Oil brand and weight recommendation

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Feb 21, 2004
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Iowa
1996 Chrysler LHS
3.5L SOHC V6
153,000 miles

Engine has never been opened up but there is a reasonable amount of varnish seen when looking through the oil fill hole on the valve cover. I don't think I have any sludge problems but just a good amount of varnish. Anyway the manual recommends 5W-30 below 32F and 10W-30 between 0F - 100F+ which is my operating range.

I just put in Valvoline All Climate 10W-30 and a SuperTech oil filter. I would like to use a good dino oil that doesn't shear a whole lot that also has a very good detergent and anti-wear package. Any suggestions for what brand and weight I should be using? Would a good dino 10W-40 be a good choice for this mileage engine? Thanks everyone.
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I would run 2 cycles of Auto-Rx with Pennzoil/Motorcraft/Cheveron 10w-30. And once that is done, continue using any of these. All 3 are excellent Dino oils.
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I agree with JohnnyO. It's cold enough here in NYS in the winter that the better flow rate of the 5W-30 oil makes sense.
 
My best friend has a similar car. I would advise against the Supertech filter. The Fram is put together a little better.

As for oil...5w30 definately...and I recommed Valvoline MaxLife.
 
You didn't mention oil burning or oil leakage/seepage, but specifically mentioned a concern with varnish. If so, you want an affordable oil with the most detergents/dispersants around. We're talking a "Mixed fleet" (diesel/gas) lube. The least expensive I know of is Motorcraft 15w-40 at WalMart for about $1.46. These oils typically have TBNs (long term cleaning ability) into the 11.5 range, which is significantly more than conventional, blend, hi-mileage, and even synthetic oils. Stick with your manual's weights: I assume this is 5w-30 required for Winter, and 10w-30 desired (but not required) for Summer. A 15w-40 diesel lube, the most common weight by far for those lubes, while heavy for the rest of the year, would be fine for the upcoming summer months to see if it helps clean things out as a short term experiment. Here's a varnish-specific thread for ya:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006486
 
Diesel oils are usually 15W40 non synthetics. On the other hand diesels engines are dirtier and given the fact that they are better built and low rev they last longer .
This doesn't privent the conventinal 15W40 to offer adequate protection and sludge free engine life.
So the question returns to the base stock.Are synthetics a luxury and good only for extended oil change intervals?
 
10W-40
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Buster has good advice. You might want a 5W-30 when you are expecting it to be regularly sub-zero
for the upcoming Winter. January/February.
 
quote:

Originally posted by NewsLynne:
My best friend has a similar car. I would advise against the Supertech filter. The Fram is put together a little better.

As for oil...5w30 definately...and I recommed Valvoline MaxLife.


Check out some oil filter studies. You will be very surprised to find that Fram is possibly the worst filter made. The endcaps of the filter media are made out of cardboard. This seems to be the focus of most complaints, however the bypass valves are metal on metal, they have cheap anti-drainback valves made of nitrile rubber, low surface area made of cheap filter media and have a thin steel case. This of course is for their standard toughgaurd line up. I have heard that the filter they make for extended drains (the X2? ) is much, much better.
 
quote:
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Originally posted by NewsLynne:
My best friend has a similar car. I would advise against the Supertech filter. The Fram is put together a little better.

As for oil...5w30 definately...and I recommed Valvoline MaxLife.
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I'll have to pass on the 5W-30 since the manual states not to use it above 32F.
 
quote:

Originally posted by yannis:

So the question returns to the base stock.Are synthetics a luxury and good only for extended oil change intervals?


I would say it depends on you operating temps, if the engine is hard on oil, if you have a turbo/supercharger, and how you drive (among other things). If you are demanding of your engine it probably pays to use synthetic.
 
quote:

Originally posted by gtm245:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by NewsLynne:
My best friend has a similar car. I would advise against the Supertech filter. The Fram is put together a little better.

As for oil...5w30 definately...and I recommed Valvoline MaxLife.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I'll have to pass on the 5W-30 since the manual states not to use it above 32F.


Another voice of reason.
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Summer -150 thousand on motor - try Delo 400 15W-40. Just change it out before winter, and all will be well
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Dave

[ May 08, 2004, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: DavoNF ]
 
If you can readily find a diesel lube in whatever weight your manual calls for, then certainly go for it. Here in So.Cal., 15w-40 is BY FAR the most common weight, and most of the chains carry nothing but that. A Napa store or similar which caters to the heavy truck crowd as well should have a bigger selection of such lubes. Then again, if your car calls for a 10w-30 when it's down to 32F degrees (or whatever temp), I can't see how it would even notice the difference if you used a 15w-40 when it's 80F outside, at least when using it over the Summer to clean up the engine.

[ May 08, 2004, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: TC ]
 
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