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Motor Oil Dilema?

Joined
3 November 2011
Messages
3,362
Location
Saskatchewan, Canada
Its turned in to fill up the windshield washer fluid and check the gas level please season here in the great white north. As a result I was in my local Canadian Tire scoring a couple of containers of washer fluid. While there, I always check the motor oil aisle because they regularly put Mobil 1 on sale, the 4.7l + 1l combo typically going on sale for around $35 Cdn. I buy because its not like your not going to use it and why pay regular price. I scour the aisle and find one rather dusty 4.4l jug of 10W-30 and no 1l containers anywhere to make up the requirement for the NSX. I look around some more and I don't see any 10W-30 synthetic in any other brands. There was a single row of Castrol and one other brand conventional 10W-30 and judging by the number of jugs in the rack it looks like they were not being replenished.

I asked the counter clerk what was going on and he said that the Mobil 1 10W-30 is being discontinued. He wasn't sure whether this meant that Canadian Tire was discontinuing it or Mobil was discontinuing production. He also said that they don't move much 10W-30 so perhaps its just that the chain decided to drop it. He said that they were recommending Mobil 1 5W-30 for people looking for 10w-30.

So, is 10W-30 going the way of the Doe doe? Conventional 10W-30 seems to be available for now; but, I like the idea of synthetic. However, I am not keen about the idea of having to order it on line. If Canadian Tire is not selling 10W-30 synthetic in any brand it is unlikely that 10w-30 synthetic is available locally for me. Any thoughts on substituting 5W-30 for the 10W-30?
 
I have been having a harder time finding 10W30 oil as time goes on. I need to line up three different types of synthetics. I started using Quaker State in the S2000 from day one. I use Castrol in the lawn tractor, mower, and XL250 street/trail. The NSX gets Pennzoil. Getting 10W30 Pennzoil and Quaker State synthetic at Canadian Tire is hit and miss, mostly miss. Castrol still seems to be there most of the time. I see from the work orders that the previous owner gave me when I got the NSX, 5W30 Pennzoil is what he used.

I have been able to find 10W30 up till now. The cars don't see enough road to need any more than one change a year, and really don't really even need that. The oil that comes out looks the same as what goes in. I have picked up the Pennzoil at Walmart the last few times I needed it. You might want to check for Mobil 1 there.
 
I have been able to find 10W30 up till now. The cars don't see enough road to need any more than one change a year, and really don't really even need that. The oil that comes out looks the same as what goes in. I have picked up the Pennzoil at Walmart the last few times I needed it. You might want to check for Mobil 1 there.

I did an electronic stroll of Walmart's inventory. The only synthetic 10W-30 that they listed was Valvoline and it showed as out of stock for on-line ordering (not a good sign) and none available at any stores in my area. This is reenforcing my feeling that 10W-30 may be on the way out.
 
Redline 10W30 is what I use. No issues with availability, however it is not something WalMart carries. I get mine from either Amazon or www.jegs.com
 
xW--30 is 30 weight oil. Its viscosity at low temp (0 or 32 F) is like what "x" weight would be at that temp. I'm not sure 0W or 5W is a bad thing. They are both thicker than what 30 weight oil is at normal temp, but thinner than 10W would be at cold temp, but that is a good thing.

I've been running 0W-30 in my NSX since Mobil 1 came out with it. Of course in the frigid winters of San Diego, we approach 35 degrees F at times! I really worry about the low temp performance of my oil. ;)

just my 2 cents.
 
I haven't had any issues at any of the American chain stores (Advance, Auto Zone, O'Reilly, Pep Boys) finding the Castrol 10w-30 high mileage formula (whatever GTX titanium marketing wank synthetic) that I've used for years now. Enough planning and you could probably also mail-order what you need (Amazon, or equivalent) if you're not changing it all that frequently.
 
The 10W-30 supply was not an issue here last fall. However, it does appear that for now NAPA continues to list 10W30 so it may still be available locally.

I am less concerned about the low temperature viscosity. Its actually more the high temperature viscosity I am wondering about as my understanding is that because of the relatively tight tolerances in modern engines Honda actually strongly recommends against higher weight oils because of the potential for reduced flow.

