10w30 to 5w30 for colder months, when should we switch?

[timmy]

What month does everyone switch from 10w30 to 5w30 ? I know changing to the thinner oil is best for colder months, but being in nh it might not get really cold till december. Looking for opinions on when I should switch. I am going to do n oil change tommrow, not sure if I should go with 5w30 just yet... Thoughts?

 

[shakeandbake]

I personally wait till October to change my oil type. It only gets colder after October.

 

[hubz91talontsi]

Brad Penn 10w30 year round

 

[DSM1G90]

10w/30 all year around unless you're up in frigid north in Point Barrow, AK.

 

[timmy]

Thanks for the responses. Should i use 10w30 year round? The car isn't going to see much use in the winter months ( once ever couple weeks or so)...

 

[AK Maniak]

10w/30 all year around unless you're up in frigid north in Point Barrow, AK.

Yup, even up here I know a lot of people that run 10w30 year round. Just let the car warm up before you drive it if you are worried. Unless it gets cold enough to where you have to plug your car in you should be fine.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

0w-20 year around

 

[JusMX141]

I wouldn't change at all.....Mitsu rates 10W30 down to 0*f or something like that, and around here it never gets that cold for an extended period of time; definitely not long enough to concern yourself with changing oil weights. Hell last winter the girlfriend's car had 15W40 in it the entire winter because it never really got cold enough for me to consider going thinner.

0w-20 year around

You drive a new Honda Civic?

That thin of an oil is a horrible idea for our cars. Our engines were never designed for a 20W oil; using anything thinner than 10W30 is a gamble I'd never take.

 

[AK Maniak]

Like Jusmx said, unless it gets cold, and I mean truly cold you should be fine. I ran 5w30 because it'll get below -20 consistently throughout the winter. But like I said before, I know quite a few people who just run 10w30 year long, most of them also have block heaters for when they can't park in a garage.

 

[93TSiguy]

Concur with the above two posts from AK and Jusmx... honestly its pointless and the car doesn't run two sweet at all in fact its hotter because it can't transfer the latent heat well enough to the oil on our engines. There's plenty of debate in the oil game but i've recently had pretty phenominal results with AMSoil's *NEW* lineup of Full Syn 10W30 oils, even the 10K miles one as crazy as that sounds.

 

[spyderturbo007]

I've run Castrol Full Synthetic 10w-30 since I bought the Spyder in 2000. I wouldn't waste your time switching oil weight.

 

[knochgoon24]

0w-20 year around

Ever check your oil pressure while running that? I know mine was quite low.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

I wouldn't change at all.....Mitsu rates 10W30 down to 0*f or something like that, and around here it never gets that cold for an extended period of time; definitely not long enough to concern yourself with changing oil weights. Hell last winter the girlfriend's car had 15W40 in it the entire winter because it never really got cold enough for me to consider going thinner.



You drive a new Honda Civic?

That thin of an oil is a horrible idea for our cars. Our engines were never designed for a 20W oil; using anything thinner than 10W30 is a gamble I'd never take.

I've never seen any problems or damage from it. I checked all my internals less than 5k ago everything was like new as usual. No signs of wear. Engine is around 18k.

My tolerances when built were .015 on all journals. Crank and cam. So they were pretty right. Reason I used I thin oil. 14b used with unknown miles has been fine since I installed it. About 2k ago I'd say. It hasn't been babied the whole time either.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

Ever check your oil pressure while running that? I know mine was quite low.

Not since my wiring broke for my gauge but it was always close to middle as far as I remember. Ill get a gauge or fix my wiring soon and let you know.

 

[JusMX141]

My tolerances when built were .015 on all journals. Crank and cam. So they were pretty right.

You surely mean .0015" and not .015". At .015" you'd have rod knock so loud you couldn't hear yourself think.

Regardless, our entire oiling system and valve sealing system was designed around a 30-weight multigrade which existed in that era; using anything thinner isn't wise...especially in a performance engine. In fact, most engine builders would recommend an oil even heavier than 10W30 for any performance build due to the sheer film strength of the oil.

The newer 20-weight multigrades were designed for modern fuel-efficient engines in passenger vehicles with low-tension oil rings....our cars don't fit a single part of that description.

Use what you want- I don't give a shit if your engine blows...I'm just telling you what's recommended, and that I'd personally never use anything thinner.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

You surely mean .0015" and not .015". At .015" you'd have rod knock so loud you couldn't hear yourself think.

