Pick the oil that passes the freezer test?

[TSoA]

I have been thinking, what's the big difference between cranking at -20f (5w) and -25 (10w)? My car will turn over with either at the lowest it gets here, 0 to -5f. A 10w oil may offer better film strength and dimension (cling?)than the 5w. At the expense of pumpability, a heavy film that does not drain down sounds good. Less VII is a bonus. 10w-30 M1, 10w-40 ACEA A3 might be good for long-term engine wear.

 

[Mystic]

Some posts here recently have talked about motor oils being tested in freezers and how those motor oils performed. Remarkably, some conventional motor oils performed almost as well as some synthetic oils. And one oil with a high pour point did better then expected.

Just a thought-would motor oils that do well in the freezer test be better all the time, and even in high temeratures? For example, if a 10W-30 conventional motor oil does well in the freezer test (and a few did) and if a person wanted to use a 10W-30 in the summertime rather then a 5W-30, would the conventional motor oil that does well in the freezer test still flow plenty good enough to provide rapid lubrication even though it is thicker?

In other words, 5W-30 and even 5W-20 motor oils are recommended for many new vehicles. 10W-30 might be allowed for high temperatures. Would a well flowing 10W-30 allow you to use that thicker oil in the summertime but still get rapid lubrication, like a 5W-30?

 

[pscholte]

Mystic,

I find the freezer tests quite interesting, but I also think they are academic except for our Canadian, Minnesotan, North Dakotan, Mainiac, etc bretheren. I like to see if the oils perform as advertised because hopefully if they live up to one spec, they will live up to others. Just remember, as ambient temperature climbs, or as you make repeated starts with a warm engine (say you are out looking for your favorite engine elixer), the rapidity with which the oil gets to the recesses of your engine becomes less differentiated between the various "W's."

 

[Mystic]

pscholte, I am just about ready to start using Schaeffer's 5W-30 blend in my car all the time. There are a few good conventional motor oils (Pennzoil and Castrol to be sure), but the Schaeffer's is surely better then them. And there is too many problems involving most of these synthetic oils. Some synthetics don't have the API certification, some are very high priced, some do not perform well in UOAs. Now look at Schaeffer's blend-it has API certification and even is A3 certified I believe; it is cheaper then most if not all of the synthetics; it always seems to do well in UOAs. I don't know how well the Schaeffer's flows in the cold, but it is surely better then most if not all conventional motor oils. It protects at high temperatures. What more do you want?

 

[pscholte]

mystic,

I believe Schaeffers probably makes one or more of the better motor oils available to us.

 

[Mystic]

And, I forgot to add, people have even done extended oil changes with Schaeffer's-if you wanted to, you could probably achieve 8000 or even 10,000 mile oil changes. All without the hangups of some of these other oils (no API certification; is the oil still going to be available in the future?; is the oil too thin?; high cost; poor UOA showing; etc.).