Recommend a good thick 5w30 dino / synthetic.

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Well my stash of synthetic is pretty much gone, and my run of MMO in the oil is almost due so I'm going to be flushing it in about 1k miles or less.

I'd like a slightly thicker 5w-30 if its possible(I know Havoline is a bit on the thinner side of 5w-30). Any recommendations? Possibly with some Moly for the upcoming winter months? I'd like Motorcraft but the 5w-30 quarts and jugs have gone the way of the dodo at my local Walmarts and I refuse to pay outrageous per quart prices else where.

Note can be Dino, Blend or full synth, to me with my truck the synthetic seems like a waste for 4-5k OCI(3.5qt sump) so saving an extra 8-10 bucks would be a nice change since the Dino/Blend can do just as well in that 5k.

For an 04 Nissan Xterra VG33E V6.
 
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With that small of a sump, I would use full synthetic.

Valvoline MaxLife blend is primarily GP II with a blend of 30% GP III. It also has a small amount of heavy GP IV as a VI add.

The 100C cSt is 11.5. However, you also need to know the HTHS to really gauge "thickness" and MaxLife 10W-30 blend has a HTHS of 3.3.

MaxLife 10W-30 full synthetic has a 100C cSt of 11.7 with a HTHS of 3.6.

Both have 300 ppm moly.

Mobil 1 10W-30 HM has a 100C cSt of 11.79 and a HTHS of 3.66
 
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My Xterra although an 04 only has 37k miles on it. Bought it used with 32k on it meaning it was probably city driven less than 5-6k miles a year.

I know you "could" use Maxlife now, but if there are no problems why mess with it? I noticed Mobil 1 has roughly 100PPM of Moly and I've used Mobil 1 in the past but I have a hard time reading thickness. So the higher the HTHS the thicker the oil correct?
 
What is HTHS & what is the meaning? Also what is TBN?

Anyone know for Pennzoil HM 10w30 what these #'s are so I can compare to Max-life?
 
Yeah I was reading about it on Castrol's website, also noticed Syntec Blend. I do about 50% highway and 50% city, but only about 8-10 miles one way(maybe 16-20 miles a day to work and then 7 miles short trip to fiance's). So looking for something stout and can handle that type of driving. I've used Synpower and PP both of which are good oils and I use them in my other vehicles but my Xterra might need something a bit thicker on the 5w30 side of the fence and cut the cost down a bit for stashing purposes). The Xterra is my daily driver.
 
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HTHS is high temperature high shear. Lets say an oil has a 100C cSt of say 11 and a HTHS of 3.0 and then another has a 100C cSt of 11 with a HTHS of 3.5. It would be a good bet the 3.0 HTHS is a "thinner" base oil with more VII. The 3.5 HTHS would be a "thicker" base oil with fewer VII. It would not thin as quickly/easily from either heat or mechanical shear.

I think there is much mis-information about some of the HM oils. In the case of MaxLife and M1 HM, they have heavier base oils, more anti wear, more FM, more antioxidants, and more cleaning agents. There is mass confusion about seal conditioners. All GP II, III, and IV oils have to have seal conditioners. Whether the HM oils have more/different, they will not admit.

With Valvoline MaxLife blend or synthetic, and M1 HM, you are actually getting a more heavy duty oil, a stouter oil for the application. I think if Valvoline had just called their oil MaxLife, as in get the maximum life from your engine, and had left out the 75,000 mile reference, they would sell much more of it but they seem to be having trouble keeping up with the demand as it is now. Same with M1 HM. It should be something like get the highest mileage(life) from your engine.

If I had an application where I used 30 grade oil, it would most certainly be either Valvoline 10W-30 synthetic MaxLife of M1 10W-30 HM.
 
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My other question then is this:

Any particular reason to run the 10w30 over the 5w30?


And BTW I appreciate everyone's input, especially yours Frank, seems like your the guru of oil.
 
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Pennzoil YB, Valvoline and Castrol GTX would handle 4-5k perfectly fine in your Xterra. If you wanna go the synthetic route, try Pennzoil Platinum, GC 0W-30 or Mobil 1. As mentioned previously, MaxLife would work great too. I've used it a couple of times with great results.
 
Thick X-30?
Like mentioned, Girling Castrol 0-30.
I believe it's the thickest, and is why some avoid it.
Otherwise, it seems a superb oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Anies
My other question then is this:

Any particular reason to run the 10w30 over the 5w30?


And BTW I appreciate everyone's input, especially yours Frank, seems like your the guru of oil.


Thank you, but, I am not even close to being an oil Guru. I have been doing an extensive study(coming up on 19 months now) of oils from UOA research on this site and others.

The 10W-30 over the 5W-30 is a personal preference based upon base oil thickness and shear rates. Many times the difference is practically non existent and other times it really stands out.

Remember that 30 is a grade, not a thickness. It represents a range of 100C cSt from 9.3 to 12.49. A 10W-30 can be thinner than a 5W-30. For example Mobil 1 10W-30 has a 100C cSt of 10 and Mobil 1 5W-30 has a 100C cSt pf 11.3. The HTHS of the 10W is 3.14 and the HTHS of the 5W is 3.09, not much difference. But, the spread is much less, so, fewer VII in the 10W.

Valvoline 10W-30 Synpower has a 100C cSt of 10.5 and a HTHS of 3.0. Valvoline 10W-30 MaxLife blend has a 100C cSt of 11.5 and a HTHS of 3.3. Valvoline MaxLife synthetic has a 100C cSt of 11.7 and a HTHS of 3.6. If I were to use one of the 3, it would be MaxLife synthetic 10W-30. The difference between M1 10W-30 and M1 10W-30 HM is even more dramatic.
 
Looks like I'm going to give Maxlife 10w30 a shot. Shouldn't affect MPG's dramatically as I have read about. Again I appreciate the responses, now its just a matter of getting paid tommorow and hopefully being able to pick up the Maxlife synthetic at Wallyworld.
 
An excellent choice is Formula Shell 5W-30. 65cst @40C, 10.7cst @100C, and a good shot of moly, all for a very low price!
 
Problem is, Wallmart doesn't sell Forumla Shell. The last time I bought it was for the jeep and it was roughly $3 a quart x 6 quarts = $18 for dino oil :| Buying the jug is saving me a couple bucks more. This was at a local auto parts store, there isn't really another place around here for good cheap oil.
 
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- BMW High Performance Synthetic 5w-30 (from a BMW dealer)
- Mobil 1 ESP Formula M 5w-30 (from a Mercedes dealer)
- Castrol Edge 5w-30
 
To expensive, not driving a high performance machine, driving a 4000lb brick on 4 wheels :|

Nice choice of oils if I had a car that could put em to good use.

Gonna give the Maxlife a shot and pick up a jug and 2 quarts tommorow(so I can dump em into the jug for another oil change down the road).
 
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