Oils that our cars DON'T eat?

[seabass07]

exactly...but I'm guessing bob already paid for that and quoted it since it's from his site in his tutorial.

[apexi]

Gotcha, thanks for clearing that up. I agree with what you're saying.

[0Tyrael0]

I was thinking on the 0w40 thing and I guess it would have to depend on what temp 0w40 becomes thicker than say 5w30 to decide which one would be better for winter. 0w40 is thinner at -47c than 5w30 but thats pretty cold. As for min pumping temp they are only 1 degree apart (with synthetic 5w30). So its possible that 5w30 may still be a thinner at all temps but extremely cold. For example 5w30 might be thinner at -25c. This would make it a more practical oil 95% of the time. Only a theory though because I dont know the viscosity at -25c.

 

Or you could go with 0w30 that I think is most practical all of the time except for track cars.

[seabass07]

Unless you want a thicker oil at temp because you are very hard on your car. In the winter up north, I'll use 0w40. That's were the 0w comes in. You can have a thicker oil up top without having to sacrifice cold starts.

[apexi]

If I really wanted to open a can of worms, I'd start to talk about how I think M1 0w-40 is far superior to M1 0w-30

[0Tyrael0]

It isnt lol.

[0Tyrael0]

Unless you want a thicker oil at temp because you are very hard on your car. In the winter up north, I'll use 0w40. That's were the 0w comes in. You can have a thicker oil up top without having to sacrifice cold starts.

 

I give up. Each to their own.

[seabass07]

Exactly! I just wanted to make sure you know what the numbers mean. After that, it is everyone's decision what they want for their car. I started this thread really to see if my car was eating oil because I used crap oil and I wanted to know what other people are using to combat this. A lot of people have noticed that it has more to do with blow-by from being hard on the car. The car will also run hotter when you are hard on it. So based on my driving style, I think a thicker oil will be better for my engine (plus subaru recommends a 5w40 for harsh driving). If I have a change of heart and decide to start driving like an old lady all the time, then I'll try a thinner oil. No oil is "best". Use what you want. I made my choice of oil brand because of price vs quality. I chose the weight for my driving style. I know a 0w30 will be thinner at cold temps, but I'm still going to have fun with my car. I'll also monitor my oil temps to see how they are effected by cold weather. That will really determine what weight I use in a "real" winter. I am NOT trying to get you to use the same thing I am using or saying it is the best.

[bluesubie]

If I really wanted to open a can of worms, I'd start to talk about how I think M1 0w-40 is far superior to M1 0w-30

It isnt lol.

 

Tyrael - Why do you say that? I'd take a 0W-40 with an HTHS of 3.8, that meets numerous German manufacturer specs, with a good dose of zinc and phosphorus, over a 0W-30 with an HTHS of 3.06 that is geared towards fuel economy any day.

 

-Dennis

[doccrowley]

Here's my experience:

 

Currently run Rotella syn T6 5w-40 and have for the last year after going to a pro-tune stage II.5 set-up. As of 80,000 miles today, zero shaft play on the turbo (despite a bit of wet oil in the Perrin TMIC, and a thrashed throttle body hose). Upgrades installed today, new oil pan, KillerB pickup, KillerB oil baffle, Cobb UP, CNT catted DP, STi pitchstop and new Throttle body to TMIC tube.

 

Car stage I at 6,000 miles. Stage II at 30,000 miles. Car ate Mobil 1 synthetic, went straight through the car. Ran Castrol 5W-30 until the tuner said to go Synthetic after his tune running almost 20psi with my stock turbo, Perrin TMIC, catless set-up. Have run this stage II.5 set-up for the last 20,000 miles. Car will go through 1 quart in 3,000 miles.

 

I never let the car go more than 3,000 miles between filter and oil changes. Always Subie filter and car see the track once a month over the past 20,000 miles.

[0Tyrael0]

Tyrael - Why do you say that? I'd take a 0W-40 with an HTHS of 3.8, that meets numerous German manufacturer specs, with a good dose of zinc and phosphorus, over a 0W-30 with an HTHS of 3.06 that is geared towards fuel economy any day.

