# Is it safe to use 10W 30 oil in Gen2



## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

That's the oil I could choose for that application, but it doesn't mean I'm right. 
The Noack volatility for 10W30 Amsoil SS is very low, noticeably lower than the 5W30.


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Taxman said:


> That's the oil I could choose for that application, but it doesn't mean I'm right.
> The Noack volatility for 10W30 Amsoil SS is very low, noticeably lower than the 5W30.


Thanks so much for the input. I have no idea what Noack volatility is? Is a low Noack volatility good or bad?


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

The two main bad things that happen to hot oil are oxidation and volatility. 
Oxidation is when oil reacts with air to become something not quite oil. 
Volatility is when part of the oil just evaporates. 
Signature series 5W20 and 10W30 are more heat stable than 0W20 and 5W30.

10W30 is the least volatile Signature viscosity, losing 4.1% of its weight in the ASTM D5800 test cycle. 
https://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g2880.pdf

The only thing that might possibly be worth worrying about is the fact that Amsoil didn't certify 10W30 for Dexos1 gen2, GM's anti-LSPI test. 
Perhaps @*XtremeRevolution* can shed some light on that issue. It might just be a matter of not wanting to pay GM for the right to label 10W30 for cars that GM doesn't want us to use 10W30 in. It does carry API SN+ certification, the plus meaning it passes API's new LSPI testing.


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Taxman said:


> The two main bad things that happen to hot oil are oxidation and volatility.
> Oxidation is when oil reacts with air to become something not quite oil.
> Volatility is when part of the oil just evaporates.
> Signature series 5W20 and 10W30 are more heat stable than 0W20 and 5W30.
> ...


Wow!! You are amazing. Better than Google or an encyclopedia. Thanks so much this is fantastic info.


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Fuhnominon said:


> Taxman said:
> 
> 
> > The two main bad things that happen to hot oil are oxidation and volatility.
> ...


Also, would you choose Valvoline advanced 5w 30 full synthetic over Amsoil 10w 30 signature oil in the generation 2 cruze?


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

I wouldn't chose anything over Signature series. But I don't know anything about the Valvoline product you mentioned. 
I'm reasonably convinced Signature Series is the best product readilyn available to me, I'm just not totally sure I want to pay that much for it. 

After the oxidation results posted by @*XtremeRevolution* here, I'm not sure I want to continue to use Mobil One products in turbocharged gas engines. 

Which reminds me, you said second generation Cruze, but you didn't say what engine. 
Everything I've been saying here is directed at the 1.4L gasoline direct injection LE2 found in US market 2nd gen cars.


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I am running 10W30 Amsoil SS in my Gen 2 1.4 with 15k mi oil change interval. According to the analysis it is still doing great at that point.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Tough call. I'd run AMSOIL SS 10W-30 if you can find it. Not sure if you can find it though. Is that considered a US territory? 

Barring that, I'd run whatever synthetic 10W-30 you can get. You'll be totally fine with the viscosity; the LSPI protection will be hit or miss as the dexos1 gen2 LSPI test is rather vague.


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Taxman said:


> I wouldn't chose anything over Signature series. But I don't know anything about the Valvoline product you mentioned.
> I'm reasonably convinced it's the best product available to me, I'm just not totally sure I want to pay that much for it.
> 
> After the oxidation results posted by @*XtremeRevolution* here, I'm not sure I want to continue to use Mobil One products in turbocharged gas engines. https://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/4009-xtremerevolution.html
> ...


Yes, sorry I should have said 1.4 LE2. Your help has been great thanks so much


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Farmerboy said:


> I am running 10W30 Amsoil SS in my Gen 2 1.4 with 15k mi oil change interval. According to the analysis it is still doing great at that point.


Perfect!! Thanks for all this guys. I feel much more comfortable now.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Tough call. I'd run AMSOIL SS 10W-30 if you can find it. Not sure if you can find it though. Is that considered a US territory?


