# Engine Service Oil ¿



## New2thefamily (Oct 4, 2009)

March 24th I changed my oil with Castrol Syntec 0w-30. I am now 1,500 miles into this oil change when my "Engine service oil" display pops up every time I start my car.

I first checked the dipstick and it read low oil. I then put 1 qt of 5w-20 in the car. The dipstick read the right amount of oil for operation, but still the light came on. The car then took 3 more qt's of oil with the same read on the dipstick...?

This doesnt sound usual to me, but does anyone have an idea of what's going on?

The castrol syntec 0w-30 was recommended by a fellow goat owner off a previous thread, and the 5w-20 was an idea to thicken the oil a little more.

Any insight or knowledge would be great to hear!
Thanks again
Drew


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Are you sure its not the change oil notice? Did you reset it when you changed the oil? If you did this and you are still getting the message, try unhooking the negative battery terminal cable for a few minutes then re-secure it. Hopefully by re-flashing the OBC the light will stay off.


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## chilliwhiggerE (Mar 10, 2009)

Turn the ignition to the "On" position without starting car.
Press the gas pedal to the floor 3 times within 5 seconds. It must be pressed ALL the way to the floor ALL 3 times.
Then wait 5-10 seconds. The Change Oil Soon light should blink then go out. If not, turn the car off and go through the steps again.
I lifted this from another site. I did it and it worked.
PS. 5W-30 oil like recommended by the FACTORY not some Joe Blow might be a step in the right direction.


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## New2thefamily (Oct 4, 2009)

Thanks Chilliwhigger! i'll try that shortly


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## New2thefamily (Oct 4, 2009)

Haha it worked on the first try. Thanks again man


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

So, is your oil 3-4 quarts overfull now?? Or is it consuming that much oil??


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## KyleGT05usmc (Feb 28, 2009)

The super light weight is possibly why the light keeps coming on. If im not mistaken it doesnt come on by time so much as wear.
as far as adding 3 quarts and not overfilling, you should have immediate puddles of oil all over your driveway. double check it. 

i suggest 5w-30 Mobil 1. or Royal Purple if you got the cash. also i always have added 1qt of Lucas Oil Stabilizer (synthetic if cash permits) that stuff is awesome. keeps noisy lifters quiet and so much more. i ran a bottle in my camaro and still running strong at 240,000 miles.


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## heyman (Jan 15, 2010)

Rukee said:


> So, is your oil 3-4 quarts overfull now?? Or is it consuming that much oil??


right, screw the light, what's adding all this oil deal?. 5-30 syntheic is best all around choice.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

:confused

I think I know alittle bit about oil. What is the purpose of going with 0w-30? Most of the engine ware occurs at engine start up. So why go with an oil thats thin at start up when you don't live in Alaska or North Dakota??


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

heyman said:


> right, screw the light, what's adding all this oil deal?. 5-30 syntheic is best all around choice.


Disagree with screw the light. The oil warning light just don't come on to inconvenience you its warning you. Ignore the light or disregard it and it will cost you. However if its just the time to change me light, he's already fixed it. For me personally, I don't like seeing any kind of light on the cluster. 

As far as that much oil consumption... it needs addressed BAD.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

GM4life said:


> :confused
> 
> I think I know alittle bit about oil. What is the purpose of going with 0w-30? Most of the engine ware occurs at engine start up. So why go with an oil thats thin at start up when you don't live in Alaska or North Dakota??


Sorry to bring this thread back, but while searching on how to turn off the oil change reminder message I saw your question. While you are correct when you say that most engine wear occurs at startup, you are mistaken in thinking you want thicker oil when the engine is cold. What you actually want is thinner oil at startup so the the oil will flow into the bearing surfaces faster.

I came a cross a web site a few years ago called BobIsTheOilGuy.com. This is probably the most helpful and informative oil related site I have found. Here is a link to an article called 'Motor Oil 101'. It does a much better job explaining why you might want to run 0w-30 motor oil in case you or anyone else is still wondering about it...

Welcome


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

That website is only SLIGHTLY Amsoil fanboi .

