Oil Change

[J29DB03]

Hey saw this at Costco auto section.
This a good one?

Not anymore, we’ve moved onto avocado oil.

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[Spart]

Mobil 1 Full Synthetic (Euro Car Formula) 0W-40 with API SN certification has been slowly getting replaced in the US with one that has API SP certification.

It has BMW Longlife 01 approval.

In looking at oils in alternative weights, the two things I would look for is either API SN+ or SP and BMW Longlife 01. Note that this excludes scAmsoil because they don't actually have API certification, they just use weasel words in their marketing lingo to make you think they do. Their products do not bear the API donut or starburst.

Any worry about 40 weight during the winter?

You're looking at the wrong number.

Lets look at four oil weights:

10W-30
5W-50
10W-40
15W-40

Which flows best in cold weather? The answer nominally would be the 5W-50, though I would expect it to perform similarly to the 10W-30 after some heat cycles have been put on each oil.

Anytime you see xW-xx, you're looking at what's called a multi-weight or multi-grade oil. If there's a large difference between the first and last numbers, then the oil has a lot of Viscosity Index Improvers (VIIs) that give better performance in cold weather than a "straight-weight" or "single-grade" oil. Those VIIs can break down and decrease this performance advantage.

0W-40 and 5W-40 are great choices for these cars because they offer superior protection at hotter temperatures while not being too thick in the winter months. If you live somewhere that it gets extremely cold, go for 0W-40. If not, 5W-40.

Back in the day, owner's manuals used to explain all of this before CAFE put an end to it.

A 1997 Volvo owner's manual, for example:

 

[Obsidian]

Mobil 1 Full Synthetic (Euro Car Formula) 0W-40 with API SN certification has been slowly getting replaced in the US with one that has API SP certification.

It has BMW Longlife 01 approval.

In looking at oils in alternative weights, the two things I would look for is either API SN+ or SP and BMW Longlife 01. Note that this excludes scAmsoil because they don't actually have API certification, they just use weasel words in their marketing lingo to make you think they do. Their products do not bear the API donut or starburst.



You're looking at the wrong number.

Lets look at four oil weights:

10W-30
5W-50
10W-40
15W-40

Which flows best in cold weather? The answer nominally would be the 5W-50, though I would expect it to perform similarly to the 10W-30 after some heat cycles have been put on each oil.

Anytime you see xW-xx, you're looking at what's called a multi-weight or multi-grade oil. If there's a large difference between the first and last numbers, then the oil has a lot of Viscosity Index Improvers (VIIs) that give better performance in cold weather than a "straight-weight" or "single-grade" oil. Those VIIs can break down and decrease this performance advantage.

0W-40 and 5W-40 are great choices for these cars because they offer superior protection at hotter temperatures while not being too thick in the winter months. If you live somewhere that it gets extremely cold, go for 0W-40. If not, 5W-40.

Back in the day, owner's manuals used to explain all of this before CAFE put an end to it.

A 1997 Volvo owner's manual, for example:

Thanks for that detailed explanation! Where I am in Texas the weather can vary from both extremes (below freezing to above 105F consistently throughout the year)

 

[zrk]

Texas

both extremes

 

[Spart]

'round these parts, a bitterly cold 30°F Texas day would be a welcome respite and likely cause to break out a t-shirt to walk the dogs.

Probably no 0W needed in Texas.

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