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What oil do you use for a YEAR ROUND (4 Seasons) TD?

  • 10w-40

    Votes: 5 16.1%
  • 5w-30

    Votes: 6 19.4%
  • 10w-30

    Votes: 18 58.1%
  • 15w-40

    Votes: 2 6.5%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

Daily driver oil poll.

6K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  EJIO 
#1 ·
I've gone through a lot of the oil threads and everyone has preferences on what viscosity and brand to use depending on their application. So my question is ...
for a 2.5 turbo I - what oil would you use for a year round (4 seasons) daily driver? I also notice the original owners manual states to change the oil every 3 months or 3000 miles whichever comes first.

What do you do for your Turbo Dodge?
 
#2 ·
When it comes to oil, you'll get a lot of opinions.

In my younger days I'd experiment with different viscosity oils and convince myself one was better. I've tried the following oils for these cars over the years:

0w-30
5w-20
5w-30
10w-30

I can't tell the difference between any of these oils.

So today I simply use the manufacture recommended oil viscosity, which is 5w-30 for many of the turbo dodges. They may have recommended 10w-30 in the earlier years. I prefer Penzoil Ultra Platinum synthetic in my vehicles based on the virgin oil analysis and used oil analysis posted on bitog forums. In my friends vehicles, who are all cheap, I use the Supertech (Walmart) brand conventional or synthetic oils based again on the bitog forums analysis.

For your application, I'd simply recommend you change your oil often and choose the brand of your choice that follows the manufacturer recommended viscosity.
 
#3 ·
If it were one of my cars, and it didn't leak any oil, I would put in 10W40 full synthetic and change it every 10,000 miles. I started doing that in 1987 in my '86 GLHT and never had an issue related to oil. In fact, the block cracked in 1990 (now ex-wife put water in radiator in the middle of winter) and after changing engines I stripped the old engine for usable parts. The only part I couldn't salvage was the block, and it made me sick to scrap it. After over 75k miles (many of those a quarter mile at a time, hehe) there wasn't a ridge in the cylinders, and you could still see the hone marks in the cylinders! Now all of my cars that run (4 out of 6) get full synthetic and go 10k between changes, except for my '12 SRT Charger to keep the warranty valid.
 
#5 ·
Oils are a hotly contested topic on a lot of forums. Can lead to bad blood between a lot of folks. I personally like Mobil 1 & Valvoline products. Never used Mobil 1 until my DD recommended it(plus it's an odd 0W-40 European formula).

For information, I personally use Valvoline high mileage synthetic blend 10W-30 in my Daytona turbo, 10W-40 high mileage blend in My N/A Scamp...
I've always been a fan of Valvoline, but IMHO, use whatever brand you are comfortable with. I do highly recommend running at least a synthetic blend though.:D
 
#7 · (Edited)
The Rotella is a good choice for use in our cars, and as previously noted, it has the anti wear agent (zink) which is especially good for the slider cam cars. Rotella is still formulated for industrial engines that are turbo equipped, so that's good. The synthetic blends are also great and have a higher shear strength than a conventional oil and that is why they are so commonly specified in turbo cars and/or engines where operating temperatures are high...like in today's engines. The engine compartments are often quite compact and under hood temps can get pretty high, raising the temp of the engine operating environment. Also, car manufacturers actually run the engines hotter in order to reduce emissions so their fleet can get the necessary EPA certifications for the US market. So shear strength becomes a very important grading for your oil. The new European 0-40W has become quite popular and I am running it (Synthetic) in my CSX these days. It's more of an issue in climates where the temperature is often at or below the freezing point for water, so in the more Northern climates it is a better choice than say a 5w or 10w anything.

Modern formulated oils are quite different than older oils and the advent of the catalytic converter can also be a huge factor in that a car manufactured in the last 5 -10 years will have a catalytic 'system' that can be ruined by oils with the ZDD(zink) additives found in some oils and also as an aftermarket oil additive...so it's a BAD idea to put a zink additive in your newer car thinking that the zink will help reduce engine wear. It's a REAL bad idea. And, if you do use an additive, expect your spark plugs to have a slightly different appearance at the next change. Fuel additives will often produce a pinkish or redish coloration on the electrode glass/porcelain, zink sometimes a sooty or grey coloration may be noticed.

The viscosity of the oil spec'd for your car can be more important than you think. In the family Volvo, with the T5 turbo engine, which does not spec synthetic oil, every time I change the oil from conventional to synthetic, it will throw the check engine light. This is because it has a hydrolic cam position sensor that gets filled with oil, and a change in the viscosity places the sensor in a different spot briefly, causing the engine to think the sensor is defective. After a few miles of driving, it gets properly positioned and having the light reset will make things all better. This has happened to me several times now.

The best oil for your car is clean oil. A regular oil change, with a new and quality filter is going to be your first and best defense against engine wear and oil related issues. Of course you need to put in an appropriate weight. I don't subscribe to the 5,000 miles extra life engine oils, and 10,000 miles is just asking for all types of contaminants to remain circulating in the veins of your engine. Remember that a manufacturer wants you to think that maintenance is not a cost factor and from an accounting point of view, the engine only must last till it is out of warranty. The cost of a new engine plus the labor these days, you can and should change your oil as often as you can afford to!

My $.02.

We do BTW, have a pretty good FAQ on engine oils right here on the turbododge.com site. It is located here:

http://www.turbododge.com/forums/f4/f19/749713-faq-engine-oil-best-oil-your.html

 

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#9 ·
This would depend on on what part of the country and what climate you live in.
I use Shell Rotella 10-40 in all 10 of my cars and trucks. One of them is a 95 Caravan we use for delivery every day that has 310000 miles on it. The engine had head gaskets at 195000 and spark plugs along the way. A couple of timing belts and water pumps.The oil pan has never been off. Takes 1 qt. of oil in 1800 miles. I would like to buy another new one just like it!
 
#10 ·
As Shelby recommended Mobil 1 15-50 full syn, I've always used that in my GLHS for over 20 years as it was a daily driver for 19 of those years.
 
#15 ·
I had a 1984 Dodge Daytona turbo 1, used Valvoline 20/50 in south Florida mind ypu, hot. Traded the car in with 110k miles and running strong with original turbo. I traded it in for my now 90 Dodge Daytona VNT new in 1990, used 10W30 as recommended. Turbo went out before 30k miles. I drove both in the same way. I switched back to 20W50 but Castrol, 85k miles and never an issue. Now in a colder climate I would switch to 15W40 or 10W40 and will do part synthetic , but I swear by Castrol and changing that oil 3 to 4k miles so all synthetic expensive oil IMHO would be a waste of money and I'm not running it 10k miles with the same oil. Oil absorbs carbons and other unwanted by products and removing the oil removes these products. Also, forget Fram oil filters unless it's the higher end more extreme expensive ones, we tore apart several oil filters and the Frams were the worst! Regular Purolator were way better design, had more filtering area.who would have guessed.
 
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