What kind of engine oil shoul be use in mine 300M

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Adamo91

Joined
Mar 3, 2015
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Location
Poland
Hello Everybody!

As you know I'm from Poland, and I'm glad 300M user.
To be sure what I writing about here is the picture of "engine bearings"
https://www.google.pl/search?q=engin...YQ_AUoAQ&dpr=1

However...
Here in Poland we have very hot discussion about which Engine OIL should be use for our 300M's engines.
The reason is that about 80% Chrysler's 300M in Poland have in it's history engine bearing faulty...
And nobody can clearly say what is the reason of this problem, some says (this is couple of theories):
1. The engine was exploited too strong (we like fast ride from 0 to 100 km/h or more than 150km/h on highway).
2. The oil level was too low that's why engine bearing erased (of course it can be the reason but not in 80% of users).
3. The construction of engine is wrong.
4. The engine bearings are made from too soft material.
5. This is normal spare part for this car, and user should change bearings every 100k kilometers.
6. Wrong engine OIL was used during car lifetime

For me the last one "6" theory is most possible.
In my 300M I put 10W30 MOPAR oil (previous owner used 10W40 Shell oil)

I have couple ask to you:
1. What kind of Oil do you use, and why use this one? (I mean weather, temperature of environment?)
2. How often do you changing the oil in your car?
3. Do you changes type of engine oil together with the increase of mileage? (My car have 190K kilometers/120K miles)
4. Do you change the oil pump at a given mileage?
5. What kind of oil do you suggest to use in such climatic conditions - about -15 celsius degrees in winter (1 month per year) and +33 celsius degrees in the summer. (the average annual temperature in Poland is 8-10 celsius degrees).

Thanks for help in advance! dear mates!
Adam!
 
I'd recommend putting in some Liquimoly MOS2 to reduce wear/friction. One can per oil change. Then, use Castrol Magnatec 5w-30, as it is supposed to protect those bearings well at start up when cold.
 
To answer your list of questions, change your oil every 6 months regardless of mileage. Use the same oil no matter how old the car is. Castrol Magnatec 5w-30 will do fine in the cold. Only replace oil pumps when they fail, and they don't normally ever fail.
 
Hello,

I'm assuming that the 300M available in your country is mechanically similar to the one that was sold here- powered by the aluminum-block single-overhead cam 3.5L Chrysler v6.

If so, then I would lean strongly to #6, because 3.5's were not known for bearing trouble in the US. It was considered a generally reliable engine, with the biggest weakness being that it had a timing belt rather than a chain, and was an interference design such that timing belt failure would destroy at last some valves if not the whole engine. It also wasn't very tolerant of any episode of overheating, but that's pretty typical for aluminum head engines.

The 42LE transaxle was far more likely to put a North American 300M in the junkyard than the engine EVER was!

I owned an earlier version of the engine- the cast iron block 3.5- for about 18 years and 250,000 miles (402,000 km) with no oil-related problems at all. The block was iron, but the crankshaft and bearings were essentially unchanged between the first generation engine and the one used in the 300M. I used Mobil 1 10w30 exclusively from the time we bought the car (new) until sold. Today I would probably use either Mobil 1 5w30 or Pennzoil Ultra 5w30. I realize those may not be available in your area, but if you can find an oil that meets the same approvals, then it should be adequate. API SM or SN, ACEA A5/B5, ILSAC GF-5
 
Last edited:
Thank you guys for interesting and engage.

:440Magnum:
I'm not really sure what do you suggest for me, should I use the Oil which I have now: 10W30 MOPAR or shall I use 5W30 oil?

Concerning oil change from 10W30 to 5W30, when 10 (semi-synthetic) was used before I cannot change oil on 5 (synthetic) that because of the synthetic oil contain cleaning agents which can dissolve dirt in my engine and then clogged the canal to the engine bearing...
Did you ever try such change?

Also the play between engine bearing and piston can be greater due to this change.
 
Originally Posted By: Adamo91
Thank you guys for interesting and engage.

:440Magnum:
I'm not really sure what do you suggest for me, should I use the Oil which I have now: 10W30 MOPAR or shall I use 5W30 oil?

Concerning oil change from 10W30 to 5W30, when 10 (semi-synthetic) was used before I cannot change oil on 5 (synthetic) that because of the synthetic oil contain cleaning agents which can dissolve dirt in my engine and then clogged the canal to the engine bearing...
Did you ever try such change?

Also the play between engine bearing and piston can be greater due to this change.


An oil meeting the correct specifications is key. Viscosity is only ONE of the specifications- it needs to meet the right ILSAC and ACEA specs as well.

