Which Synthetic Oil for 4x4 truck?

[Mr. Ram]

Greetings everyone. As my first post here I would like to say that this is a great places with lots of kind and knowledgeable people.

Ok here is my problem. I have a low Km truck 44,000Km that I jsut purchased used, so far I run dino Penzoil 5w30, Its almost due for its 2nd oil change and I really want to go to synthetic becasue we have had 3 weeks of -30 to
-40 C nights in my neck of the woods and with having no block heater installed I dont like the fact that the dino is probably frozen at that temperature. My choices I have considered are Castrol syntec and mobil 1 supersyn as those are easily available here. Now from my research I had read that Castrol wasnt a true systentic? and that mobil one tends to degrade quickly and sometimes leak past seals? Are there any truths to these? Let me provide more info on my driving enviornment, We see huge swings in temperatures winters are -30 C and below for extended periods and summers we can see +30 C weather as well, Mainly the truck is city driven and not abused or worked hard. but in bother summer and winter I do do some trailering, Small travel trailer in the summer and some snowmobiles in the winter, with of course the occasional good off-roading
From a cost standpoint Casrtol is cheaper then mobil 1 and yes even the GC is available here. I have the 5.2 L 318 Magnum engine from dodge incase this will help. So far it burned very little oil , 1/2 a quart for 5000Km and is in good condition. One last thing is that i see all these new weight / viscosity oils, my manual calls for 10W30 and 5w30 can someone tell me what others may be compatible? I welcome all opinions and views in trying to help choose the best oil for my application, thanks to all in advance

 

[Mike242GT]

If you can get the German Castrol at a price comparable to the M1, I'd go with GC.

 

[KW]

If I had to pick I would choose the Mobil 1 5W30 and maybe use the 0W30 during the winter months. You might want to look at the Amsoil 5W30 and 0W30 oils as well. From what I here on this list the Syntec 0W30 is a very good oil. It would be hard to get a bad synthetic oil these days I think.

 

[mikep]

Greetings! How about Amsoil ASL 5w-30 or their Series 2000 0w-30?

Mikep

 

[sub_zero]

0W30 ESSO XD-3 or 0W30 Petro-Canada Duron XL. I've used both, neither burns a drop even after 7 or 8 thousand km. And they both perform well in the cold. This morning I cranked up the rig @ -35C with XD-3, a little slow.

 

[haley10]

If GC is easy enough to get, you could probably run it year 'round. I believe the Ram would like it really well in the warmer months.

You'll have to get some Canadian opinions on how well it cold starts at those temps. GC 0W-30

Other alternative is Mobil 1 10w-30 Summer, 0-30 Winter, but then you would have to use two grades. It might not be inconvenient though.

I like N/A Castrol, but I would go with Mobil or GC at those Winter temps.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by haley10:
If GC is easy enough to get, you could probably run it year 'round. I believe the Ram would like it really well in the warmer months.

You'll have to get some Canadian opinions on how well it cold starts at those temps. GC 0W-30

Other alternative is Mobil 1 10w-30 Summer, 0-30 Winter, but then you would have to use two grades. It might not be inconvenient though.

I like N/A Castrol, but I would go with Mobil or GC at those Winter temps.

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I'd tend to agree and don't worry about the seals or the oil (Mobil 1 ) degrading quickly.

 

[Mr. Ram]

Hello everyone,

I would just like to clarify that the GC comes in the same containers as the other syntec oils just that it has a red label denoting its 0W-30 and i think 10W-30 is green and 5w30 is blue. someone please correct me if I am wrong. I want to make sure the red label is the acutal stuff im supposed to be looking at. As far as Amsoil goes I would like to try it but its not convient as I cannot get it over the shelf, and im not much for waiting to order it etc. I want to be able to grab it from local store and go

Both the Mobil1 and the Castrol lines are readily availabe, however the GC with the red label is only sold at this time in the quart size and the other syntec are avail in 4.4L as well as the Mobil. I dont mind having to use 2 different weights of oil if thats what it takes to get the best protection for my investment

Thanks everyone and keep the opinions and or real life experiences comming, they are much appreciated

 

[Dick in Falls Church]

In the comparisons I've seen, PAO based perform better in extreme cold than Group III based.


If there is a Canadian Tire shop near you, AMSOIL should be available. Of the two you listed, Mobil 1 would be my choice.

 

[JohnnyO]

Not quite as cold here, mostly single-digit highs for the last 2 weeks though, but I've been using Mobil 1 0w-30 in my 4x4 Ranger. As I recall, the flashpoint on the 0w-30 is a little higher than the 5w-30 too.

 

[haley10]

Sub_Zero's recommendation of the Esso XD-3 might have some merit. I just noticed some VOA info on it in 40 wt. just posted on this site. Not anything we know about down here. Looks to be a good pao and available in 0-30, but haven't seen the specs.

N/A Castrol cold starts well to it's limit, but my data sheet which may be old, still only gives it a -44F pour point in 0-30. Not good enough. I think Mobil 1 would be much better for Winter up there.