I was just wondering that today when I was letting my truck warm up. I switched to Valvoline High mileage syntec. It would seem like it would work better than the Dino stuff in cold starts also.

 

To me that's the greatest benefit of synthetic oil.
Doesn't thicken like dino oil in frigid weather.
So pumps up faster to the critical areas for better protection.

 

I don't know if the synthetic thickens as bad as the dyno oil, but when I switched over to Amsoil in my diffs, transfer case, and transmission, I did notice something. It took me two days to change over to synthetic. Down here in Alabama the temperature can vary considerably. The first day it was about 45 degress F and it was noticeably harder if not downright difficult to pump the synthetic with my hand pump. The second day, it was almost 70 and I had no troubles at all.

I guess temperature affects everything to some degree. I still run dyno in my engine though, so I can't really comment on that.

 

It will be the weight of the oil that will make the most difference in cold starts, not whether or not its synthetic. 20W-50 vs 0W-30 in cold weather? The 0W-30 will provide better lubrication at start up in cold temps!

Bob

ps love the avatar!

 

I put in 10w-30. It isnt below 30's yet here so I should be alright.

 

Synthetic oil pours at -20.
Dino oil doesn't.

 

Hmmmm. So what happened when I started my truck at -26° F and drove it for an hour? It had dino oil in it.

 

Oil probably was as thick as peanut butter till the engine warmed up. In the mean time you warped your head, dropped a valve, blew a couple of gaskets, and most likely spun your muffler bearing.

 

Ha ha ha. None of the above.

 

I know you two guys know all there is about oil but read this article.
You may learn more than you think you know.


"In fact, synthetic oils are now available with viscosity ratings as low as 0W-30, as in Mobil 1’s new Tri-Synthetic blend or Castrol Formula SLX. These oils flow more than seven times faster than a conventional 5W-30 motor oil during initial start-up, yet at normal operating temperatures act like a regular Grade 30 oil"


http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/15378/