straight grade oil in summer heat okay?

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Lex94
Yup...Hence the

in my post.

Yep, "hack" isn't always derogatory. In any case, my dad was a very early adopter of multigrades. The farm didn't even get electricity until the early 1970s, so block heaters and oil pan heaters were not options. So, you can imagine why he appreciated multigrades early on. -40 and a monograde are not a good mix.

 

[Lex94]

Only saw -40 a couple of times but -30 was not uncommon. We started using 10w30 on the farm in the 70s but only in dead of winter. Even modern SAE 30 oils will struggle with -30...Even Delo 15w30 will struggle with -30. Amsoil claims a pour point of -39 with their SAE 30.

Hack - Like in software - Something that somewhat works yet not exactly right. Not derogatory at all and sometimes necessary

BTW - The current formula Mobil 1 0w40 is finally an exceptional hack. It took them a while. Its much more shear stable and I note the hot idle ticking in my Mercedes is almost gone now.

 

[Garak]

My dad had disposed of monogrades completely by the late 1970s, to the point I almost got my behind tanned when I found some SAE 30 stragglers (of the correct API service category) and used them in the garden tractor, in accordance with the manual. Showing him the manual saved my behind, but he was still displeased.

 

[Lex94]

Just the opposite here...Multi-grades for Jan and Feb only figuring they were better than cutting oil with kerosene. I remember reading in car magazines back then how multi-grades sheared and gummed things up. The farm equipment just ran better on straight grades back then.

 

[Garak]

We were pretty fortunate with the 10w-30. Diesel equipment got the 15w-40 in the summers and 10w-30 HDEO in the winters. Even the taxis stuck with multigrades, and given their usage patterns, could have easily used monogrades.

 

[JR]

Don't fear the straight wieght. I run 15w-40 spring and fall. Sae30 in summer.
If i have it on hand. But i idle in morning and dont do many short trips.

If you only short trip i would lean in the multi-wieght way.


Harvey

P.S. the metro just recieved 2qts M1 20w-50, 1.5qts M1 15w-50 and a does of #0132andmos2/LM. Will see plenty of higher rpm long highway trips soon. It's not a straight wieght but thick.