OH, and BTW, i live in zone 5, granted not the coldest place in the US, but the oil has nothing to do with the ability to start the engine. I ran straight 50 in a 400 ford for years due to consumption issues and never had a bit of problem with it either. It also was used to push snow, so yes, it was used in the winter.
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Aren't all engines since the early 50's OHV ??
My Mazda PU specifies 5w-20, but the dealer always uses 5w-30 for the oil changes. (I bought the lifetime oil change deal.) I was curious if I could tell any difference, so I changed it myself once with 5w-20 and couldn't tell any difference in gas mileage.
Since the weather has cooled off, I have gone back to driving my dad's old 1984 Nissan pickup, with 5-speed standard transmission, no AC, no power steering and a 4-cylinder Z24 engine. I notice about a 50% improvement in gas mileage. The engine has 10w-30 stamped on it, but I'm sure it would run fine on 5w-30 in the winter.
If you really have to squeeze the last erg out of your fuel, Red Line markets a 0W5 racing oil. I wouldn't recommend it for street use.
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neat sharing of information. thanks Larry...
a friend who races on the small home boy circuit told me how he has drained the heavy oil out of the rear end differential gear and replaced it with Slick50® for his qualifying laps. He said he might pick up 1 or
2 mph by doing this and sometimes the difference between a good place in the starting lineup and a not so good place in the starting lineup is determined by only a few tenths of a mph. He went on to say he had never run an entire race with such a lite weight lubricant in the rear end deferential and how the point was all about qualifying for a good starting position.
Exactly, no blankets were used in the construction of my post..
Sounds like quite a conspiracy since multi viscosity has been around and in use since before I was born. Sometimes the "new" thing isn't evil just because you think it is.
I am guessing a lot of folks would like to lead your charmed life. In places besides your driveway the weight of the oil does make a difference in cold weather starting.
It also makes a difference in how much oil gets to tight spots such as bearings, etc before the engine warms up. Running straight 30 oil in an engine ENGINEERED for 5-20 will shorten its life. Mr. Barker's Ford had consumption issues BECAUSE he ran straight 50 in it.
You see something new every day. Now we have somebody ranting against multi-viscosity oil? It surely didn't become widespread due to fuel economy. As someone else pointed out, it's been widely used in autos since the 60s. All that has happened in that regard is auto manufacturers have been going to lower weight ones over the years to improve fuel economy.
Also, if it doesn't make any difference, it's kind of funny auto manufacturers waste time coming up with charts that show the correct oil weight for different climates.
I know but you can't argue with someone who thinks engineered lubricants are a conspiracy...
It is just amazing how people hang on to the idea that heavy oil is necessary.
Googled this up:
My only point is you shouldn't beat someone up about their experience on an international newsgroup based on your experience in the arctic.
The other thing I would say is just about any oil will work in most engines for the life most people expect out of their car. Most cars are junked long before the engine blows up. In the little latitudes I care more about what the oil pressure is on a hot day than what the cold cranking characteristics are. Multi viscosity oils don't seem to hold up as long. 10w30 is 10 weight oil with a magic ingredient that makes it 30 when it gets hot ... until that ingredient stops working. Then it is just 10 weight or less
That is not what multi-viscosity oils do, or how they behave. No wonder you are confused.
Walmart carrys Mobil1 0w-20 in 5 quart jugs for $22.00 Cruise over to
no it doesn't.
no it had consumption issues cause it spent the first 70,000 miles of it's life off road with an owner that didn't believe in maint.
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i agree, it is funny. It's all about the mileage ratings.
I never said evil. Just unnecessary. Waste of money.
I used to run straight 50 in my '53 Mercury with flathead V-8. Leaked less, burned less. If it was a liquid, that car leaked it.
I'll "kinda" agree with you. Even here in Cenral Ontario, the "interlaken: region " of the "great white north" it gets hot enough in the summer that I do not trust an Xw20 or Xw30 conventional oil for highway use.
My summer oil in the 2.5 Mystique is 10W40 - changed before 6000 km (usually before 5000). The 3.0 liter Chrysler (mitsubishi) that preceded it used 10W40 in the winter and 20W50 in the summer for over 240,000 km an 18 years, as did both 3.0 liter Aerostars. My 2003 PT Cruiser runs 5W30 full synthetic Mannheim oil year round.
3 changes a year - no more than 4 months on a change which varies from 5-8000 km. If I hit 8000 km before 4 months (happens once in a while) it gets changed.Today's "quality" multigrades do not suffer from serious shear degredation of viscosity in normal use with 5000km change intervals. With 10,000km change intervals (particularly summer highway driving with a load) I'd be worrying.
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