What Oil To Use For The 392?

[robertway 0]

The 2012 User Guide says 5w-40, the 2012 Owner's Manual says 0w-40. Supposedly Chrysler dropped/switched their oil contract so they use Penzoil now from the factory and Penzoil doesn't have an 0w-40 and only has the 5w-40 which is why the User Guide says 5w but the owner's manual was never updated and still says 0w.

My guess is it doesn't make a shit bit of difference but wanted to bounce it off you folks.

[ScapeGoat 126]

which ever you like (or cheaper). wont bother a thing.

[toofart 150]

Use the brown stuff.

[srt5939 160]

I like the mystery oil that shit works great

[HemiSam 194]

LMAO. Gotta love this place.

The first number designated has been dropping over the years, I'd argue due to CAFE mileage standards. It designates the winter (coldest temperature) temp the oil still passes tests. The second number indicates a multi-grade oil so it has to pass muster at a low temp and at a higher temp...so basically everything in between. The number quoted is an index and not the actual temp in Fahrenheit or Celcius for our Northern neighbors (I'm ignoring the other continents...harsh, huh?).

I recommend you think about how and where you use your ride. If you beat the holy hell out of it, I'd push for higher viscosity indices...say 10W50. If you're in real and I mean real cold weather and just driver her around town, then the 0W40 would be good.

I'm pretty hard on mine and I'm down South. Mostly run 10W40. I change the oil pretty often so running a conventional vs a synthetic is less of an issue. Longer intervals between changes, and you mostly drive around town, then go synthetic and let her ride...

HemiSam

[robertway 0]

Use the brown stuff.

I like the mystery oil that shit works great

Sam, ironically these were the answers I was expecting. Thanks for not letting me down guys. I woulda thought the forum was going soft if I didn't catch some "that's a stupid question" comments.

[toofart 150]

Leave it to Sam to come up with a straight answer.

[ScapeGoat 126]

which ever you like (or cheaper). wont bother a thing.

simple answer read above.

0W is rated to below -30*

5W is rated to -30*

They sell a lot of these cars in Canada so they have to be all weather rated. Hence the old 0W and new 5W rating. They changed for no other reason than that Pennzoil didnt have the viscosities that Mobil had. If you lived near me you could stick with 10W40, down in the deep south you could run 20W50.

[HemiSam 194]

What he said ^^^

You're welcome. It's what I did for a few years.

HemiSam

[ScapeGoat 126]

Sam worked?

[Jerseyboy 62]

Use the 0w40 Mobil1. The current Penzoil 5W40 formula doesnt have any Moly in it.

J

[Speedy 279]

I ran a oil test on my daily beater. I ran a couple oil changes of Mobil1 for 10,000 miles and a couple of Penzoil Platinum for 10,000 (among a bunch of other oils just for fun). Blackstone labs did the analysis. Almost no difference between the two results wise, although the Penzoil had slightly better wear values....very slight. Similar driving conditions, similar weather, similar everything. I used a Purolator PureOne oil filter (sometimes for 20,000 miles skipping a change of the filter just to see what would happen in the results).

In all cases, everything could have gone longer, even the filter, so pick whichever is most convenient or cost effective.

I run Penzoil Platinum 5W30 in all my cars EXCEPT the Challenger. I use Mobil1 10W40 in the Challenger (built motor and I drive it hard) simply because Penzoil doesn't have a 10W40 and I can't find 5W40 anywhere.

[HemiSam 194]

Sam worked?

Ouch! Wish it were true though, bud....

HemiSam

[Guest Daparrothead]

Well I'm not far from Sam and I've been running Castol Syntec 10-40 and had no issues. I run the Syntec in my other 2 vehicles as well.

[dodgetime 12]

so my take on this thread, brand not so important, weight yes, full synthetic. Been using RP 10w40 full synthetic since the changes are on my dime. But wait you got a 392?..........snake oil

[robertway 0]

Picked up some Castrol Edge with SPT 5w40 Full Synthetic from Advanced Auto Parts last night. Why? It was on sale. Not going to obsess over this and will probably just go for what is on sale at the time and stock up on it knowing the oil change interval is much more important than obsessing over 0w, 5w, or 10w. I used to change the oil every 5000 miles in my LS3 Camaro so I will probably do the same in the 392.

[BayouTiger 100]

Personally, I think the frequency of oil changes and viscosities offered are a bunch of marketing BS. Just like 50 varieties of beer that are designed to gain shelf space rather than taste better. Modern oils are designed to last tens of thousands of miles and with a good filter the interval can be much longer than recommended. Same for the viscosity ratings, Unless you drive on the tundra or through the rain forest, it ain't that important. I have run 5W-30, 10W-40, ad 20W-50 over the years and have had work trucks that never saw a drop of anything other than SAE30 bulk oil and they lasted 100K+ in incredibly rough service.

