Oil question 10w30

[fadyasha]

Hey all,
Think may have screwed myself. I know we should use 5w30 or 10w30 and after changing with 10w30 the guy here is telling me this is no good for the weather in saudi Arabia and should stick to 20w50.

True or false?? Will this oil hold up in the weather here knowing it reaches up to 50 degrees here!

 

[AtlWrk]

Did he explain why?

Unless your engine is having trouble developing oil pressure I see no reason to stray from GM's specification. I especially would NOT go from 30 weight to 50 weight oil. Once your engine has warmed up the oil will be around the same temperature regardless of whether it's 50 degrees below or 50 above. All you're doing with a much higher weight oil is making your oil pump and seals work harder. (my 2 cents)

 

[navigator]

Did he explain why?

Unless your engine is having trouble developing oil pressure I see no reason to stray from GM's specification. I especially would NOT go from 30 weight to 50 weight oil. Once your engine has warmed up the oil will be around the same temperature regardless of whether it's 50 degrees below or 50 above. All you're doing with a much higher weight oil is making your oil pump and seals work harder. (my 2 cents)

I would tend to agree with AtlWrk, I would expect your engine to run about 210 whether you are in Alaska or Saudi Arabia. If I had any question I would just call nearest GM Dealer.

 

[fadyasha]

Thanks for the replies nope thankfully no problems in the engine! He was just explaining light oil doesn't hold up in extreme heat! I thought he was stupid but he was persistent!

 

[The_Roadie]

I thought he was stupid but he was persistent!

One of the hallmarks of stupid people is how ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED they are they they are right. More intelligent people are open to education and persuasion with facts and especially URLs for more reading.

For more reading: Dunning

The syndrome even has a name, it's been studied enough.

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.

 

[Dad-O-Matic]

and should stick to 20w50.

I don't know if 50W is too thick, but you may have CPAS problems as Voymom did in her thread. http://gmtnation.com/f25/its-never-ending-p1345-p0014-2244/

The syndrome even has a name, it's been studied enough.

I thought it was the "that guy's an idiot!" syndrome. At least that's what I call it at work.

 

[fadyasha]

Loooool! Thanks for the reassurance! According to the manual I should be ok! Was just worried that middle east iOS different! Anyways after riding around the engine is more responsive and is more light. Especially with the engine flush I did. I used to put 10w40, but after joining and reading it was time to go down a level.

Thanks all and another hip hip horray for gmtnation

 

[RayVoy]

An oil like 5w30 is called a multi-viscosity oil. It behaves like a 5 when cold and a 30 when the engine is at "normal" operating temps.

You do not (you should not) need to go above 30, however, under your climate conditions, a 10 (as in 10w30) would not harm the engine.


From the owner's manual:

Do not use other viscosity grade oils, such as​

SAE IOW-40 or SAE 20W-50 under any conditions

 

[The_Roadie]

... the engine is more responsive and is more light. ...

Only if he removed rotating mass from it while he was in there. Come on, hot oil is hot oil. Do you think it's like 10 HP more responsive? 30?

It's like saying I was tasting beers, and they started to taste less "skunky" and bitter as time went on. It was really because after five identical beers, my taste and judgement had deteriorated.

Honestly, I just don't see the word "light" as a suitable adjective for engine performance, in the same way I object to "confident" or "serious" to describe wine. Let's keep to the objective and measurable side of things, is my plea.

 

[Mark20]

Loooool! Thanks for the reassurance! According to the manual I should be ok! Was just worried that middle east iOS different! Anyways after riding around the engine is more responsive and is more light. Especially with the engine flush I did. I used to put 10w40, but after joining and reading it was time to go down a level.

Thanks all and another hip hip horray for gmtnation

Sometimes its best to just nod your head yes and say "yep". Then go do what really is right. That can save you so much grief when dealing with idiots.

 

[Joshtradamus]

I run a 5w40 in my envoy. VVT works with perfection which I have confired with my Tech-II.

 

[navigator]

I've never understood why folks would run other than the manufacturers recommended oil weight. If you are in extreme cold climates I could see running something like 0W30 or in hot climates stepping up to 10W30 to help with cold/hot starts but much more than that seems excessive.
I figure the auto makers spend a lot of time and money designing the engine they should know what oil to run in it better than the jiffy lube guy.

I expect you could run 90W gear oil in them for awhile and they would seem to run ok (ok that might be stretching it) but how many miles do you shave off of the engine life by not running the proper oil. I think we tend to overthink some things.
I just figure I should use the OEM recommended oil weight from a good quality oil company (Mobile1 etc) and change it on time with a good filter.
I also expect that I'll be tired of the TB long before I have a major engine(oil) related issue.

 

[MacMan]

IMO, if I were you and the vehicle was in extreme high heat areas like SA, I'd be using 10W-30 full synthetic oil. Full synthetics like Mobil 1, Amsoil, Royal Purple, or any other made by major oil companies hold up to temp extremes much better than conventional mineral oil.

If you already have full syn. in the truck, you're good to go.

 

[Joshtradamus]

I've never understood why folks would run other than the manufacturers recommended oil weight. If you are in extreme cold climates I could see running something like 0W30 or in hot climates stepping up to 10W30 to help with cold/hot starts but much more than that seems excessive.
I figure the auto makers spend a lot of time and money designing the engine they should know what oil to run in it better than the jiffy lube guy.

I expect you could run 90W gear oil in them for awhile and they would seem to run ok (ok that might be stretching it) but how many miles do you shave off of the engine life by not running the proper oil. I think we tend to overthink some things.
I just figure I should use the OEM recommended oil weight from a good quality oil company (Mobile1 etc) and change it on time with a good filter.
I also expect that I'll be tired of the TB long before I have a major engine(oil) related issue.

Yes, people with zero knowledge on the subject should follow the owners manual.