prewinter oic; Kendall 10W30; cold weather here...

[kmrcstintn]

'99 Subaru Forester; 2.5L N/A boxer; auto transmission; @ 29,000 miles; Southcentral Pennsylvania...

Back in October, I had a local GoodYear do the oil & filter change (my new apartment complex doesn't allow 'auto maintenance' on the property) and they use bulk Kendall 10w30; I am about half way through a 4K mile OIC and the cold weather has hit (cold starts sometimes below 32 Farenheit)...

I know 10w30 is not 'optimal' for the winter season and I anticipated being near my OIC and finding a shop that offers 5w30...

is 10w30 okay for Pennsylvania winters in my particluar car???

 

[Al]

I live across the river from you. Some winters you could be O.K. but you are pushing it especially with the vehicle outside. I would feel uncomfortable with conventional 10w30 in there. Kendall is semi-synthetic but its probably not much better than dino.

 

[Roy Gutfinski]

I've been in similar situations here in Maine with a "summer" oil in the crankcase and cold weather approaching. This is a suggestion from my own experience: Go down to Wal-Mart or an auto supply store and buy two quarts of Mobil 1 in 0w30 grade. Buy or borrow a hand-pumped oil extractor with a capacity of at least two quarts. These suck out oil from the dipstick tube without removing any drain plugs or creating any messy spills. You can usually do this inconspicuously in a parking lot. People are always lifting their hoods in the parking lots of auto supply stores so you will only be conspicuous if you DON'T lift your hood! Extract two quarts from your crankcase and refill with the two quarts of Mobil 1 0W-30. Save the extracted oil in the empty Mobil 1 bottles. You will now have what is effectively a 5w30 synthetic blend with a pour point of somewhere around -45 degrees F. You should have no trouble starting down to -20 to -25 degrees F. The mix will now give you at least another 3,000 to 4,000 miles (conservatively).

 

[Triple_Se7en]

At 2K of you present OCI, your oil has sheared some. You are probably borderline 20W - so just leave it alone. It is fine for your weather conditions in Pennsylvania. If it hits -20 for a few hours this winter & you need to to go somewhere ( not me), just start it & let it idle for a few minutes before pulling away.

 

[Drew99GT]

Kendal semi synthetic, if that is what they installed, is a cousin to the Conoco Phillips family of synthetic blend oils. Of all published data sheets (and the email correspondence I have had with them), the 10w30 grade of these oils has about the best cold weather performance of any 10w30. Hard to believe from such a low cost oil, but I guess you could believe they are lying!

If you had to have a 10w30, this would be one I'd feel comfortable with going to 10 degrees below 0. I started my car last year with the cousin Trop Artic 10w30 and it wasn't pretty at 15 below, BUT, the oil was spiked with a full bottle of CD-2 oil additive, and based on putting the numbers in a viscosity calculator, the CD-2 pretty much tarnished the cold weather properties of the oil. It would likely not have passed the API 10W test.

aka, you'll be fine

 

[kmrcstintn]

There was only 1 reply when I last checked in sooo...

I went to Walmart, paid the upcharge ($25 + change) to pick my own oil and filter; I picked Castrol 5w30 and a SuperTech filter (Champion Labs) and had them do a full service oil & filter change; OOOHHH WELL

I basically chalked the 2K mile interval to a 'gradual engine flush'

I wasn't sure about the Kendall, so I chose the Castrol GTX since I've had good service from it in the past...

either way, I got to find a place off the apartment property that I can do my own oil changes next year!