 

-Dennis

 

Ill answer by saying in my car with a high rpm engine I dont use 0w30 or 0w40. I use 0w20. Mobil 1 offers a "fuel economy" and "race" version of 0w20 and 0w30. But they are exactly the same. The "race" probably just has some silly additives in it. They both have the same viscosity. I think the 0w40 meets German specs because it covers a wide range of viscosity.

[0Tyrael0]

Exactly! I just wanted to make sure you know what the numbers mean. After that, it is everyone's decision what they want for their car. I started this thread really to see if my car was eating oil because I used crap oil and I wanted to know what other people are using to combat this. A lot of people have noticed that it has more to do with blow-by from being hard on the car. The car will also run hotter when you are hard on it. So based on my driving style, I think a thicker oil will be better for my engine (plus subaru recommends a 5w40 for harsh driving). If I have a change of heart and decide to start driving like an old lady all the time, then I'll try a thinner oil. No oil is "best". Use what you want. I made my choice of oil brand because of price vs quality. I chose the weight for my driving style. I know a 0w30 will be thinner at cold temps, but I'm still going to have fun with my car. I'll also monitor my oil temps to see how they are effected by cold weather. That will really determine what weight I use in a "real" winter. I am NOT trying to get you to use the same thing I am using or saying it is the best.

 

I see what your saying and your right. I just dont see a thicker oil being better other than on extremely high temp track cars. All im trying to say is you should give a thinner oil a try.

[seabass07]

I did, but my car ate it.

[BruceBruce]

my car has been eating Pennzoil Platinum 5w30. It ate Mobil1 5w30 to. thinking of tryin PP 10w30 now or maybe the rotella stuff. People seem to like it here, but i feel better knowing that my car is not the only one eating oil. Its done a little over a quart in ~3k miles

[0Tyrael0]

I did, but my car ate it.

 

Really? Is it leaking or something? I haven't had any problems yet.

[seabass07]

No...just blow by. I used 5w30 castrol GTX and it ate it. So far on the rotella, I have been even harder on the car and upped the boost a bit and still no oil loss. It was just too thin for my car I think.

[bluesubie]

Ill answer by saying in my car with a high rpm engine I dont use 0w30 or 0w40. I use 0w20. Mobil 1 offers a "fuel economy" and "race" version of 0w20 and 0w30. But they are exactly the same. The "race" probably just has some silly additives in it. They both have the same viscosity. I think the 0w40 meets German specs because it covers a wide range of viscosity.

I presume you're n/a unless you added a turbo or did a swap. M1 has a race 0W-30 and 0W-50 only.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Racing_Oils.aspx

 

It has high doses of zinc and phosphorus and low doses of detergents for the street.

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Files/Mobil_1_Product_Guide.pdf

 

I see that you posted Dr. Haas's link up there. With the exception of a couple of runs on GC, he does not run oils that you buy in your

local parts store. He previously ran Red Line and is now running Renewable Lubricants Inc. Both have a high HTHS and are ester based with higher levels of Anti Wear additives than API SM/SN oils. He also uses them in a particular application (exotics with huge oil sumps cruising around FL) and does uoa's every 2,000 miles or so.

 

Probably nothing wrong with running a 20 grade since a lot of people running Energy Conserving 5W-30 are actually running 20 grades since they usually shear.

 

-Dennis

[0Tyrael0]

Yeah I could probably run a 0w20 especially in the winter. Only problem I have with putting it in my subaru is it costs more and the subie is my daily driver. I do use 0w20 in my S2K.