Good info, but they make it sound like all the other oils completely suck... when maybe Amsoil is may just be WAY OVERKILL for any street application.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

jpalamar said:


> That website is only SLIGHTLY Amsoil fanboi .
> 
> Good info, but they make it sound like all the other oils completely suck... when maybe Amsoil is may just be WAY OVERKILL for any street application.


I'm thinking you didn't read the article if you think it favors any brand of oil. 

Please explain to me how you can have overkill when it comes to protecting your engine?


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Maybe I'm thinking of a differnet oil website that is like that one.

I've never run expensive oils in any car I've ever owned, I'm yet to pop a motor. I've also never met anyone that has legitly killed a motor due to the oil not being good enough. Bad oil pump or not changing yes, bad tune.. tones.. but not oil.

My Saturn had 285k, Z34 Lumina had 180k, and Talon had 190k... all ran perfect. Would putting a better oil in make the engine wear less? Probally, but it really isn't necessary.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

Hey, whatever works for you. It's your car, run what you want. 

I guess I was just taking exception to you saying that the link I posted was pushing Amsoil (which is what I use btw). At least look at the website before posting an opinion about it.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

GM4life said:


> :confused
> 
> I think I know alittle bit about oil. What is the purpose of going with 0w-30? Most of the engine ware occurs at engine start up. *So why go with an oil thats thin at start up when you don't live in Alaska or North Dakota*??





FastFrank said:


> Sorry to bring this thread back, but while searching on how to turn off the oil change reminder message I saw your question. While you are correct when you say that most engine wear occurs at startup, you are mistaken in thinking you want thicker oil when the engine is cold. What you actually want is thinner oil at startup so the the oil will flow into the bearing surfaces faster.
> 
> I came a cross a web site a few years ago called BobIsTheOilGuy.com. This is probably the most helpful and informative oil related site I have found. Here is a link to an article called 'Motor Oil 101'. It does a much better job explaining why you might want to run 0w-30 motor oil in case you or anyone else is still wondering about it...
> 
> Welcome


Nah. You just misread what I wrote and said the samething that I wrote. I didn't goto the website because I don't need to. I work hydro and it a petrolium product just like oil is. The colder it is the thicker it is. So you go with a thinner viscosity so its not like thick syrup when its cold out just like Alaska. So why go with a thinner viscocity in a warm climate when you don't need to? 0w-30, 5W-40 is two viscocities in one. Your operating viscocity is the second part.


Maybe you can provide a website that proved that people had experiance engine failure/abnormal ware due to Brand X oil.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

From what they told us in school (and if I remember this right), the 5 in 5w-30 is the "constant" or cold viscosity... very thin. At high temperatures, the polymers (long hydrocarbon molecule chains) they put in it allow it to have the viscosity of 30, and thermal breakdown is the breakup of the polymer such that it reverts back to the 5 weight, which causes engine damage. So think about that when you're running a 0 oil.

Synthetics have a higher temperature limit than cracked oils.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

Poncho Dan said:


> From what they told us in school (and if I remember this right), the 5 in 5w-30 is the "constant" or cold viscosity... very thin. At high temperatures, the polymers (long hydrocarbon molecule chains) they put in it allow it to have the viscosity of 30, and thermal breakdown is the breakup of the polymer such that it reverts back to the 5 weight, which causes engine damage. So think about that when you're running a 0 oil.
> 
> Synthetics have a higher temperature limit than cracked oils.


Either they taught you wrong in school or you don't remember is right. It doesn't 'revert' back to 5 weight. You are right about the 5 being the cold viscosity. Which is the viscosity at startup (obviously). The problem is, even 5 or 0 weight oil is too thick at startup. There is no oil currently produced that is the correct viscosity at startup. But 0 is better than 5. Do yourself a favor and read the link I posted. It explains what the numbers actually mean. It really is worth taking 30 minutes or so to learn a little about motor oil. Or don't if you are not willing to admit that you are wrong about 0w-30.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Poncho Dan said:


> From what they told us in school (and if I remember this right), the 5 in 5w-30 is the "constant" or cold viscosity... very thin. At high temperatures, the polymers (long hydrocarbon molecule chains) they put in it allow it to have the viscosity of 30, and thermal breakdown is the breakup of the polymer such that it reverts back to the 5 weight, which causes engine damage. So think about that when you're running a 0 oil.
> 
> Synthetics have a higher temperature limit than cracked oils.





