Thin oil, thick oil, synth or dino,

[crazyoildude]

Use what you think works and hope you are correct but remember if your vehicle is under warranty it can become expensive.

I have been known to mix the same brand of oil to get a slightly thicker blend in the summer.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

1 post then nothing? Definitely a troll, and looked at all those that bit.

 

[Rolla07]

First post and the thread is irrelevant and adds nothing. If you read the site for years you would know how your results using thick oil mean absolutely nothing. A million people here have run thin for years with no issues, so whats your point? If I had your prius, id use mfr recommended...imagine what kind of gas mileage you get?! 10-20% better would be my guess. Someone put 5w50 in mine and i lost almost 10% in fuel economy but hey if you just wana buy more gas thats up to you.

 

[Noey]

I'd say that the combination of your choice in cars, your self assurance, as well as this being your first post reveals much more about you than oil.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
1 post then nothing? Definitely a troll, and looked at all those that bit.

Now if I can just get this [censored] hook out of my cheek....

 

[Pontual]

Originally Posted By: SandCastle
By using 15W-40 instead of 5W-20 you have spent an extra $350 on fuel over the life of your two Prius's, with no compensating benefits. In fact, a case could be made that your engine wear has _increased_ because of the thicker oil. On the flip side, if you had used 0W-20 oil, that would have increased your oil costs since it has more synthetic content.

330,000 miles / 52 mpg * $2.75/gal * 0.02 = $349.

(A 2% reduction in fuel consumption has been assumed based on calculations Honda presented showing a 1.5% decrease in fuel consumption going from 5W-30 to 0W-20 oil.)

Yep, thats one buck per thousant miles?

 

[Pontual]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
First post and the thread is irrelevant and adds nothing. If you read the site for years you would know how your results using thick oil mean absolutely nothing. A million people here have run thin for years with no issues, so whats your point? If I had your prius, id use mfr recommended...imagine what kind of gas mileage you get?! 10-20% better would be my guess. Someone put 5w50 in mine and i lost almost 10% in fuel economy but hey if you just wana buy more gas thats up to you.


A tenaz 5w50 glue then. 10% more with 5w50!

 

[Cruzingoose]

Sorry to dissapoint you. I am not trolling or banned from any list. I have a life and do NOT spend hours on the computer. I check email once a day, usually in the evening. Check a few lists for tidbits of usefull info and off to bed. So THHHHHHHTP to you all that wont accept a NOOB on the list.

Now to try to answer some questions.....
10w30 used to be the standatd of engine oil for many years. It did not matter where in the US, AK probably the exception. As you all know, the SAE ratings for gasoline engine oil ard very different from diesel oils. Gasoline ratings do not improve qualities as the letter increases, the entire spec changes leaving older vehicles with inadiquite protection. An SM rated oil is not qualified for my 1964 Comet. The diesel oils progress in specs and are backward compatible. So my 1981 Toyota Hilux diesel WILL recieve proper lubrication using Rorella 15w40 and so will my Comet.

I believe thin oil only helps manufactures fleet economy ratings and does little to nothing to keep my investment running longer. Like the sludge problems in todays engines. Yesteryear, the only way to sludge an engine was to NOT change the oil at all. Today normal scheduled oil changes will result in blown engines, like my SAAB that I bought from my neighbor. Always used "proper" oil and regular changes, yet with just 98k on the clock it raps louder then $*&T and needs to be replaced or rebuilt.

So back to my original rant.....
If you are happy with what works for you then use it. If you want to accept engine failure at 100K or less, hey, it's your engine. Yup, the SAAP 4 cylinder 2.3 Liter will give me 240 hp But so will a big lumbering V8, And an old V8 will do it forever without burning up. So do I want to save a few cents in mileage, remember, I STILL get mid 50s in the Prius, so I'm not loosing anything by using HDEO.

In the Winter, even in sub zero temps, use common sense and let the engine warm up for a few minutes before stomping on the go pedal. I will admit there have been times in past years when I had a no-start(s), but the tiny battery in the Prius had froze solid. No 12 volts will prevent the main 250 volt battery from starting the engine. Then realize I really did not have to go anywhere anyway.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'm thinking there's a guy here with a very high mileage Prius that runs 20W50 year round. Cant remember who it is though. I do remember him posting uoa's and they looked great as well as I can remember.

 

[B320i]

On the Saab front, it was well-known that the PCV system in those was very lacking, to say the least. This was taken care of for the later model years, and earlier cars could be retrofitted.

Throw in a turbo-charger, factory intervals of 7,500miles with semi-synth oil (FACEPALM), then the real deal-breaker...
A hot exhaust manifold running right beside a very low capacity sump.

This sounds to me like a series of design flaws on the part of Saab (well, GM by that point, GM/Saab engine - and is that really surprising?) that should never have happened.
Another reason why I think the large sumps of MB and BMW's are such a great idea. More oil = smaller percentage circulating at any given time and therefore the oil has a better chance to cool off and can last longer since it will contaminate less at a time.

