Rotella 5w-40 synthetic

[CurlyDave]

Run the first batch for the 5000 miles Dave and then have OA done on it while you have the second batch in it.

I think I will put it in at the end of June and just run until the end of elk season, which is mid-October and right after deer season in Oregon.

Where we go for deer is like a dust bowl some years and I want to change oil right after that instead of right before.

 

[davo727]

Did I mention that I love rotella 5-40 synthetic. 3 chevy gas trucks and one diesel running it between me and daughter. Works great, easy to buy- dont have to track down the amway guy.

 

[Skyco]

I have a 2003 Impala that also does well on fuel economy, particularly using regular fuel and considering the size of the car. The only thing that is disappointing is that Chevrolet cut absolutely every corner possible in building these cars. Never in my life have I seen such poor quality and workmanship. Exactly how bad does a company have to be to fail to even clear coat the paint in the door jambs, under the trunk lid, under the hood and to use particularly poor quality interior materials? Although it runs well and gets admirable fuel economy, with only 43000 miles on mine I'm not sure how long I want to keep it. If Chevrolet took so many clearly obvious shortcuts in building the Impala, how many unseen shortcuts did they take? With that in mind, I won't use anything but the best lubricants and filters on the vehicle. I seriously doubt that it is built well enough to take much abuse. Heck, my seat heaters constantly go out, the automatic climate control system has been out 3 times, the cat converter has plugged twice, the transmission developed a problem to where it lost reverse and I've had 2 "half shafts" replaced in the steering column in only 5 years and 43k of easy, mostly highway, driving. It's never sat outside a single day since I've owned it, so the exterior looks fine still. I'm just worried what other shortcut by Chevrolet is going to bite me next. Maybe it's just GM suffering from such poor quality in workmanship, I don't know. I've never seen any other brand go so far as not finishing the paint job to save money. I think quality lubricants and filters will be the only thing keeping this car going.

Not sure what to say other than that sucks. I haven't even had to change a light bulb in mine. 60,000+ miles and still going strong. The only thing I have ever done to it is regular maintenance (meaning lubricants and filters). Just got state inspected last week and the pads still have about 1/2 life left to them. Looks like I got a mid week built car and yours was either a Monday or Friday car.

I think Dargo bought his at Harbor Freight

 

[Dargo]

I think Dargo bought his at Harbor Freight

LOL! I guess their airless paint gun must have jammed and that's why they didn't finish the paint jobs on the Impalas.

 

[RWEST]

The wife's new 09 Taurus limited will have the rotella syn. after the free dealer oil change offer ends.

Dunno about that - MotorCraft 5-20 is pretty hard to beat for Ford engines. Great price point, too!!

 

[Hematite]

Dunno about that - MotorCraft 5-20 is pretty hard to beat for Ford engines. Great price point, too!!

+1 ...AND it's the correct viscosity for the engine clearances which means the engine will stay tight.

 

[vsteel]

Actually, many newer gasoline engines call for xxW20 engine oils. In the coming years expect to see more and more manufacturers going to this grade.

The issue I worry about concerns is 20W called for because its good for the engine or because some bean counter figured they could get a little more mileage and the 20W would only cause some reliability issues. I would bet they have tried to use straight 0W, it probably just trashed the engine before warranty was up.

I can guarantee that someone has figured the cost of lower reliability on warranty claims versus putting more money into the engine for increased mileage.

 

[Volfandt]

From what I understand the 0w20/5w20 oil is recommended more for it's higher MPG ratings with the w20 being the minimum one would want to lube an engine operating @ it's designed optimum temperature. Conversely the leading 0 or 5 being the maximum weight/grade one would want for a modern close tolerance cold engine, especially at it's 1st startup of the day.

My wifes car just went over 40K and I've run the recommended 5w20 oil and changed it every 5K miles on the dot. (Manufacturer spec'ed every 10K miles btw....)
At about the 38K mark I had to add approx 1/2 qt of oil to get it back to the top setting where it was at when I filled it at 35K service and I noticed when I was changing @ the 40K mark that is was approx 1/2 qt down again. Basically it used approx 1 qt of oil over 5K miles, which is well within the manufacturers (Toyota) specs.
It never needed topped off between the scheduled changes before so I'm assuming normal wear & tear.
I've read in a couple different forums that the w20 oil "may" be prone to be burned/used at a higher rate than a w30 or w40 grade in a broke in engine so I've changed to 5w30 @ the 40K service to see if this either slows or abates the oil usage.
I've also changed brands as I was using Mobil 1 and now using Valvoline Syn.
I'm hessitant to move up to a 5w40 but I never say never anymore

 

[RWEST]

Don't want to pound on ol' Dobbin any more than absolutely necessary (this IS a tractor forum, after all.. ), but we've run MC 5-20 semi-syn for hundreds of thousands of miles in anything whose OEM recommendation is 5-20, with zero oil-related problems. The engines were primarily Ford V-8 Modulars with a couple V-6's thrown in, and a couple Chevy HHR's. Even used Fram eek filters in a bunch of 'em!!! The vehicles routinely get over 200K before the bodies go.

A typical routine is, run the oil for 8K miles, change the filter at 4K. Not the most scientific, but, for us, it works!! Actually, it looks like we predated Ford on that one, because they're recommending an OCI of 7500 on a lot of new vehicles, so, for once, I'm ahead of my time!!

That MC 5-20 is about as close to perfect for its intended purpose as anything I've ever seen.

 

[Hematite]

Don't want to pound on ol' Dobbin any more than absolutely necessary (this IS a tractor forum, after all.. ), but we've run MC 5-20 semi-syn for hundreds of thousands of miles in anything whose OEM recommendation is 5-20, with zero oil-related problems. The engines were primarily Ford V-8 Modulars with a couple V-6's thrown in, and a couple Chevy HHR's. Even used Fram eek filters in a bunch of 'em!!! The vehicles routinely get over 200K before the bodies go.

A typical routine is, run the oil for 8K miles, change the filter at 4K. Not the most scientific, but, for us, it works!! Actually, it looks like we predated Ford on that one, because they're recommending an OCI of 7500 on a lot of new vehicles, so, for once, I'm ahead of my time!!

That MC 5-20 is about as close to perfect for its intended purpose as anything I've ever seen.

Yep, I agree, once again, 5W-20 is the way to go in a modern engine that specifies that weight!