5W or 0W for the Winter months?

[-SyN-]

The Winter months are almost hear. Winter oil changes are upon me. My question is for my kids autos whom are at college.

First we live in the armpit of Texas/Oklahoma so the winter months are not drastically brutality cold. But there are times when the temps drop below zero for weeks at a time.

The wife's & I autos are garage kept (38-45*F) during the winter months. Only exposed to the cold while at work 8-15 hours at a time. They both are filled with 5W year round.

My question is for my kids autos 2012 Ford Edge 3.5L V6 / 2008 F150 5.4L 3V w/257K miles on her. Both these autos are exposed to the winter elements 24/7. Both kids live off campus (4-7) miles. Both depend on their autos like all of us.

As a father I am Constantly worried about them and their well being & yes the health & dependability of their autos plays into this as well.

For both these autos winter oil change would I be better of using a 0W for the winter months or stay with the 5W since they both stay out in the winter elements 24/7 and are started every morning? The coldest we have really ever seen in our area is -10 along with wind chill conditions & yes the wind does blow here.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[silveravant]

At those temperatures wouldn't make any difference, but more importantly, what does the owner's manual say?

 

[cmhj]

Originally Posted By: silveravant
At those temperatures wouldn't make any difference, but more importantly, what does the owner's manual say?


+1

 

[krismoriah72]

Pour point in 5w30 is -42F in Pennzoil yellow bottle 5w30

Pour point in 0w30 is -50 in Mobil 1 0w30


Personally i wouldnt run 0W in that 5.4 with high mileage.

Common sense is telling you that whatever oil was run all those years in those vehicles was obviously fine...doubtful any of those winters saw 0W in those vehicles so far.

I would test the anti-freeze strength first

 

[Hokiefyd]

If you're buying synthetic oil anyway, and trying to decide between 0W and 5W synthetic, I see no reason to NOT use 0W oil. If your decision is conventional 5W vs. synthetic 0W, then that's a different question. Even in the northern VA area, I use 0W-20 instead of 5W-20. There really are few downsides to 0W-20, especially if the price is the same as 5W-20.

Don't think of 0W-20 as "thinner" than 5W-20 (because they're similar at operating temperature). Think of 0W-20 as less thick than 5W-20 when cold, and that can only help. Less work for your starter motor and battery on cold mornings.

 

[-SyN-]

Both Edges spent 3/4 of their life on M1 AFE 0W-30.
5.4L 3V has spent the last 100K miles on M1 0W-40 / Castrol 0W-40. Zero smoking issues nor hardly a drop of oil burned between our 8K mile OCI.

I chose to try Pennzoil products for the summer oil changes due to Gena / Pennzoil Teams UOA program.

Now just thinking of changing back to normal with the kids autos due only to being exposed to the winter elements.
Also while the kids where in HS all our autos were garage kept.

Thanks Hokie for your opinion.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

10w-30 synthetic seems to work well for me here in Syracuse NY winters in my Jeep. I generally run a 0w year round in my Ford Focus, though.

 

[bioburner]

I would also consider some kind of cold front or at least a piece of cardboard in front of the radiators to help get things up to temp bit faster. 5-7 miles will be hard to get the coolant up to temp. I drive 5 miles one way most everyday and was able to monitor engine temps on a HHR via the DIC and would get to 150 at over 4 miles when 20F outside. I try and live at the bottom of the Red river Valley so get graced with the cold winds of our friends from Canada.

 

[Bud]

Either grade of oil would be fine, but I would agree with those who say run what your owners manual says to run.

 

[MNgopher]

If your only criteria is winter temps, the reality is the 5w oil will work fine. 5w oils work fine in most of Minnesota in the wintertime (at least they have for me since the 1980's!) and a -10F temp here and there won't cause a problem for a 5w oil.

I would also state that unless you are actively monitoring engine temps and putting cardboard in and out depending on the temp, doing so in the location asked by the OP probably is not a smart idea. (Hint: looks like the average high in January is more like 50 F in that area)

 

[AirgunSavant]

Thanks Kris for digging this up.
I notice PYB list -42 for the 5w20 ( expected) and even the 10w30 as well......???????


Originally Posted By: krismoriah72

Pour point in 5w30 is -42F in Pennzoil yellow bottle 5w30

Pour point in 0w30 is -50 in Mobil 1 0w30


Personally i wouldnt run 0W in that 5.4 with high mileage.

Common sense is telling you that whatever oil was run all those years in those vehicles was obviously fine...doubtful any of those winters saw 0W in those vehicles so far.

I would test the anti-freeze strength first

 

[CT8]

How cold are the temps of the vehicle when it starts after sitting?

 

[-SyN-]

Thank you Miller/Gopher for your input.

I know both autos are fairly old and the manuals are not up to date w/ oil technology advancement as of today.
I only see the manual as a very simple guide not the holy grail.

