Observations from 5,300 mile trip - Delo 10w-30

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wwillson

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All,

Just returned from a 5,380 mile driving trip from Chicago to Las Vegas, San Francisco, LA, Phoenix, and back home. I used Chevron Delo 10w-30. In 5,400 miles the 5.3L consumed 2/3 qt. oil. I added 1 qt Delo 15w-40 because I couldn't find Delo 10w-30 this might skew the viscosity in the UOA. The outside temps ranged from 60 degrees on hwy 1 from Carmel to Santa Barbara to 112 in the California desert. I would say that there was about 1,500 miles of 100-110 degree 75-80mph interstate cruising, and about 3,000 miles of 70-90 degree 70-80mph interstate cruising. My gas mileage was 16.5 which is exactly the same as last summers 5000 mile trip with 15w-40 (1/2 qt oil consumption last year with Delvac 15w-40).

Some temperature observations taking with my IR thermometer:

Interstate cruising at 80mph in 110 degree heat, the engine oil was from 225-235 degrees on the level and from 250-265 degrees after pulling a long upgrades. The tranny ran about 175 degrees and the differential ran up to 190 degrees.

Interstate cruising at 80 mpg in 70-80 degree heat, the engine oil ran from 200-210 degrees on the level. The tranny ran about 145 degrees and the differential ran about 160 degrees.

The tire tread temp in the desert was about 140 degrees!

Sent an oil sample into Blackstone today - will post the results.

Wayne
 
Do you have a big tranny cooler?
I thought that optimal tranny temps were something like 165 - 175 degrees. 145 seems a little cool to me.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bdiddy:
Do you have a big tranny cooler?
I thought that optimal tranny temps were something like 165 - 175 degrees. 145 seems a little cool to me.


It's the factory cooler that comes with the towing package. Not very big...
 
quote:

Originally posted by wwillson:
Interstate cruising at 80mph in 110 degree heat, the engine oil was from 225-235 degrees on the level and from 250-265 degrees after pulling a long upgrades.
Interstate cruising at 80 mpg in 70-80 degree heat, the engine oil ran from 200-210 degrees on the level.


Some more data to support my theory that climate, season and driving style should influence your choices on oil and viscosity selection.
 
Interesting temperature observations. My 2AZ 4 cyl Camry had nearly identical oil temps at 80 MPH cruise in 107 degree air temp.

Ditto on the tires, we often don't think of how hot they get on the desert asphalt.
 
Thanks for posting, wwilson...I've been looking forward to your UOA, this post is a nice bonus. I would be curious if you noticed any oil temperature difference between the 10w30 and the 15w40. And thank you for the MPG comparison.
 
Cheeks,

I really didn't notice much difference with the 10w-30. I've been running RL 5w-20 and would say that the oil runs about 10F cooler.

Wayne
 
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