Polar Vortex Hits US: Get your synthetic oil on...

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Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

I have an errand to run around 1:00, and I may take the pickup which has been sitting outside, and hasn't been started in a couple weeks. I'm quite certain it will start just fine with that antiquated dino that it has in it.


It would be interesting to see the battery voltage when cranking at those temps after sitting that long.

Your battery may be frozen, FYI.
 
Did an OC on our '98 Buick a week ago. Went with from conv to Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 and a PureOne filter. Good decision there . . .
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
The fact that the engine "starts right up" and you have oil pressure does not mean it's getting proper lubrication.


Quite true.
 
I assumed 5w-30 dino will work just fine, the syn should flow better as it starts up however. The real problem is the battery, perhaps power steering etc. Oil is probably the least of our problems if its speced for sub 0 F.
 
The antiquated PYB dino in my truck has frozen so solid this morning that it pushed the dip-stick out! I've got a propane torch on the engine block right now, near the fuel lines, hoping it will all melt fast enough so I can get to work.

Gonna be a rough morning!

crazy.gif
 
Originally Posted By: ziggy
i thought about trying a ow20 or 5w20...obviously im not gunna empty the platinum out, only have a few hundred miles on it. was using supertech 10w30 dino, september till december. november came along, and it got unseasoanlby cold here, like 32 degrees F at the time. starting the corolla, you can hear in the engine, the oil hasnt moved fast enough too the cams..weird grinding noise* wont make that mistake again! clearly the 10w30 was doing as the 5w30 in the backseat was...freezing into molasses.


You shouldn't hear a grinding noise from the camshafts even at 32* on 10w30 in a Corolla.
 
^ Where you using a 5w? I've used 10w30 at 0 degrees fahrenheit - while the engine didn't crank, the oil was still viscous and moving.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
The fact that the engine "starts right up" and you have oil pressure does not mean it's getting proper lubrication.


But it's a good sign things are OK...
 
It will be -2 without wind chill here tonight. We have had lows not to far off that the past week or so, the VWB and Maxlife have done well! No worries.
 
My PYB is doing perfectly fine as far as I can tell.

For what its worth I left a quart of 5w-30 GTX outside overnight in a snowstorm recently as a little experiment, brought it inside and immediately shook the bottle and judging by the sound and speed of the air bubble inside it was still flowing pretty darn well.
 
B&S Vanguard 18HP that just repowered our Case 444 spent all morning blowing snow in -15*F actual air temps with Travellers 5w30 synthetic in the sump and OEM filter. It fired right up this morning, no problem. Now, the hydraulics are another story, they took about 10 minutes to warm up the cheap no name 10w30 oil from the farm store. The hydraulic system recommends 5w20 in the winter and 20w40 in the summer. I might switch it out for T5 10w30 this summer when we fix a small leak we discovered today.
 
Originally Posted By: Winterpeg
-32 Celsius wind chill -43 this morning.GC 0w-30 (real german).
Starts right up,no oil pump whine,engine is dead quiet.I found my forever oil!


Except they don't make the good stuff (green) anymore if you believe a lot of opinions here. I have to wonder what's going on myself. When I did a change in 09 the oil went in with a very watery viscosity. Doing a change a month or so ago with off the shelf German Castrol it had a much thicker consistency then what I remembered. The M1 AFE is much much thinner at room temp.
 
Yeah, we ran 10W-40 dino here back in the 'eighties and early 'nineties and never had a problem in below zero weather.
Modern syns are no doubt better, but they won't turn your car into someting immune from the cold.
 
Originally Posted By: nepadriver
Originally Posted By: Flareside302
just gonna drop this here...

-15* this morning...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0UyKVxcB2E


Wow that really tells the story! I didn't think the difference would be that dramatic.


That is because the difference is not that dramatic for a 5w at those temps. All this video shows definitively is that the Amsoil bottle has a larger spout, and that they don't know the proper way to pour the Pennzoil style bottle. (Hint: You hold the spout on the top side. This allows air in to the bottle quickly to provide a faster more controlled pour, and prevent the "glugging" seen in the video.)
 
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