What oil is best for 03 Savana with 200,000 km?

[Rigel]

My mechanic says 10w30 is better for my engine because it has 200,000 km (120,000 mi). The owner's manual says to use 5w30.
It's a 6.0 litre (large eight) and it runs great. I've never had a problem.
What is the best oil to use?
Thank you.

 

[Drew99GT]

5w-30; both oils are the same viscosity at operating temperature. You for sure want the 5w-30 in winter starting conditions.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

5W-30 is the better oil. The only advantage to the typical 10W-30 is less shearing. Shearing is not a problem with 5W-30. It's been proven here over & over that 20Ws are fine for duty & sometimes do the job better than 30W in applications that don;t call for 20W.

 

[Gene K]

Thats Part of the LS1 Engine Family! Those engines usually prefer a higher viscosity oil. I would use 11.5 cSt @ 100*C minimum. Pennzoil 5W-30 High Mileage is 11.7 cSt.

 

[caprice_2nv]

200,000km's is not all that high. FWIW my 87 Caprice with the 307 roller cam V8 with 228,000km's on it has had GC 0w30 in it now for almost 3000km's and the oil level is exactly where it was immediately after I changed it. I overfilled it a bit so I could get rid of all 5L's and its about half an inch above the FULL mark.

 

[Rigel]

Thanks for all your advice, guys.

 

[hominid7]

5w30 and 10w30 are so close to each other it likely wont make a big difference. You can safely use 10w30 in the winter. Most modern 10w30's are formulated to actually be a tad thinner at operating temps than 5w30's and still have very similar cold temp properties.

If you use the same mechanic all the time, making him feel good about being "right" could have other benefits as well

 

[hominid7]

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5W-30 is the better oil. The only advantage to the typical 10W-30 is less shearing. Shearing is not a problem with 5W-30. It's been proven here over & over that 20Ws are fine for duty & sometimes do the job better than 30W in applications that don;t call for 20W.

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I'm confused, are you suggesting he use SAE 20 or SAE 30? Or do you mean SAE 5w20 and SAE 5w30?

SAE 20, SAE 20W, SAE 0W20, and SAE 5W20 are all different oils

 

[D189379]

If it runs good, just use the same thing you have been using so far.

 

[Drew99GT]

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5w30 and 10w30 are so close to each other it likely wont make a big difference. You can safely use 10w30 in the winter. Most modern 10w30's are formulated to actually be a tad thinner at operating temps than 5w30's and still have very similar cold temp properties.

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I disagree entirely. 5w-30 gives you a 9 degree leeway in cold temps from -13 to -22 F by default (SAE CCS and MRV), and beyond that, it's not even a question that 5w-30 is superior by a great degree. aka, 5w-30 at -22F will act like 10w-30 at -13F. Synthetics close the gap a bit, but with conventional oil and below 0 temps, 5w-30 is a no brainer. Stick both in a freezer set to 0 degrees or colder and you'll see the difference. Or, stick a bottle of each outside when it's 15 below 0 and I guarantee you'll want choose the 5w-30 after seeing that 10w-30 is like a brick.

Now, if it usually never gets below 10 degrees F and occasionally drops to 0, then 10w-30 is fine. But all it takes is to end up somewhere, perhaps on a trip or something, to a spot where it gets to 20 below, and you could scuff a piston or something with a 10w dino. That's a fairly possible scenario in Colorado, where it not too often gets to 0 or slightly below 0 along the front range where the major metropolitan areas are, but if you go up in the mountains skiing and stay overnight, you could encounter a 30 below 0 start several times a year.

 

[hominid7]

I agree in temp extreams i would rather have 5w30 than 10w30. My point was that 10w30 and 5w30 are VERY close to one another. If you take for example Havolines new Deposit Shield Dino oil. It list the cold cranking temp of 5w30 as being 5 degrees centegrade lower than that of 10w30. The pour point of Havoline Deposit Shield 10w30 is actually LOWER than that of 5w30 by 1 degree centegrade. Both are listed as being the same vis at 100*C.

