Some of the 10w40 I'm currently using in my cars was bought in the '90's. Minimum OCI on any of my cars is 5K miles. Two of them have in access of 200K miles with no sludge under the valve covers and both use about 1/2 quart in 3K miles. When it gets down 1/2 a quart I top it off and am good till oil change time at 5K miles. I'm using Citgo Supergard 10w40 that I think was bought in the early '00's in the Versa. Last OCI was 7500 miles. I do an oil blot test every 500-1K miles and at 7500 miles the oil looked hardly used showed very little contamination and still felt as good as the new oil I was putting in it when I put some between my fingers and rubbed them together. I really don't understand some of the low OCI recommendations. My dad bought a new Mercury in 1968 and the recommended OCI was 6K miles. I bought a new Buick in 1977 with a recommended OCI of 7500. My '97, 02 Fords and '16 Nissan all have recommended 5K OCI's. Engines are built better, oil is better and we no longer use carburetors. What's up with the 5K mile OCI's?
obsolete oil grades
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vs carb applications, doesn't make much sense. Vs say 90s fuel injected cars, I would say the difference is higher specific output per CI/CC, higher combustion chamber pressures and temperatures, plus many more SOHC/DOHC vehicles from the big 3 US manufacturers.
I guess that makes sense but, I don't think it will make that much difference in my case since I don't push my cars to the limit like I did back in my younger days. Except for the Versa with the CVT under higher load (up hill grades) my engines seldom see above 2500 rpm and most of the time closer to 2000 rpm.
I think that 10W40 will around for a very long time in some formulas. Just about every liquid-cooled and many air cooled motorcycles made in the past 45 years spec it. In a motorcycle specific formula. I also find it handy in a 38 year old leaking slant 6. The diesel market will keep 15W40 around as well. I haven't seen straight 20, 40 or 50W in decades, but it likely exists. Yes, straight 30W can be a chore to find except at over priced lawn equipment shops.
Why not, I don't see how a full synthetic 10W40 could be any worse than a 5W40
In the US 0/5/15w40’s are Flagship products requiring numerous manufacturer and organizational approvals and get LOTs of R&D. I’d have to go out of my way to find a 10w40.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Maybe wrong thread?
To me 10W-40 sits in its natural place on the spectrum of PCMO 40 grades. What keeps them popular around here, is that they do their job fine on reasonable applications, their specs are still upgraded, and for us down under there is a big price difference between the various 40 grades that makes you critically decide if you really need to double your purchase price to get the most modern Euro OEM spec for your 10 year old Japanese car.
15W40 mineral, maybe as a mixed fleet HDEO, but minimum is API SN/CF and ACEA A3/B3.
10W40 semi-synthetic that’s SN/CF or SN-Plus (soon they will be SP) and the most recent A3/B4.
5W40 Full Synthetic, probably Group III with modern Euro OEMs
0W40 Full Synthetic, probably Group IV or GTL also with all the modern Euro OEMs
The oil we don’t see, is the one that caused the contamination issues of old. A mineral only 10W40. But even this issue has been sorted for decades, back when J300 started specifying minimum HTHS levels for oil grades, not just viscosity requirements. Long gone are low HTHS 40 grade oils made on low viscosity bases stock then all jacked up on polymer VIIs.
My last OCI was Valvoline DuraBlend 10W-40 (SN/CF & A3/B4) semi-synthetic. Teamed up with a Valvoline synblend media oil filter, it was a very cost effective 6k mile OCI. Speaking to both Valvoline and Penrite over the phone, they both give decent minimum synthetic levels (typically 20%-30%), for those who are concerned about being ripped off by “1%” semi-synthetics.
For motorcycles 10W40 is still a recommend grade, that can offer both low enough temperature starting performance for a bike, but more shear stability than a 0/5W-40 PCMO.
15W40 mineral, maybe as a mixed fleet HDEO, but minimum is API SN/CF and ACEA A3/B3.
10W40 semi-synthetic that’s SN/CF or SN-Plus (soon they will be SP) and the most recent A3/B4.
5W40 Full Synthetic, probably Group III with modern Euro OEMs
0W40 Full Synthetic, probably Group IV or GTL also with all the modern Euro OEMs
The oil we don’t see, is the one that caused the contamination issues of old. A mineral only 10W40. But even this issue has been sorted for decades, back when J300 started specifying minimum HTHS levels for oil grades, not just viscosity requirements. Long gone are low HTHS 40 grade oils made on low viscosity bases stock then all jacked up on polymer VIIs.
My last OCI was Valvoline DuraBlend 10W-40 (SN/CF & A3/B4) semi-synthetic. Teamed up with a Valvoline synblend media oil filter, it was a very cost effective 6k mile OCI. Speaking to both Valvoline and Penrite over the phone, they both give decent minimum synthetic levels (typically 20%-30%), for those who are concerned about being ripped off by “1%” semi-synthetics.
For motorcycles 10W40 is still a recommend grade, that can offer both low enough temperature starting performance for a bike, but more shear stability than a 0/5W-40 PCMO.
Just changed the oil in my 98 328i. 10w40 out and 10w40 in. Uses almost no oil in the 5,000mi OCI. Seems to work fine.
I don't know what's obsolete about 10w40, here it is one of the only choices available if you don't want a full synthetic since all 10w40 are a blend and it always carries specs such as ACEA A3/B4, API SN/CF, MB 229.3, VW 502/505 etc and they are always updated. I think it is still the most popular viscosity besides synthetic euro spec high HTHS 5w30 and 5w40. The only available dino PCMO here is 15w40 but the specs are quite poor (API SL, ACEA A3/B4, MB 229.1) and that is obsolete in my opinion.
OVERKILL
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See my examples earlier in the thread, I assume you have far more in the way of 10w-40's with actual approvals than we do this side of the pond, most of which are basic API-only conventional oils with less than remarkable specs.
Is it the best oil around ? No
Is it a good oil that will do the job at a reasonable price ? Yes
Is it a good oil that will do the job at a reasonable price ? Yes
DuraBlend 10W-40 is a semi synthetic engine oil formulated with a combination of synthetic and premium quality base stocks and advanced additive technology. DuraBlend 10W-40 meets the stringent ACEA A3/B4 specification for European vehicles.[/UQUOTE]
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Anyone remember the "Oils aint oils-Street Commodores oil tests" from a few years ago? It was one of those lubricity bearing tests where I think Durablend 10W40 came in at either 1st or 2nd place? It was just a fun post from years back.
That is true aswell.
Base oils are however different too, most European 10W-40s are Group I and III blends.
In North America from what i read Group 1 is rare to find in PCMOs anymore.
Yep, pretty much even the cheapest monogrades are even group II here.
I've heard that API SN/SN+/SP mandates the use or grp 2 even for conventional and blends. Is it possible that 10w40 oils are now a grp 2 and 3 blend even in Europe ? The specs such as MB 229.3 seem too high to be met by a grp 1 base. I've also heard about Shell using GTL in blends and even dino.
No, the OP said 40 grade was sub optimal and obsolete. My response is that 20 grade spec cars need 40 in many racing scenarios, thus they are not going the way of the dinosaur or sub optimal at all.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Ah, got it
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