winter oil

[bonnevillain]

do you guys switch to a thinner oil in winter? I am running 10w-30 right now... should i switch to 5w-30 or 0w-30 next oil change? in my 95 i ran 10-30 year round since it had oil pressure issues.

[Mark Fahey]

Go by your manual's recommendations which would be 5w-30 for winter conditions.

[2003 SSEi]

i have never switched oil strictly for winter. Different Climates such as the OP being in MN may dictate it tho

[TenGHz]

I use 5w-30 in the winter as well.

[harofreak00]

I run 10w-30 year round because thats what my oil cap says.

[EWC88]

I run 10w-30 year round because thats what my oil cap says.

agree, I never even heard of people switching oils for winter, always thought it wasn't good and just to stick with what the oil cap says

[Archon]

Your owner's manual will go into greater detail of what oil is recommended at which temperatures.

[bonnevillain]

I run 10w-30 year round because thats what my oil cap says.

agree, I never even heard of people switching oils for winter, always thought it wasn't good and just to stick with what the oil cap says

it gets a lot thicker in the winter. watch your pressure gauge when it gets cold.

i never even thought of the manual

[00Beast]

Yeah, my cap on the 03 says 5W-30, and that's what i run anyways. (00 cap said 10W-30). Just use a good quality oil and filter, and you will be fine.

[Bazza]

I run 5w30 or 0W30 full synthetic in mine all winter, as it gets very cold here. -40 is not uncommon.

I will make this really simple.

10 (weight of oil when cold) W 30 (Weight of oil at operating temp.)

5W30 does everything 10W30 does, and a bit more. It circulates better at very cold temps.

Both oils are 30 weight (and identicle viscosity) at operating temp.

Easy experiment. Take a jug of 5W30 & 10W30 place them in your freezer overnight.
(A freezer is about -10C) Then try to pour each of them the next day. You will understand why 5W30 is a good idea in winter.

If you live in a warm climate where it does not dip much below freezing 10W30 is fine. Where I live, You will not start you car on some days with 10W30 in the crankcase as it turns to molasis in -40.

[repinS]

I run 10w-30 year round because thats what my oil cap says.

Ditto. Oil pressure gauge isn't complaining either.

[jseklund]

I live in MA and use 5-30 year round. I go with Amsoil's full synthetic and change every 10-12K (which is about every 3 months). I've got over 200K on the car and the only oil related problem I've ever had was the valve cover gaskets going around 150-170K and leaking oil. Replaced gaskets, all set now.

[swampthing]

i use 10-w30 year round but then again it never gets below 20 around here in the coldest winter

[00ssei]

I say stick with with what the oil cap says. If the engineers who built the car recommend 10W-30 then thats what you stick with.
IMO, you shouldnt ever switch oils in your car.

[2000Silverbullet]

I would recommend 0W30 for winter temps less than 20F and 10W30 for summer temps over 80F.

Because I don't see either extreme, I use 5W30 as recommended for my oil pressure/volume upgrade.

[00Beast]

I use 5W-30 all year round. Did in my 2k, and do in my 03. I might switch to 0W-30 in about 3k, when I change the oil after the LIM job to Amsoil.

[PRD2BDF]

When I had my Bonneville, I ran 10W-30 all year round using store-brand synthetic oil