5W vs 10W oil

While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.

In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
with looser engine tolerances....
and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.

So - is it only a viscosity thing ?
Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?

tnx -

--
/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/
No Good Deed -
Goes Unpunished

"ps56k" > wrote in message
...
> While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
> I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
> The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
> However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.
>
> In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
> with looser engine tolerances....
> and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.
>
> So - is it only a viscosity thing ?
> Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?
>
found this PDF among tons of other info -
http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g52.pdf

SO - for the Chicago winter,
should I leave the 10W high mileage,
or go back and get it replaced with 5W (as GM says) high mileage if avail ?

ps56k wrote:
> "ps56k" wrote ...
>> While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
>> I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
>> The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
>> However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.
>>
>> In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
>> with looser engine tolerances....
>> and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.
>>
>> So - is it only a viscosity thing ?

Yep.

>> Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?

Only in severe cold.
http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#Oil%20Viscosity


> found this PDF among tons of other info -
> http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g52.pdf

I'm not a fan of the amsoil hype.

> SO - for the Chicago winter,
> should I leave the 10W high mileage,
> or go back and get it replaced with 5W (as GM says) high mileage if
> avail ?

"depends" as in depends on how much oil you leak or burn.
If you're not burning any oil with the regular 5W30 then why change.
Besides, "high milage" is more of a sales pitch. A "high milage"
engine can be in as good condition as a low-milage one.

Remember, the lower number is the viscosity when the oil is cold.
The lower, the better it flows while your engine is warming up.

I use 10W30 for general weather but if the Jeep will be up in
Colorado winter I switch to 5W30 synthetic. And it's a 93 with
nearly 200,000 hard miles on the clock.

It also "depends" on where you are in Chicago. Last week Schaumberg
was nice for the most part. South of O'Hare was a different story.

--
-- DougW -- 93 ZJ 4.0 http://revbeergoggles.com
HESCO Supercharger - 300W IASCA Stereo - Edelbrock IAS Shocks
Gibson Exhaust - rear DCpower - custom gauge install - Stillen Rotors
Banks Header - and BEER, in the fridge!

ps56k wrote:
> While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
> I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
> The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
> However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.
>
> In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
> with looser engine tolerances....
> and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.
>
> So - is it only a viscosity thing ?
> Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?

Some engines require the 5W-xx type oils, since it isn't a jeep no idea
about the Chevvie. One issue that *might* be a problem would be for
the specific oil and type--it may be a bit too thick at Chicago
temperatures to lube properly for the first few seconds at startup.

"Lon" > wrote in message
...
> ps56k wrote:
>> While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
>> I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
>> The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
>> However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.
>>
>> In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
>> with looser engine tolerances....
>> and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.
>>
>> So - is it only a viscosity thing ?
>> Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?
>
> Some engines require the 5W-xx type oils, since it isn't a jeep no idea
> about the Chevvie. One issue that *might* be a problem would be for the
> specific oil and type--it may be a bit too thick at Chicago temperatures
> to lube properly for the first few seconds at startup.
>


Just as a point of info. Last week I put a motor in a Caddilac CTS. The
extended warranty that the guy bought with the car(*not* a GM
warranty)refused the claim because he hadn't been using the Mobil 1 that GM
requires for that engine.
Not saying the oil was the cause of the problem, just that the warranty
company used it as a convienient(sp?)excuse to deny the claim.

--
Old Crow
'82 FLTC(P) 92"
'87 FLTC
'61 F-100 302/C-6
BS#133, SENS, TOMKAT, SLOB#13, MAMBM

Old Crow wrote:

> Just as a point of info. Last week I put a motor in a Caddilac CTS. The extended warranty that the guy bought with the car(*not*
> a GM
> warranty)refused the claim because he hadn't been using the Mobil 1
> that GM requires for that engine.
> Not saying the oil was the cause of the problem, just that the
> warranty company used it as a convienient(sp?)excuse to deny the
> claim.

I'm not sure they can actually do that. He needs to take the insurance
company to court providing it simply wasn't a case of pure neglect.
http://www.lemon-law-explained.com/m...ranty-act.html

But then again I'm betting that warranty was one of those "as seen on TV"
car insurance policies. 99% of which are simply a ripoff. BBB has tons
of complaints against most of them, especially U.S. Fidelis.