10w30 vs 5w30 is pretty much a non-issue. They're both 30-weight oils, the 5w30 is just gives better flow and protection during cold starts. Again, pick whichever you can find that meets the other specs. Even if you have to go to a 40-weight (5w40, 10w40) to meet the other specs, do it. I wouldn't go the other way, though, the 3.5L v6 was never meant for 5w20 or 0w20 oils and Chrysler always kept the recommendation at 10w30.

Synthetic or non-synthetic doesn't matter that much either. I don't believe that a synthetic will instantly break loose dirt inside an old engine. I've switched to synthetics on engines with over 200,000 miles without any problem.

In summary: I think the Mopar 10w30 is your best choice, provided its the same as we get over here. I don't know if you have a problem with counterfeit auto maintenance products or not, but if people are seeing widespread bearing failures on Chrysler 3.5 v6 engines... SOMETHING isn't right.
 
It was sold in Poland all the time in our Chrysler dealers.
But what does it matter?
 
Hi Adamo91, welcome to the forums!

As one of the other members already asked, what engine do you have in your 300M, and what year is the car? We are all wondering if your 300M is mechanically the same as the ones that were sold in North America. Our 300M cars had 3.5 L V6 gasoline engines and 4-speed automatic transmissions.

I agree with other people here that the 3.5 L V6 was a pretty reliable engine. I had a friend with another Chrysler car that had the same engine and he drove it until 650,000 km before the second transmission blew. Then he just got rid of the car as it was not really worth anything or worth fixing. But the engine never really gave him problems (other than a bit of overheating which was solved by replacing a few cooling system components).

He used only 5W30 or 10W30 conventional oil (that would have been equivalent in viscosity to your ACEA A1/B1 or A5/B5 oils). However, due to your high speed driving, I would strongly suggest using an ACEA A3/B4 oil, as it has a higher HTHS viscosity for high speed / high temperature operation.

So basically, I wouldn't worry about the oil grade very much. Just choose an ACEA A3/B4 oil and enjoy the car. There's not much more you can do to protect it from bearing failure. Also, if your oil temperatures are too high during high speed driving (for whatever reason), then an aftermarket oil cooler would also be advisable.

Remember that most North American roads do not allow for 150+ km/h driving (not for any extended period anyway)!!! So our cars may survive differently than yours due to usage.
 
Hello il_signore97!
I also have 3.5 L V6 gasoline engine (252hp) and 4-speed automatic transmissions.
It hard to say if this engine is reliable, I have also found couple topic with same problem in US, ex. http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=27345&hilit=rod+bearing

However..
I'm using now MOPAR 10W30 (because it is original product of Chrysler) but on the bottle is only info ILSAC GF-5, API SN, there is nothing about ACEA
frown.gif


What kind of oil with 10W(semi-synthetic) which meets requirements ACEA A3/B4 do you recomend?

I thought about change oil from 10W30 to 5W30 or 5W40 but it is very risky (in case 10W oil was used before), because when changing semi-synthetic oil (10W...) to synthetic oil (5W...) because of synthetic oil properties it can resolve dirts/slime inside the engine and broke it, and engine will be loosen so the oil will flow over all gaskets and clog the canals.
 
Originally Posted By: Adamo91
Hello Everybody!

As you know I'm from Poland, and I'm glad 300M user.
To be sure what I writing about here is the picture of "engine bearings"
https://www.google.pl/search?q=engin...YQ_AUoAQ&dpr=1

However...
Here in Poland we have very hot discussion about which Engine OIL should be use for our 300M's engines.
The reason is that about 80% Chrysler's 300M in Poland have in it's history engine bearing faulty...
And nobody can clearly say what is the reason of this problem, some says (this is couple of theories):
1. The engine was exploited too strong (we like fast ride from 0 to 100 km/h or more than 150km/h on highway).
2. The oil level was too low that's why engine bearing erased (of course it can be the reason but not in 80% of users).
3. The construction of engine is wrong.
4. The engine bearings are made from too soft material.
5. This is normal spare part for this car, and user should change bearings every 100k kilometers.
6. Wrong engine OIL was used during car lifetime

For me the last one "6" theory is most possible.
In my 300M I put 10W30 MOPAR oil (previous owner used 10W40 Shell oil)

I have couple ask to you:
1. What kind of Oil do you use, and why use this one? (I mean weather, temperature of environment?)
2. How often do you changing the oil in your car?
3. Do you changes type of engine oil together with the increase of mileage? (My car have 190K kilometers/120K miles)
4. Do you change the oil pump at a given mileage?
5. What kind of oil do you suggest to use in such climatic conditions - about -15 celsius degrees in winter (1 month per year) and +33 celsius degrees in the summer. (the average annual temperature in Poland is 8-10 celsius degrees).

