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Delo 5w/40 or 15/40 oil?
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Crmaverick View Drop Down
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    Posted: April-12-2020 at 1:08pm
At the end of last season I changed the oil over to 5/40 Delo marine rated synthetic, was running aimsoil 10/40 before. Is 5w/40 alright or should I be running a 15/40?

The motor is a PCM 454 HO with a roller cam so I don’t need to worry about a high zinc oil. I just started to wonder if I should be using a 15/40 before
I run the boat for the season. (Store didn’t have 15/40 when I was winterizing) Thanks
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Jonny Quest View Drop Down
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The dreaded "which oil" question. Ask 10 people and get 15 answers.

The "w" in motor oil stands for winter. The first number in the oil classification refers to a cold-weather viscosity. The lower this number is, the less viscous your oil will be at low temperatures. For example, a 5W- motor oil will flow better at lower temperatures than a 15W- motor oil. The higher number, following the “w” refers to hot weather viscosity, or how fluid your oil is at hot temperatures. The higher the number, the thicker the oil at a specified temperature.

If you plan on operating the boat in very cold temperatures, then stay with a 5W winter weight. If you (like most of us) only run in the warmer months, then a 15W should be fine.

Now...for the question you didn't ask: should you run a higher weight like a 15W 50 or 20W 50? In some circumstances, thicker oil can be used to compensate for increased bearing clearances (gaps between bearing and rotating shaft) that have developed over the years. A large change in bearing clearances can result in poorer lubrication. Be sure that you follow the recommendations for motor oil viscosity in the engine owner's manual.

One more thing...high zinc (ZDDP) oil will work just fine in your engine. That assumes that you don't have a catalytic converter.    

JQ

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Crmaverick View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Jonny Quest Jonny Quest wrote:

The dreaded "which oil" question. Ask 10 people and get 15 answers.

The "w" in motor oil stands for winter. The first number in the oil classification refers to a cold-weather viscosity. The lower this number is, the less viscous your oil will be at low temperatures. For example, a 5W- motor oil will flow better at lower temperatures than a 15W- motor oil. The higher number, following the “w” refers to hot weather viscosity, or how fluid your oil is at hot temperatures. The higher the number, the thicker the oil at a specified temperature.

If you plan on operating the boat in very cold temperatures, then stay with a 5W winter weight. If you (like most of us) only run in the warmer months, then a 15W should be fine.

Now...for the question you didn't ask: should you run a higher weight like a 15W 50 or 20W 50? In some circumstances, thicker oil can be used to compensate for increased bearing clearances (gaps between bearing and rotating shaft) that have developed over the years. A large change in bearing clearances can result in poorer lubrication. Be sure that you follow the recommendations for motor oil viscosity in the engine owner's manual.

JQ

Thanks to the Valvoline website


Yeah exactly, what I’m wondering is why would we want a 15w vs a 5w on a cold start?

At operating temp you get a 40 weight either way but 5 flows better cold. Unless 5 is to thin for the short time the oil is warming up?
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Jonny Quest View Drop Down
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You would need to be well below freezing -- almost to zero degrees to worry about 5W vs 15W. I run Valvoline VR1 synthetic 20W 50 in my rig.

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KENO View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Crmaverick Crmaverick wrote:



The motor is a PCM 454 HO with a roller cam so I don’t need to worry about a high zinc oil.


You might want to verify that it's a roller cam.

It's not what it was made with in 84.
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Crmaverick View Drop Down
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Originally posted by KENO KENO wrote:

Originally posted by Crmaverick Crmaverick wrote:



The motor is a PCM 454 HO with a roller cam so I don’t need to worry about a high zinc oil.


You might want to verify that it's a roller cam.

It's not what it was made with in 84.


You think it’s been changed out? I wonder how I could verify that without pulling it apart
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GottaSki View Drop Down
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I suspect, when that engine was last apart, roller Cam hardware was rare and costly, and oil zddp was not an issue yet.
If it were RH rotation, we could conclude now that its not a roller
However, presuming its a roller, could prove problematic and costly.

I would choose oil like its a flat tappet
If Lenny didn't remark he put a roller cam in it, there in not much evidence it is a roller
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KENO View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Crmaverick Crmaverick wrote:

Originally posted by KENO KENO wrote:

Originally posted by Crmaverick Crmaverick wrote:



The motor is a PCM 454 HO with a roller cam so I don’t need to worry about a high zinc oil.


You might want to verify that it's a roller cam.

It's not what it was made with in 84.


You think it’s been changed out? I wonder how I could verify that without pulling it apart


They didn't have roller cams in production Chevy marine engines in 84

I'd just assume it's a regular ol' flat tappet hydraulic cam and choose my oil accordingly.

You could pull the intake to verify what you have for sure
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Duane in Indy View Drop Down
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I would sooner think that the thickness of the lake ice would have more of a bearing on if you needed 5W oil.   
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Crmaverick View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Duane in Indy Duane in Indy wrote:

I would sooner think that the thickness of the lake ice would have more of a bearing on if you needed 5W oil.   


Yeah exactly I don’t need 5W it’s just all they had on the shelf.
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