Winter oil for '94 2.5 in South Dakota

Hello,


Recently moved to South Dakota and wondering which oil to use in the
'94 2.5 L minivan. All the other cars and motorcycles we own have a range
that'll work here, but the MOPAR doesn't seem to.

I don't have the numbers in front of me now, but I think they said
to use 10W30 from 0 to 100 F, and to use 5W30 for below 32 F. There is a
warning to not use 5W30 above 32 F.

I've never spent a winter here, but I am hoping it might top 32F
mid-day a few times? (I mean, it's not _North Dakota!) I'm pretty sure that
it'll be below 0 (F) most mornings. Since the car will be used first thing
in the morning, and for a lunchtime highway run to kindergarten most days,
I'm not sure what to do.

This van uses some oil, and I hesitate to switch to a synthetic
(in fact, I'm threatening to switch to store brand (from Castrol) if it
doesn't slow down, but that's another issue...). I haven't worked out
whether or not it'll be plugged in over night, and there is an unheated
garage it'll sleep in.


Thanks,


Bob Fourney

 

I don't know who says you can't use 5W30 above 32F but they're nuts. The
"30" relates to the hot-temperature viscosity and is the same for both oils.
Just switch over to the winter oil on your next oil change and you'll be
fine.

Here in Eastern Ontario where the coldest mornings are easily -30F I use
semi-synthetic for the really cold months, because it doesn't gel up as
much. Makes cold-weather staring a lot easier.

These rules are the same for your 2.5 as most other engines.

 

I understand the theory, and that (in theory) both the 5W30 and the
10W30 are "30" when hot. I remember "back in the day" we wouldn't run
a multigrade in air-cooled engines because they broke down a lot quicker.
(e.g., the 10W30 was 30 when hot, but only for 700 miles (made up numbers),
then it was <30, etc). Also, back then, the larger the spread the worse
this problem was (e.g., 10W30 would stay 30 longer than 10W40 would stay
SAE 40). I know that this has gotten lots better since the 70s when we only
ran SAE 30 (or 40 or 50 depending on age and temp) in our aircooled 356s,
VW bugs, and motorcycles)

BUT it seems that, as of 1994, somebody at Chrysler was still of the
opinion that the 5W30 would break down too quickly in the 2.5 liter engine
to be of use about 32 F. That was almost 10 years ago, and the letters on
the oil cans keep getting further along the alphabet, so my question was
whether or not this was still valid (for the 94 era 2.5 liter engines)

Do you plug it in? Park outside? I'm expecting -20, not sure if
I'll see -30. Folks here have told me I shouldn't even need a block heater.
I had the head off in July, so don't need to change the coolant yet, and was
thinking I might try w/out a block heater (at least to start with) this
season. Thoughts?



Bob Fourney

 

Well maintained, modern, fuel-injected engines do not "need" the block
heater plugged in down to about -30. The shot of fuel directly into the
combustion chamber or intake manifold will generally make it start if it
can turn over at all.

That said, they will all "benefit" from the use of a block heater. That
little bit of warmth in the block will allow the engine to turn over
more easily, it will allow the oil to flow more freely and it will pump
heat out the defroster a little earlier. If you set a timer so that it
turns on about 1.5 hours before you need it, it wont use too much
electricity.


Dan

 

Yes and yes on the coldest nights.

heater.

I think if you use semi-synthetic, a battery warmer is better than a block
heater, since a warm battery can turn over an engine if the oil doesn't get
too thick.