01 Chevy Prizm 1.8L 1ZZFE, 5800mi, Mobil 5000 5w30

[Bulletbling]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: Bulletbling
I am a pizza delivery driver so i start my engine several times per day and a 15w seems like itd cause a lot of wear for what i do but ive read that my 1.8L 1ZZFE doesnt really wear out.

The engine isn't going to get significantly cold, so I wouldn't worry about that. Perhaps a 10w-30 HDEO would be a good compromise when things are a bit chillier. Mobil Delvac, Shell Rotella, or Chevron Delo, or any other HDEO would work just fine. The only concern might be the winter. If you want to try something a bit different, maybe a 5w-30 high mileage order might be worth a shot, and it'll be cheaper than synthetic.


Not to say that most of the people posting have been helpful but this is a good response to my concerns and I thank you for not contributing to the other peoples arguing with each other. Sometimes it is inevitable and people like you have to step in with an answer and you get credit for that from me so thank you.

Also, thanks to everyone else that contributed to answering my questions and concerns. You guys get this statement all of the time, but I've been reading this forum and leeching for a little while now without making an account or posting and it's great to be with everyone here. I like to hear different opinions, viewpoints, and experiment with what may be the solution to any problem one may have.

 

[Clevy]

Op.


First off ignore the tranny fluid in your oil advice. That's gotta be one of the most absurd recommendations I've read here in quite some time.
It isn't made for running in an engine and lacks the necessary additives to hold up. It will upset the balanced chemistry the oil you choose has formulated into it,people used to run leaded gas too,doesn't mean it was smart.

I think Garak has given you good advice so I'm just going to give his a plus 1.

Let us know how it turns out for you.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Bulletbling
Not to say that most of the people posting have been helpful but this is a good response to my concerns and I thank you for not contributing to the other peoples arguing with each other. Sometimes it is inevitable and people like you have to step in with an answer and you get credit for that from me so thank you.

Thank you for your kind comments. In my youth, I delivered pizza while driving an oil burner, too. My biggest concern was something that wouldn't drain my pocket faster than the crankcase. I ran 5w-30 GTX and stuck with that.

Going thicker or trying a HM type oil might not help, but it won't cost a bunch of extra money. When my F-150 was leaking like crazy (not burning, mind you), again, my concern was minimizing cost (and loss of fluid) as best as I could until I fixed it. It got 15w-40 in the summer and MaxLife 5w-30 in the winter, and both did a fine job.

If it were me and I had access to an outlet in the winter, I'd run 10w-30 or 15w-40 HDEO in it (with an oil pan heater overnight) and see what happens. Between deliveries, your oil temperature won't cool enough to concern yourself with wear.

 

[Apollo14]

I thought he said he has tried Maxlife 10w40 and it hasn't helped.

That's kind of why I said go to 50 or 60.

Couldn't he find a 10w50 for winter use?

 

[Garak]

Something like that would probably be synthetic and not be terribly cost effective. Additionally, I'd be very wary of the actual CCS and MRV values (compared to competitors) such an oil meets in getting 10w- rating. I'd say the summer would be a better time to go real thick, but again, that might even be possible in the winter with an oil pan heater.

I've never found a magic bullet for a vehicle that burns oil, other than fixing the issue, which isn't always cheap, either. The best band aid is to minimize the cost of the oil going in, since it's also going out at an accelerated rate.

 

[Bulletbling]

Originally Posted By: Garak

I've never found a magic bullet for a vehicle that burns oil, other than fixing the issue, which isn't always cheap, either. The best band aid is to minimize the cost of the oil going in, since it's also going out at an accelerated rate.


I understand what you mean. Its $1,000-$1,500 to repair the car and like I said, when its caved in on the right tail light, that makes it hard to justify spending more than the vehicle is worth repairing it. In addition, I'm not sure how long I'll be holding onto the car before I buy another.

However, I do want it to last and I know this engine can easily attain 300k miles or more even taking some abuse along the way. Considering the car was owned by my grandfather for the first 85k miles and he never went over 55mph on the highway, I believe its going to reach that mileage with no trouble if I keep it long enough to see it.

Getting cheaper or heavier oil may increase wear on many vehicles but I do not believe that will be the case with this bulletproof engine. I will be using some cheaper and/or heavier oil to combat the burning the best I can and I may invest in some lubro moly along the way to keep everything running smoothly.

 

[Garak]

Yep, with the pizza delivery keeping things warm, start up wear won't be a huge issue - just watch what you do overnight in the winter. The oil burning LTD I mentioned did go 500,000 km before someone ran a red light and wiped it out on me.

Keep the oil topped up and don't go nuts buying the most expensive oil you can find, and that's about the best you can do for it.

 

[Bulletbling]

What's interesting is that a little over a week ago I added the regular blue STP oil additive into the crank with my Rotella T6 5w40. I knew the stp oil additive wasn't really an additive and didn't work as one but just an oil thickener (viscosity improver according to the container which is the only true thing on the label). I did this because I didn't want to buy 20w50 as that 20 number doesn't look nice and there was no point in buying 15w40 because I already had 5w40 in the car. Also, spending more money on a synthetic oil (say 10w50 or 15w50 if either is actually made) wasn't something I wanted to do

What's awesome is that it has greatly reduced oil consumption. Not the additive itself, but that the additive improved the viscosity to probably in the 50 range without drastically increasing the starting viscosity (trying to not use a 20w as that makes me cringe).

This worked in my case because I didn't have to buy conventional oil that had a 20w rating and didn't have to spend more on synthetic to achieve a lower winter viscosity number. All in all, a 50 weight or so (I'm guessing it's at this now) WILL slow the burning in this car.