Hello
My Suzuki Swift cranks very slowly first thing in the morning in the recent cold weather - not helped by a diet of short trips morning and evening with lights, blower etc always on meaning the battery rarely rarely gets a good charge. Although the manual recommends 5w-30 oil, I know the dealer who services it uses 10w-40 (no idea why, he's also a Ford dealer so you'd think he'd have supplies of the thinner oil!). Do other BR's think that I'd improve things if I changed to the thinner oil or would the difference be negligible?
Thanks & Regards
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Yes, there's not a manufacturer's specification for no reason. If you ask nicely and show them the manual they might change it to the proper stuff for free.
It won't help the cold starting thought - the affect is small.
Why take it to Ford?
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"It won't help the cold starting thought - the affect is small."
Surely that is nonsense!
10W-40 oil has twice the thickness (viscosity) at zero degrees C compared to 5w-30 oil.
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10W-40 oil has twice the thickness (viscosity) at zero degrees C compared to 5w-30 oil.
... which means that 0W oil has zero viscosity - or in other words is a vacuum. Surely that's nonsense!
Looking back at technical the difference in viscosity is about 4% at the temperature's we're experiencing at the moment.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=60594
In reality pumping losses and the torque needed to take the cylinders through their compression cycle are far greater than the needs of the oil pump.
Edited by mfarrow on 16/12/2008 at 16:38
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10W to 0W. OOps, sorry about that. Yes, a bit hasty of me there.
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"10W-40 oil has twice the thickness (viscosity) at zero degrees C compared to 5w-30 oil."
The number might be double, but the viscosity isn't as it's not a linear scale...
www.experimentalhelo.com/images/oilViscosity_full....f
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Changing your oil seems a rather cart before the horse idea to me - even if it does make turning the cold engine marginally easier. Surely easier to to take a drive and charge it up properly? How much would the extra oil cost (which you'd then presumably have to change back again anyway...) compared to a nice drive to an out of town shop or run round the local area? You may even damage something or invalidate waranty etc.
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I'd suggest you go through the complete high current path and clean all contacts, and use a very small amount of petroleum jelly (conductive grease is better, but I've never seen it in a shop, and my supply came from an electrician who maintained industrial switchgear.
The current a starter draws is so high that any resistance has a huge effect.
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Does anyone know if copper grease (as used on brakes) is conductive?
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My Suzuki Swift cranks very slowly first thing in the morning in the recent cold weather - not helped by a diet of short trips morning and evening with lights blower etc always on meaning the battery rarely rarely gets a good charge.
Doesn't sound like an oil problem.
Although the manual recommends 5w-30 oil I know the dealer who services it uses 10w-40
I wonder why he's ignoring the manufacturers recommendations?
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Sounds like treating the symptoms rather than the cause.
Investing in a new or higher capacity battery would help. Unless your trips are extremely short a modern car with a good battery shouldn't be having trouble starting.
Make sure you turn all lights, blowers, radio etc off before you turn the engine off.
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Cold starting is one of those things, where you need everything to be right;
battery condition
all connections sound
starter motor in good nick
oil the correct viscosity
glow plug system working properly / ignition system in top order
At normal temperatures, any of these can be a little degraded, and you won't notice, but, as temperatures drop, it becomes more important to get it all right.
Of course, there's no reason not to use the correct oil, and it will help cold cranking.
The figures used to describe oil viscosity are nearly useless and completely misleading. The vital point that the numbers don't portray is that whatever the first number, when cold all oil is too thick.
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Simple. It`s a Suzuki.Take it to a Suzuki dealer!
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Thanks to everyone for their replies. In my original post, I didn't explain things very well: The dealer concerned is both a Suzuki and a Ford dealer.
Although the Swift manual states 5W-30 is the preferred viscosity, both 10W-40 and 10W-30 are acceptable alternatives.
The car is driven 5.2 miles in the morning and the same in the evening, so it's cold starts, headlights, blower etc all on at both times. It might get a longer run at weekends but not often (yes, I know it's not good for the car, but that's how it is!). With this sort of use, should one expect the charging system to cope? (I'm inclined to think not but I'd welcome opinions..) Before anyone suggests it, the battery is relatively new and my meter shows the voltages at both standstill and running to be acceptable. My solution to all this is to simply leave my Optimate-type charger attached at night until the cold weather eases but I hope this helps explain my original question - would the battery have a significantly easier time with the thinner viscosity oil? - thanks to your replies, I understand the answer to be no!
Regards,
Tigertone
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It might get a longer run at weekends but not often (yes I know it's not good for the car but that's how it is!).
I think that bearing in mind the car's day to day use you ought to make sure it gets a good run at weekend rather than it being a maybe.
In 5.2 miles journeys the engine isn't even getting properly warm - it's remarkable to drive a car with an oil temp gauge. It takes about 30 miles for the oil to get to temp.
If you can't do that then using the Optimate would help (assuming everything else is OK).
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