Regardless, our entire oiling system and valve sealing system was designed around a 30-weight multigrade which existed in that era; using anything thinner isn't wise...especially in a performance engine. In fact, most engine builders would recommend an oil even heavier than 10W30 for any performance build due to the sheer film strength of the oil.

The newer 20-weight multigrades were designed for modern fuel-efficient engines in passenger vehicles with low-tension oil rings....our cars don't fit a single part of that description.

Use what you want- I don't give a shit if your engine blows...I'm just telling you what's recommended, and that I'd personally never use anything thinner.

Yes I do mean .0015 just missed, the other zero.

Calm down, I'm not insulting you. My engine isnt going to blow up.

I know what is recommended. I just stated what I have been using. Without any negative result. If it were a 350hp+ build or over 50k I would use a heavier oil. Its simply what I have been running.

And far as fuel efficient I have gotten almost 500 miles out of a tank. Then get beside a mustang cobra and walk off from it.

 

[red_devil]

Don't worry too much about the first number as it has little to no effect under normal operating temperatures. When looking at oil always look at the second number as this represents the weight at a normal operating temperature so a 5w30 and a 10w30 is the same at an oil temperature of 212 F. This can sometimes not be 100% true due to some oils having viscosity index improvers which help thinner or thicker oils act differently than what they are rated for. For better start up protection get a lower number to help reduce high oil pressure. Once the car is warmed up you will need at least a 30 weight oil since this is what was recommended by Mitsubishi. So a good quality 0w30, 5w30, 10w30, 0w40, 5w40 will be just fine.

 

[Alan11]

castrol full synthetic 10w-40 all year round.. I never change oil wheight. for what?

 

[timmy]

This is good to see what others are doing for oil. I am going to stick with 10w30......

 

[Fehrion_sit]

I wouldn't change at all.....Mitsu rates 10W30 down to 0*f or something like that, and around here it never gets that cold for an extended period of time; definitely not long enough to concern yourself with changing oil weights. Hell last winter the girlfriend's car had 15W40 in it the entire winter because it never really got cold enough for me to consider going thinner.



You drive a new Honda Civic?

That thin of an oil is a horrible idea for our cars. Our engines were never designed for a 20W oil; using anything thinner than 10W30 is a gamble I'd never take.

the new subaru motors take 0w-20 and none of the techs really like the idea considering people blow their due mileage constantly

 

[born2tune]

ANYWAYS...

I believe you shouldn't change your Oil at all, I think the only difference is when the engine cranks up during cold temps, other than that the engine will run at normal idle temp whether its 110F or 5F outside. therefore the engine's oil type is predetermined and relative to the ENGINE's design and operating temperature, not the outside air temp.

 

[DSM1G90]

Yea - 0w/20 is like pouring ATF in the oil pan...so danged thin.

But, if you got a dirty motor, one quart of ATF in the oil for 15 min on idle really cleans out things before change.

 

[Bud92gsx]

10-30 rotella here.

 

[turboglenn]

By order of my engine machinist who sets my bearing clearances (i do assembly, he checks and machines it all) I run 10-30 winter and 10-40 summer, and i don't swap to the thinner stuff.

and like Justin said, NORMALLY i wouldn't even swap for winter/summer buyt in nebraska there's weather like no where i've ever been. most of the summer will be low 90's at night and above 100 all day then in the dead of winter it will be about 5-10* F in the 3am hour and onlyu drop furether during the day into negative temps and double digit negative indexes and even then i'm running the 10-30 and giving it warmup time to thin the oil before i drive. but i won't run anything thinner the 10-30 and nothing thicker than 10-40 as my machinist said his "warranty" won't apply if i do, and let me just say that my engine guy alone is worth staying in omaha to have access to, and as a few of us call him "the best kept secret in omaha" because we don't want every import kid issing him off and taking his time with non sense (he would make em leave anyway) but he's the kinda guy you listen, never tell him what "is commonly run for your power goals" you tell him where you want to be and let him build it, and if you don't piss him off by trying to tell him how to do his job as some people have done in the past (i amde that mistake once) but you stay on his good side nad race engine are built for the price of used engines, you can't beat that plus his labor warranty if it fails for any reason other than oil starvation or just being stupid with the tune

 

[TallestHERETIC]

Pennzoil 10W30 right here.

That oil is amazing! My engine internals look brand new. Not a spec of sludge!