[GRIMland]

Background: I don't drive my cruze in the winter, I have a rusty winter beater for that. So I only drive the Cruze from ~April to early November in MN almost no driving below freezing/32F and there's typically only a weeks-worth of temps above 90F annually.

I have been using 5w-30. Any recommendations on whether I should stick to that or use 10w-30? I drive about 5,000 miles a year consisting mostly of 75 mi trips to work each way, 60 to 65 mph.

Edit: I change the oil and filter before putting it away for winter, so one oil change a year

 

[BlueTopaz]

Stick with the 5w-30. It will serve you well. No need for anything else with how you operate the Cruze.

 

[neile300c]

no matter the conditions, 5w30

 

[XtremeRevolution]

GM recommends the use of 0W-30 oils in exceptionally cold environments. If operating above freezing temp, a 10W-30 can be used, which has the benefit of reducing volatility. There won't be any issues with either of those, given the appropriate conditions.

 

[jblackburn]

Either one is fine. I ran Pennzoil Ultra 10W-30 in mine over 2 winters and it didn't seem to care on cold starts on days that were in the single digits outside (as Andrei said, for the reduced volatility).

 

[Alex V.]

I've never felt 10w was necessary in mine. The 1.4T seems to be a tight, quiet engine that will live a long life on any number of full synthetic 5w30's. It does have a water cooled turbo and water/oil cooler so it seems it would be on the lower end of the "gets really hot because it's turbocharged" scale. The only conditions I, personally, would run 0w30 would be lots of highway miles in relatively mild climates.

 

[ChevyGuy]

The owner's manual says 5W-30. It doesn't give any option for 10W-30. Without knowing more, I'd be leery about going higher - especially if there's any warranty left. While I'd think 10W-30 would be fine at higher temperatures, there might be a reason for the 5W having to do with getting a good flow at initial startup. I do know you're going to want oil in the turbo ASAP.

 

[Juliano]

My engine has 240k miles now, I heard that it's better to use 10w30 for high mileage like that, would it be better for my car to use only 10w30? My engine it's the 1.4t

 

[USAnarchy]

My engine has 240k miles now, I heard that it's better to use 10w30 for high mileage like that, would it be better for my car to use only 10w30? My engine it's the 1.4t

I had no clue that this engine would hold out that long. What year is your car and is that mainly highway miles?

 

[lonewolf04]

You will most likely not find a dexos rated oil in 10w-30 since it is not recommended by GM. I would definitely not be running that weight in any vehicle requiring dexos.

 

[Juliano]

My engine has 240k miles now, I heard that it's better to use 10w30 for high mileage like that, would it be better for my car to use only 10w30? My engine it's the 1.4t

I had no clue that this engine would hold out that long. What year is your car and is that mainly highway miles?

mine is a 2013, well most of the miles are highway miles haha, now it has 257k miles, and I'm running 10w40.

 

[Farmerboy]

You will most likely not find a dexos rated oil in 10w-30 since it is not recommended by GM. I would definitely not be running that weight in any vehicle requiring dexos.

There are some oils that are formulated better than dexos 1 rating in 10w30. Give the car 30 seconds and it’s warmed up beyond the 5w rating. I wouldn’t recommend in cold north country but can easily be used in milder climates.

 

[Farmerboy]

That’s why I use 10w30. Have used in gen 1 and 2 both.

 

[Ma v e n]

That’s why I use 10w30. Have used in gen 1 and 2 both.

Pour point has little to do with real world usage, but you are correct an Amsoil 10w30 is a really solid oil choice for the 1.4 its got a phenomenal evaporation loss when combined with it's additive package makes its an excellent choice for safety and protection of the gen2 LE2 against stochastic and low speed preignition. I'm waiting on a VOA of another slightly less expensive oil before I make a choice between the Amsoil SS 10w300 and other oils. The only reason there's a question is price.

SS is a bit overkill on the gen1 unless you intend to use it for the super long OCI capability it has.

 

[Farmerboy]

Another reason I like Amsoil is I am close enough to Dallas warehouse I get overnight shipping for no extra cost.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Pour point has little to do with real world usage, but you are correct an Amsoil 10w30 is a really solid oil choice for the 1.4 its got a phenomenal evaporation loss when combined with it's additive package makes its an excellent choice for safety and protection of the gen2 LE2 against stochastic and low speed preignition. I'm waiting on a VOA of another slightly less expensive oil before I make a choice between the Amsoil SS 10w300 and other oils. The only reason there's a question is price.

SS is a bit overkill on the gen1 unless you intend to use it for the super long OCI capability it has.

What's a VOA going to tell you that would make a difference? Keep in mind even within a certain element like Calcium, there are wildly varying degrees of additive quality, and there are a ton of additives that won't even show up on the report. You also won't find the thermo-oxidation stability which will directly relate to coking deposits in high-temp areas.

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[Ma v e n]

What's a VOA going to tell you that would make a difference? Keep in mind even within a certain element like Calcium, there are wildly varying degrees of additive quality, and there are a ton of additives that won't even show up on the report. You also won't find the thermo-oxidation stability which will directly relate to coking deposits in high-temp areas.

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A VOA will shed some light on the additive package, see if they dropped calcium very heavily and relied largely on that for LSPI and provide some insight into whether or not they added any notable amounts of zinc, molybdenum, boron, tungsten. Obviously just levels of moly and boron etc. don't show the whole picture, but a D1G2, HTO-06 oil that's showing increased level of these elements is likely to have had some engineering put into and is also more likely(imo) to additionally contain other novel additives/formulae to deals with LSPI, coking, soot and other DI related concerns. Saving say $3/L across 5 vehicles over 150000 miles is worth the wait and research to me. Especially with the better half and I having " to make adjustments" to quote our President.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

A VOA will shed some light on the additive package, see if they dropped calcium very heavily and relied largely on that for LSPI and provide some insight into whether or not they added any notable amounts of zinc, molybdenum, boron, tungsten. Obviously just levels of moly and boron etc. don't show the whole picture, but a D1G2, HTO-06 oil that's showing increased level of these elements is likely to have had some engineering put into and is also more likely(imo) to additionally contain other novel additives/formulae to deals with LSPI, coking, soot and other DI related concerns. Saving say $3/L across 5 vehicles over 150000 miles is worth the wait and research to me. Especially with the better half and I having " to make adjustments" to quote our President.

Just keep in mind, what you're trying to do is well out of the scope of your typical oil analysis. Yes, you'll find that they dropped calcium, but again, as I noted, the exact calcium content and how much it contributes to LSPI will depend on the oil formulation as a total package. You can't say one oil with 800ppm of calcium will be better off than another at 1000ppm, just for example.

Nobody is adding zinc as they're already on the limit for API SN. 800ppm is the standard and that's typically not accurately reported in oil analysis reports anyway. Pretty often off by a solid 50-100ppm. Also, none of what you'll see, as I mentioned before, will shed any light on oxidation stability, which as you noted can be a factor.