Kuroki924

The Haynes manual I got for my 82 924 na suggests running a straight 20w for winter, but I couldn't find it anywhere near where I am so after some forum surfing I decided to try 20w50. It works just fine unless the cars been sitting for any more than a day, then it's like the oil settles and it becomes too thick to crank enough to fire, and I need to jump it to give it enough power to start. Any suggestions for a change? It's times like these I miss being able to run 30w (Book's suggestion for summer oil, summer is better anyways!)

V2Rocket

weird, 20W50 should be just the same as 20W when cold...nominally.
how cold is it where you are in winter?

Kuroki924

We're going through a bit of a heat wave right now so we're averaging low 30s I'd say (Fahrenheit), but it's been continually getting down to about 10 degrees otherwise, throw wind chill on top of it and it can get to about 0 degrees from time to time

Kuroki924

Well last night I charged it up and drove around for a while, got back home and shut it off and waited about 20 minutes and started it again. It cranked fast and strong like it had 30w in it, which surprised me, however it didn't want to fire at first. It finally did on the third try, and when it did it started right up with no issues. Then this morning I go to start it up, and again it was like the oil was just too thick for it to crank through. Do you think draining a quart or so of what's in it now and replacing it with something a little thinner would help, or would that be a bad idea?

V2Rocket

since its so cold you might try like a 5w20 if you can find it.

Kuroki924

​​I'll have to look for that today, if I can find it I'll try it out and post an update

968workaholic

Sounds more like a battery/starter issue. Did you try jumping the battery to see if it cranks over faster/better? 20w50 is too thick for those temps anyway, I would think a 10w30 would be fine for year round use according to your first post, or even 5w30

Kuroki924

Yeah, and it does crank faster and stronger than when it does after it's been sitting for only a day. I think a possible starter issue may be apparent now that you mention it, as I just had a new battery installed a couple weeks ago.

968workaholic

Really cold temps are just as bad on starting systems as really high temps. Clean the connections on the starter, alternator, battery and ground cables first before replacing anything. It's free and most of the time that's the problem. I would still go to a lighter weight oil in the motor though to help with cold start lubrication

Kuroki924

​​​​​Well I didn't want to say anything at first because knowing my luck I'd jinx it immediately, but before the car couldn't sit for any more than a few hours and the oil would settle to the point where the starter motor couldn't even crank. I put 10w30 and a little bit of 5w30 in it, and the car sat for two days while I was out of town, I just got home a few minutes ago and she fired right up first try. Think it's safe to say the oil was the issue! And I have definitely learned a lesson here

mel_t_vin

Year round...not a good idea.

5w-20/30 and 10w-30 formulations are modern fuel efficient oils and, as such, [most] do not contain adequate amounts of Z or Pn for anti-wear. Proceed at your own risk...