 

[KevinP]

There will be no meaningful difference between the two for your situation. But... if you feel better grab the OW-30. It won't hurt anything and you will feel all warm and fuzzy using the "better" oil.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Been using 0W-xx oil in every vehicle except the air-cooled motorcycle since the mid 80's. There is a noticeable improvement in starting and oil pressure coming up after a cold weather start at any temperature below perhaps 25F. I have zero evidence the motors were harmed in any way during warm weather, and I run the 0W-xx multigrades 365. I live in the coldest part of Canada, but that is also the warmest part as well (directly north of Texas) with normal summer temperatures up to 105F.

This week, early November, it's been +10 to +20C (+50 to +70F) but that's unusually warm, although it's not breaking any records.

You are free to do as you like ... 5W-xx oil is also a good performer in many areas of North America in winter. But if you are concerned that 0W-xx is somehow inappropriate for warm ambient temperatures, fear not. Zero issues. It's the other number that matters anyway for anything above freezing temperatures.

I don't know why that is so difficult for people to grasp, but somehow they think that when an oil has a W-rating it somehow makes it useless in warm weather. There is a reason the other number exists, and it's the one that indicates the elevated temperature performance. The W-rating is irrelevant. And I mean Totally Irrelevant.

Wind Chill ratings indicate how fast a warm body cools. They do not indicate a "temperature", despite the way the weatherman describes them (for example, if you are sitting in your car with the windows up, the Wind Chill factor has no effect whatsoever). Whether it's a human body or a car, the temperature can never go lower than the ambient air temperature... the Wind Chill factor IS NOT A TEMPERATURE. Sorry for yelling, but it has to be done sometimes. The point, of course, is your car will survive being cooled to below freezing, while a human body will not.

Your car may cool faster after it is shut down with a high Wind Chill, but it will never cool below the ambient air temperature. So the Wind Chill is irrelevant as far as oil or startup goes.

The problem I found while living in the US in Winter (Minnesota) is the radio or TV weatherman won't tell you the actual air temperature, only that "it feels like [Wind Chill Factor]". That is useless information if you want to know if your car will start.

 

[FCD]

I'd run Mobil 1 0w30 in the Edge.

 

[-SyN-]

Thanks--->Johnny/Capri for your input!

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I wouldn't get too excited about pour point for these oils...for example, M1 5W30 ESP has a lower pour point (-45C) than standard M1 5W30 (-42C), but has a CCS viscosity at -30C that is about 25% higher than the latter. Should be much more helpful to look at MRV and CCS, when it can be found, for realistic driving conditions.

For the OPer's climate, 0WXX and 5WXX should both be fine in the winter. It's a fairly good bet that NOACK is going to rise somewhat in a given product line as you go 10WXX to 5WXX to 0WXX, so I would argue that there can be a good reason to stick with 5W over 0W if the better cold performance is not really needed.

 

[GenaFishbeck]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I wouldn't get too excited about pour point for these oils...for example, M1 5W30 ESP has a lower pour point (-45C) than standard M1 5W30 (-42C), but has a CCS viscosity at -30C that is about 25% higher than the latter. Should be much more helpful to look at MRV and CCS, when it can be found, for realistic driving conditions.

For the OPer's climate, 0WXX and 5WXX should both be fine in the winter. It's a fairly good bet that NOACK is going to rise somewhat in a given product line as you go 10WXX to 5WXX to 0WXX, so I would argue that there can be a good reason to stick with 5W over 0W if the better cold performance is not really needed.


Hi there, Virtus_Probi! You seem to really know your oil! Have you considered trying Pennzoil Synthetics for your next oil change? We are currently running our Pennzoil Used Oil Analysis Program this year, and we'd love for you to participate. Through this study, you'll receive a sample of Pennzoil Synthetics to be tested in your vehicle along with complimentary and unbiased lab results from Blackstone. If you're interested in participating, please send us a private message for more details. Looking forward to your response! - Gena & The Pennzoil Team

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
I don't know why that is so difficult for people to grasp, but somehow they think that when an oil has a W-rating it somehow makes it useless in warm weather. There is a reason the other number exists, and it's the one that indicates the elevated temperature performance. The W-rating is irrelevant. And I mean Totally Irrelevant.

Wind Chill ratings indicate how fast a warm body cools. They do not indicate a "temperature", despite the way the weatherman describes them (for example, if you are sitting in your car with the windows up, the Wind Chill factor has no effect whatsoever). Whether it's a human body or a car, the temperature can never go lower than the ambient air temperature... the Wind Chill factor IS NOT A TEMPERATURE. Sorry for yelling, but it has to be done sometimes. The point, of course, is your car will survive being cooled to below freezing, while a human body will not.

Your car may cool faster after it is shut down with a high Wind Chill, but it will never cool below the ambient air temperature. So the Wind Chill is irrelevant as far as oil or startup goes.

Correct on all points.