We had one of our folks at work get ripped off that way. Tried to warn
them but nooooo, the deal was just so good.... Now the idiot is mad at
me for not warning him LOUDLY enough.... sigh, every villiage has at least
one idiot.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/trave...and_facts.html

Shorter version of link above: http://preview.tinyurl.com/27g3ccj



--
DougW

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:52:10 -0600, "Old Crow" >
wrote:

>"Lon" > wrote in message
...
>> ps56k wrote:
>>> While our Jeep is sitting ready for our snowy & cold Chicago weather,
>>> I took my son's 2004 Impala LS in for a local shop oil change...
>>> The records show he has been using a 10W high mileage oil - 92k -
>>> However, the engine cap & manual indicate 5W should be used.
>>>
>>> In surfing, it appears that 10W is recommended for older cars
>>> with looser engine tolerances....
>>> and newer cars should use 5W with tigher engine tolerances.
>>>
>>> So - is it only a viscosity thing ?
>>> Any issues with the 10W high mileage oil vs a 5W version ?
>>
>> Some engines require the 5W-xx type oils, since it isn't a jeep no idea
>> about the Chevvie. One issue that *might* be a problem would be for the
>> specific oil and type--it may be a bit too thick at Chicago temperatures
>> to lube properly for the first few seconds at startup.
>>
>
>
>Just as a point of info. Last week I put a motor in a Caddilac CTS. The
>extended warranty that the guy bought with the car(*not* a GM
>warranty)refused the claim because he hadn't been using the Mobil 1 that GM
>requires for that engine.
>Not saying the oil was the cause of the problem, just that the warranty
>company used it as a convienient(sp?)excuse to deny the claim.

Which MAY put them in violation of federal law, but I suspect that
what you call a convienient excuse in fact is just reality, the owner
should have used the lubricant that the manufacturer specified.

"DougW" > wrote in message
...
> Old Crow wrote:
>
>> Just as a point of info. Last week I put a motor in a Caddilac CTS. The
>> extended warranty that the guy bought with the car(*not* a GM
>> warranty)refused the claim because he hadn't been using the Mobil 1
>> that GM requires for that engine.
>> Not saying the oil was the cause of the problem, just that the
>> warranty company used it as a convienient(sp?)excuse to deny the
>> claim.
>
> I'm not sure they can actually do that. He needs to take the insurance
> company to court providing it simply wasn't a case of pure neglect.
> http://www.lemon-law-explained.com/m...ranty-act.html
>
> But then again I'm betting that warranty was one of those "as seen on TV"
> car insurance policies. 99% of which are simply a ripoff. BBB has tons
> of complaints against most of them, especially U.S. Fidelis.
>
> We had one of our folks at work get ripped off that way. Tried to warn
> them but nooooo, the deal was just so good.... Now the idiot is mad at
> me for not warning him LOUDLY enough.... sigh, every villiage has at least
> one idiot.
>
> http://www.streetdirectory.com/trave...and_facts.html
>
> Shorter version of link above: http://preview.tinyurl.com/27g3ccj
>
>
>
> --
> DougW
>


It was CNA, which is ordinarily pretty good about repairs. They ended up
paying 1/2 the price of installing a wrecking yard motor. The motor they
found actually had less miles on it than the original, and the car runs fine
now.
He's only had the car several months and when we changed the oil he didn't
want to pop for the extra cost of the Mobil 1. The factory specifies M1,
it's marked on the oil filler cap, mentioned in the owners manual, etc.
The teardown and diagnosis was done by a Caddy dealer, but we did the repair
because of the deal with CNA. I saw the old motor and all the bearings were
wiped out as well as the heads(overhead cams with no bearing inserts).
Looked more like an oil pump failure to me, but by the time I got it, it was
a done deal.

To bring this back OT, I just used Castrol High Mileage 10w-30 in the '95
Wrangler YJ(115,000miles) I bought my wife for Christmas.
I also started using it in my '94 YJ. The next oil change on this one is
due at 300,000 miles. I think it actually cut oil consumption a bit over
the regular Castrol GTX I used to use, but I have to get the valve cover
resealed before I can tell for sure.