The pour point of Superflo Dino gives a 3 degree centegrade advantage to 5w30.

The pour point of TropArtic 5w30 and 10w30 are the same.

The pour point of Valvoline AllClimate gives a 3 degree advantage to 5w30 over 10w30.

In addition, keep in mind this report from NASA

Winter temperatures have been above normal across Canada, the report says, with most of the country at least 2 C above normal and with Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories all experiencing temperatures greater than 6 C above normal.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

Pour point is irrelevant. You need to look at the CCS and MRV numbers.

 

[Patman]

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Winter temperatures have been above normal across Canada, the report says, with most of the country at least 2 C above normal and with Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories all experiencing temperatures greater than 6 C above normal.

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This was back in December and the first half of January, but since then things have returned to normal across Canada and in fact the next two weeks is forecast to be much colder than normal.

So I definitely wouldn't want to be running a conventional 10w30 anywhere in Canada right now, or in the northern part of the US for that matter.

 

[Drew99GT]

It was -18 in Denver last night! 10w-brick...

 

[hominid7]

With a CCS of only 6300 @ -25*C Superflo 10w30 would have cranked @ -18*F easily with room to spare, as would have Motorcraft 10w30.

Now Castrol GTX 10w30 @ -18*F.... I might agree with you, that might be another story

Motorcraft and Superflo 10w30's really are much more like 5w30's. That's why i like them so much. The best of both worlds.

I believe some oils, although marketed as 5w30 or 10w30, may very well pass the minimum test to qualify as another grade as well. This is certainly not true across all brands, but in some cases it is.

If it ever gets down to -18*F here in Texas, i'm heading for the border. That's too cold for ME to crank!

 

[flatlandtacoma]

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With a CCS of only 6300 @ -25*C Superflo 10w30 ...
Motorcraft and Superflo 10w30's really are much more like 5w30's. ...

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You have to look at the temperatures ASTM D5293 tests at as well as the results and realize that viscosity almost doubles for every 5°C temperature drop at these low temperatures.

i.e. 6300 mPa-s @ -25°C (-13°F) would be up around 12,000 @ -30°C (-22°F).

Conversely, any garden variety 5w oil has a maxiumum Low Temperature Cranking Viscosity of 6600 @ -30°C (-22°F) and would test below 4000 mPa-s @ -25°C (-13°F).

While I agree that a well maintained car with a good battery and relatively fresh Superflo 10w30 should start at -18°F (-28°C), you're going to have much more margin for a weak battery, etc. with a 5w30. And there is no way that Superflo 10w30 would qualify as a 5w30.

Here is a copy of the SAE J300 viscosity chart for anyone interested: http://www.infineum.com/information/api-viscosity-2004.html

 

[Drew99GT]

6300 CCS is not good! The limit is 7,000 cP. Trop Artic 10w-30 is 3500 cP, both measured at -25C (-13F), the 10w CCS temperature. So no, it IS NOT like 5w-30 in any way shape or form, at all! I don't think I'd take either at 18 below. Why chance it when you can just use 5w-30? Well, Trop Artic is in the realm of full synthetics as far as CCS and MRV though. Platinum 10w-30 cranks like 3800 cP I believe, but pumps 8,000 cP compared to 13,000 for Trop Artic. Full conventional 10w-30s pump around 20,000 to 30,000 cP.

I seriously doubt though it's a problem, too many people get 10w-30 from a drum installed at oil change places and dealers, and cars aren't blowing up left and right here from it.

 

[Blue99]

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With a CCS of only 6300 @ -25*C Superflo 10w30 would have cranked @ -18*F easily with room to spare, as would have Motorcraft 10w30.

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A handy fact to remember is that at very cold temperatures, the viscosity of a dino oil will increase by 2x for every 5 C degrees (synthetics - 1.7 times).

Thus a 10W-30 that tests 6300 cP @ -25C(-13F), will be approx. 12,000 cP at -30C(-22F).