Oil Weight

I have 175,000 on my 2001, Gen One and about to change the oil. I've been using 5-30 synthetic, either Mobil One or Penzoil since I purchased it new. Should I now be using a higher grade considering the mileage?

I guess I would ask if you have noticed any need to add oil between oil changes?

If not, then you are probably good where you are at.



On a side note. I notice you live in SoCal like I do and, unless you frequently travel to colder climates or go to the snow during winter, the 5 portion of the grade you are using is not that critical for your needs. I switched to 10-30 with my first oil change and never looked back. I just turned 221,000 miles on my '02 Trac and am still happy with it.

5W30 will continue to work well for your engine. The oil you are using is very good quality, keep it topped up and change it at the correct intervals and your engine will continue to perform well. There is no advantage to going to a 10W30 because at operating temperature both oils perform as a 30 weight oil. The 5W30 protects the engine better at cold weather start up due to it's ability to pump at a lower temperature.



Just for comparison of Uncle_Bob in Cali, I run 0W-30 in our gen 1 and 0W-20 in the gen 2 due to northern Alberta. Here is a shot of our backyard thermometer for one morning last year. -50 Celsius is -58 Fahrenheit.

Thanks for your responses Uncle_Bob and Holleyman. I change the oil every 5k. Sometimes I may have to add 1/2 pint between changes. Looks like I will stick to the 5W30.

Looks like that -50c might actually be colder as it looks like it is pegged at -50.



Plus I just noticed it is a Celsius display, so that converts to -58 in Fahrenheit for all us south of the Canadian border. Brrrrr!

Thats a whole nother level of cold right there!!!!:throwup:

I've been using 5W-30 synthetic for 340,000 miles. Haven't yet needed to add between changes. And I change the oil regularly at 5,000 miles. Well, ok, maybe 6,000, or even 7,000 sometimes.

I agree with Uncle_Bob. Since you live in a climate that is warm year-round it wouldn't hurt to switch to 10w-30 but I would only do that if you notice it using more oil. Otherwise don't mess with success and just keep doing what you're doing. I'm the OCD sort who gets used oil analysis occasionally and I will tell you that I got good results from the lab with both Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Platinum but the wear metals were slightly lower with Pennzoil and it's usually cheaper.