???confused??? I'm a little lost on this one, I buy 30weight for my tractor car lawn mower snow blower old jeep etc etc etc from wal-crap on a regular basis???? A mech friend of mine uses nothing but 30weight on his older engines?
If you look in any manual for those peices of equipment that has been updated within the last 10 years you will see they recommend multi weight oils. Briggs and Stratton, for example, listed straight 30 oil for all their engines for a very long time. Go to their website now and you'll see they recommend 10w30. 30 weight will work ok in some climates, but multi weight oils will work even better in all climates.<br /><br />
Some of the worst advise I've ever heard has come from mechanics...especially concerning oil.
I understand what you are saying, but when an engine gets older and has wear the straight 30 can be much better then the 10w30. Like I said I use it on all of my engines that have hrs on them. I also use it on egines that are going to be working hard. NEVER once have I had a problem, if anything I believe it adds{or prolongs} life. Maybe this is because I keep up with regular oil changes cleaning etc???? Oh and aren't we talking about an older V8 not a new briggs & stratton? <br /><br />
And some of the worse advise I've seen as come from the net. The mech that I am speaking of is VERY highly respected and has built many engines. He works on the state troopers, fire ambulance, modified trucks etc... plus regular folks. He has a waiting list a mile long and never has slack time, he also works many sundays just to keep up. <br /> <br /> With all of that said I have also met a few old timers that said they never change there oil. One guy had close to 200,000 on his car and not once has he ever changed the oil{said changing oil causes problems} I quess it comes down to opinion care and in some cases maybe just plain luck 
My point is that the 10w30 has a much better chance of breaking down, while the straight 30 will hold its viscosity longer. In an OLDER engine with wear straight 30 is better. You are correct when it's cold the 10 indicates that the oil is 10, once warmed up it will change to 30. My concern is with the additives that are added THEY DO cause the oil to break down at an earlier age. With an engine that is older or is going to be working harder this could cause a problem. Do some researchOriginally posted by Bassin' Fever AKA ]BS:
.Or a person could fix the leakOriginally posted by ZmOz:<br /> If you switch to a 40 weight, it might slow or even stop the leak. My old Jeep leaked about a quart every 50 miles with 10w30, but with 15w40 it only leaked a quart every 150 miles or so.
Ooops with all the pro help here I quess that's not an option MY point exactly I have a 1948 allis chalmers never been rebuilt{well taken care of} The records that have been kept with it over the years say it has only ever had straight 30. Runs better then the new boys out there. Also have a 48 willys with a 71 straight 6{ford engine} in it use nothing but 30 and it runs like a bear in a honey room.
If the 10w30 breaks down then you already should have changed the oil a long time ago. Whether an engine is old or new makes no difference in how hard that engine is working. B&S recommends 10w30 for all their engines, new and old. They would not recommend it if there was a problem with it breaking down. I have a 2.5hp B&S engine built in 1960 that easily has thousands of hours on it. I feed it Amsoil 10w30 and it runs beautifully.
Originally posted by 20/20:<br /> Do some research
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, <br /><br />Guess he has no Idea who he is talking to!!! <br /><br />Your statement is sort of true, but unless you are trying to go 10,000 miles between changes, breakdown isnt going to happen on a 10W-30. A 10W40 maybe, but not a 10W-30. Its the spread you need to be carefull about.SAE 30 is alive and well. It is particularly popular in industrial, marine, diesel, and heavy-duty applications where multi-viscosity oils are more prone to breaking down. Mulit-viscosity oils are popular because of the large number of different automotive applications and climates that they must be used in. <br /><br /><br />
Not quite. When they are both warm the 10W-30 still has viscosity improvers in it that distract from the oils ability to withstand high shear and thermal stress. Most SAE 30 oils will maintain higher viscosities longer when compared to similar 10W-30 oils. <br /><br /><br />
Not necessarily. An engine, particularly an older engine, can present situations early on in the oil's life where multi-viscosity oils break down prior to a mono-viscosity oil.<br /><br />Spud21, the advantage of multi-vis oils are that they can be used in a variety of engines and climates. If you're interested in a straight 30, you might want to look at a synthetic SAE 30. I have had great success with Royal Purple SAE 30. <br /><br />'61 Chev with a 400. Nice.
Maybe I should roll out the red carpet before I post a debate with you ???? Sorry, excuse me if I'm in the way of your ego.....Originally posted by Bassin' Fever AKA LubeDude:<br /> <br /><br />Guess he has no Idea who he is talking to!!!
Well comparing a 2.5 single cylinder engine too a V8 is one thing that should be taken into consideration. Would that 2.5 pull a horse trailer, large boat or even a 6,000lb camper up steep hills? Probably not, so would there be a difference in how the oils would break down, probably so. I agree 10w30 probably would be fine, regular changes etc... I'm just pointing out why settle for pennys when you could have quarters?
