This just happened to me this morning, and got me thinking. I have recently taken two samples for Blackstone, one of the FF of a 2015 4cyl Altima, and one of whatever the dealer put into my Wrangler for one of those "free" oil changes they do for the first 4 oil changes. Not a clue what it was, but it says 5w-20 on the cap and that is what Chrysler is speccing on the newer Pentastars.
So these have both been sitting in the garage since Christmas day when I changed the oil on the Jeep..and I was out shoveling snow this morning, and was bringing in these two samples to fill out the paperwork on and send to Blackstone. Garage temp is 38-40F. I picked them both up and notice that the sample from the Nissan moves like it has the viscosity of water, but the oil from the Jeep has a slower, thicker motion to it. So I put them together and shake them gently and yep...the Nissan oil certainly moves much easier.
Now, someone on this website mentioned that Nissans ship with 0w-20 from the factory (it was said, not sure it was true, just another piece of data), and I know the dealership was supposed to put 5w-20 in the Jeep...the question is...at 38-40F is it possible that there would be that much visible difference between a 0w and a 5w? Or is it more likely that the Jeep folks threw in 10w-30 rather than 5w-20? Or is would the mileage difference hurt the viscosity, the sample from Nissan came out at 660 miles, the Jeep's dealership fill had been in for 3000 miles.
Another data point....I received those same 4 free oil changes for the Nissan when I bought it, and when I called them to ask if they put in the recommend 0w-20 or the "warranty acceptable" 5w-30 (both allowed according to the manual), they said that for the free changes they put in normal old 5w-30, but if I paid extra they would put in the 0w-20.
Another data point...the Jeep drain plug had a rubber seal on it when I changed it the first few times (prior to the dealership doing their free oil change) and they had removed, looks almost like they had scraped it off, when they did the work.
So I am currently owed like 11 free dealer oil changes on 3 different cars bought since this March, and it irritates the [censored] out of me that they might just be worthless except for one thing...the oil change by the dealer will show on the carfax when I go to trade them in. This has value for proof of care to both the dealer I trade them to, or the next owner of the cars when I'm done with them.
So as a continuation of this experiment I put both samples in the garage freezer, along with a thermometer. I'm going to be so cheesed off if the Jeep oil turns semi-solid in -20F. I replaced the dealer oil on christmas day with PP 5w-20 from the stash. No objections from the truck yet. Just for fun I should probably throw some other samples in the freezer, 0w-20, GC, Syntec of 0w-40, some PYB 5w-20? Supertech 20-50, Some SJ Quaker State 10w-30, I've got some MC 5w-20 as well as plenty of MC7500 5w and 10w-30.
I have become curiousized.
So these have both been sitting in the garage since Christmas day when I changed the oil on the Jeep..and I was out shoveling snow this morning, and was bringing in these two samples to fill out the paperwork on and send to Blackstone. Garage temp is 38-40F. I picked them both up and notice that the sample from the Nissan moves like it has the viscosity of water, but the oil from the Jeep has a slower, thicker motion to it. So I put them together and shake them gently and yep...the Nissan oil certainly moves much easier.
Now, someone on this website mentioned that Nissans ship with 0w-20 from the factory (it was said, not sure it was true, just another piece of data), and I know the dealership was supposed to put 5w-20 in the Jeep...the question is...at 38-40F is it possible that there would be that much visible difference between a 0w and a 5w? Or is it more likely that the Jeep folks threw in 10w-30 rather than 5w-20? Or is would the mileage difference hurt the viscosity, the sample from Nissan came out at 660 miles, the Jeep's dealership fill had been in for 3000 miles.
Another data point....I received those same 4 free oil changes for the Nissan when I bought it, and when I called them to ask if they put in the recommend 0w-20 or the "warranty acceptable" 5w-30 (both allowed according to the manual), they said that for the free changes they put in normal old 5w-30, but if I paid extra they would put in the 0w-20.
Another data point...the Jeep drain plug had a rubber seal on it when I changed it the first few times (prior to the dealership doing their free oil change) and they had removed, looks almost like they had scraped it off, when they did the work.
So I am currently owed like 11 free dealer oil changes on 3 different cars bought since this March, and it irritates the [censored] out of me that they might just be worthless except for one thing...the oil change by the dealer will show on the carfax when I go to trade them in. This has value for proof of care to both the dealer I trade them to, or the next owner of the cars when I'm done with them.
So as a continuation of this experiment I put both samples in the garage freezer, along with a thermometer. I'm going to be so cheesed off if the Jeep oil turns semi-solid in -20F. I replaced the dealer oil on christmas day with PP 5w-20 from the stash. No objections from the truck yet. Just for fun I should probably throw some other samples in the freezer, 0w-20, GC, Syntec of 0w-40, some PYB 5w-20? Supertech 20-50, Some SJ Quaker State 10w-30, I've got some MC 5w-20 as well as plenty of MC7500 5w and 10w-30.
I have become curiousized.