Thanks for help in advance! dear mates!
Adam!


Castrol Edge Euro 0w30 or 0W40 or Mobil 1 0W40. These 3.5L are hard on oil. Need a high HTHS.
 
Hello Tone!

Changing from 10W to 0W is very risky (in case 10W oil was used before), because when changing semi-synthetic oil (10W...) to fully synthetic oil (0W...) because of synthetic oil properties it can resolve dirts/slime inside the engine and broke it, and engine will be loosen so the oil will flow over all gaskets and clog the canals.

Also the play between bearing and shaft can be bigger when I use 0W against 10W which was used before right?
 
Hi Adamo91,

Those lubricants that you chose are fine, but they are ACEA C3 rated oils, not ACEA A3/B4. The difference between A3 and C3 is that C3 oils have lower ash content to protect diesel particulate filters and other emissions equipment (mostly for modern diesel vehicles). They can obviously be used in a gasoline engine without issue, but they do not "last" as long in service as A3 oils do in gasoline engine usage. I am being very general here, but I think you get the overall difference between the two.

I would stick to an ACEA A3/B4 rated oil if at all possible.

Also, in terms of your concerns above, I think it would be good to clear up some myths about oil grades. The first number in the oil grade (0W, 5W, 10W, 15W, etc) does NOT indicate how thick the oil should be at operating temperature. Those numbers actually indicate how the oil performs in extreme cold temperatures.

Basically, for a 0W oil, there are cranking tests done at -35C, and flow tests done at -40C that any 0W oil MUST pass. Those temperatures are very cold, and for most people, the extreme cold specs may not matter if you don't encounter those situations in your country. For a 5W oil, the tests are done at -30C and -35C respectively. 10W is another 5 degrees warmer, 15W is again 5 degrees warmer, and so on... Also worth noting, and oil MUST be labelled by the lowest temperature specs that it passes. For example, an oil that passes tests for 0W cannot be labelled as a 5W or 10W. It must be a 0W. The reverse is also true (a 10W cannot be labelled a 5W if it does not pass appropriate tests).

At operating temperature, the last number provides you with an indication of what thickness range the oil will fall under (at 100C). An xW30 oil will fall within a certain range, and an xW40 oil will be in one range above the 30 grade, and so on. Thus, a 0W40, 5W40, and 10W40 will all be in the same thickness range at 100C. However, sorry to make things complicated, but that does not mean that they will all perform the same way in your engine!

There is one other viscosity rating that is important, and is NOT displayed on the bottle at all. You have to look it up in a spec sheet. It is called HTHS viscosity, and it represents a more accurate oil film thickness in your engine bearings (since they are under high stress and temperatures due to shearing effects of rotating bearings). The HTHS values of oils can be different depending on their construction and/or design. Thus, two 5W30 oils can have very different HTHS values, especially if one is rated ACEA A5 and the other is rated ACEA A3 for example. The higher the HTHS value, the thicker the oil will actually be in your engine bearings. Too thin is not good, but also, too thick can cause problems as well. Don't go crazy in either direction!!!

In summary, I recommend an ACEA A3/B4 oil for your vehicle because no matter what oil grade you choose, this specification requires the oil to have an HTHS of at least 3.5 cP or more. This is the specification that most cars in Germany call for, and thus is considered good for high speed / high temp driving. ACEA A1 or A5 oils are geared more towards better fuel economy, with HTHS values of between 2.9 to 3.4 cP.

Hopefully I haven't confused you too much. If I lived in your situation with your car, I would select any 5W30, 5W40, or 0W40 (if very cold starts are important) in the ACEA A3 specification.
 
The 3.5 Chrysler engine is pretty reliable and can run for a long time it may not be as good as the older 3.3 engines but they are pretty good just the same.
 
Originally Posted By: Adamo91
Thank you guys for interesting and engage.

:440Magnum:
I'm not really sure what do you suggest for me, should I use the Oil which I have now: 10W30 MOPAR or shall I use 5W30 oil?

Concerning oil change from 10W30 to 5W30, when 10 (semi-synthetic) was used before I cannot change oil on 5 (synthetic) that because of the synthetic oil contain cleaning agents which can dissolve dirt in my engine and then clogged the canal to the engine bearing...
Did you ever try such change?

Also the play between engine bearing and piston can be greater due to this change.


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