Safe to use 15w40 n 2007 Chevy Malibu???

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Little thick. A 5w40 would have better cold start properties if your set on a diesel oil

I'm sure that's a, pardon the pun, burning concern for him in LA.

If I lived in LA, I doubt I'd ever worry about the number before the W again. Realistically, though, your 5w-40 idea may save him some fuel. It won't be a bunch, and it won't be noticeable, but it will be there.

 

[BrocLuno]

I run Delo400 or Delvac 15W-40 in all my cars and trucks over 150,000. No cold start issues in Calif. It does not get that cold

Quiets the motors and they run a long time. Well into the 200,000 to 300,000 range for most including SBC's ...

Since we don't have body rust unless you live near the beach, cars can last a long time here. Not uncommon to go through 2 or 3 motors and/or tranny's...

It'll work fine and the mileage hit is not findable. The motor is worn enough that the bearings will be happy and with a good tune-up and decent tires with the right air pressure, you'll get whatever mileage you can.

You are well outside the MFG mileage/CAFE calcs at 161K. You're on your own to make the car happy and run well. Try it and listen to the motor. If it's quiet and smooth, you're golden

 

[chainblu]

Originally Posted By: oldmaninsc
Also many people here say the thin oils are all for "C.A.F.E" - couldn't the 5W-30 back in 2007 been for C.A.F.E purposes also?


Absolutely. I don't remember exactly when GM started recommending 5w30 for most of their vehicles, but it was probably something like 30-35 years ago. I do remember many "armchair engineers", much like a lot of BITOG members, pulling their hair and gnashing their teeth over this "watery" stuff GM was now recommending and saying the roadside will be littered with the carcasses of dead and dying vehicles in short time.

Fast forward to the present and 5w30 is now regarded as some kind of golden elixir that will make your engine last forever, especially compared to that 'watery' Xw20 that the manufacturers are trying to force you to use.

Personally, I think any oil with an HTHS less than 3 is indeed a 'thin' oil.

A lot of Xw30s fall under that catagory, most around 2.9.
Xw20 is 2.6. (I'm using Castrol literature as my reference)

So... we're talking 10%...

Some of you guys make out like the difference between Xw20 and Xw30 is like comparing milk to maple syrup.

 

[TheOnlySarge]

Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Just got a 2007 Malibu, 162,xxx miles about a week ago. Being that 15w40 has all these benefits of cleaning out the insides good, I was wondering if it would be alright for this car? I've ran this oil in other cars under '00 and under. I'm new to these "newer technology" cars, so i don't know if it'll be 100% safe or not. Better to first ask,than to have to change oil to get rid of 15w40. It's the 3500 V6 VVT engine.

I had the exact car under my realm of responsibilities a few years ago.
Takes 4 qts w/filter IIRC. Your wanting to get a fresh start I understand. I would run 3.5 qts of whatever 5-30 oil you like and add 1 pint of Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) to the mix to top it off. I'd run this mix for a few OCI's. I would also add 4oz of MMO to every 10 gallons of gas to clean up the upper cylingers/injectos/valves.

 

[crazyoildude]

What is so funny about this statement i posted?? Will the 15w40 destroy that engine? Probably not so fast in the summer months . . . " You wrote: Now that's funny.

It was not so funny for the shop foreman at the state police barracks that had to tow two marked crown vics to us in the dead of winter because they too thought it was ok to use heavy oil in the winter... Their oil filters blew out on a cold start at full throttle. Now granted it was a few years back and i don't remember if it was 15w40 or 20w50 but whatever it was it destroyed the engines. If an engine was designed for a certain weight oil it may be ok to go from a 5w20 to a 5w30 sometimes but not a 15w40 in zero degrees.I agree the thin oils were for mileage/cafe but that does not make them bad and it makes them very free flowing which is a plus.

 

[crazyoildude]

Hi Shannon
Faster flow is faster lubrication it could be only 1 second or it could be more basically you want your oil to hit as many spots in your engine as possible in the least amount of time.. That is why they say most wear is at startup because it takes a few seconds for oil to get everywhere especially the top end. Thinner oils generally move faster.

As for keeping out of bypass when your engine and or filter is in bypass it does not filter all the oil. Its generally better to have filtered oil but flow always counts more..There is give and take in almost everything.
As for computer controls and the correct weight that depends on the engine but with vvt and certain oil control valves sometimes oil weight makes a difference.

