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Oil Weight


ebayfish
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If I can find my 4 liter jug of oil I'll be changing it this weekend for 5w30 Castrol synthetic, even though I ran 10w30 standard oil all winter in Montreal... not that the truck enjoyed a -30 degree celsius startup with that oil, but it's still running top notch.

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Adam is correct, 5-30 can be used in 95% of all climates/situations.

 

I know 10w30 is recommended in a 3.0 pathy. Does anybody use 5w30 in the summer? What about additives like Lucas?

10-30 range is recommended as well in the warmer climes, but remember that technology has come a long way since the manuals were written.

The main issues are, are you asking about synthetic or dino oils, how cold does it get where you live, do you let the engine warm up a bit and how do you drive when you first start out.

 

I highly recommend reading this, it is worth the time. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

What I have gotten from this is to run 5W-30 synthetic in our vehicles. I recently switched to 10w-30 (Mobil 1) due to all vehicles being older and over 100k miles, but I'm going to do an experiment and switch back for a cycle to see if I can tell a differenece.

 

AFAIC, Lucas Oil Stabilizer has no place in a motor. It is a good additive in gear boxes or diffs IMO, but that is not based on testing either.

 

B

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I'm running straight 10W30 without apparent issue. I might try 5W30 on my next change to see if the lifters tick less on cold starts. Thanks for the link B, it fills in a lot of stuff I didn't know.

 

From what I've read, the Lucas stuff serves to quiet down engines that are just about shot, kind of like adding sawdust to the oil, or mixing aluminum powder into the cooling system to stop up a leak. If your engine's in good shape, it's probably better off on the oil it was designed for.

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News to me as well. Science and technology move along and what we were told/taught might not apply any more. I've eaten of that pie enough to look before I bite.

That link is a very basic course, but is enough for most people AFAIC. Again, the big questions seem to be the local climate, dino or synthetic and do you just jump in and drive.

Seems to me the cold weather people would do well with a block heater. Not to make sure it starts, but to make sure it is lubricated... :shrug:

 

B

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News to me as well. Science and technology move along and what we were told/taught might not apply any more. I've eaten of that pie enough to look before I bite.

That link is a very basic course, but is enough for most people AFAIC. Again, the big questions seem to be the local climate, dino or synthetic and do you just jump in and drive.

Seems to me the cold weather people would do well with a block heater. Not to make sure it starts, but to make sure it is lubricated... :shrug:

 

B

 

 

I have to agree with the Precise1. It has been my experience that a change in oil type alone is enough to offer a noticeable ease in first startup when going from a heavier to a lighter oil and 10x easier when it hits stupid cold temperatures with synthetic oils. I used a dino 5w40 and 5w50 sythetic in my Jetta. I didn't notice any change in fuel consumption but the car turns over in 1/3rd the time at -40 degrees with audibly less work by the starter. I'll take the synthetic oil thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ever since I swapped to royal purple 10w30, and the engine is cold, the engine makes more noise when I start it up... truck has 160k miles on it so I figured synthetic would help (and it normally does) but this time the engine just doesn't sound as happy.....

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