Chrysler 3.8 Town & Country...5-20 or 5-30 oil??

[fins]

I did have a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van with the 3.8 engine....recommended oil was 5-30. I would usually run 5-30 in the winter and 10-30 in the summmer.

I just bought a 2010 Chrysler van with the same 3.8 engine....says to use 5-20 oil. Is this just for fuel savings standards or is the engine different?

Is a 5-30 synthetic oil ok to use?

 

[asamek]

My 2006 T&C 3.3 states 5w-20 on the filler cap, and in the manual for ALL driving conditions. No mention of any other weight.

I'm guessing it's solely for the fuel economy, but it's what I'm a-gonna use.

 

[tomcat27]

same engine. nothing changed. I would use the 5w-20 in the winter in ohio. I use the 5w-20 year round in my hemi durango. like fuel economy matters in that thing!!! 12mpg around town.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Personally, I'd use 5W30, but I'm sure either would work fine.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: fins
I did have a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van with the 3.8 engine....recommended oil was 5-30. I would usually run 5-30 in the winter and 10-30 in the summmer.

I just bought a 2010 Chrysler van with the same 3.8 engine....says to use 5-20 oil. Is this just for fuel savings standards or is the engine different?

Is a 5-30 synthetic oil ok to use?


Same engine, either oil will work. No MDS to worry about in the 3.8, either. From what I've read here, the xw20 oils seem to have superb formulations (they kinda have to). I also have not seen anything but very good UOAs from xw20 oils in both Ford and Chrysler applications.

That said, I still haven't made the leap to Xw20 in my wife's 05 PT 2.4L, which was originally spec'd for 5w30 but later versions (same engine) were spec'd for 5w20. I still might do it eventually, though.

FWIW- switching from 5w30 in the winter to 10w30 in the summer doesn't do anything of significance. Both are 30-weight oils when the engine reaches full temp. I would (and do...) run 5w30 or 0w30 year round.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Same engine in my 2008 Jeep. Runs fine on 5w20. It also runs fine on 10w30. Not a sensitive engine at all. OHV no tVariable timing or any other technowunders. Newer ones have variable intake tuning and that is it.
Waiting on my severe service UOA with 5w20 to see if I will continue to recomend for this engine with a manual tranny and low RPM high load service.

 

[FrankN4]

5W or 10W-30 shouldn't be any trouble at all. My son in law has a 2008 Chrysler van, now has 14x,000 miles on it and he has used 15W-50 since the day he bought it. He had a 2005 Chrysler van before this one and he traded it with 18x,000 miles, and also used 15W-50 since day one.