 

[Cruzingoose]

Yeah, I dont know much about Saab only that is is a very nice looking estate wagon and the price was right. B320i indicated that engine failure was caused by a comedy of bean counter and manufacturer errors. End result is you choose to follow manufacturer standards and hope they have intrtest in you keeping your vehicle a long time.....NOT. Toyota was also known for great engines but now they consider 500 miles per quart acceptable. I change my oil at 4000 to 5000 mile as indicated by the maint light in the car and do not need makeup oil. Pretty happy with this.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: Cruzingoose
I feel thin oils are for electric motors and sewing machines.


Exactly what a Prius is. An electric motor charged by a sewing machine.

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted By: B320i
On the Saab front, it was well-known that the PCV system in those was very lacking, to say the least. This was taken care of for the later model years, and earlier cars could be retrofitted.

Throw in a turbo-charger, factory intervals of 7,500miles with semi-synth oil (FACEPALM), then the real deal-breaker...
A hot exhaust manifold running right beside a very low capacity sump.

This sounds to me like a series of design flaws on the part of Saab (well, GM by that point, GM/Saab engine - and is that really surprising?) that should never have happened.
Another reason why I think the large sumps of MB and BMW's are such a great idea. More oil = smaller percentage circulating at any given time and therefore the oil has a better chance to cool off and can last longer since it will contaminate less at a time.


All true, so I run HDEO in my Saab 2.3T after having the sump and oil intake screen cleaned. Once the screen plugs, no oil will help

.

With clean pick-up and good filter (oversized - 3100 series, as big as will fit...) you get good oil pressure and the turbo is happy

I see no reason 15W-40 is bad (especially in Kalif, not the Dakota's ...), but I might go lighter in winter ...

 

[Cruzingoose]

Aww, cmon guys, SDak is not the icebox you think, so we have a few weeks of real cold. As far as the SAAB thing, If the SAAB enjoyed HDEO and 3K oil changes, it might still be alive today. And so might a lot of other vehicles. Extended oil changes save a few bux and Synth oil leads some to believe that, but with so many sludge issues in todays engines I'd rather get the dirt and [censored] out of the engine. Oil is cheap insurance to protect the engine.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: Cruzingoose
...but with so many sludge issues in todays engines I'd rather get the dirt and [censored] out of the engine. Oil is cheap insurance to protect the engine.


Can you elaborate on "so many sludge issues in todays engines?"

,,,and apologies for thinking you were a troll. One or two old members keep making reappearances with out of norm posts, conjuring up debate.

 

[Cruzingoose]

Seems like 1997-2005 was a period of many engine failures due to "gelled oil". Most manufactures blamed the owners. Toyota and Dodge stand out but there were others.

 

[mark pruett]

Originally Posted By: Cruzingoose
Now to try to answer some questions.....
10w30 used to be the standatd of engine oil for many years. It did not matter where in the US, AK probably the exception. As you all know, the SAE ratings for gasoline engine oil ard very different from diesel oils. Gasoline ratings do not improve qualities as the letter increases, the entire spec changes leaving older vehicles with inadiquite protection. An SM rated oil is not qualified for my 1964 Comet.


That's just flat-out not true. API specs are backward compatible, and with a few rather trivial exceptions, better than the oils that came before.

SM or SN rated oil IS entirely qualified for your 1964 Comet, and is light-years better in pretty much every respect to the oils that it used after the break-in oil was changed.

Second, with a few collectible exceptions, cars aren't investments. This is a fairly ignorant conception that causes people to do a bunch of rather expensive and dumb stuff as a result. Cars are certainly big-ticket items, but not investments. They don't appreciate in value- they merely depreciate, and that depreciation is predominantly based on time/mileage, and is independent of whatever painstaking maintenance you may do. The smart thing to do is to use the recommended oils during the warranty period, and then after that, either use conventional oils at the mfgr. recommended warranty period, or use synthetics for longer OCIs, (assuming your car doesn't already call for synthetics and longer OCIs).

Anything else is just throwing money down the toilet, as most any car will run for a couple of decades and/or a few hundred thousand miles on plain old conventional oil changed every 5000 miles. We've seen too many examples of that on this very board for me to believe otherwise.

Now if you want to fiddle around with 15w-40 oils or super-expensive synthetic oils, or really short oil change intervals, you're welcome to blow your money that way, but ultimately, it won't matter when you go to sell your car, and any wear gain isn't likely to be anything you can actually measure or determine without doing something extreme like weighing your camshaft before and after 200,000 miles on different kinds of oils.

 

[akela]

15w40 (or 10w30 HDEO) can't be called blowing money away by any measure. They are pretty cheap.

 

[BrocLuno]

Yup, that's why I use them and 3~4K OCI's

 

[akela]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Yup, that's why I use them and 3~4K OCI's

Hmm. There is a user here who is running HDEO for 30-40k OCI (in gas engine).