For years my father would switch between 5w30 for winter and 10w30 for summer was this a common practice years ago and is there any advantage to doing so?
Dad's oil practice
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Yes..&..No...
I remember when I was a kid my dad used Valvoline Turbo 10W30 in the summer and plain old Valvoline 5W30 in the winter for his 1990 Chevy Z28 IROC.
I still did this recently. I used 10W30(summers only)when I couldn't buy(on sale/discounted/discontinued) 5W30 oils. Today, I am sticking with 5W30/5W20/0W20.
Back in 1976 I was not even a teenager yet. Close, but not yet. Anyway, my dad bought a 1972 Gran Torino Sport (429 engine) from my uncle. I remember that engine making some Gawd awful clacking, ticking noise. My dad pulled up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. I swear, it looked like squeeze bottle type jelly coming from the pan. Every now and then my dad poked a screwdriver into the drain hole to get it flowing again. He then had me sit in the car and as he pushed the car from the ramps I kept pressure on the brake pedal to stop it from rolling.
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
Back in the day, 5W-30 wasn’t trusted for summer use and then finally the manufacturers sped’d 5-30 for year round use. Of course it coincided with improved formulations and then synthetic oil. No motor “winter” oil.
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I don't know of any people that have used different oils in Summer or Winter.
After reading and learning on Bitog it is something that i would consider moving forward.
On the subject of 5w30 in the UK many Fords since the 90's have used 5w30 exclusively. Not the older engines and cars like the Focus RS but all the Zetec engines in the 90's.
And even the diesel engines, not sure when they moved over but every mk3 Mondeo diesel (2001 onwards) has used 5w30. Castrol Magnatec was the recommended oil and indeed Ford Branded ook was apparently Castrol.
It was also initially Semi Synth
After reading and learning on Bitog it is something that i would consider moving forward.
On the subject of 5w30 in the UK many Fords since the 90's have used 5w30 exclusively. Not the older engines and cars like the Focus RS but all the Zetec engines in the 90's.
And even the diesel engines, not sure when they moved over but every mk3 Mondeo diesel (2001 onwards) has used 5w30. Castrol Magnatec was the recommended oil and indeed Ford Branded ook was apparently Castrol.
It was also initially Semi Synth
There are articles out there that read about using the same weight oil all year round, and not needing to switch with the weather changes. I have never found the need to use XWXX, XXWXX, etc. during the summer, then ZWZZ, ZZWZZ during the winter.
It only makes sense......to me, anyway.
It only makes sense......to me, anyway.
My Dad's '70 Monterey (400-2V) got 10W-30 during Winter and 10W-40 come warm weather. Quaker State most often.
More recently in my non-turbo Volvo 5 cylinders (2.435) I'd use the specced 5W-30. Dino when warm and synthetic when cold.
Now, with my 3rd V70 (w/same engine) I use Mobil1 0W-40 European Formula year 'round.
Tammy says, "I am a BITOGer fully growd".
You asked about "Dad's oil practice". He had none.
I went to school and he drove a 1983 Buick Regal wagon.
One Thanksgiving I pulled a drain plug and about 12 oz. of stretchy, black "wonder putty" crawled out.
Later, that engine blew whilst Mom was driving it.
More recently in my non-turbo Volvo 5 cylinders (2.435) I'd use the specced 5W-30. Dino when warm and synthetic when cold.
Now, with my 3rd V70 (w/same engine) I use Mobil1 0W-40 European Formula year 'round.
Tammy says, "I am a BITOGer fully growd".
You asked about "Dad's oil practice". He had none.
I went to school and he drove a 1983 Buick Regal wagon.
One Thanksgiving I pulled a drain plug and about 12 oz. of stretchy, black "wonder putty" crawled out.
Later, that engine blew whilst Mom was driving it.
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Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Back in 1976 I was not even a teenager yet. Close, but not yet. Anyway, my dad bought a 1972 Gran Torino Sport (429 engine) from my uncle. I remember that engine making some Gawd awful clacking, ticking noise. My dad pulled up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. I swear, it looked like squeeze bottle type jelly coming from the pan. Every now and then my dad poked a screwdriver into the drain hole to get it flowing again. He then had me sit in the car and as he pushed the car from the ramps I kept pressure on the brake pedal to stop it from rolling.
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
I had the same car, but with a 351C engine in it and bought with 126,000 miles. Ran on Quaker State all its life, I changed the distributor and did a tune-up to get it running. Sounded like a diesel when it first started and when the valve covers were pulled there was no less and 1/2" of sludge coating everything to the point of no differentiation between the rocker arms. Ten cans of Berryman B-12 Chemtool later and the valve train looked new. Ran Valvoline at 2K OCIs thereafter and it remained clean. It still ran fine at 180K when I passed it down to my brother.
Back in 1976 I was not even a teenager yet. Close, but not yet. Anyway, my dad bought a 1972 Gran Torino Sport (429 engine) from my uncle. I remember that engine making some Gawd awful clacking, ticking noise. My dad pulled up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. I swear, it looked like squeeze bottle type jelly coming from the pan. Every now and then my dad poked a screwdriver into the drain hole to get it flowing again. He then had me sit in the car and as he pushed the car from the ramps I kept pressure on the brake pedal to stop it from rolling.
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
I had the same car, but with a 351C engine in it and bought with 126,000 miles. Ran on Quaker State all its life, I changed the distributor and did a tune-up to get it running. Sounded like a diesel when it first started and when the valve covers were pulled there was no less and 1/2" of sludge coating everything to the point of no differentiation between the rocker arms. Ten cans of Berryman B-12 Chemtool later and the valve train looked new. Ran Valvoline at 2K OCIs thereafter and it remained clean. It still ran fine at 180K when I passed it down to my brother.
