Extreme cold weather... what oil?

[shuttermutt]

Where I live, it gets kinda cold...

Average High in Jan: 19°F
Average Low in Jan: 0°F

Average High in July: 76°F
Average Low in July: 55°F

Record Low: -41°F (set in Feb 1955)
Record High: 96°F (set in May 1977)

Last winter we routinely saw sub-zero temperatues all winter and we had snow drifts taller than some buildings. At one point, the snow completely covered my wife's Ford F-150 in one night and my BMW had nearly 3 feet of snow on top.

Needless to say, I'll be investing in a block heater and battery blanket in the near future for my truck. However, this will be my first winter of this extreme with a good ol' SBC and I'm wondering if anyone has engine oil recommendations. Right now I'm running standard (not synthetic) Quaker State 10W30.

Oh, and I've got an oil pressure issue when the engine is warm. Basically, it doesn't have any and she knocks a little bit down low (also known as a Very Bad Thing). Thoughts anyone?

[dubie]

Go with a 0W 30 all winter. Runs thin and helps your engine heat up quicker

[jcab]

Normally I would say put in some synthetic, but unless the engine has been rebuilt recently, and the gaskets are fairly new, it would probably start leaking if you switched.

[Alex Hayley]

Those temperatures are not too bad. I spent most of my life in temperatures a fair bit colder than that. I used 10W-30 without any problems. You could use 5W-30 if you want...couldn't hurt...

[shuttermutt]

Yeah, I'm leaning toward a 5W-30 or maybe even 5W-40. There's about 2 seconds worth of knock from the bottom end when I start her up in 30-degree weather and I don't want to make it any worse when I lose 30 degrees here in a month or so.

[dubie]

hehhe I always run the 0W 30 in my trucks up here because most mornings when I go to work it's -40. So the thinner the oil, the better on those cold start mornings

[shuttermutt]

Bah! You can keep it! It's cold enough here. If I could just combine the Aroostook County summer with the Houston winter...

[EGLIDERIDER]

'Mutt,

I run AMSOIL in all my stuff. Check out this site http://www.amsoil.com/products/asl.html

Mike

[StingRay]

I run Castrol 5w-50 synthetic all year round and it starts even when it's not plugged in at -40 and colder. If you don't want to go synthetic just use 5w-30. Alot of newer engines spec 5w-30 for year round use. It's fine way into the -40's. Take it from Dubie and me cause where we live it gets FRIGGIN cold.

[shuttermutt]

The claim is that the engine was rebuild a few years back. If I knew for sure, I'd go with a 5W-40 synthetic (in the winter) and never look back. Unfortunately, the old man that bought the truck in 68 passed away some months ago and his nearest relative, a sweet lady in her 90's, passed away a couple of weeks back leaving me with no line on information.

There are indications that someone was in there not too long ago. I doubt the old man rebuilt it himself, but he did own a full-service garage until the day he died so you never can tell. I might go with synthetic anyway. Hell, SOMEBODY has been into that engine in the last 10 years.

[oldsub86]

Try 5W-30 Mobil 1 and see if you like it. I have been running it in my 95 Toyota 4Runner and in my wife's 98 Toyota Avalon. I have not experienced any problems with leakage. I think the extra protection is worth it as I expect it would be expensive to rebuild those little Japanese motors.

A little postscript - the least expensive place to buy Mobil 1 around here is Walmart.

[bmg]

I live here in Alaska and i use 20-50w but will prob go back to 10-30 for winter when i change oil pan. Starts right up for me no problems, Engine was rebuilt 2 years ago.

[68 Suburban]

Originally posted by jcab
Normally I would say put in some synthetic, but unless the engine has been rebuilt recently, and the gaskets are fairly new, it would probably start leaking if you switched.

I think this rumor that started when synthetics first came out has been long put to rest.

[mrein3]

I run 10w-30 year 'round in my truck.
Where I live in Minnesota we'll get a couple of negative numbers in the winter. A couple of 100+ days in the summer (numbers in Fahrenheit).
The coldest I've seen is -36 F since I bought the truck. I didn't bother to try to start it that morning.

[Huck]

I would go for Mobil 1 as it is still the oil of choice for Porsche and Mercedes. It doesn't turn to mud in the cold. It is also an excellent choice for trans fluid (Mobil 1 trans fluid that is). I might also consider a high output oil pump as that can really help out your tired oil pressure issue.

[shuttermutt]

Originally posted by Huck
I would go for Mobil 1 as it is still the oil of choice for Porsche and Mercedes. It doesn't turn to mud in the cold. It is also an excellent choice for trans fluid (Mobil 1 trans fluid that is). I might also consider a high output oil pump as that can really help out your tired oil pressure issue.

Yeah, I'm a fan of Mobil 1 as well. I use it in the BMW year-round. I've also been kicking around the high volume (not high pressure) oil pump for the truck. The lack of pressure at idle is really troublesome.