and Napa. None of which stock Chevron anything.

I was wondering about Motorcraft 5w-20 in this engine because I'd seen quite a few good UOA's on it, plus, they for sure have it in stock. At $1.77, it does not seem like a bad deal. I was just didn't know if I'd have any trouble running it for the winter. What do you think?

[ October 18, 2003, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: Brad ]

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

I was at the WalMart in Lawrenceburg,TN today and they only had 10w30 and 10w40 Chevron Surpreme. The clearance aisle had 2 bottles of 5w30 remaining. Geez...I hope they're not even thinking of removing Chevron Supreme from their shelves in this area, too!

 

[Mystic]

Well, maybe they are getting rid of the Chevron. I switched from Valvoline to Chevron after I found this web site. Chevron worked great in my previous car. Who knows what may be going on-actually the only place I could find Chevron is at Checkers and maybe it is not a very popular oil. Maybe Halvoline (now actually made by the same company since the merger) is more popular and sells better.

The Halvoline may be the exact same oil, or at least a lot like Chevron. Personally I really liked Chevron, but then I heard of a test where it did not flow well in the cold.

Right now, based on what I know, I would have to say that the best OTC conventional motor oil would probably be Pennzoil. By the way, you mentioned Motorcraft and according to what I have been able to find out, Motorcraft uses the same basestocks as Pennzoil, but a different additive package. Another oil to consider would be Castrol.

 

[DJStillman]

Call another Walmart in your area. Every one I have been in has Chevron Supreme, and as long as they can get it from their warehouse, of which I am pretty sure we share the same main one, then they can get it. I know the Walmart in my city is terribly uncooperative, and could give a crap if they have a happy customer. The Walmart in the next town however, is very happy to order it. Just try another store. It is worth it for this oil...

 

[khager]

Find out if Ford changed the reccomendation on this year and model to 5W-20, they have changed the reccomendations to include several older models before 2000.

 

[Brad]

To my knowledge, there has been no update on this engine to 5w-20.

Pennzoil is available just about everywhere, and seems to be a good choice. I've been reading, and it even seems to flow well in the cold.

 

[Sin City]

At this time I believe Ford still requires 5W-30 motor oil for the 4.0L V6 and 2.0L Focus SVT. I read somewhere that the engine wear for the 4.0L V6 was too high with the 5W-20 motor oil. Unfortunately I can't provide a link since I can't remember where I read this. With 88,000 miles on this vehicle I would just use 5W-30 Havoline as has already been suggested.

 

[pepper32]

Sin City, Ford's TSB did state that the 4.0L engine was one that could not use 5W20.

 

[Patman]

I wonder why Chevron is so hard to find? Do they not have the production capacity to make enough of this stuff? You'd think by now they'd have increased the production of this stuff, since store owners must be complaining to them that they've sold out everything they've got.

Chevron could make a ton of money if they'd just keep stores supplied with this stuff!

 

[eljefino]

This is why I horde oil (see other thread).

Last April there were only three bottles of Chevron supreme 10-30 at my walmart, but plenty of 5w30.

If the shelf tag for chevron has neighboring oil jugs slipping over on the shelf (due to poor stocking) I like to shove those bottles back over to make the "hole" very obvious. If there's no shelf tag, well, hmm.....

 

[Brad]

I think the TSB you refering to is on the 4.0 SOHC V6. That engine still requires 5w-30. I have the OHV.

Pushrod, old school for me.

I'm looking at my options. I was planning on ordering some Schaeffers grease anyway, so maybe I'll get 5 quarts of the 5w-30 blend and run it for winter.

 

[Brad]

Just looked at the Schaeffers 5w-30 numbers, it does not flow any better than the Pennzoil dino.

 

[96Outback]

If you like the oil that much, why not go to a Chevron Gas station and buy some? There's 24 bottles on the rack at my local station. I know they have Chevron's in Cinncy.

John

 

[Brad]

There is exactaly 1 Chevron station local to me. "Local" is about 30 miles away in Florence Kentucky. It's also $3.00/quart.

It's a nice oil, but it's not worth $3.00/quart IMO.

I guess I could run Mobil 1 for winter, I have a new jug in my garage. My only concern is, the Explorer has been on dino oil it's whole life. It has always been changed at around 3K miles. I know the leaking thing is a myth nowadays, but knowing my luck something would go wrong.