SAE 30 and 40 for warmer climates

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wemay

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Member Chris142 began an interesting thread recently, asking if monogrades were still offered by the major brands.

After taking a glance at current spec sheets, I see that these oils (SAE 30 in particular) have contemporary API approvals and are strictly designed towards wear protection (not MPG) in warmer ambient climates.

What would be the drawback in using these oils where winter temps rarely fall below 40f (SAE30) or 60f (SAE40)?
 
wemay
SAE30 will do eveything you need in those ranges.

An SAE30 will be good to freezing (honestly 10 degrees below freezing likely), and has an HTHS of 3.4+, so is about as good as a 0W, 5W, 10W 40 at the top end, all without shear.

SAE40 is too thick...has the HTHS of M1 15W50...

There was a poster a long time ago, who was racing an old, oil burning Honda in a LeMons circle track endurance race. My recommendation for a constantly hot, oil burning, loose engine was SAE40.

I got lambasted...I still stand exactly by my recommendation rather than a high VI plastic 0W20, which was the ClapTrap being pushed by the lambaster.
 


Although old data, the laws of physics with this regard don't change...

the S number is an adaptation of the Sommerfeld number in bearing design.
Normally S=(r/C)^2*u*N/P (r = shaft radius. C is clearance, u = viscosity, N=RPM, P = applied load/projected area).

In this instance, they've normalised it to the test engine, and "constanted" all the variables.

So film thickness in any given engine is increased by RPM, viscosity (HTHS), or reduction in load.

At the bottom end (note they don't cross at zero:zero) boundary is occuring (Stribeck curve), and wear is additive dependent)
 
Great info, thanks. It just doesn't make sense that a product this useful be relegated to the bottom, dusty shelves. This info is a revelation. And again, it isn't as if it doesn't have current specs, and at worst, API SM.
 
A modern SAE 30 in your turbo/di cars, with a warm climate, sounds like the best thing no one is doing. Many argue obsolescence in regard to Mono's, but they fail to realize Mono's evolve just like multi's do. I wanted to try 10W-40 this winter in my station wagon to compare the cold start speed of the 30 I used last winter. It does spin up faster, and on particularly cold mornings there hasn't been any lifter noise, but honestly I attribute that to the larger Fram I used for this interval and not the oil. I'll probably run Havoline 30 next summer.
 
Originally Posted By: wemay
monogrades ....... in warmer ambient climates.

What would be the drawback in using these oils where winter temps rarely fall below 40f (SAE30)


No problems and lots of advantages from what I can tell when above freezing (0C or 32f) for a SAE 30 monograde.

For me in Oz they are hard to find, over priced when you do find them, and often only SG or SJ rated.

For less money I can find stuff like Castrol Magnatec 10W30 semi-synthetic (SN & A3/B4) everywhere.

I want to run a monograde, but I never have because I feel silly paying more for a SG mineral SAE30, when I can pay less for Magnatec 10W30 A3/B4. But that is more a reflection of my market than the oil.
 
Mono's are great where you can use them. They are so common in the marine industry, it's laughable about all the clap-trap around here about the joys of Multi's. Most boats don't freeze. The bilges stay above freezing with all the nearby water and gen-set heat, etc. So mono's are the norm.

You don't think those guys sitting on $50K~$150K engines do that because they are old and outdated do you? They are looking for the best wear numbers they can get.

I'll admit that modern multi's are getting close in terms of wear, but if you can safely use a mono grade, go for it. Your motor will be happy
smile.gif
 
I ran Shell Rotella SAE 30 in my 4.6 F150 last year pulling a 9,800 lb 5th wheel RV through the hills of southern Oklahoma.

It performed wonderfully.
 
