Trying to pick a fleet oil for my 3 car fleet

[Cooker]

I am currently using 3 differnt oils in each of my three vehicles and Im thinking it would be convenient, and help clean up some clutter in my garage of multiple partially used oil containers that are waiting for the next oil change, if I could find a good choice of an oil to use in all three.

The vehicles:
2009 Dodge Journey - 3.5l - Spec'd for 10w30 - 125k miles
2005 Dodge Caravan - 3.8l - Speced for 5w20 - 220k miles
2005 Toyota Prius - 1.5l - Speced for 5w30 - 235k miles

Currently:
With PP the Journey uses a quart of oil every 3k miles.
I switched to HM oil in the Caravan, either Penn HM or MaxLife, to reduce oil consumption which has seemed to help. It uses a quart maybe every 2k.
The Prius, currently using PYB, does not use hardly any oil between changes.

There was a time when I was using the same 10w30 in the van and the Journey but switched to HM and the van, to try to cut consumption, and PP in the Journey to extend the drains out a bit on the Journey.

Any suggestions for a oil choice that would work great in all three vehicles? I dont mind not being able to extend drains past 5k.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Oil Changer]

Rotella T5 10W30 or MaxLife 5/10W-30 in all

 

[Zeus103363]

Yea...i got the same problem! I usually mix and match.

 

[Cooker]

I was leaning toward a 5w30 HM oil.

I find it strange that Chrysler spec'd a 10w30 in the 3.5l in the Journey's. Why not spec a 5w30 instead of the 10w30?

 

[bourne]

My vote goes for maxlife full syn 5w30. Has the same exact operating temp visc as the 10w30 but better cold flow. Also has loads of feel good moly. Is there an alternate spec for your 05 dodge ? Usually chrystler and gm spec an alternate oil as well. I don't think 5w30 will do any harm to your 3.8 but that's just my opinion.

 

[fdcg27]

Chrysler has long speced 10W-30 for the 3.5 V-6, and I have yet to hear a good reason for this, although there might be one.
With 220K, I doubt that the Caravan will suffer from the use of a 5W-30, especially since it's using a little oil.
How much oil does it consume?
I'd be hesitant to use a 10W-30 year round in all three, since you live in an area that sees real winter.
You could probably use a 5W-30 in all three, but stocking three different oils doesn't seem like such a great hardship.
You might try Maxlife 5W-30 in all three and see how it goes.
You might also try M1 HM 5W-30, although this would cost considerably more than either Maxlife or PP.
Some members have reported very good results with M1 HM in reducing leaks and consumption.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Chrysler has long speced 10W-30 for the 3.5 V-6, and I have yet to hear a good reason for this, although there might be one.
With 220K, I doubt that the Caravan will suffer from the use of a 5W-30, especially since it's using a little oil.


My PT is spec'd for 10W30 but I have used 5W30 since 5000 miles.

no problems. (knock wood)

 

[CATERHAM]

The Toyota 0W-20 has been back spec'd for your 2005 Prius and is the preferred lube.
So you've got two vehicles requiring a 20wt oil. I'd suggest the Toyota 0W-20 for both.
For the Journey, 3,000 miles/qt is not bad and I'd stick with PP but in the 5W-30 grade. The 10W-30 is a dino oil grade so you can forget that when using a synthetic oil.

 

[Cooker]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
The Toyota 0W-20 has been back spec'd for your 2005 Prius and is the preferred lube.


Is there a TSM from Toyota USA stating this? I thought I has seen is spec'd for the PRius in other parts of the world but not a document from Toyota USA.

Im not trying to get into a [censored] match about this. I would just like to see some real document from Toyota USA regarding this to shut some people up over on the Prius forum

 

[Cooker]

Fisrt of all, I apprecaite the discussion in my thread.

Its not a huge deal to stock 3 oils, but in the interest of trying to make it simple, seems like it could be done, while providing very good protection to all three vehicles.

I agree 1 quart/3k in the Journey is nothing to get too concerned about.

The Caravan was eating about a quart ever 1200 to 1400 and now that has been cut back to a quart every 2k so thats not too terrible in my opinion. It does have some minor oil leaks too so I dont think all of that is getting burned.

