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If you don't leak or burn oil, stick with the recommended viscosity. However, at those temperatures it doesn't make a significant difference. With a 5w30 conventional oil vs a comparable 10w30 conventional, the 5w30 will typically give you very slightly easier cold cranking and better lubrication until the engine warms up. So no, 10w30 isn't always better for a higher mileage engine. Most people don't know WTF they're talking about when it comes to lubricants. Not all "high mileage" engines are the friggin same. Not all NEW engines are the same. I had an '87 Caprice with a 305 and at 180k MIXED driving the engine didn't leak or burn ANY oil - and I was running 5w30 Castrol Syntec, which is even thinner than the conventional 5w30 it was born and raised on. Do you leak or burn oil?
However, by the same token, I could have put 20w50 in that same motor, and it would have cranked over fine. It just wouldn't have protected it as well, clearances weren't that wide and a good protective film wouldn't have easily formed. So no, a 10w30 is not going to hurt it even if it calls for 5w30 (which I don't know that it does). Certainly would not cause that problem. As for the starter, if it cranks good (rerr rerr rerr) like it wants to start, its not the starter.
As far as moisture in the line... yeah, it can be a problem at those temperatures. Every winter (and it doesn't even typically get that cold here) I'll throw in a bottle of pure isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) once each month. You may find it advertised as "Iso-Heet" (red bottle) or "Water remover". When it doubt, check the back of the bottle and look to see that it is isopropyl alcohol. Methyl can keep the gas from freezing (think regular yellow bottles of Heet), but it isn't as good at removing the water. Also roughly every oil change is a good time to remember to run some decent injector cleaner. My preferences are Gumout Regane (clear yellow), Redline SI-1, Seafoam (although mostly for vacuum induction, not so much in the tank), Chevron Techron, BG 44K, maybe a few others.
However... the sounds coming from your tank would be your fuel pump. What kind of car is this? Fuel pumps don't last forever, especially if you aren't regularly changing the fuel filter. Might want to consider changing the fuel filter if it hasn't been done in a long while. Keep an eye on things, the pump might be in need of replacement at some point here. Pull your plugs and see if they're fouled. Fouled plugs will also certainly cause hard starts. Sometimes a little premium starting fluid helps if its a fuel or ignition issue, but it's a PITA to use on modern vehicles.
Long story short: Oil fine. Suspect fuel and/or ignition in need of maintenence.
Vertigo: Are you sure oil is leaking into your combustion chambers with the vehicle off? There are other cold start culprits. The plugs could be fouling from it burning oil when it was running, and once it cools off it won't want to restart. If it really is leaking badly when the ignition is off... sounds like its in dire need of a valve job. Switching to an additive-heavy "high mileage" oil of a reasonably high viscosity can sometimes help, but honestly usually not much if it is indeed the valve seals and not the piston rings.
Edit: DO NOT USE RUBBING ALCOHOL! I had a guy use rubbing alcohol because I told him that the "dry gas" aka water remover with isopropyl alcohol was much better at removing water than a regular gasline "antifreeze". See, rubbing alcohol has WATER in it too. Usually like 30%. It's bonded to the isopropanol, so its not a huge deal, but at the very least it lost all its usefulness. Anyway, that's how isopropanol works. Add 1 liter of it to 1L of water and you do not get 2L. |