Note that the manufacturers that include oil changes in the warranty coverage (BMW, M-B, etc) have a light that tells you when to come in based on some sensor, and I can tell you it's NOT at 3500 miles. Lisa's ML550 has about 25K miles on it and I think it has called for oil change twice.

It's still cheap insurance, but I know folks that obsess over it or take incredible pride that they change their oil every 3000 miles. As long as I get it done before the 10K interval I don't stress over it.

[Hemi57 117]

My 2 cents...... I have been testing oil in my RV and tow car for about 5 years and here is what I found.

1) There is only 3 maybe 4 REAL full synthetics, PAO base stock, available. All the rest are Group 4 base stocks (dino oil)

a)Mobil 1

b)Amsoil

c)Redline

2) 3,000 miles on regular oil is about right. You change because the additive package is gone.

3) 5,000 miles on a true synthetic is about right.

4) Oil test will only show failure indicators over a long period of time and frequent tests.

5) 2 tests that normally don't get run are:

a)TBN - Total Base Number This number is what is left of the additive package.

b)TAN - Total Acid Number This number indicates is acidic your oil is.

Here is a report on my Honda CRV I tow behind the RV. At the time of the report I was testing 5,000 mile oil change intervals. It was obvious that 5k was doable but I wouldn't push it. The TBN was only 2.4 and 2.7 out of 8. Also note that the oil was fairly acidic.

[Speedy 279]

Actually based on my oil analysis experience items 2 and 3 above are inaccurate.

I ran regular o'l Castrol GTX 10W30 for 10,000 miles in one of my tests and it was "just" at it's end of life. TBN was getting low.

I've run several synthetics for 10,000 miles and every single one was still going strong.

I have also tested both dino and synthetic in another car for a year without an oil change. I don't drive that car as often so it only had a few thousand miles on it, but both the dino and synthetic came back as still having plenty of life left in them.

Unless folks just like changing their oil and have the money to spend doing it, then there's absolutely no reason to do it at 3K miles.

I get my oil from Wal-Mart and buy the 5qt jugs. They carry both Mobil1 and Penzoil Platinum and it comes in about $4 a quart. Can't beat that.

[robertway 0]

I by no means am going to do every 3000 miles. When I was changing at 5000 in my Camaro the Oil Life Indicator was still at like 53% or so. I just did my first change this morning at 700 miles and will probably do the next at 6000 miles and have the oil analysis done. I am not crazy obsessive about this but my intention is to keep this car a VERY long time so I will probably err on the side of changing the oil more frequently than trying to stretch it. Based on the Camaro, going 7,500-10,000 miles should be no problem especially since I don't beat the living piss out of the car on a daily basis.

Anyone know if the oil life monitor in our cars actually measure properties in the engine/oil over time to determine when it lights up for an oil change or is it just programmed to ding every 6000 miles after it is reset. The wife's Town & Country minivan just dings after 6000 miles, I don't think it is any more intelligent than that. The Camaro indicator was nice as it gave a digital readout of how much oil life was estimated to be left and when you got down to 10-15% it was recommended to change it.

[Speedy 279]

The oil life indicator doesn't "sniff" the oil per se', but it does take driving habits in to account.

[HemiSam 194]

OK, I saw something not altogether accurate. Group IV base oils are polyalphaolephin based (Exxon is the only real manufacturer) and it's what's in Mobil 1. Group III base stocks, mostly from Korea but a smidge manufactured in North America, are true synthetics. Synthetic blends, and you'll see that right on the bottle, usually involve a Group II base oil. Perfectly good stuff, but it's not a full synthetic.

Group III is serious stuff. The outfit I worked for marketed a very large percentage of that sold domestically to the major brands you see posted up in this thread. So the point is, the only differentiating factor was the additive package and there aren't but a few companies that make those.

Royal Purple...what a bunch of great marketers they are. Unbelievable...

HemiSam

[Speedy 279]

Hey food coloring costs money!

[HemiSam 194]

LMAO...exactly, J! You gotta give 'em credit. They make a boatload of money off food coloring...

HemiSam

[Hemi57 117]

I based the post on "What was in the report"... your mileage will very. The Honda has 182,000+ miles on it and the oil gets changed between 3k and 5k. I change the RV once a year as it sets more that it gets drive and the acidity level tends to get high.

Your right Sam it should been Grp III oils... my bad. The Grp III oils marketed as full synthetic can't be sold in Europe as such.

The color in RP lasts about 30 secs after you start the engine. But, they do have a good additive package.

Most of what I know comes from a guy in our RV club that was the Head Honcho at the Texaco lab before he retired.

The bottom line is use any major brand oil of your choice and good filter and your good to go.