syn blend for winter? any good

[MillerMan]

I have two ford 4.6 V8's cars one with 100,000 miles the other 150,000 miles.

I was thinking or using 5w30 penz blend oil in them this winter, you guys think it will better than Pennzoil Conventional 5w30?

I live in central Minn/Wis and the cars will be kept outside over night often. much of the driving will be short trip, but there will plenty of 200 mile trips also.

the 150,000 mile engine burns a little oil, a quart about every 1000 miles, more when pulling the bass boat in the heat, this is with Pennzoil Conventional 10w30

this is a great site and messageboard I have been reading a lot here the last month or so

 

[Jelly]

...I believe synthetic blends (that are labeled as such) are a waste, and not worth the price you pay.

The two top mineral 5w30 oils, Chevron Supreme and Pennzoil both have very low pour points and for a little more than a dollar, you have a pretty good buy as well.

What would I do though? Well, since your burning through regular 30-weights, I would say swtich over to a HM 30-weight, such as Pennzoil High-Mileage. Now, yes, it is technically a synthetic blend, but you don't have to pay as much as you would if it actually said "synthetic blend" on the bottle...

[ September 18, 2003, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: Jelly ]

 

[Al]

Also the Pennzoil Blend will not be a "true" synthetic like a Polyalphaolefin (PAO) or Ester. It will be a Group III oil which has little benefit in terms of low pour points.

 

[JonS]

The High Mileage oil will not perform as well as the Dino in sub-zero weather. It is thicker. The blend has a higher pour point also, and doesn't pump as well as the dino at -30c.

 

[MNgopher]

The Pennzoil blend is worse (go figure) in cold weather than regular Pennzoil. Odd but true. Another case of a blend not exactly being an "improvement" over the regular juice. Some blends are better than the same brands regular, but Pennzoil isn't one of them. Same goes for the HM stuff - it would work fine in the summer, but not a good choice if the cold weather specs are your major concern.

I used Valvoline Durablend 5w30(which is better than Valvoline conventional based on my experience) in my '97 F150 and my '99 F150, both with the 4.6. I just sold the 97 with 162,000 miles and am running Havoline 5w20 now in the 99 with 90,000 miles now with no problems.

 

[MillerMan]

thanks for the good info guys, it looks like Pennzoil Conventional 5w30 will be the oil they get.

one other odd thing. my dad has a 92 dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 318. he is now using Pennzoil conventional 10w30.

he pulls a heavy 5 wheel camper with it. he noticed that penz recommends using the blend over the conventional and full synthetic for heavy towing.
what you think of that?

[ September 18, 2003, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: MillerMan ]

 

[sbc350gearhead]

I don't think that the OTC blends are any better than regular pennzoil. Schaeffer's would be an exception, but it is not available OTC. Pennzoil High Mileage might be worth a look.

 

[Ken2]

quote:

---

Originally posted by MillerMan:

...
one other odd thing. my dad has a 92 dodge 1/2 ton 4x4 with a 318. he is now using Pennzoil conventional 10w30.

he pulls a heavy 5 wheel camper with it. he noticed that penz recommends using the blend over the conventional and fully syn. for heavy towing.
what you think of that?

---

The syn blend and Full Synthetic have higher profit margins. All that said, even Pennzoil's rather ordinary Full Synthetic oil will have longer oil life than conventional oil when it's run hard & hot.

No 1/2-ton truck can pull a heavy 5th wheel trailer without being overloaded--the truck carries the front end of the trailer, and the trailer hitch weight is 20-25% of the total trailer weight. Suggest that your dad drive across a truck scale and see how far he's over his GVWR of that truck. Then, he can start saving for a 1-ton truck or lighter trailer before his truck has a breakdown. No, there's no feasible way to upgrade the GVWR of a truck...wheels, tires, axles, axle bearings, spring shackle bolts, etc., etc.


Ken

[ September 19, 2003, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Ken2 ]

 

[MillerMan]

ya he is pushing the limit with the 5 wheel camper, but not over the limit. it is a heavy duty 1/2 special order federal goverment truck. plus he beefed up the suspension, cooling and tires

my dad buys all his trucks from the federal goverment, some of them are odd with huge axles and drive shafts, u joints etc, he has problem getting parts some times, he even had have a custom u joint made once on the 79 3/4 ton
one of them has special glass, bullet resistant and kevlar in the doors

saab oil? hmmmmmmm don't know if it worth the trouble I would have to buy a case or two if i did get.

 

[Eiron]

Hi MillerMan,

Just to add to the confusion, my vote would be to find a Saab dealer & use Saab's 5w30 syn blend for all the applications you're proposing. Most dealers price it just over $2/qt, & it's what all those Swedish turbos get as part of their "included maintenance."

The VOA & lab comments of this oil can be found here.

I'd say it's one of the better values in a syn blend.

[ September 19, 2003, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: Eiron ]