Wally World no longer carries 5W-30? 5W-20 declared the "new norm"??

[rusty ol ranger]

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Been on the shelf 10+ years. It's a collector's item now.

I had to buy it offline...

 

[pentode]

I only run 10w40 in my ranger...but even 10w30 can be iffy at china-mart. I use that in my 460

Are you trying to kill your big block?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Are you trying to kill your big block?

Ive ran it in it for years lol.

I think it calls for 5w30.

I got curious and looked up the thinnest motor oil....evidently theres a 0w8. Wonder how the 460 would do on that?

 

[Bill]

No, 400 is a tiny metric thing.

The FL-910S is a short version of the 400

 

[pentode]

Probably the wrong thread to go off on a philosophical tangent, but I'm sure the engineers that design these things know exactly what modern engines need, and assuming manufacturing processes and tolerances can keep up with the engineers' imaginations, everything will continue to be fine. I do fear though that we're reaching the end of internal combustion, sadly.
Personally I'm afraid that engineering is outpacing manufacturing capabilities (wet oil pump belts anyone?), and especially user willingness to do things like "check oil" and "change oil".
I've seen a couple debates lately about the 4.9 but I'd take a 4.9 all day, every day running on 10-30 or 10-40, no matter how boring it is.

 

[Brain75]

Where the heck do you guys live in comparison to the refineries?

I saw dozens of varieties, so I decided to pull up wally and to a "IN STORE" only pick, then "AVAILABLE ONLY" (so no out of stock), and and - granted the choices narrowed each time, but I started with like 156, then 78, and and now 70 - fully half of those are full synthetics - probably 35 choices.... Huge refinery in Cheyenne and Denver, so no matter how you count it I am "less than 3 hours" from a refinery.... and since I was there today (bought some groceries and 80W90 for the rear diff), I will totally say I saw it recently.
Specific walmart btw is Sterling Colorado:

 

[Brain75]

Missed the checkbox, but when I checked the box it says 28 total / 22 in stock

my criteria was IN STORE, AVAILABLE today, search 5W30, check the Full SYNTHETIC box

 

[JoshT]

All of a sudden, Wal-Mart carries NONE of the synthetic oils in 5W-30, only 5W-20...

Maybe it's a hurricane prep thing?


Seriously though, it probably has a lot to do with location. Oil viscosity selection has a lot to do with ambient temperatures. Given the climate where you're located 5W20 is suitable for almost all gasoline powered vehicles year round. That woud be at least part of why everyone recommends it and it allows them to consolidate and keep fewer oil varieties in stock. Walmart may not have 5w30 on the shelf, but I'm certain that if your local autoparts store doesn't, they can get it for you fairly quickly.

 

[Brain75]

Well it does get down to -20 (F) in the winter just about every other year (I forget el nino or la nina)... and -31 (F) once every 10 years... and of course 100 (F) the whole months of July and August, with an occasional 105-108 (F).... So you telling me Walmart is dictating my oil choices for me based on climate?

 

[bobbywalter]

Ive ran it in it for years lol.

I think it calls for 5w30.

I got curious and looked up the thinnest motor oil....evidently theres

Well it does get down to -20 (F) in the winter just about every other year (I forget el nino or la nina)... and -31 (F) once every 10 years... and of course 100 (F) the whole months of July and August, with an occasional 105-108 (F).... So you telling me Walmart is dictating my oil choices for me based on climate?

what they sell at that store.


5w30 available and 10w30 where i am working....dexos rated too.

 

[sgtsandman]

I rarely shop Walmart. So I can't say what they have in stock here. Auto parts stores still have 5W-30 in synthetic, though I did notice that the amount the stock was less than it has been in the past.

When I still had my 1999 and 2001 Honda CR-Vs, the dealer started recommending 5W-20 even though the manual and the oil cap said 5W-30. So, I guess it is techically ok. Engine oil has gotten better over the years. So, I suppose the switch is ok but I prefer to run what was originally recommended. Plus, all the vehicles at my house recommend the same oil. It's easier and takes less shelf space to have one oil on the shelf than two or three different weights. Plus, while the 2019 was still under warranty, I wasn't about to switch oil weights unless Ford was going to give me something in writing saying my warranty wouldn't be effected. That is no longer and issue now but my engine driven power equipment spec 5W-30 as an acceptable choice as well. So, back to only needing to stock one oil being easier than multiple oil weights.

 

[superj]

we couldn't get any 30w here in flour bluff when we had to do an oil change a few weeks back. no straight 30, 5-30, or 10-30. the old 03 jeep 4.0 had to get something else put in it which sucked because its been getting rotella 10-30 for a while now.

 

[racsan]

I went to get oil for my tractor a month ago & the particular oil I wanted (shell rotella 15W 40 ) was only available in a 4qt container and I needed 5 qts. wasn’t going to buy a 2nd container for a qt. they didnt have individual quarts of that oil & no 5 qt jugs. Found what I needed later at rural king. Im not a fan of china-mart, rarely go there but if im going for cheaper fuel in the next town its the only major store so sometimes its my only option unless tsc might have it. I don’t remember what I paid for the filter, seems like its gone up. The tractor takes a FL-1A. The 6 gallons of hydraulic oil was about $80 though. Got that at tsc.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I wish I would have bought a boatload of FL-1A filters back when they were cheap. I’d like to stock up but at $9/each… ouch. Still want to see if I can fit an FL-1A on my 5.0 instead of the shorty FL-910.

I buy most of my oils from Rural King anymore, they have the best prices around here. They have 5w-30 in quarts, 5-quart jugs, and I believe I’ve seen 55 gallon barrels of it there. Synthetic is only quarts or 5-quart jugs.

My F-150 with the 4.9 I switched to full synthetic years ago. Book calls for 5w-30, but I got a lot of valvetrain clatter with 5w-30 synthetic (didn’t have any with regular oil), so I switched to 10w-30 synthetic and the noise went away. That also gets 10k mile oil changes.

 

[19Walt93]

The threads and gasket surface on several Ford filters are the same but, unlike many companies, Ford doesn't publish flow rate or the size of particle their filters will trap. At least they didn't in 2017. FL1A, FL200(obsolete filter for Contours),FL300, FL400, and FL910 will all interchange if there's room for them. I know FL200 & 300 both work in place of a 1A, the others might but I'm not sure.
The formula for 10w40 hasn't been updated for many years, 5w30 and 10w30 are both better oil. Years ago Ford said to use 5w30 in all gas engines before 1993. That's what's in the 351 in my Ranger.
5w30 isn't thinner than 10w30 except at extreme low temps, so called multi viscosity oil isn't, it's just more stabile when temps change and flows better on cold starts-there's no down side to using 5w30 in place of 10w30. For example 5w30 gets no thicker than a 5 weight when cold and no thinner than a 30 weight when hot.
The viscosity required is decided by engine tollerances, too. 10w40 probably won't flow well in a newer engine. My friend insisted on running 10w40 in his 5.4 3valve until he had to replace the cam phasers a second time.
If you aren't sure which oil to use, follow the owners manual.