Viscosity and Wear

[Mark in NY]

Buster-
Now THAT would be a good comparison - same car, same driver, same conditions, only the oil type changing. Although different seasons would have an influence.

How about 6 month oil changes for each sample.
Feb-July and Aug-Jan. This way each oil has both summer and winter driving.
Can't wait for the results....we will all be old and gray by the time we analyze the final results!

I am tempted to do the same comparison in my 3 cars however my last results with 0-40 was skewed on iron apparently due to fuel system contamination.

It is indeed difficult to do controlled testing by way of every day driving vehicles.

 

[buster]

quote:

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How about 6 month oil changes for each sample.
Feb-July and Aug-Jan. This way each oil has both summer and winter driving.
Can't wait for the results....we will all be old and gray by the time we analyze the final results!

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Good point! The main reason I want to go with 6k mile intervals is so I can get the results faster. I'm sticking with M1 now due to the Walmart deal and plus, I can compare then bc they use the same formula except for Delvac 1 which will be last. I can't wait to try the 0w-20!

 

[JohnBrowning]

(For the sake of simplicity only conventional oils are being discussed in my responce as GM only makes distinctions on select vechiles)One thing about Bergins brief that bothers me is the use of qualifing statements. Often terms like excludeing "extremes" is used. What is extreme?? My Dad put 1 1/2 tons of sterlized sand in the bed of my Mothers Toyota Tundra and drove 20 miles home at HWY speeds. My car will run up to 8000 RPM's and I often drive it up 6000. Do these examples count as extreme because these are routine occarances in my family! My father inlaw use's his Truck in dusty farming envirment and is always hauling or towing something is this extreme? People drive 70-90 MPH on the HWY year round and most people in my state work 1 hour or more from home. In the winter they are useing the remote start to warm their cars up for 15 or more minutes at a time....These all seem like extremes to me! So it would seem that thin oils that have limited hydrodynamic protection would not apply to most people.

Here goes another Gem. Their is no magical viscosity that is going to protect year round with optimum efficency. All oil viscosity requirements for an engine are based on clearances and ambient temps! So if you only have one oil viscosity choice and ambient temps are not factored in then you are being lied to. We all know that oils are not the same across varying temp.'s! I would no more want 5W20 in a truck towing through the moutins then I would want 15W50 in my car dureing the winter!

If their are extreme conditions that allow the use of thicker oils then why is their no mention of this in the owners manual? I do not trust GM's oil recomendation as they deffinately have an agenda! I think they have dumbed our choices down to the lowest denominator and to protect them selfs from the morns that would put 20W50 in dureing an artic winter! IMHO

[ July 20, 2003, 02:46 PM: Message edited by: JohnBrowning ]

 

[TooSlick]

I think the old German, viscosity/temp charts are the best. They would allow anything from a 5w30 to a 20w-50 or even 10w-60 to be used in the same engine, depending on the ambient temps you were likely to see over the change interval.

Any recommendation that shows the same viscosity if you live in Alaska or Florida has been dumbed down for the vehicle owner.

Tooslick

 

[joee12]

Guys, this thread has gotten WAY out of hand. Sorry, but three pages later, and we are talking about everthing from the Autobahn to Bob's health website. This topic is now closed

-Joe