--
Old Crow
'82 FLTC(P) 92"
'87 FLTC
'61 F-100 302/C-6
BS#133, SENS, TOMKAT, SLOB#13, MAMBM

Old Crow wrote:

> It was CNA, which is ordinarily pretty good about repairs. They
> ended up paying 1/2 the price of installing a wrecking yard motor. The motor they found actually had less miles on it than the
> original,
> and the car runs fine now.
> He's only had the car several months and when we changed the oil he
> didn't want to pop for the extra cost of the Mobil 1. The factory
> specifies M1, it's marked on the oil filler cap, mentioned in the
> owners manual, etc. The teardown and diagnosis was done by a Caddy dealer, but we did the
> repair because of the deal with CNA. I saw the old motor and all the
> bearings were wiped out as well as the heads(overhead cams with no
> bearing inserts). Looked more like an oil pump failure to me, but by
> the time I got it, it was a done deal.

I'd have to suspect pump failure too, or starvation (broken pickup?).
A slight difference in oil viscosity isn't enough to do that type of
damage unless you are in the Arctic. There isn't anything "magical"
about M1 like there is with some tranny and brake fluids. There has
to be more to this story. Overtemp, starvation from overreving, oil
additives or water in the oil.

> To bring this back OT, I just used Castrol High Mileage 10w-30 in the
> '95 Wrangler YJ(115,000miles) I bought my wife for Christmas.
> I also started using it in my '94 YJ. The next oil change on this
> one is due at 300,000 miles. I think it actually cut oil
> consumption a bit over the regular Castrol GTX I used to use, but I
> have to get the valve cover resealed before I can tell for sure.

I swear the valve cover in my 93 hates me. I'm >< this close
to welding it on. Strange thing is it doesn't leak down the back,
it leaks over #3 piston and there isn't bend one in it.. both head and
cover are dead flat. Still using 10W30 Castrol Syntec with no real
loss between changes. 162,000 and still under the blower. Just finished
up getting the tranny output shaft seal redone. so it's one less spot
in the driveway.


--
DougW

"DougW" > wrote in message
...
> Old Crow wrote:
>
>> It was CNA, which is ordinarily pretty good about repairs. They
>> ended up paying 1/2 the price of installing a wrecking yard motor. The
>> motor they found actually had less miles on it than the original,
>> and the car runs fine now.
>> He's only had the car several months and when we changed the oil he
>> didn't want to pop for the extra cost of the Mobil 1. The factory
>> specifies M1, it's marked on the oil filler cap, mentioned in the
>> owners manual, etc. The teardown and diagnosis was done by a Caddy
>> dealer, but we did the
>> repair because of the deal with CNA. I saw the old motor and all the
>> bearings were wiped out as well as the heads(overhead cams with no
>> bearing inserts). Looked more like an oil pump failure to me, but by
>> the time I got it, it was a done deal.
>
> I'd have to suspect pump failure too, or starvation (broken pickup?).
> A slight difference in oil viscosity isn't enough to do that type of
> damage unless you are in the Arctic. There isn't anything "magical"
> about M1 like there is with some tranny and brake fluids. There has
> to be more to this story. Overtemp, starvation from overreving, oil
> additives or water in the oil.
>
>> To bring this back OT, I just used Castrol High Mileage 10w-30 in the
>> '95 Wrangler YJ(115,000miles) I bought my wife for Christmas.
>> I also started using it in my '94 YJ. The next oil change on this
>> one is due at 300,000 miles. I think it actually cut oil
>> consumption a bit over the regular Castrol GTX I used to use, but I
>> have to get the valve cover resealed before I can tell for sure.
>
> I swear the valve cover in my 93 hates me. I'm >< this close
> to welding it on. Strange thing is it doesn't leak down the back,
> it leaks over #3 piston and there isn't bend one in it.. both head and
> cover are dead flat. Still using 10W30 Castrol Syntec with no real
> loss between changes. 162,000 and still under the blower. Just finished
> up getting the tranny output shaft seal redone. so it's one less spot
> in the driveway.
>
>
> --
> DougW
>
>
>

Just checked the O'Reilly's web site. They list 2 different gaskets for
the 6 cyl. Both Fel-Pro, one priced and $6.69, and the other at $45.99. I
wonder if the expensive one is really all that much better?
I don't think I'll be the one to find out.

--
Old Crow
'82 FLTC(P) 92"
'87 FLTC
'61 F-100 302/C-6
BS#133, SENS, TOMKAT, SLOB#13, MAMBM