I've been doing A LOT of reading and research on oils lately. I signed up on Bobisthe oilguy and I have been hearing and reading so much good about the European Spec 0W40 oil.

Does anyone have any hands-on experience or even oil analysis done on this oil with our LNF motors?

Anyone running it with any input to provide?
Driving conditions?
Mileage?
Mods?
ETC...

Thanks!

 

isnt 0 too thick?

 

From what I understand 0 is much better in colder climates. Makes for easier starts in the winter and it'll get to its 30 operating temp thickness earlier and quicker.

I just did a bit more research and I think I answered my own question.

For our Turbo DI motors, Castrol Syntec 0W30 (Better know as German Castrol or GC) is better to use day-to-day and in winter. Mobil 1 0W40 is better in hot temps (hotter climates) and on track days or drag strip events.

This is all subjective and I am going to do some testing with both oils and see what I'm working with.

 

hmm how bout the lsjs? i dont think i'd switch but i'm curious nonetheless, as i know not much about oil

 

If you look on the bottle of the 0W-30 it says approved for GM 4718M which is the tier level of Oil for our engines(LNF that is)

http://pangea.stanford.edu/~schmitt/...ngine_oils.pdf

 

this is the oil which Dodge uses in the SRT4's (and possibly other SRT engines)...

In Canada it's a royal PITA to find ~ only one retailer sells it, and then it's only sold in 1 liter containers...

 

I'm not positive on LSJ's. Different animal all together. DI plays a role, our oil/water cooled turbo's play a huge roll and various other things as well.

As far as finding all this oil, I know that I'll have to order the GC online as it's impossible to find near me and my local auto stores sell M1 0W40 and tons of other weights by M1 as well.

 

Only issue I see is possible oil consumption. If you end up doing it DEFINITELY watch your oil levels between fuel fill ups

 

What would there be any more (or any at all) oil consumption with a 0W30 or 0W40 approved oil?

What I've read and understood was that the 0 before the "W" gives you it's viscosity at "cold" start up. It'll flow just a little easier as the temps drop.

The 30/40 after the "W" gives you its normal operating temp viscosity (about 212 degrees F). In today's motors, that's the normal viscosity and it usually doesn't get too much higher. I think a 30 weight full sythetic oil will lose a lot of it's viscosity once temps get over 300 degrees (which I don't see happening in my driving. Ever lol).

The oil (0W30/0W40) will be a bit easier to move (flow) in cold weather and it will get to it's normal opertating temps quicker and easier - Which in the case of 30 weight, is what is recommended by GM for these motors.

 

I only mess with oil that complies with the GM standard 4718M

 

I run m1 0w40 in my girlfriends 04 crossfire. It's great oil lasts forever, but like mentioned before van only get it in small bottles and I need freaking 9 quarts in the crossfire lol.

 

I've used the Mobile 1 European Spec 0W40 oil in my GTO (stored during winter) for a couple years now. It's good stuff and worth taking a look.

 

I remember Bill (GM Engineer) writing that the LNF was initially to be a 0w-30 engine but as the oil broke down some the cam actuators had issues so they opted for the 5w-30 Mobil 1 oil. The cam actuators are hydraulic using the engine oil so keep an eye on them when logging.

I ran the 0w-30 for a while in cold weather and had zero issues with it. Kwikredline thought that some scoring on the cam followers would result from such a light oil and recommended I stay with the 5w-30.

I'm old, so don't trust my memory completely, YMMV.

 

Makes sense to me. Personally, I'll stick with my 5W-30.

 

good points. and BITOG is an awesome site. I would run 0 w 20 in winter, to tell the truth ( i do use it in my wntr btr ecotec cavvy) but for all the good reasons explained by posters above me, If I had an LNF I would stick with 5w30...

 

Mobil 0W40 shouldnt be too hard to find, if you have a partsource near you. I sell tons of it here, the newer benz/vw/bmw vehicles almost all call for it. I know of some guys using it for 20,000~KMS with a proper filter (MANN,K&N,Delco). I havent heard anything bad about it, during summer it should be okay to use in the ecotecs, dont quote me on that though.

 

When he said "break down", did he mean as it approached the extended drain interval these cars can have?

By going by the Oil Status on the DIC you can almost squeeze 15k out of the oil life indicator... I change every 3k no matter what so I know I am not reaching the breakdown point of the Mobil 1 or PU, or any synthetic for that matter.

In that sense, couldn't I theoretically use a 0W30 or even a 0W40 weight and still be OK if changed at 3000 miles?

 

pretty sure the lower the number the thinner it is.

 

There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding. Here is an interesting article about multi-viscosity oils.

Understanding Multi-Viscosity Oils - The Motor Oil Evaluator

 

0 is thinner than 5 which makes sense for cold starts, but why not a 5 in the summer?
also why would you use 30 in the winter and 40 in the summer, these engines are pretty consistent with their oil temps when running I Don't see much of a difference in the summer and winter in my oil temperature when warmed up....

 

If I lived in McMurray I would run 0w 20 in winter for sure, and block heater as well. the motor gets killed on start up, thats where 90% of engine wear is from. Honda call for 0 20 as well and they make good 4 cylinder motors no doubt.

 

Castrol 0w30 works great in Subarus but don't know about direct injection.

 

I can see where you could be coming from with the 0, but when my engine warms up it gets to 180* oil temp no problem in the coldest weather so with the 20 all I can see is the oil being too thin when the engine warms up. I do have an oil pan heater on my car.

 

Damn. You must not travel the highway/interstate. I travel the highway and interstate for 80 miles each weekday and change my oil every 5000 miles. Its synthetic so it doesn't break down as quickly as conventional oils and I'm only hard on the car maybe 100 out of every 5000 miles depending on if I have to log or not. 3000 miles I could see if you were constantly hard on the car and did a lot of city driving. I don't even drive the car every day. If I were you, I'd stay with 5w30.

 

I've heard of tests on the O.L.S. system that showed oil still having a tiny bit of life left when changed at 0%. The system takes into consideration how you drive, and how many heat cycles the oil goes through etc. I don't plan on keeping any vehicles past the warranty period so that combined with the tests showing the oil was still good enough to be in a vehicle at 0% are the reasons I have no problem listening to the O.L.S. system. I am pretty damn hard on my vehicles.