Cold Weather Oil

Grumpy Bear · December 15, 2020

I was in a discussion not long ago over the energy used as measured by fuel consumption between a warm summer day and a cold winter day. Youtubing I found these videos. Pictures and a thousand words sort of thing. -40 C is also -40 F. -35 C is -31 F for reference. Last year we set a record in my local at -30 F. Happy me I had a pan full of 0W* in her that day. Now this video does not show summer to winter but shows rather 0W to 5W to 10W to 15W to W30 straight weight at the same temperature. This is a part two to this series regarding other motor oil, transmission and diff fluids and greases.

Pay attention to the difference in flow between the multi-grade low number. e.g. 0W30 The upper number in not in play. e.g. 0W30 When moving from video to video be careful to note differenced in points of reference so you don't get confused. Take note between Syn, Semi and Conventional of the same lower number v temp. These differences are base oil driven NOT pour suppressant driven.

I'll do a separate post on some interesting personal observations Pepper has given me.

This one is Full syn v semi syn

Some of these are better than others This includes Walmart oil

What would a post be without AMSOIL

Colossus · December 15, 2020

Mobil-1 has never done me wrong and helped to even clear up some cold start knocking on some 5.3 and 4.8L V8s from 99-06. I have never tried Amsoil before but I do believe it is a solid product. So using Amsoil and Mobil-1 in cold situations I would feel comfortable with. I'd love to see some of the other brands out there and how they compare in the same test. The next big test would be to see how the oils hold up over extended drain intervals. Used in same engines, under same exact conditions, using same filters. And then testing the premium filter brands out under extend drain intervals. My goal and what I like to see for my diesels is 10,000 mile oil and filter changes. I will be using full synthetic proper diesel 15w40? for my 2018 Duramax with 15,000 miles on it, and will be using premium oil filters such as NAPA Platinum, (wix) RP extended life, Amsoil Ea, Bosch Premium, Mobil-1 extended performance, Baldwin HD, K&N Performance, and of course AC Delco Pro. But perhaps these have already been examined over at bobistheoilguy? thoughts?

Also found this site:

https://www.yourbestpicks.com/best-oil-filters-reviews/

Edited December 15, 2020 by Colossus

diyer2 · December 15, 2020

Not telling you what to do Colossus. Making a suggestion. If I wanted to go 10 K mile OCI's on any motor I would use Amsoil especially if you're planning on keeping it for a while.

Amsoil Heavy-Duty Synthetic Diesel Oil 15W-40

Link https://www.amsoil.com/p/heavy-duty-synthetic-diesel-oil-15w-40-adp/?code=ADPTP-EA

$5.66 a quart for members and a 2.5 gallon jug.

Grumpy Bear · December 15, 2020

7 hours ago, Colossus said:

Mobil-1 has never done me wrong

Mobil 1 performed well in these test didn't they?

What I had hoped for with this wasn't to show anything about brands of oil as much as selecting the right front number for the coldest temperature you expect in your location or situation. We set a new record low as I mentioned before last year, -30 F, that would have left any 5w or 10W solid or near enough so as to not pump well for minutes. Two months a year it gets that cold here.

I also hoped that one would notice that Synthetics V Semi Synthetics V Conventional fluids even at the same first number vary quite a bit EVEN at the SAME first number.

Personally I was surprised and impressed with the natural gas based 'ultra' Pennzoil/Shell products for cold flow.

If you compare what the ESSO videos show with you favorite brands product data sheets pour point, cold pumping numbers you could develop a feel for the data that gives one eyes into the crankcase on a cold day. Just a thought worth thinking.

garagerog · December 15, 2020

Speaking of cold weather, let's not forget to be thankful for synthetic gear oil in this day and age. Back in the day when I lived in eastern Wa. state that sees it's fair share of winter weather, I had an 84 K20 HD camper special with the HD compound low manual transmission. This p/u had a block heater and on cold days I would leave it plugged in overnight even though it was in an insulated garage because I'm a wuss and like instant heat from the get go. After sitting out in the cold all day at work, no problem with the engine turning over because of using the correct winter weight oil. The gear oil in the MT, transfer case, and differential was another story however, it felt like I was dragging a battleship anchor behind me for the first few miles until it warmed up some, the manual transmission was especially difficult in pulling off crisp shifts.

Grumpy Bear · December 15, 2020

2 hours ago, garagerog said:

Speaking of cold weather, let's not forget to be thankful for synthetic gear oil in this day and age. ...................................

The gear oil in the MT, transfer case, and differential was another story however, it felt like I was dragging a battleship anchor behind me for the first few miles until it warmed up some, the manual transmission was especially difficult in pulling off crisp shifts.

There is a demonstration of this gear thing in the second ESSO video that is a real eye opener. Start around 1 minute 22 seconds.

Star