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Old 08-28-2006, 11:39 PM
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Talking Which Oil Should I use for this winter?

I am coming up on my next oil change in a week or so, and I was wondering if I should switch from my have-always-used-year-round Shell Rotella-T dino 15w40 oil to a lighter synthetic for the winter time. During the summer I drive thousands of miles a month and 95% of it is freeway, so the Rotella is great for that, but in the winter I am only going to my job and school, both which are 5ish miles away, so its mostly city driving and fairly short trips. Cold Starts become a factor, since it gets down into the single digits and below here quite often in the winter.

I usually drive less than 5-6k miles in the entire "cold/school season", so I was thinking I'd use a better oil for the harsher winter/short trips time of year.

My ideal winter oil: Mobil1 5w40 Synthetic Turbodiesel oil + a dealer MB filter

My car has been running on dino Rotella-T and Hengst Filters up to this point, and has never seen synthetic before, it currently doesn't leak much if anything (no spots on ground usually or anything) and essentially none is lost/burned between 3k oil changes.

So my main question is: Should I switch to the synthetic Mobil1 for the winter season (about two oil changes worth) to benefit from better engine protection and cold starting, or should I just keep on truckin' with my dino Rotella like I've been doing the past 3 years...? I don't want any Oil Wars here, I named the two oils I am open to using, I simply want to know if it'd be a good idea to use the lighter synthetic stuff in the cold months.

Thanks.

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  #2  
Old 08-28-2006, 11:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pawoSD View Post
My ideal winter oil: Mobil1 5w40 Synthetic Turbodiesel oil + a dealer MB filter

...

So my main question is: Should I switch to the synthetic Mobil1 for the winter season (about two oil changes worth) to benefit from better engine protection and cold starting
Sounds like a good plan to me.
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  #3  
Old 08-28-2006, 11:58 PM
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You could try some 0w40, man that stuff lets the engine spin fast at negative temps!

Never had a problem with cranking speed with any Modil 1 weight. My cars always spool up instantly on those 0 degree days. Had 15w40 Delo in the SD last winter. It was fine until it got below 20, below that you really noticed the drag.

This winter I might try some 0w40 in the SD to see what I gain.
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Old 08-29-2006, 12:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Hatterasguy View Post
This winter I might try some 0w40 in the SD to see what I gain.
0Wanything is a bit thin for me. I can just imagine the blowby with oil as thick as water.
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Old 08-29-2006, 12:15 AM
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Hot Delvac 1 looks like coffee, flows like coffee too.

The SD already has massive blow by. I figure it can't make it worse.
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  #6  
Old 08-29-2006, 12:29 AM
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So you don't think it'd have any negative impact on the engine to just up and switch to a Synthetic 5w40 weight? Oil isn't going to just suddenly start squirting from the engine seams is it? How many miles could I run the oil? I run my dino stuff about 2800-3100 miles depending on when I get an opportunity to change it, right now I am at 2,600 on my present oil, but will be going on a couple trips labor day weekend that will add another 400ish miles on....

As for blowby on my engine, its light to moderate....the cap moves around when loosened, but it doesn't fly off or anything, just a little bit of hopping. If I plug the breather tube hole with my thumb with the engine running cold it stalls in about 13-15 seconds.

I don't think I want to go to 0w40....I also think thats a bit thin...

I'll snoop around autozone in a day or two and see what they have/what the prices are. I'm assuming its a *bit* more expensive than rotella....so I would hope I could run it maybe to 3500-4000 miles or something.
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  #7  
Old 08-29-2006, 08:27 AM
Craig
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I run M1 5W40 for 5000 miles, you could probably go a little longer if you wanted, but that's my "comfort level." Mine spin over just fine with 5W40, even below 0 F, much faster starting than any dino oil. It's just a matter of cost.
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  #8  
Old 08-29-2006, 08:35 AM
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It's the 40 that determines the oil thickness (or thinness) at operating temperature. Its the ?W that determines how much (or how little) that it thickens up in the cold. So a 0W40 is not thinner than a 15W40 at operating temperature.
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Old 08-29-2006, 08:37 AM
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By the way, there is a Rotella synthetic. I think it is 5W40.
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  #10  
Old 08-29-2006, 08:40 AM
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Originally Posted by WD8CDH View Post
By the way, there is a Rotella synthetic. I think it is 5W40.
I've used it too, it's cheaper than M1, available at walmart for under $5/quart. It seems OK, but I don't believe it's fully synthetic.
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Old 08-29-2006, 08:46 AM
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can Oil cause a drag?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatterasguy View Post
You could try some 0w40, man that stuff lets the engine spin fast at negative temps!

Never had a problem with cranking speed with any Modil 1 weight. My cars always spool up instantly on those 0 degree days. Had 15w40 Delo in the SD last winter. It was fine until it got below 20, below that you really noticed the drag.

This winter I might try some 0w40 in the SD to see what I gain.
I thought that the slow cranking in extreme cold weather was caused by voltage drops. because the battery is not working well at low temps... I hope you are plugging in your car to keep the engine warm in extreme cold temps...
John
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  #12  
Old 08-29-2006, 08:57 AM
Craig
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Oil will cause quite a bit of drag in a cold engine. Try putting some dino oil in the freezer overnight. The cold also affects the electrical equipment, but you need all the help you can get if it's really cold.
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  #13  
Old 08-29-2006, 11:43 AM
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The voltage seems to stay pretty close on the battery, like 12.4 volts when its super cold out...vs 12.7 when its hot out. But the battery itself looses some "umph" when its that cold. I think I will go to the store and look at the oils...
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'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
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  #14  
Old 08-29-2006, 04:01 PM
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Well, I went on a quest for the Mobil1 5w40 Full Synthetic Diesel Oil (thats a mouthful!) and I went to autozone...no go, Napa, no go, Napa referred me, and a guy with a brand new Duramax truck (was there looking for the same oil! ) to a Oil Distributor about 6 miles away, so I went there, and got a Case of it, four 1 gallon bottles for $133!!!! I figured it'd be "ok" since I am going to run it about 4500-5000miles per change, but whoa! Expensive! Dealership OEM oil filter too, that was $17. SO I am broke now, but am also going outside to do my oil change with this nifty stuff, I want to see if it runs any differently.
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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)
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  #15  
Old 08-29-2006, 04:39 PM
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You just had to open open your mouth about oil. I run 0-40 all winter myself.

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