Owners manual calls for 5W30 engine oil in my 1995 LS 2.3L That seems way too light to me, especially for sustained summer hot weather highway driving.
Has anyone here changed up to 10W40 in their engine and what has been the result?
My guess is that they use the very light oil for emissions control because it doesn't tend tend to stick on the cylinder walls. I'm more concerned with engine life.
If any expert has any valid reason as to why I should not switch up to a heavier oil I'm all ears. I'm planning a 2400 mile, all highway, trip this summer and I want to be using the right oil for the job.
Vic
Tolerances are tight when the engine is new, so it needs the lighter weight oil to get through. Things tend to loosen up as the engine gets older. I started running 10w30 during the summer a while back, and now run 10w30 year round with no problems.
the first number has nothing to do with final oil weiht. the first number is cold viscosity. lighter is for easier start ups. it then warms to 30 weight. you can easily run 5/10 w 40 in your motor if you wish, more protection, harder startup but w/e.
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
10W40 and lucas oil stabler here, works great on all the cars and trucks I have ever had, as well as my friends and gfs that I changed oil for.
Scott
When I boost, you boost, we boost
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You have been banned from NEJBODY.
You've displayed wayyy too many acts of pushing people to their limits.
It's never cool to tear people down for what they want to do.
NEJBODY is a team. We're not the same as JBO where everyone bashes on eachother.
I'm surprised you show up to our meets after half of the things you say on here.
5w30 is fine. Never had a problem with the Ho and it has seen alot of racing. Stick to 5w30. Non sense to go with thicker oil.
Gilles
2.3 Ho
Used Mobil 1 5W30 in my '93 2.3L. Never had any oiling issues whatsoever.
1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
i use mobile 1 5w30 in my cavie and it runs like a r@ped ape.
Silly ricer, useless wings are for penguins.
anything w30 will do fine. I would only be somewhat worried if it were somthing w20, which most small imports run anyway and they seems to run longer than our cars.
If you're running a good synthetic, its OK. I'd run at least 10W30 if you're using regular oil.
100,000 miles on my 2200, used nothing but 5w-30, never have had issues yet, and still runs pretty strong. For a 2200 anyway. <wishes for enough bucks to get an Ecotec to swap in>
Im at 72000 On my 2002 2200, and I beat the everloving $@*% out of it (I need a good reason to rebuild it, and blowing somehting up IS a good one
). I put in Synthetic blend my first oil change (23000 miles, when I got the car). I moved to full synthetic 2000 Miles after (Im anal and change the oil about every 2500 Miles)
Ive been putting in 10w30, and its been rock solid. From 5w to 10w (maybe its psychological) but it seemed to me the motor got a tad quieter, but maybe thats just because it was fresh oil.
I use mobil 1 fully synthetic, actually just got my 3 free cases in the mail, and i always use 10w30, year round, granted its parked in the winter but year round thats what i run.
and PS lucas oil stabilizer is not good for your oil. just ask bob the oil guy.
Since you get it for free how about I send you my address and you can send me some free samples so I can try it also?
Vic
I use 10w30 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter, mainly because it will be an easier start in the winter. It all works good for me
80k miles on my 2200 and the only problem I had was my thermostat
dan
How do you go about getting 3 free cases in the mail Vincent? eh? eh? *nudge*
haha
i registered for a website and i won. Took about a paragraph of time and i won performance ride of the month and got 3 free cases of any form of mobil oil i want. so i win, i was happy, its probably about $100 worth of oil.
I use mobil 1 fully synthetic 5w 30
Sunfire 99 (miles: 40k)
Koyot3_Sunfir3_El_Niņo
I use Purple Royal 10W30 love the stuff. Just a bit on the expensive side but totaly worth it.
In the planning stage for an all American TRD Cavalier.
I always have used 5w30 in my 85 cav,with 205,000 and that's all I have ever used.I run valvoline and the car uses no oil and no problems.The car was my sisters since 90 and same viscosity was used up to 98 that's when I bought the car.I think it's all personal choice and conditions etc.
Ron Love wrote:I think it's all personal choice and conditions etc.
yup!
Scott
When I boost, you boost, we boost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have been banned from NEJBODY.
You've displayed wayyy too many acts of pushing people to their limits.
It's never cool to tear people down for what they want to do.
NEJBODY is a team. We're not the same as JBO where everyone bashes on eachother.
I'm surprised you show up to our meets after half of the things you say on here.
As long as you change the oil and the filter on a regular basis... who cares what you use! Dino oil... synthetic... semi-both, whatever...
