Switched to Mobil1 0w30 today
 

I got an oil change today, instead of the normal Mobil1 5w30 I've opted for the Mobil1 0w30 with the Mobil 1 oil filter. Because of my high percentage of short trip city driving I hope I'll see an improvement in mileage. If not, the 0w30 oil change didn't cost me any more than a 5w30 oil change.

-Jay

Keep us updated! I have noticed a significant improvement and my engine feels a lot smoother too.

I did notice that the truck seemed to DFCO quite easily on its own on my way to work this morning. Don't know if this was just coincidence or not. I also noticed last night after I got the oil change a vibration in the accelerator pedal??? I have no idea what that is, but surely the oil has nothing to do with it. Its hard to describe, but I noticed last night the when I gave it slight pressure (10% - 20% throttle) I could feel the pedal vibrating. Kinda felt like someone's pager was set on vibrate and attached to the back of the pedal. I can't think of what could have possibly done that. Its just a cable attached to the air intake. I didn't notice it this morning.

Oil pressure seemed to be in the normal range for a cold start (~60 - 65 PSI). Temp this morning was about 35F when I left for work. I'll keep everyone posted.

-Jay

The 0w30 should only make a difference when the engine is cold. Unless you weren't running a full synthetic before.

I went from 10w30 to 0w20 in my car and noticed a difference. The car runs better overall.

You should see a difference, my dad's Camry changed from 10w-30 regular to 5w-30 regular and noticed an increase in MPG, and he drives mostly short trips and cities.

Since I do a lot of short trip city driving (most trips are under 3 miles) I figured I'd give it a shot. I was using Mobil1 5w30 for the previous ~45,000 miles. This morning after I got to work I checked my ScanGauge. It reported that I had driven 4 miles and my max water temp was 188F, so the thermostat had never even opened on the trip in this morning.

-Jay

The 0w instead of the 5w should help out a little on FE especially during cold weather. Lighter weight oil will give less resistance. 0w20 would have probably given a bit better overall. I don't think 20w would be too light during the winter even if the manufacturer recommends 30w.

I was a little scared that 0w20 wouldn't protect properly when the engine was warm. I may top off with a quart of 0w20 (make it 0w28) when I get low, but I'm not going to fill it with 20. I'd really like to get another 150,000 miles out of it.

-Jay

I can understand. The difference it would make in FE wouldn't be worth ruining the engine for. I just said I didn't think it would make that much difference especially during colder weather.

I came back from an errand just now and only noticed the vibrating pedal once. There really wasn't a noise associated with it. When I got back to my office I left it running and I looked under the hood. The truck was pretty quiet before, but now the sound of air moving from the fan is definately louder than the engine itself. I think this could be super quiet if I switched to an electric fan. I tried lightly revving the engine by activating the throttle directly on the intake manifold, but I sensed no vibration, and heard no objectionable sounds. Maybe the throttle cable is getting snagged on something as it goes through the firewall. I find it very hard to believe that any perceptable vibration could be transmitted through the throttle cable to the pedal. I must somehow be sensing the cable going through a kink or rough spot right at that point. I'll look into it more later I figure if something was vibrating that badly that I notice the pedal vibrating there should be some sound or the whole truck would shake so badly that I wouldn't notice the pedal vibrating.

-Jay