QuestionQUESTION: Mike
About 18 months ago I changed my engine oil from conventional to full synthetic. I use Walmart brand full syn. 5W30,who the auto dept. at Walmart says that it is made by Mobil. Also I changed interval from 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Ever since the change over my engine has started to use oil about 1 qt. every 1500to2000 miles. My car is a 2006 Dodge Stratus 2.4L with currently 61,000 miles on it. Should I use a more well known brand of motor oil or go back to conventional?
ANSWER: I take it that before the change your engine was using oil at a slower rate. Any car maker will tell you that 1500 to 2000 miles is well within the allowable limits for oil consumption. Synthetic oil is going to leave the engine quicker than regular oil, and changing back would probably slow down the rate of consumption. To keep the good qualities of synthetic without having to buy so many replacement quarts you might want to switch to a 10W30 or even a 20W50 synthetic. This would almost surely decrease your oil consumption. I wouldn't do this if you live in one of the northern tier of states, at least not in the winter, but any other time it should do you a world of good.
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QUESTION: Mike: First of all thanks for the quick reply. Before on conventional oil --it didn't use any at all. But, while under warranty the front main seal went out which was caused by excessive play in the crankshaft. The local Dodge dealer replaced the crank, seal, and one piston and conn. rod and other misc. components. My owner's manual and even the oil fill cap specifically notes 5W30 although 10W30 makes good sense and I don't see how that little bit of a viscosity change would make that big of a difference. I've heard of other people who switched from conventional oil to syn. started to use oil I guess I'm in that category
Answer They replaced ONE piston and connecting rod? I would be willing to bet that that is the one that is using oil. I would also wonder why such extensive repairs were required. It sounds to me like they should have given you a new engine. Maybe they didn't have any to give, or maybe the cheap krauts who were running the company back then didn't want to cough up the cash for the repairs. Either way, it sounds like you got screwed over. I'm sure the current Italian management isn't going to be much help, either.
As to the oil, the 5W30 rating was chosen to give the engine better mileage and emissions results on the EPA automated testing cycles. Using 10W30 definitely won't hurt. You might want to try using a diesel-rated oil instead of gas-engine oil. They are available in 10W30 and have all sorts of good things in them that protect the engine better than the other stuff. The only downside to the diesel oil is that the engine might not pass a tailpipe test. But almost all emissions checks are done through the computer these days, so it shouldn't be a problem.