FastFrank said:


> Either they taught you wrong in school or you don't remember is right. It doesn't 'revert' back to 5 weight. You are right about the 5 being the cold viscosity. Which is the viscosity at startup (obviously). The problem is, even 5 or 0 weight oil is too thick at startup. There is no oil currently produced that is the correct viscosity at startup. But 0 is better than 5. Do yourself a favor and read the link I posted. It explains what the numbers actually mean. It really is worth taking 30 minutes or so to learn a little about motor oil. Or don't if you are not willing to admit that you are wrong about 0w-30.


:confused
I just skimmed through your little article there, what I can't understand is why is *Poncho* wrong?

From the article you posted:


> The downside of a mineral based multi-grade oil is that this VII additive wears out over time and you end up with the original straight 10 grade oil. It will go back to being too thin when hot. It will have a thickness of 6 instead of 10. This may be why Porsche (according to some people) does not want a 0W-30 but rather a 10W-30. If the VII wears out the 0W-30 will ultimately be thinner, a straight 0 grade oil. When the VII is used up in the 10W-30 oil it too is thinner. It goes back to a straight 10 grade oil.


Now unless I read it too fast *Poncho* is right.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

The "W" also does not mean "weight" but rather means Winter grade. The numbers 0,5, 10, 20, 50 etc are also completely arbitrary and have no correlation/set scale to temperature other than against themselves. They're more or less reference numbers.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Poncho Dan said:


> The "W" also does not mean "weight" but rather means Winter grade. The numbers 0,5, 10, 20, 50 etc are also completely arbitrary and have no correlation/set scale to temperature other than against themselves. They're more or less reference numbers.


I think I've seen that on TV on one of those Powerblock or car programms talking about that. It is common to call the W weight like you said above


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

GM4life said:


> :confused
> I just skimmed through your little article there, what I can't understand is why is *Poncho* wrong?
> 
> From the article you posted:
> ...


My little article? That's nice. I didn't write it, I only suggested reading it. The section you quoted is specifically about mineral based oil. I'm pretty sure we were discussing synthetic oil. Nobody even offers 0w-30 in mineral based oil do they?


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

FastFrank said:


> My little article? That's nice. I didn't write it, I only suggested reading it. The section you quoted is specifically about mineral based oil. I'm pretty sure we were discussing synthetic oil. Nobody even offers 0w-30 in mineral based oil do they?


You posted right.

To answer your question. I haven't seen or beleave there is 0w in mineral.

That artical you posted, the same section as quoted before: 



> The downside of a *mineral based multi-grade oil* is that this* VII additive wears out *over time and you end up with the original straight 10 grade oil. It will go back to being too thin when hot. It will have a thickness of 6 instead of 10. This may be why Porsche (according to some people) does not want a *0W-30 *but rather a 10W-30. If the VII wears out the *0W-30 *will ultimately be thinner, a straight 0 grade oil. When the VII is used up in the 10W-30 oil it too is thinner. It goes back to a straight 10 grade oil.


Why does it mention 0w in a meneral section of the artical?


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

GM4life said:


> You posted right.
> 
> To answer your question. I haven't seen or beleave there is 0w in mineral.
> 
> ...


That's a good question. I wish I knew the answer. It's been a while since I read that article, so I think I'll take some time to read it again this weekend. Maybe I'll do a little research while I'm at it to see if anyone ever offered 0w-anything in mineral.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

FastFrank said:


> That's a good question. I wish I knew the answer. It's been a while since I read that article, so I think I'll take some time to read it again this weekend. Maybe I'll do a little research while I'm at it to see if anyone ever offered 0w-anything in mineral.


I thought you knew the answer.:lol:


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

GM4life said:


> I thought you knew the answer.:lol:


Nope. I can't know since I didn't write the article. :cheers


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