Oil for extreme cold

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Besides your oil light coming on, the age and mileage on your car may also dictate cleaning your pickup screen or installing a new one. Other posters have covered your synthetic oil choices, and I'd go with a high mileage formula.

Was in North Dakota in August during butterfly season. The van was plastered with butterflies. Beautiful country there. Lots of Carson Wentz fans.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Any 5w-30, including MaxLife, will do the job for that vehicle, year round. A 0w-30 would be fine, too, but then you're getting into M1 AFE territory for pricing, plus leaks are never fun.


M1 0-30. This oil does not cause leaks any more than any other oil.
 
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Growing up in a similar climate we used conventional 10-30 (heck, even 10w-50) year-round and thought nothing of it. With carburetors and cold weather we undoubtedly had lots of fuel dilution and sounds on start-up weren't always pleasant, but the engines still outlasted the bodies.

If an oil change is due, a5w or 0w-30 would be good choices. Otherwise, just enjoy being really "retro".
 
Originally Posted By: Mainia
If you want good flowing oil then a group 3 while good is no match for group 4 and group 5 oils. Mobil 1 is a 3+ and they do their voodoo to make it flow like a group 4. Amsoil Sig Series , Redline, and Motul Ester. 0w-XX of course. So I would say Mobil 1 for low price and ease of access from say....Walmart.


This, read tech sheets and pour points if you are really concerned. These oils buy you 6 degrees cooler and perform better.

Which oil is nice and clear in the cold out of your choices?

redline versus motul in the cold

very scientific, lol.

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Those tests are great if the OP wants to see which oil gets to the top end quickest after inverting the car...

But the "W" grading system doesn't any longer feel that's relevant to typical vehicle operation, so have adopted the MRV and CCS tests to describe how the oil actually works.

MRV - the ability to refill the pickup area, and get sucked up the tube.
CCS - the resistance to cranking
 
Why use 5W anything when 0W is available? At those low temps, viscosity isn't a consideration until spring shows up. Which can be quite late in ND. Our neighbors to the north get very,very cold sometimes(like the next few mornings). If the NWS is predicting -28F for eastern Nebraska, how cold is it going to be in North Dakota? It's not going to be pleasant neighbors.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
M1 0-30. This oil does not cause leaks any more than any other oil.

Agreed, but if a car is already leaking and I have to top up, I prefer to top it up with something cheaper. Of course, that depends on how much it leaks. If it's not leaking enough to top up over an OCI, it doesn't matter much, then.

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
You have a positive displacement oil pump and 10W30 is good to about -35. After all for decades that was the go to oil.

Sure, but there's nothing wrong with the average modern 5w-30 on the market either (or 0w-30, cost permitting), in this application.
 
M1 0w-30 and buy a new battery. Make sure coolant is tested. If its standard green and two years old, I would change it. Lived in MN entire life, syn oil, newer battery, car in good state of tune=car will start.

Dave
 
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I am wondering how many high mileage 0w30 oils there are available ?? And if a vehicle has a seep that is noticeable then it would seem appropriate to run a high mileage oil. A 5w would be fine in -35°F cold weather. Hearing others real world experiences on here it would appear that even a 10w would be all right in North Dakota. I find that interesting.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
You have a positive displacement oil pump and 10W30 is good to about -35. After all for decades that was the go to oil.


Technically, 10w-30 is good for -25C for cranking, -30C for pumping
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As per the CCS and MRV limits. I believe they generally fail to meet the next grade on CCS before they do it on MRV though, so the odds are that even if its impacting cranking speed, it'll probably still pump.
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
I am wondering how many high mileage 0w30 oils there are available ?? And if a vehicle has a seep that is noticeable then it would seem appropriate to run a high mileage oil. A 5w would be fine in -35°F cold weather. Hearing others real world experiences on here it would appear that even a 10w would be all right in North Dakota. I find that interesting.


Technically, you have passed the pumping limit for 5w at -35F (-37C). But the odds are it will still pump unless its something pretty marginal that's gelling just below the test point.
 
Based upon what a number of others have said on here about doing what they have done or others around then have done at -30°F and colder... -35°F may well be ok. Given that the vehicles battery is strong and up to the task, the ignition system is in good working order, and there are no fuel issues at all. There have been many guys on here in the last few days with many accounts of doing stuff with 10w etc that I find quite persuasive.
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Based upon what a number of others have said on here about doing what they have done or others around then have done at -30°F and colder... -35°F may well be ok. Given that the vehicles battery is strong and up to the task, the ignition system is in good working order, and there are no fuel issues at all. There have been many guys on here in the last few days with many accounts of doing stuff with 10w etc that I find quite persuasive.




Considering that 10w-30 or 40 was the go to oil for many years I wonder what the actual gain is of 5w or 0w? Granted, if I was in Minnesota I would probably run the 5 or 0w oil. The big question here is how quick does each weight take to get to the top end of the engine? If we are talking a second or two or even fractions, then it may not be as clear an answer.
 
Yeah I agree PimTac. How about Havoline Pro DS 5w20 with a CCS of 3900 @ -30°C. So at -35°C the CCS is 7800 using the general rule CCS doubles for each 5 degree drop in temperature. So, I would bet this would be able to work at -35°C. Question I have is at what CCS will oil become so viscous that it would not be able to pump?? And we have the remember the MRV in which measures how well an oil falls back into the oil pan in order to be able for the pick up to put back into circulation again.
 
AT those temperatures I would think other measures are being used like a block heater or oil pan heater etc. I was just thinking that he could switch from 10w to a 5w-30 or 0w-30. If his engine has any weeps then a 5w-30 HM Synthetic like Valvoline Advanced Syn with Maxlife could be the ticket. With a engine with no issues I would run 0w-30 year round and not worry about sudden cold snaps.
 
Absolutely. I do agree with you on all of that.

I was or am just curious about the other stuff has well..
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
Absolutely. I do agree with you on all of that.

I was or am just curious about the other stuff has well..



That’s beyond my knowledge level. If the engine stays quiet then all is good.
 
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