The "W" on motor oil means winter not weight?!

It's really GWB's middle initial.

10W30 acts like ten weight when it gets cold. Anotherwards it does not thicken like standard thirty weight, it sort of stays more runny in the cold. I remember running 20/50 valvoline racing oil in my mustang, when it got cold the dipstick didn't register the oil, it turned to gel. The engine made a lot of noise till it got warm. I tried changing the oil when it was cold, it didn't come out of the oil plug hole. I had to run it clanking till the oil warmed up to change it.

From then on I changed it in the end of September to 10W30 for the winter. That was back in the seventies....that was not the temperature, it was the year.

SAE 30 is a viscosity range of 10cSt to 12.5cSt at operating temp of +210f.

5w means it passes a cold-cranking test at -30f

10w means it passes a cold-cranking test at -25f

....and so on.



www.widman.biz...

You can see how thick some oils get in the cold. For Euro cars, guys try to use 5w-40 all year, but it's too thick for a turbo or a short trip driver. Also note, even though both oils are "5w", 5w-40 is a lot thicker than 5w-30 in cold.

10w-30 is fine unless you see near-zero F starting conditions. It may be less volatile if you burn oil. No real benefits in most cases, an obsolete grade from when the chemistry of polymeric viscosity improvers was not as good.

Generally, Hi-Miles oil is a good bet, worth a few extra bucks. I like Pennzoil and Quaker State, Shell products.

Avoid generic oil....www.pqiamerica.com...

It's viscosity.

Just use 10/40 semi in an older vehicle or 5/30 fully in a newer vehicle.

Never believe the rubbish people sprout about oil, additives and ratings.

A car would run on water as a lubricant for a certain amount of time, if it had to.

originally posted by: caterpillage
And if anyone is interested I can lay down for you an interesting story on oil qualities among the top brands you're used to seeing and how your engine is affected, especially if you drive an older car. But it would be pretty lengthy, so I don't wanna type it on mobile if no one cares lol

I would TOTALLY be down for this ~!!

I own a 92 Buick LeSabre .. ha ha .. talk to me !!!

a reply to: Komodo

Me too, brother!

Lay it on us!