I use the cheapest crap I can find... Walmart 5W30.. and I beat the crap out of my cars...
My transmission gets Synthetic ATF from Walmart... cheapest stuff I could find
If your worried that 5w30 isn't enough, I might suggest you just go ahead and switch to full sythetic. 0w20 of any true full sythetic has a much, much higher load capacity(force needed before it allows metal-on-metal contact to occur) than would 20w50 in conventional oil. Viscocity really only measures the oil's thickness(which is less important with Full Sythetic). Yes if you wanted you could actually run Mobile 1, Royal Purple, Amsoil, etc in 0w20 without any worries even in a high performance/high abuse engine. That will greatly exceed what is needed. But obviously you could also run your standard 5/30 or 10w30 in full sythetic but it is overkill on top of the overkill that a full sythetic already provides.
Also, for initial viscocity(aka "5" in 5w30 and "10" in 10w30) lower numbers mean it is thinner when cool(aka on startup), so it will get around your engine quicker after you start it. Starting your engine is the hardest time on it because there is no lubrication initially(unless you are using Royal Purple
), so it is important to get it lubricated as quick as possible. 5w30 is better than 10w30 for this reason. 0w20 etc is even better for this.
Z24HO wrote:I use Purple Royal 10W30 love the stuff. Just a bit on the expensive side but totaly worth it.
Yes it is totally worth it. Better protection. Better milage. Longer oil change intervals(recommended 15,000 miles
). Better power(rather... less power lost to friction). AND NO MORE DRY STARTS(it stays on - trust me).
John Lenko wrote:As long as you change the oil and the filter on a regular basis... who cares what you use! Dino oil... synthetic... semi-both, whatever...
I use the cheapest crap I can find... Walmart 5W30.. and I beat the crap out of my cars...
My transmission gets Synthetic ATF from Walmart... cheapest stuff I could find
Lenko - you might want to rethink using the cheap stuff. Sometimes being cheap cost more.
Even if Full Sythetic does cost more initally, you don't need to change it very often. Royal Purple around me cost between $6-7/quart depending on where you buy it and conventional being over $2(but I'll round down). We really only need 4 1/2 quarts but you need to buy 5 quarts to get as much.
Conventional oil @ $2/quart - $2 x 5 quarts x 5 oil changes(3000 mile oil changes across 15,000 miles) = $50
Royal Purple @ $6/quart - $6 x 5 quarts x 1 change (will cover 15,000 miles) = $30
Royal Purple @ $7/quart - $7 x 5 quarts x 1 change (will cover 15,000 miles) = $35
Even if you got oil @ $1.50/quart, you are still spending $37.50 across 15,000 miles. By comparison, you'd have to pay $10/quart for Royal Purple to be equally expensive as using the $2/quart conventional. Stretch that across 90,000 miles at $2 conventional and $6 Royal Purple = $300 for conventional and $180 for Royal Purple. The expensive stuff is cheaper in the end lol. And that isn't even including fuel economy.
It does save on gas... and since gas is %#&!ing expensive now, you are really saving money buying Royal Purple(or some other nice full sythetic - Mobile 1 can be bought at Walmart).
I've never heard of this "part throttle" before. Does it just bolt on?
I really appreciate your reply Bastardking3000 but I have this underlying fear of using synthetic oils in an old or high mileage engine ever since I had a couple of experiences with it, Mobil 1 particularly.
Case 1, I decided to make the switch to Mobil 1 in my GL1100E Suzuki motocycle and I lost the use of my clutch, had to tear the clutch down and, clean the friction plates and steels, deglaze them, replace the oil with dino oil and I got my clutch back again.
Case 2, I decided to make the switch to Mobil 1 in my Honda Accord, the very next, morning I started the engine and the camshaft seal blew right off off the end of the cam. According to my research synthetic oil molecules stay tighter and will rush faster when cold (normally good) but in but case the weak seal wasn't strong enough to hold the rush.
So, knowing the wonders and benefits of synthetic oils and their amazing properties but also being fully aware of the experiences that I have had with synthetic oils in my engines I think that I will stay away from the synthetic oils unless your willing to come over and fix any problems they might cause if they arise.
Perhaps if my engine was new I might be willing to risk the adventure on some of the amazing synthetic oils.
Vic
i always use 10w30 and never had a problem. car has 136k on it and runs great.
ive used 5w30 since the day i bought my 04 eco cavy. i now use 5w30 high mileage from castrol, i like it never a problem. 97k on the clock and still purrs like a kitten.
2004 Cavalier, 2.2 ecotec, 5spd getrag
do you ever notice that the ones who talk the loudest have the least to talk about?
