Trouble at t'Mill wrote:Clearly the Bongo is a tolerant beast!
5W 30 is pretty thin, and would be ideal for colder climes and, I guess, short runs as mentioned above. Has anyone using this grade noticed if the oil consumption has gone up?
I'd be very surprised indeed if using 10W 30 or 40 oil caused a significant increase in fuel consumption over 5W.
For normal driving and/or motorway runs, I'd rather stick with 10W.
I love the way this forum software doens't flag up new post of interest. Just to answer this, I see it t'other way round. I was told long ago that a very large proportion of engine wear happend in the 1st 2 mins of running, due to sluggish circulation of cold viscous oil. So that why I prefer a thinner low end spec if my Bongo is doing 2 x daily 5 mile runs. Its never really going to get to the upper end (30/40) bit. Effect on fuel consumption is probably minimal, but must be theoretically true so mentioned for fun.
As far as the Bongos other life is concerned, its on the open road doing 200rpm @ 65mph and with plenty of engine cooling (provided system is healthy). I think 30 is a safe bet for that in UK climates. The only time it is inferior is in heatwaves, lots of hard work in the hills, towing heavy loads, or sat in motorway traffic jams maybe.
I'd love to use 5W/40 but its a lot dearer. Life's a trade-off I guess.
TBH I can't think it matters that much which you use, but might as well consider what kind of lifestyle your engine is likely to have and base decision on that.