Motor oil viscosity is specified at 100C (one of the test points) and when I did a rather limited check (in part because vendors don't always make the data easily available) the 100C viscosity of 5W30 was commonly higher than that of 10W30. Its not a huge difference, typically something like 5% higher. However, when I subsequently checked other oil types (high mileage, super synthetics, extended performance, advanced fuel economy ....) I discovered that sometimes the 100C viscosity for 10W30 is higher than for 5W30. I am not particularly knowledgeable about the API system for rating / specifying motor oils. Perhaps the API rating system has a large enough tolerance that the 5W30 and 10W30 legitimately qualify for the 30 characterization and if Honda made their recommendations for 30 as the upper number recognizing the allowable viscosity range, the difference in viscosity between 5W30 and 10W30 at elevated temperatures may not be an issue. I didn't look to make the comparison in 100C viscosity of different brands of 10W30. It may be possible that the variation in 100C viscosity across different brands of 10W30 is larger than the variation between 5W30 and 10W30 in a single brand in which case the switch to 5W30 would be a non issue. I was curious as to whether anybody had already engaged in an evaluation of the differences between 0W30, 5W30 and 10W30.
 
Plenty of 10w30 here in Southern Calif. I imagine the 5W30 would be better during cold start especially in the cold climate, and they are probably the same once the engine reach normal temp. Just a guess.

The 10W-30 supply was not an issue here last fall. However, it does appear that for now NAPA continues to list 10W30 so it may still be available locally.

I am less concerned about the low temperature viscosity. Its actually more the high temperature viscosity I am wondering about as my understanding is that because of the relatively tight tolerances in modern engines Honda actually strongly recommends against higher weight oils because of the potential for reduced flow.

Motor oil viscosity is specified at 100C (one of the test points) and when I did a rather limited check (in part because vendors don't always make the data easily available) the 100C viscosity of 5W30 was commonly higher than that of 10W30. Its not a huge difference, typically something like 5% higher. However, when I subsequently checked other oil types (high mileage, super synthetics, extended performance, advanced fuel economy ....) I discovered that sometimes the 100C viscosity for 10W30 is higher than for 5W30. I am not particularly knowledgeable about the API system for rating / specifying motor oils. Perhaps the API rating system has a large enough tolerance that the 5W30 and 10W30 legitimately qualify for the 30 characterization and if Honda made their recommendations for 30 as the upper number recognizing the allowable viscosity range, the difference in viscosity between 5W30 and 10W30 at elevated temperatures may not be an issue. I didn't look to make the comparison in 100C viscosity of different brands of 10W30. It may be possible that the variation in 100C viscosity across different brands of 10W30 is larger than the variation between 5W30 and 10W30 in a single brand in which case the switch to 5W30 would be a non issue. I was curious as to whether anybody had already engaged in an evaluation of the differences between 0W30, 5W30 and 10W30.
 
0W-30, 5W-30 and 10W-30 will all be fine in the NSX under normal operating conditions. I personally use Mobil 1 0W-40 because I track the car and in those high oil-temp environments (120C +), the oil behaves more like a 30W does at 100C. 5W-40 is also fine to use, as Honda recommended that weight in the JDM 2002-05 manual. I'm a big fan of Mobil 1 and have used it for years. If you are loyal to the brand too, I don't see any issue just switching to the M1 5W-30 for your NSX. If you want to get really technical, you can compare viscosity @ 100C numbers for all the different weights, but I think the 5W-30 will be fine.

Also for consideration is that Walmart's Supertech full synth is made by Exxon Mobil. It's very likely the same as the M1 and I'm pretty sure they still stock 10W-30.
 
If you want to get really technical, you can compare viscosity @ 100C numbers for all the different weights, but I think the 5W-30 will be fine.

Also for consideration is that Walmart's Supertech full synth is made by Exxon Mobil. It's very likely the same as the M1 and I'm pretty sure they still stock 10W-30.

What started me off wondering about this is that I did look at the 100C viscosities for a limited number of 5W30 and 10W30 oil and noticed that they were different. Initially it looked like the 5W30 had higher numbers than the 10W30; however, more exploration showed that this is not consistent and the variation in viscosity at 100C is probably within the limits specified by the API

As to Walmart, in Canada they do not list their Supertech 10W30 synthetic as an available product. However, given the consensus that 5W30 is a suitable replacement I can pick up Mobil 1 5W30 locally for about $35, so no need to hoard a supply of 10W30 for the future.
 
On a somewhat related subject. What is the shelf life of the oil filters? I've a couple in the garage that I purchased 5 years ago. Are they still good?
 
On a somewhat related subject. What is the shelf life of the oil filters? I've a couple in the garage that I purchased 5 years ago. Are they still good?

Should be fine. They have a silicone drainback valve, which does not degrade.
 
So, 10W30 Mobil 1 seems to be back. Picked up a 5 l jug for $32 Cdn at my local Canadian Tire and they had lots of inventory. Go figure.
 
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