 

[BrocLuno]

Crazy... The OP lives in Los Angeles. He's never going to see the south side of 25* on the coldest day of the year. Most morning will be 40* to 60*, so cold start is just not an issue.

I don't know if there is a cross reference for a larger filter that will fit (?), but that's the easy way to overcome by-pass and all. More media area means better flow through the filter media when the oil is cool.

You Jersy guys get ice and stuff. We have to buy that in stores

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Hi Shannon
Faster flow is faster lubrication it could be only 1 second or it could be more basically you want your oil to hit as many spots in your engine as possible in the least amount of time.. That is why they say most wear is at startup because it takes a few seconds for oil to get everywhere especially the top end. Thinner oils generally move faster.



"They Say", and it's a fact that there's much greater wear after startup. But your interpretation of what that means is incorrect.

That's not the mechanism of cold start wear, and two oils in their pumpable range will get "everywhere" at the same time.

A grossly misapplied oil could cause damage, but not what's proposed here.

 

[Branson304]

Go with a 10W-30 diesel oil like Rotella T5 SynBlend. You'll still get all the cleaning benefits but you'll be on a little thinner oil, for the VVT's sake. Or you could just use a Pennzoil gasoline engine oil in the appropriate grade. Pennzoil has a good reputation for cleanliness.

 

[Red91]

Here we go again....there's popcorn in the lobby, beer in the fridge, ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet, and Prozac in the bedside table. Enjoy.

 

[fdcg27]

In LA?
No problems with a 15W-40 any season of the year, if that's what you want to use.
Engine doesn't matter nearly so much in grade selection as ambient temperature does.
I wouldn't use a 15W-40 for an Ohio winter, but since you have nothing like real winter in LA, a 15W-40 would work just fine in any engine you'd like to use it in.
Not entirely sure why you'd want to use this grade, although these are stout oils at a cheap price.

 

[JR]

Maxlife 15w-40 and mmo.
Nothing wrong with 15w as long as cold starts are above 10-20°F.
Heck i use sae30/40 in michigan, spring to fall.


Harvey

 

[gfh77665]

PYB 10-30 is the answer for all of this.

 

[crazyoildude]

GM the builder of that engine says 5w30 but what do they know about engines..
This reminds me around 2007-2008 a customer towed in a really nice 4 runner with about 60,000 miles on it (engine totally destroyed) this guy bought this truck and thought thicker was better so he put 20w50 racing oil and 2 bottles of stp and he said his oil light came on and the engine stalled..Who would have known!
We rebuilt his engine and told him 5w30 is what he had to use maybe 10w30 in the summer but that was it.. He came back a year later because of a noise in the engine and i saw a new bottle of stp on the floor of the truck.. It turned out to be a noisy belt tensioner.

 

[Ifixyawata]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
GM the builder of that engine says 5w30 but what do they know about engines..
This reminds me around 2007-2008 a customer towed in a really nice 4 runner with about 60,000 miles on it (engine totally destroyed) this guy bought this truck and thought thicker was better so he put 20w50 racing oil and 2 bottles of stp and he said his oil light came on and the engine stalled..Who would have known!
We rebuilt his engine and told him 5w30 is what he had to use maybe 10w30 in the summer but that was it.. He came back a year later because of a noise in the engine and i saw a new bottle of stp on the floor of the truck.. It turned out to be a noisy belt tensioner.


What was the smoking gun that destroyed the engine? Oil pump drive issue?

 

[Shannow]

That's a good question, and deserves an answer, what the failure mode was.

 

[Ifixyawata]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not firmly seated on either side of this issue but it's interesting to hear some, albeit anecdotal, evidence to the contrary of the usual '0w-20 - 20w-50 is ok in the rest of the world' routine.

Being NJ with 20w-50 AND STP, my guess is that it almost has to be an oil pump or blown up filter, at least from what I've read on here.

 

[Shannow]

I agree, as a kid I used to use 20W50 and a tin of STP, but only down to -10C, because that's as cold as it went.

Wouldn't and don't recommend 20w50 to anyone I know in the last couple decades.

But there's posters claiming to have seen these oils kill engines, they must be rare and specific.

 

[FCD]

Use Penrite 40w70, she'll run like new

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Use Penrite 40w70, she'll run like new


That's Penrite 40-70, no W with that sucker.