5-30 vrs 10-30 question for Dodge Journey

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Hi all, my girlfriend just aquired a 2010 Dodge Journey AWD with a 3.5 litre engine. The cap and manual call for 10-30. My cousin who works for Chrysler got us the deal on the car which had 1100 miles when we got it. He said that engine is tough on oil and I should run 10-30 summer and 5-30 winter. My question, why can't I run 5-30 all year round. Looking forward to hearing some thoughts by the pros.
 
You can run 5w30 year round. What does the owner's manual say?

It's a common fallacy that you need to run thicker/heavier oil in the hot months.
 
5w30 should work just fine in your situation. If you want to be careful you can go for a thicker HM oil like maxlife full syn, castrol Gtx HM . Maxlife can be found at meijer for 24.99 everyday price.
 
AFAIK Chrysler is the only company left that still spec's the 10W-30 grade on a couple of models. 10W-30 is a mineral oil grade.
A 5W-30 synthetic will provide more high temperature protection than a mineral 10W-30. So if you're concerned about it, run a 5W-30 synthetic. This will provide you with superior overall lubrication.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
AFAIK Chrysler is the only company left that still spec's the 10W-30 grade on a couple of models. 10W-30 is a mineral oil grade.
A 5W-30 synthetic will provide more high temperature protection than a mineral 10W-30. So if you're concerned about it, run a 5W-30 synthetic. This will provide you with superior overall lubrication.


Why do you say 10w-30 is a mineral oil grade? Many synthetics come in 10w-30.
 
I'd just use 10W-30 in the warmer months and thrown a 5W-30 syn in for winter for warranty purposes. I assume you get the balance of the powertrain warranty at least?
 
I would just use 5W30 year round the performance difference between a 5W30 and 10W30 in the same brand would be marginal at best.
 
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
AFAIK Chrysler is the only company left that still spec's the 10W-30 grade on a couple of models. 10W-30 is a mineral oil grade.
A 5W-30 synthetic will provide more high temperature protection than a mineral 10W-30. So if you're concerned about it, run a 5W-30 synthetic. This will provide you with superior overall lubrication.


Why do you say 10w-30 is a mineral oil grade? Many synthetics come in 10w-30.

Hi 95busa,

That's true and only in NA AFAIK.
In a synthetic oil the 10W-30 grade has been made technically redundant by 5W-30 and even the 0W-30 grade. The only reason it still exists is for marketing reasons. 10W-30 has been around so long it has acquired a certain cache so to sell oil it is still used.
Same goes for the 15W-40 grade but even more so. It is only a dino grade because if you try to formulate with even GP III
base oils you will get at least a 10W-40 or better. Again some small formulators break the rules and do sell a synthetic oil labelled 15W-40 for marketing purposes but the reality is it's better than that.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread. The subject of the obsolete 10W-30 syn grade was discussed at length in the following thread:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2505553&page=1
 
Originally Posted By: ranger99
So, would a 5-30 dino oil not be a good choice for this engine year round?

It's a good question since the better name brand dino 5W-30's can compete very well with some 5W-30 syn's.
When Chrysler spec's a 10W-30 over a 5W-30 they are thinking of the worst case scenerio of someone using the most shear prone 5W-30 dino under extremely hot operating conditions.

I'm surprised about Chrysler spec'ing the 10W-30 grade rather than the more modern approach of a 5W-30 synthetic like most OEMs do when high oil temp's could occur.
I'm sure it won't be long before the 10W-30 rec' is changed to 5W-30.
 
Modern synthetics are often beating even their own grade. The owner of Renewable Lube told me their 15w40 actually meets the specs of a 5w40 and comes close to a 0w40 -- they just market it as 15w40 since so many HDEO users want it!
 
Follow the owners manual instead of guessing. Pennzoil and Mobil1 and I'm sure others make a 10w30 in full synthetic. 10w30 is or was the suggested viscosity for turbo/supercharged and other engines.
 
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Oil specifications, squished into the SEA knomenclature, become opaque. In many cases, an oil manufacute makes oil in large batches. Should one batch come out just a hair on the thick side, it can only get bottled in 10W-30 bottles. Should it come out a little on the thinside, it can go only in 5W-30 bottles. But if they hit the recipie just right, it can go in either bottle!

Besides, the difference between 5W-30 and 10W-30 (outside of truely cold starts:: less than -20dF) is hardly measurable in engine life terms (for engines designed and spec'ed for xxW-30 oils.)
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Modern synthetics are often beating even their own grade. The owner of Renewable Lube told me their 15w40 actually meets the specs of a 5w40 and comes close to a 0w40 -- they just market it as 15w40 since so many HDEO users want it!
API (to SAE) REQUIRES oil to marked appropriatly so the Renewable Lube lubricant must not be API certified - or they are in violation. Also as a side note, an HDEO SAE 30 cannot contain viscosity improvers.
 
A proper 10w30 multigrade group II oil built for light truck use should be a "cleaner" more stable oil than a II + III blend with increased vii. Higher base grades have only fair to poor solubility and can be varnish prone - they rely greatly on DP adds which can get used up in a harsh 3k mi service.
 
Why is a thicker oil on start up so bad?? I am seeing the advantages of using a 10w-30 but not the disadvantages.
 
Interesting takes here. When a manufacturer specs 5w20 over 5w30 and somebody asks about 5w30, we get a wave of responses about following the spec and the manufacturer knows what they're doing yada yada.

Spec a 10w30 and suddenly thats all out the window and they don't know what they're doing and we get a host of "better" recommendations.

I agree you could likely get away with a good 5w30 just fine but if I was under warrantly I'd follow the recommendation, I'm sure they have their reasons, most likely HTHS or shear which has been mentioned.
 
Originally Posted By: Gabe
Why is a thicker oil on start up so bad?? I am seeing the advantages of using a 10w-30 but not the disadvantages.



Because you want an oil that pumps and flows fast at startup.
 
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