What oil will you be using in your Pentastar V6?

[CarbonSteel]

What if your engine clunks out and they determine thicker oil was being used, I'd imagine getting warranty coverage would be a problem.

Ever hear of this happening with any vehicle?

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[blnewt]

Ever hear of this happening with any vehicle?

Warranties get denied for countless reasons. Oil viscosity is easy to test for, and if you service your own vehicle they will request receipts. Receipts for oil that's twice as thick as what the manufacturer calls for in the owners manual "could" complicate a warranty issue.
Chances are you or any of us won't have an engine failure, but if it were to occur I'd rather not deal with that, but run the oil you prefer.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Warranties get denied for countless reasons. Oil viscosity is easy to test for, and if you service your own vehicle they will request receipts. Receipts for oil that's twice as thick as what the manufacturer calls for in the owners manual "could" complicate a warranty issue.
Chances are you or any of us won't have an engine failure, but if it were to occur I'd rather not deal with that, but run the oil you prefer.

Perhaps, but in all my years, there are a few things I have observed or learned, namely (and I have no horse in this race--everyone can run whichever oil/viscosity they choose):

1. I have never seen or heard of an engine failure due to thicker oil. Conversely, there have been cases of engines wearing or failing prematurely on thinner oils and having the viscosity changed to a thicker one (BMW, for example).

2. Engines which fail due to overheating and/or seizure typically heat the oil to the point that it thickens past its original viscosity which can make a viscosity test worthless.

3. Bearing clearances have remained fairly constant through the years so despite all of the Internet rhetoric, there is no proof that thicker oil will not flow into these "tighter" clearances--especially at operating temperatures.

4. In reality, all viscosities are too thick at startup unless you are in extremely cold temperatures using 0W-xx oils.

5. Thicker oils do provide better protection is high heat, high load operation and have a higher safety "cushion".

6. Though the second generation Pentastar is only specified for xW-20 oil globally, there are plenty of engines specified for thicker oils outside the US and even some in the US which have dual recommendations--the Ford Mustang has both xW-20 and xW-50 specified depending on usage, yet the engine is exactly the same in both models/use cases including bearing clearances.

7. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act is in full effect and the burden of proof would absolutely be on the dealer to prove the oil caused the failure.

8. Last, but not least, FCA states:
"We recommend you use API Certified SAE 0W-20 Engine Oil, meeting the requirements of FCA Material Standard MS-6395 such as Mopar, Pennzoil, and Shell Helix."

A recommendation is not a requirement because if it were FCA would have to supply the oil they require you to use to maintain your warranty which would be no different than them requiring you to use Mopar filters.

Just food for thought...

 

[blnewt]

Perhaps, but in all my years, there are a few things I have observed or learned, namely (and I have no horse in this race--everyone can run whichever oil/viscosity they choose):

1. I have never seen or heard of an engine failure due to thicker oil. Conversely, there have been cases of engines wearing or failing prematurely on thinner oils and having the viscosity changed to a thicker one (BMW, for example).

2. Engines which fail due to overheating and/or seizure typically heat the oil to the point that it thickens past its original viscosity which can make a viscosity test worthless.

3. Bearing clearances have remained fairly constant through the years so despite all of the Internet rhetoric, there is no proof that thicker oil will not flow into these "tighter" clearances--especially at operating temperatures.

4. In reality, all viscosities are too thick at startup unless you are in extremely cold temperatures using 0W-xx oils.

5. Thicker oils do provide better protection is high heat, high load operation and have a higher safety "cushion".

6. Though the second generation Pentastar is only specified for xW-20 oil globally, there are plenty of engines specified for thicker oils outside the US and even some in the US which have dual recommendations--the Ford Mustang has both xW-20 and xW-50 specified depending on usage, yet the engine is exactly the same in both models/use cases including bearing clearances.

7. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act is in full effect and the burden of proof would absolutely be on the dealer to prove the oil caused the failure.

8. Last, but not least, FCA states:
"We recommend you use API Certified SAE 0W-20 Engine Oil, meeting the requirements of FCA Material Standard MS-6395 such as Mopar, Pennzoil, and Shell Helix."

A recommendation is not a requirement because if it were FCA would have to supply the oil they require you to use to maintain your warranty which would be no different than them requiring you to use Mopar filters.

Just food for thought...

Great post, and all good points, I was just stating that running a higher weight oil than what is stated in the owners manual could give the dealer ammo against a warranty issue. And you brought up plenty of ammo against such a scenario. So plenty of food for though, in fact it's an all u can eat buffet

 

[jeepdabest]

For now, I am using Castrol Edge; I like the titanium in the add pack and I have a hefty stash of it. UOAs look good so far, but it is still breaking in.

What is your typical oil change interval?

 

[CarbonSteel]

What is your typical oil change interval?

Now that I have most of the wear-in metals out, I will go to a 5K OCI.

 

[jeepdabest]

Now that I have most of the wear-in metals out, I will go to a 5K OCI.

I have 10k on the clock....should I go shorter?

 

[CarbonSteel]

I have 10k on the clock....should I go shorter?

There are as many opinions about this as there are types of oil. There are some who say go as long as you can because early OCIs "waste" good oil and others say change it early to get the contaminates out. I have done it both ways--15-17K OCIs and 3-5K OCIs. Which you choose can depend on the engine, operating conditions, and the like.

There is nothing wrong with adhering to the iOLM and changing the oil when it tells you to and a 10K OCI is pretty standard these days for non-DI engines (the 3.6L is port injected, the 2.0L is direct injected).

I have lots of Castrol Edge that was either free or very cheap and so 5K is a good sweet spot for me.

 

[Kluk Ztopolovky]

I really never felt that I am doing anything wrong by picking up any oil brand as long as it has the appropriate specs and so here in Canada I usually just walk inside our legendary Canadian Tire store and if Quaker State , Castrol or Penzoil are on sale it lands right away in my shopping cart.I just never run it the full cycle . I know with synthetic as soon as I see 30 % of longevity left I am changing it and with conventional oil I never did more then 3 -4 K miles.

 

[Oletimer]

Because It's what I prefer to run, I believe the lighter weight oils are just for fuel savings not for longevity of the engine. I also run this in my 6.4 hemi. Run what you think is best its your engine .

I had a Chevy Silverado with 5.3 that made more noise than anything I've ever owned. Chevy said operating as designed. I put straight 50 weight royal purple in it. If it blows it blows.
It went silent. You couldn't tell it was running. I did this for only 20 thousand miles or so and traded it.
But no obvious harm.

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