It may have been what the owners manual recommended.
It was common to recommend a thicker oil in the summer.
Similar to this: (5w-30 only to 68 F, 10w-30 to 104 F)
It was common to recommend a thicker oil in the summer.
Similar to this: (5w-30 only to 68 F, 10w-30 to 104 F)
Right after i got our elantra, i got a good bit of 5w20 pen platinum on sale for $1 a quart. I ran that in the winter and 5w30 in the summer. Since i used it up, i run 5w 30 year round.
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Back in 1976 I was not even a teenager yet. Close, but not yet. Anyway, my dad bought a 1972 Gran Torino Sport (429 engine) from my uncle. I remember that engine making some Gawd awful clacking, ticking noise. My dad pulled up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. I swear, it looked like squeeze bottle type jelly coming from the pan. Every now and then my dad poked a screwdriver into the drain hole to get it flowing again. He then had me sit in the car and as he pushed the car from the ramps I kept pressure on the brake pedal to stop it from rolling.
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
I had the same car, but with a 351C engine in it and bought with 126,000 miles. Ran on Quaker State all its life, I changed the distributor and did a tune-up to get it running. Sounded like a diesel when it first started and when the valve covers were pulled there was no less and 1/2" of sludge coating everything to the point of no differentiation between the rocker arms. Ten cans of Berryman B-12 Chemtool later and the valve train looked new. Ran Valvoline at 2K OCIs thereafter and it remained clean. It still ran fine at 180K when I passed it down to my brother.
I had a few engines back then that did the same thing-I'm convinced that the combination of carburetors, running rich at lower operating temps, and VII loaded inferior Group I motor oils, along with infrequent oil changes all contributed to some seriously gooped up engines.
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Back in 1976 I was not even a teenager yet. Close, but not yet. Anyway, my dad bought a 1972 Gran Torino Sport (429 engine) from my uncle. I remember that engine making some Gawd awful clacking, ticking noise. My dad pulled up on the ramps and pulled the drain plug. I swear, it looked like squeeze bottle type jelly coming from the pan. Every now and then my dad poked a screwdriver into the drain hole to get it flowing again. He then had me sit in the car and as he pushed the car from the ramps I kept pressure on the brake pedal to stop it from rolling.
He then pulled the valve covers. OMG X 100! The rockers looked like they were covered in thick black clay! There was so much sludge you could barely even see the push rods. He got the sprayer and loaded it with diesel, trans. fluid, and kerosene. He sprayed and putty knifed the crud away for what seemed like hours. He then got a high pressure hose fitting on the hose and finished the job. That valve train was like new when he was done. After pouring several qts. of oil over the valve train/through the engine he installed a new MC filter, some kerosene and the rest Valvoline SAE 30 wt. oil. Upon start up it was clackity for a few seconds then was smooth as silk. He took it for a drive, came back and changed the oil and filter, and the engine ran like a Swiss watch. That was an all day procedure. He never told my uncle, and NEVER bought another vehicle from him again!
I had the same car, but with a 351C engine in it and bought with 126,000 miles. Ran on Quaker State all its life, I changed the distributor and did a tune-up to get it running. Sounded like a diesel when it first started and when the valve covers were pulled there was no less and 1/2" of sludge coating everything to the point of no differentiation between the rocker arms. Ten cans of Berryman B-12 Chemtool later and the valve train looked new. Ran Valvoline at 2K OCIs thereafter and it remained clean. It still ran fine at 180K when I passed it down to my brother.
I had a few engines back then that did the same thing-I'm convinced that the combination of carburetors, running rich at lower operating temps, and VII loaded inferior Group I motor oils, along with infrequent oil changes all contributed to some seriously gooped up engines.
My dad got a drivers licence pretty late in life. I think my brother taught him to drive (I'd left home by then) and there was no prior history of car ownership in his family (This is not an American tale).
One time I was visiting and he said he'd started doing basic maintenance checkzs on his first car (A FIAT 126. 700cc straight 2. Like I said, this is not an American tale) but found topping off the oil quite tricky.
After a bit of cautious questioning, turned out he was trying to add the oil down the dipstick hole.
His oil practice got better with practice though. Just as well, cos his later Alfa's probably used quite a bit more oil
One time I was visiting and he said he'd started doing basic maintenance checkzs on his first car (A FIAT 126. 700cc straight 2. Like I said, this is not an American tale) but found topping off the oil quite tricky.
After a bit of cautious questioning, turned out he was trying to add the oil down the dipstick hole.
His oil practice got better with practice though. Just as well, cos his later Alfa's probably used quite a bit more oil
The Dino during the summer and synthetic during the winter trick was what I used many years ago because I felt the attrubutes of synthetics were most useful to me for cold starts. Now I like the attributes for running at hot temps. My 6.0 liter in my 3/4 ton runs at 210 F and I do about 10 towing trips during the summer. 5W-30 Synthetic on sale works for me.
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Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I had a few engines back then that did the same thing-I'm convinced that the combination of carburetors, running rich at lower operating temps, and VII loaded inferior Group I motor oils, along with infrequent oil changes all contributed to some seriously gooped up engines.
Totally agree! I lowered the OCI to compensate, oils were pretty bad back then.
I had a few engines back then that did the same thing-I'm convinced that the combination of carburetors, running rich at lower operating temps, and VII loaded inferior Group I motor oils, along with infrequent oil changes all contributed to some seriously gooped up engines.
Totally agree! I lowered the OCI to compensate, oils were pretty bad back then.
Great chart. Yes, they didn’t want you to run the 5W-30 in the summer. I think the oil viscosfiers were not stable enough and the 30 component would shear down. ( not exactly a technically correct explanation but you know what I mean.)
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