Hey guy,

So I'm having great difficulty finding oil in the weight of 5w-40 right now. I did find one place here in town that does carry it. They have it in Royal Purple... I've used their oil before for my Mazda with no issues so far, but I thought i read around somewhere here on the forums not to use them with our cars. Could someone enlighten me please??

Thanks

 

Royal Purple isn't any magic elixir as some may have you believe. It's a good oil, but not a superlative oil and it's not a bad oil, either. It's just purple. Odd that you can't find 5W40. Castrol makes one. Mobil 1 makes one and I'm sure all the other major brands will have one. Penzoil, Quaker State, Shell. Failing this, you can always run 10W30 full synthetic all year long. Many people do.

 

Keep in mind the owner's manual was written over 13 years ago when oil technology was vastly different to what you can get over the counter now. They listed 5w40 as a cold weather alternative because they knew the only selection in that weight would be a true synthetic. There really isn't any need for a 40 weight in this vehicle given your driving conditions, and with all of the great oils available today I'd rather use a good 0w30. Given your winter conditions a good 0w30 would be an excellent choice. Cold starts are one of the largest contributors to engine wear, anything you can do to get the oil flowing in cold conditions would be a huge benefit IMO. Lots of good 0w30 oils available, see if you can trade the 5w40 for Mobil1 0w30. I think it would be a great choice. In the future if you can find an Amsoil supplier in your area their 0w30 is an outstanding choice. I believe Castrol also makes a 0w30, perhaps some others too. I'd run a 0w30 handsdown in AK. Visit some oil manufacturer websites and compare the cold temp viscosities of some of the popular oils and viscosities, I think you'll be surprised at the differences.

 

So this is what I ended up going with. The place that had the Royal Purple 5w-40, wanted almost 13$ a flipping quart.... So I called the local "stealership" and asked them what they had used the previous times that I took my car to get the oil changed. They advised me they had ended up using Mobil1 5w-30... So i decided to bite the bullet and I ran down to my local Costco, bought 6 quartz of Mobil1 5w-30 at 36$. I'm actually in the process of changing it now. But next time before my oil change is due, I'm going to end up ordering myself a ton of RedLine 5w-40, just so things are done "by the book" and because I'm stubborn like that. . But I definitely and greatly appreciate all your everybody's input.

 

i found local walmart had very good price on syn mobil 1 $25 a gal. but did not have mobil 1 turbo deisel oil, which i started using in my turbo s2. heard plenty of guys using it.

 

The 5w30 is an excellent choice in a synthetic like Mobil1. I think it is a better choice than the 5w40. I know you mentioned wanting to do it by the book, but that "book" is now obsolete when it comes to oil formulations. You can do better by not going by the book. Just saying.