5W30 or 10W30, synthetic or traditional? Opinions wanted

RDF1 · May 27, 2023

I use the cheapest oil I can find and order a case of filters at a time to save a few dollars.
I do like the big 12 and 16 quart bags of oil in a box with a spout. I buy those when on sale.

My 04 2500hd has a little over 300,000 miles on it. The other day it wasn't touching the stick and I had a quart of valvoline VR1 20w50 and a quart of 15w40 handy. So that got dumped in the engine. The last oil change I had 2 qts of mobile 1 5w20 from changing oil in wife's tahoe. And some oreillys 15w40 so it got a cocktail mix of oils.

Today's oils are pretty good stuff. Or these engines really don't care as long as it's clean oil.

Erik the Awful · May 27, 2023

RDF1 said:
I do like the big 12 and 16 quart bags of oil in a box with a spout.

I just had a flashback to mission work in a village in Honduras. The little bodega in the village sold Pepsi in plastic bags. You've never had a flatter soda.

someotherguy · May 27, 2023

Erik the Awful said:
I just had a flashback to mission work in a village in Honduras. The little bodega in the village sold Pepsi in plastic bags. You've never had a flatter soda.

*groan*

Richard

Caman96 · May 27, 2023

Back in the early 70’s my mother bought “powdered cola” . Came in like a Kool Aid packet. Hideous stuff

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I’m sure it was all natural.

0xDEADBEEF · May 27, 2023

Supercharged111 said:
0W30 and 0W40 FTW. If they start making -5W30 I'll start running that. Doesn't matter if you live in TX, oil cooler than operating temp is way too thick period. 30 or 40W at operating temp fits the bill fine.

The problem is you can't get oil to do that without modifiers that tend to boil off over time and get burned in the combustion chamber. This is from my personal experience with oils and oil consumption in my climate.

The reality is that between the choices in the thread title, it's not near as important as proper maintenance.

Supercharged111 · May 27, 2023

0xDEADBEEF said:
The problem is you can't get oil to do that without modifiers that tend to boil off over time and get burned in the combustion chamber. This is from my personal experience with oils and oil consumption in my climate.

The reality is that between the choices in the thread title, it's not near as important as proper maintenance.

No it's not. New oil is better than old oil. But those modifiers are more of a penalty in dino oil according to BITOG. They say synthetic oils revert to the higher weight when the modifiers take a dump, but don't specify which base stocks. Still though, we all have oil pressure gauges.

grey wolf · Jun 1, 2023

Personally I use 10W30 in my worn out old 4.3L, but it probably doesn't matter much. Regular oil is cheaper too, and if you change it often enough, it's not going to matter if you pick regular or synthetic. My truck has a pretty good piston slap on cold start up that takes a minute to go away, so having slightly thicker oil for cold starts is maybe beneficial somehow, but who knows.

For these trucks (and any vehicle really), I'd say it's far more important to keep your oil clean than it is to choose the "right oil". I change my oil when it starts to turn dark brown on the dipstick, or at 6 months, which ever comes first. The colour is a good indicator of how much garbage is suspended in the oil, which is one of the things engine oil is designed to do.

Komet · Jun 1, 2023

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Of course as soon as I mention it, Valvoline stopped doing the pour spout. I will never forgive this injustice.

Caman96 · Jun 1, 2023

Komet said:
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Of course as soon as I mention it, Valvoline stopped doing the pour spout. I will never forgive this injustice.

The more you spill, the more you buy.

454cid · Jun 1, 2023

grey wolf said:
The colour is a good indicator of how much garbage is suspended in the oil, which is one of the things engine oil is designed to do.

I've read the exact opposite about oil color, but I dont recall where. I know it pleases me when the oil in my Volvos stays lighter than what my truck does.

5W30 or 10W30, synthetic or traditional? Opinions wanted

RDF1

I'm Awesome

Erik the Awful

Supporting Member

someotherguy

Truly Awesome

Caman96

OEM Baby!

0xDEADBEEF

Supporting Member

Supercharged111

Truly Awesome

grey wolf

Newbie

Komet

I'm Awesome

Caman96

OEM Baby!

454cid

Sooper Pooper

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