 

[Milkman]

You drive a lot. Do these cars ever stop long enough to change the oil ?

 

[crazyoildude]

5w30

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Chrysler has long speced 10W-30 for the 3.5 V-6, and I have yet to hear a good reason for this, although there might be one.


Maybe Chrysler dealers had excess 10w-30 in stock and petitioned head office to help them out?

 

[A_Harman]

5w30 High Mileage oil. I'm partial to M1, but since you have a car that burns a lot of oil, maybe going with a partial synthetic HM oil would be cheaper. (Valvoline Max Life (red bottle), or Castrol GTX High Mileage (green bottle).)

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
You drive a lot. Do these cars ever stop long enough to change the oil ?


LOL, I was wondering same, my three licensed drivers('93, '98 & '07) only add up to 230K mi the highest being the '93 at 126K... The marauder is a toy and not a regular driver...

At the mileage on those vehicles I'd use a good HM 5-30 and call it a day...

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Cooker
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
The Toyota 0W-20 has been back spec'd for your 2005 Prius and is the preferred lube.


Is there a TSM from Toyota USA stating this? I thought I has seen is spec'd for the PRius in other parts of the world but not a document from Toyota USA.

Im not trying to get into a [censored] match about this. I would just like to see some real document from Toyota USA regarding this to shut some people up over on the Prius forum

Hi Cooker,

Yes, it's the Toyota Canada recommendation; see below:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2143463#Post2143463

This subject has come up before; namely, the Toyota USA list vs the Cdn and other jurisdictions for that matter.
I don't know the outcome but you could PM member "rcy{" who is on top of it.
Nevertheless, jurisdictional squabbles aside, since you're climate is much the same as ours here in Southern Ontario I would think following the Cdn recommendation would be most appropriate. After all this is not a warranty issue in any way for your 7 year old Prius.
BTW, the Toyota 0W-20 motor oil was developed specifically to address the lubrication issues of the Prius. It's a unique oil with nothing else available like it for the price.

 

[Cooker]

Again, thanks for the discussion.

I do drive a lot for work, up to 60k per year at times, now Im down to around 40k per year. The Prius I bought with the miles. It was a cheap experiment to see if I could get by with a smaller vehicle that got really good fuel economy as both the Journey and Caravan will only get low 20's.

I dont know why I didt really consider it before but both the Prius and Journey will now get the same synthetic 5w30. And since both are not terrible oil burners, the prius almost none, I think this will be a good option and get an extra oil off the shelf in the garage.

I do think a 5w30HM would be a god choice for all three but Im concerend about possibly having a negative impact on the fuel economy in the Prius and Journey with switching to a HM oil in those vehicles, especially the Prius. It seems documented on these forums that some people take a MPG hit when switching to a HM oil, and this something I honestly do not understand why it would happen if staying withing the same grade oil oil.

I do not remember taking a hit in the Van when switching to a HM oil but I was more concerned with reducing consumption than I was fuel ceonomy at that point.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Cooker

I do think a 5w30HM would be a god choice for all three but Im concerend about possibly having a negative impact on the fuel economy in the Prius and Journey with switching to a HM oil in those vehicles, especially the Prius. It seems documented on these forums that some people take a MPG hit when switching to a HM oil, and this something I honestly do not understand why it would happen if staying withing the same grade oil oil.

Keep in mind that an SAE oil grade is still a range of viscosities and HM oils tend to be at the heavier end of the range. Personally I would only consider a HM oil for their seal swell additive if I suspected the higher than normal oil consumption was due to oil leakage, if not external then past the valve guide seals.

 

[Cooker]

So its the fact that the oil is generally at the higher end of viscocsity that causes it to have an effect on MPG and nothing do do with any additional additives in the oil.

So in theory, if one was using a 5w30 conventional and switched to say a 5w20HM oil the impact on MPG would likely not even be evident?

 

[A_Harman]

Probably. You would need to take very careful measurements of fuel consumption and drive very consistently from fill-up to fill-up to detect a difference.