[IceCold81]

So I practically read this ENTIRE thread (Phewww!), and I'm on the cusp of a MUCH needed oil change! I've been on this forum A BUNCH of times sort of lurking around and reading some good info you guys post, so I figured this was a perfect time to post up (Btw, why the heck can't I edit my avatar? ha)

 

As a sidenote, I experienced a LOT of oil lose on this last oil change, and I believe it was 10w30 synthetic Amsoil, now It may not be a surprise considering that I'm probably at the 7,000 OCI mark and It just took about 2.25-2.50 quarts to fill things back up to normal level... (I know bad bad bad, and I should have checked a LONG time ago) But life has been hectic and gotten the best of me! The miles racked up and got away from me, I also drive my car a little hard from time to time and all my driving is mostly 80mph and above on the highway, and I normally have mutiple scenario's where road rage gets the best of me and I jam the throttle to get somewhere (Keep that in mind)

 

Anyway, so I'm wanting to give amsoil another shot, and were in the beginning of winter here up in the chicagoland area, so this time I'm thinking of going with the 0w30

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/sso.aspx

 

THOUGHTS?

[apexi]

I think you would still experience a great deal of consumption with amsoil 0w-30 if you did with their 10w-30. If you would like to give amsoil another try, I would recommend going with their 5w-40.

 

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/afl.aspx

[seabass07]

My first thought is of how close you probably were to starving your turbo of oil. If you go with a 0w30 just check your oil because it will still get consumed if you get road rage. Have you gotten a UOA before? I'm sure that amsoil can deal with a 7k interval, but you may be getting fuel dilution thinning out the oil increasing consumption, or it may just be blow by. Since you didn't check it for a while, you don't know when it started consuming oil.

 

There's no harm in using the 0w30 and topping it up regularly. Or you can look for a 0w40 that may help with consumption...maybe rotella.

[joeblow]

Keep in mind that a decent amount of that loss probably happened later on in the OCI because of shearing. I'm not pro or anti amsoil, just pointing out that some of that excessive consumption could have been caused by oil breakdown as opposed to bad oil for a turbo.

[BruceBruce]

when you guys are buying the rotella stuff are you getting the t6 synthetic?

[IceCold81]

My first thought is of how close you probably were to starving your turbo of oil. If you go with a 0w30 just check your oil because it will still get consumed if you get road rage. Have you gotten a UOA before? I'm sure that amsoil can deal with a 7k interval, but you may be getting fuel dilution thinning out the oil increasing consumption, or it may just be blow by. Since you didn't check it for a while, you don't know when it started consuming oil.

 

There's no harm in using the 0w30 and topping it up regularly. Or you can look for a 0w40 that may help with consumption...maybe rotella.

 

Keep in mind that a decent amount of that loss probably happened later on in the OCI because of shearing. I'm not pro or anti amsoil, just pointing out that some of that excessive consumption could have been caused by oil breakdown as opposed to bad oil for a turbo.

 

Thanks guys for the feedback.....

 

I thought about it a bit, and as yes it gets cold around these parts

 

(and for instance this morning was 9 degree's and I got a nasty little "Shreek" out of my motor area, upon turn over this morning Hmmm... But my car has always made some weird noises when it starts after sitting in the cold like that all night from day one, maybe not THAT loud, but it went away right away maybe a belt...)

 

I think I'm just going to give the amsoil 5w-30 a shot (Manufacturer recommended and all), since it will maybe be better for cold starts but hold to the same viscosity at motor temps, and this time, I'm gonna check it periodically to verify or void the possibility of loss over the course of time, or potentially just oil break down and Late OCI burn off...

 

And yea, ALL my mileage is back and forth on the highway and I LITERALLY set my cruise control at 80mph roughly... And I've seen some loss in the past, but not as much as I did this time... This is also about the longest OCI I've probably had, which I would hope the oil just began to breakdown and starting burning off at the end more so then anywhere else.

 

btw, seabass what the heck is UOA mean? lol... (Sorry if a stupid question)

 

and joeblow, "Shearing"?

 

And how bout the idea of going with a 5w40?

[joeblow]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/oilshear.htm

 

Long story short, the oil is squeezed against certain higher friction points in the engine and breaks down. Over time the breakdown causes loss of viscosity/thins out the oil potentially leading to more blowby and oil loss.