10 W 30 instead of 5 - should I care?

The kids at our local Pennzoil oil change place just out 10 W 30 in my
excellent '96 SW2 wagon instead of the 5 W 30 I requested, should I care?
The car is routinely used for city and highway driving, and of course the
weather's nice and warm outside these days. I currently burn about 1/4
quart a month

If there's any reason, I'd be happy to go make them change it. I'd be
having more of a fit, but I tend to mumble. =)

Also, should I be considering synthetics, etc. next time? They had some
sort of 'special oil for older cars' (??), supposed to help seals and etc. -
I passed on that one, since I seem to have no such problems.

Thanks all, this has been a great group for me, what with me being a
vehicular paranoid newbie and all. =)

 

I see this so much. 10w30 is a better oil for a older engine and
unless it gets below zero a lot it is all the oil you need. 5w30 can
cause problems long term in some engines because the VI in the oil can
cook out in time and be mistaken for carbon in rings (just look around
some Saturm forums for stuck rings issues) 10w30 has less VI and more
oil than 5w30. You will notice that GM is about the only car maker
that still uses 5w30 while others have gone to 5w20 (which has less VI
too and more oil). ALso some may disagree but now is not the time to
change to SYN oil with a 11 year old engine. Just keep using good
conventional oil and change it every 3K miles or so (not recommanded
interval) and it should last a long time still. I would stay with
10w30 because what works best in a new tight engine vs one with 11
years of wear is a differnet matter.

 

Not at all. The only time you need the 5W30 is when the temperature is below
zero Fahrenheit (minus 18 Celsius).

Naaah. Leave it alone. It's fine. Depending on where you live, it might be
fine year-round. It's certainly not a problem in the summer; in fact, it's
recommended.

Just keep changing the oil and filter every 3K miles.

 

My opinion: 10W30 is a better summer choice anyway. You may actually burn
less oil, but could also get slightly worse gas mileage too.

Bob

 

I've been using 10W30 in my '95 SW since I bought it - about 6 years
now. My driving is primarily in-town, in San Antonio, where the
weather runs from warm to hot year-round. No problems.

--
Oh we got a new computer but it's quite a disappointment
'Cause it always gave this same insane advice:
"OH YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY EYES FOR READING LITTLE TEENY PRINT
LIKE YOU NEED LITTLE TEENY HANDS FOR MILKING MICE."

"Little Teeny Eyes" by Tom Digby - http://www.well.com/user/bubbles/LilTEyes.txt

 

Thanks, all, for the 10 W 40 advice - now, I'm trying to figure out why my
'service engine soon' light is on all the time since the oil change.

I wanted to wait the 4 ignition cycles (?) before complaining, because I've
had a few 'one-time' indications and it seems to turn off after the 4 drives,
but now I've driven the car 9 times. =(

 

Take it someplace and get the codes read. Many auto parts stores will do this
for you free of charge. Any AutoZone store will loan you a code scanner (with
appropriate security deposit, of course) so that you can read the codes
yourself. There isn't really any other way to "figure out" why the light is
on. It's on because the computer detected something amiss and stored a code.
You need to find out what the code is, and that will tell you why the light is
on.

 

In Canada, the smart people use 5W30 oil year around.

Our old '75 has nearly 300,000 Km in it, and still runs great on 5W30.

10W30 does not circulate as quickly, and the bearing clearances are usually
too small to allow enough oil flow.
Our mechanic went to Mexico last year to help locals with their vehicles.
The biggest problem was using heavy oil, 10W40 or 20W50, which resulted in
engine failures due to insufficient lubrication. He instructed them to use
5W30 all the time.

Hole this helps,
David

 

I bought a 97 with 90k and have always used 5w30 mobil 1 synthetic, I
know have over 161k and change my oil 3 time a year. I do mostly city
driving. I use about a quart betwen changes. The mobile circulate
better and my city driving is right arounf 28mpg whereas my on the
highway is around 37 - 40 mpg