Back to the original topic, and expanding on it a bit:
Is it safe to run SS 10W30 on a -20°F morning?
At what temperature would you say 0W30 or 5W30 has better protection?
It looks like 10W30 is thinner at -25°C than 0W30 is at -35°C, and comparable to 5W30 at -30°C. 

Could you say that SS 10W30 protects as well in a Michigan winter as OE 5W30?
Amsoil's pour point spec for the SS10W30 is certainly lower than the OE 5W30, almost as low as the OE 0W16.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Taxman said:


> Back to the original topic, and expanding on it a bit:
> Is it safe to run SS 10W30 on a -20°F morning?
> At what temperature would you say 0W30 or 5W30 has better protection?
> It looks like 10W30 is thinner at -25°C than 0W30 is at -35°C, and comparable to 5W30 at -30°C.
> ...


Interesting question. AMSOIL's 10W-30 signature series I'll bet has better performance at -20F than Schaeffer Supreme 9000 5W-30. I'd say it's safe. However, 5W-30 will provide a bit better efficiency during that warm-up. 

General rule of thumb, a 5W oil is good down to about -20F. Anything below that, you should use a 0W oil. 

The base oil blend they're using on signature series is really good. 

Sent from my BlackBerry Key2 using Tapatalk


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## Farmerboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I took my car to Kansas last New Years. Had temp down to 0 or slightly lower. A couple minutes idle time had warm air coming from vents so I figured it was fine.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

I'm starting to think I need a case of SS10W30 and to park the car in the garage when it's really cold out. 
I don't think it ever hits 0°F in my garage, and it rarely hits -10F at my workplace before 9pm. 

Yes, 0W30 or 0W20 will perform better during the first minute of my coldest drive of the year, but maybe I'd be better off with oil that performs better than 0W30 during the entire summer. (right now my daily driver Cruze has Mobil One EP 0W20 in it, and that needs to go soon now that I'm seeing the occasional afternoon in the 60s. I only drove the Cruze 2000 miles last winter so it'll be a short drain interval)

I suspect the only advantage to the 0W30 is in the time it takes to get oil pressure at the cam bearings. 
If the 0W30 takes two seconds, and the 10W30 takes 2.5 seconds, is the difference really worth worrying about?

It's common for me to see one or five nights a year at or below -20F. Lowest I can remember in the past five years is -24F.
Coldest morning here this year was -18F air temp. That was the only morning under -15, we had a mild winter. Oil could have easily been -15, which is about the temp Amsoil chooses to publish the cold cranking viscosity of SS10W30. 

So, @*Fuhnominon*, by all means order yourself a case of SS10W30. Its cold start performance at 10°C exceeds the cold start performance of 0W20 at -30C, and nobody is suggesting we shouldn't start our cars at -30 with 0W20 in the sump.

@*XtremeRevolution*https://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/4009-xtremerevolution.html mentions better efficiency from lower viscosity. That is one reason my 2016 has M1 EP0W20 in it now, but I didn't notice an improvement in MPG this winter over Goodwrench 5W30 last year. I'm sure the oil pump consumes less power at all temps with 0W20, the difference just isn't enough that I can see it on the economy screens of my DIC like I can see a 3 psi change in tire pressure.


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## Iamantman (Sep 24, 2018)

You're also gonna get slightly better mpg's with lower viscosity simply due to less rolling resistance of parts.. GM might not come out and admit that on the record but you better believe in an effort to design a 40mpg engine, that was discussed by the engineering team. It's a win win.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I ran 10W-30 for ~2 years in my Gen 1 in Virginia...it was fine on all but the few mornings we had in the single digits, where it chattered for a second or so on startup. But a Toyota running 0W-20 also didn't like those cold starts.

I'd reckon you're just fine running a good 10W-30 in it.


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## Fuhnominon (Mar 19, 2015)

Thanks to all you who participated and added such great advice and data. This has helped me tremendously. Thank you!!


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## SONICJIM (Aug 23, 2016)

Using a heavier oil ( 10W vs. 5W ) will cause more wear at start-up when the engine is cold, BTW.


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