Maybe a synth 10W30 that doesn't use VII additives would be a good alternative to searching for a product that is labelled SAE30?
I think there has been some discussion on here about a synth SAE30 that could actually be marketed as a 10W30, think it was from Amsoil or one of the other US boutique blenders.
My wife abhors high temperatures and I may never live in a place that is warm year round, but I'd have no issue running an SAE30 if I lived in someplace like Florida, S Texas, or the USVI and never planned to drive someplace cold in the winter.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Maybe a synth 10W30 that doesn't use VII additives would be a good alternative to searching for a product that is labelled SAE30?
I think there has been some discussion on here about a synth SAE30 that could actually be marketed as a 10W30, think it was from Amsoil or one of the other US boutique blenders.
My wife abhors high temperatures and I may never live in a place that is warm year round, but I'd have no issue running an SAE30 if I lived in someplace like Florida, S Texas, or the USVI and never planned to drive someplace cold in the winter.


AMSOIL makes a 10w-30 that is actually an SAE 30. Redline's 5w-30 was purported to be VII-free as well.
 
100% thinking the same as SR5. Perhaps as others have said though, the fully synthetic 10W30 from some boutique brands are actually mono but classify as 10W because of their cold start performance. All super expensive over here though!
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I ran Shell Rotella SAE 30 in my 4.6 F150 last year pulling a 9,800 lb 5th wheel RV through the hills of southern Oklahoma.

It performed wonderfully.


F150
5th wheel
9,800 lbs.

Wow.
11.gif


(Up here, I've seen 1 (one!) 1500/ F150 with a fifth wheel behind it. Usually they are the HD's. Let me tell you, that truck was working hard and squatting harder.)
 
Most people run 20W-50 in aircooled BMW twins, spans temps from minus 10 to over 30 c...but on the oil viscosity chart they also have mono grades, and have SAE 30 ranging from zero to 30 c, this is my temp zone, so am giving it some thought. There is a considerable difference in cSt @ 100c between a 20W-50 and a straight 30, but BMW thinks it's up to the job...is it ?
 
Originally Posted By: SR5
For me in Oz they are hard to find, over priced when you do find them, and often only SG or SJ rated.

This is the problem, too. As per my rants about needing to buy oil in sale in Canada, the sales are usually on monogrades. You might find a jug of PYB for $12.88 or whatever for 5 quarts. That will be 5w-20, 5w-30, and 10w-30 (and maybe not even 10w-30). There are no PYB SAE 30 5 quart jugs on the shelf.

One could get a 5 gallon pail of Walmart's house brand monograde or go to a distributor, and get a reasonable price in both instances, but that's a lot of oil for some people. Of course, our Walmarts sell SAE 30 in 5 gallon pails, but from what I understand, Walmarts in Texas don't (house brands are different in the two countries), where it would actually be a reasonable product to use.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
There are no PYB SAE 30 5 quart jugs on the shelf.


Over here there's no 5 quart bottles of SAE 30 in any brand. I'd like to try SAE 30 but the price would be double.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Over here there's no 5 quart bottles of SAE 30 in any brand. I'd like to try SAE 30 but the price would be double.

5 gallon jugs of Walmart Canada's Tune It! are something like $40 to $50, and they have SAE 30, tractor hydraulic fluid, and so forth. People wanting to try monogrades certainly aren't helped by what one generally finds at retail.

The only reasonable option is to go where farmers buy their oil, including a distributor, and you might luck out.
 
You need to hook yourself up with a distributor merk. I get oil and filters from two local to me. From one I can get Kendall GT-1, Kendall Super D-3, and Federated Auto Parts SAE 30. From the other I can get Warren, Havoline, Delo and Rotella SAE 30.

The Federated oil cost me $2.24/qt
Kendall GT-1 is $2.75/qt
Havoline is $2.96/qt
Warren is $2.63/qt
I don't remember the pricing on Delo and I don't know the pricing on Rotella.
 
That's definitely decent pricing. I also wish it could be easily sourced in multi quart containers. The quart bottles of Castrol HD30 (API SN) are $3.47 at the Walmart near me.
 
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