ok to use german castrol in corolla (5w-30)?

[outersquare]

manual specs 5w-30, german stuff is 0w-30. What exactly does the 0w vs 5w mean? Supposedly the 0w means better cold performance, but does that mean the oil is physically thinner or thicker than 5w when cold?

Also, I've skimmed several posts that says the german stuff is very thin and is realistically closer to a 40W. Will this be a problem for this application? I've used 5w-30 castrol GTX the entire life of this car. 2000 prizm (mechanically identical to corolla), 50k miles.

My dad thinks I'm running a risk switching motor oils, and he's kind of my mentor since I'm still learning cars.

[ July 16, 2003, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: outersquare ]

 

[Ken4]

You'll have no problems running german castrol 0w30 in a corolla. It's a better oil than gtx. The only reason not to try it would be if your dealer voids the warranty if you use something other than 5w30. There's only one UOA so far done by Patman on a civic, it showed pretty decent results.

 

[outersquare]

car isn't under warranty anymore. Thanks for the response!

 

[Patman]

Even with the 0w rating, this oil is not too thin at all, in fact it's viscosity at 40c is 68.5 cst, so it's actually thicker than most 10w30s at this temperature! If you pour a bottle of this stuff at room temperature you can see it's not thin at all. It simply has such good low temperature properties that it passes the cold cranking test at -35C with flying colors. But on the higher end, at 100c, it's thicker than most 30wt oils, it's almost a 40wt. And in a 5500 mile run in my sister's car it didn't change in viscosity very much at all.

We're still waiting for Chris J's UOA though!

 

[FowVay]

I believe your Geo will love the Castrol Syntec. Just make sure you're getting their German product and not that cheesy group 3 stuff.

 

[kiko]

quote:

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Originally posted by outersquare:
manual specs 5w-30, german stuff is 0w-30. What exactly does the 0w vs 5w mean? Supposedly the 0w means better cold performance, but does that mean the oil is physically thinner or thicker than 5w when cold?

Also, I've skimmed several posts that says the german stuff is very thin and is realistically closer to a 40W. Will this be a problem for this application? I've used 5w-30 castrol GTX the entire life of this car. 2000 prizm (mechanically identical to corolla), 50k miles.

My dad thinks I'm running a risk switching motor oils, and he's kind of my mentor since I'm still learning cars.

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outersquare,

I'm currently running it in my 2004 Sienna. My manual also calls for 5w30 or 10w30 if the former is not available. When is it ever "not" available? The van is running good so far. Quieter too. Two weeks ago we drove to Arizona in 100+ degree temps and this weekend will be going to Las Vegas (or should I say Lost Wages). So far so good. I think there will be no problems with you running it in your Corolla. I'll be doing a UOA as soon as I get enough miles on the oil so look for my report.

Good luck!

 

[outersquare]

well, I just put it in and so far so good. While driving it out, it was unexpectedly smoother while reving up. I don't know if it's psychological or not.

 

[Ken4]

Why dont you do a UOA on the gtx? Then next time do a UOA on the german castrol. This would be the best way for comparison, & would eliminate the 'psychological' factor.

 

[outersquare]

ugh, I was going to, but then I put waste oil in the waste container forgetting to save any, mixing it with waste oil from other cars.