Coming up on an oil change, and i'm wondering what weight to use. right now i run 10W-30. i live in Pennsylvania, and it's quite chilly in the mornings. I do 100+ miles a day, so really only one cold start per 100 miles of driving. the 10W-30 leaves me little dark liquid lovenotes on the driveway that I don't like. I have to add a quart every few hundred miles. I am a fulltime college student and don't really have the time to go tracking down a leak. just wondering how thick of an oil i can use and not get in trouble. I run Volvo filters, and avoid the "orange kiss of death" Fram filter at all costs. -rOb

Rob,

I'd stick with the 10w30. Thicker oil isn't going to solve your leakage problem. I'd do the jiggle test by letting the oil filler cap rest loose while the engine's idling. If it jiggles like the lid on a boiling pot your flame trap may be clogged and that increases crankcase pressure which may be causing engine seals to leak. If your Brick fails the jiggle test clean the flame trap and associated lines and see if the leak stops. It often does ... if you have a serious clog. If the leak continues keep the oil level up until you have time to track the leak. Replacing the front engine seals is relatively easy when you change the timing belt. Very inexpensive if you can do it yourself. Thicker oil is not your solution and with the weather turning cold it's likely a problem for your Brick. My. $.02

I have a flame trap?? lol... what/where is that? I don't have a timing belt either. I have the last remaining B20 245 out there I think.... a low miles green '75 w/ automatic. my filler cap has a hose running out of it right into a PCV valve and then eventually into the intake manifold.

Rob, On the B20 the most common spot for a leak that I found, was the mechanical vacuum pump, bolted to the drivers side of the block, just above the the motor mount. The internal diaphram goes bad, and blows oil all over the motor mount, check it out. A rebuild kit can be had from the dealer, easy to install. Stick with the 10/W30, repair the leak, and only chat 3 hours one day.

I don't think changing the viscosity is going to change the leak rate. The oil stays in the engine while parked unless you have a leak at the drain plug. The oil actually leaks out while you are driving, what you see on the driveway is just the remnants running off. Once yout engine is heated up an oil leak will be an oil leak regardless of the grade.

I went to school full time and worked and now my daugter does the same. Come on you have lots of time to track down the leak and let us know what you found.

full time student, some student teaching, working 2 or 3 LOOONG days a week at the Pennsylvania Reniassance Faire, writing lesson plans, keeping up this house I share w/ my 79 yr old Grandmother, ebay seller, and chatting on the internet 5 hours a day... i don't have time to find a leak!! :) i'll just keep adding oil, and change the filter every 3000. -Rob

Chatting 5 hours a day, gosh when do you sleep? Why not chat to real people eyeball to eyeball, in person, far more efficient way to communicate and that way you get get the chatting part of your day over with in a say half hour or so.

The people in this town are all the same. I get a few hours of interface time w/ grandma, and my peers at school. I can only hear about irregularity and getting drunk so much though. Internet is full of new topics, and Don Foster. -rob

Renassiance Fair is in Manhiem, you cant be that far from me. I'm a student at Dickinson, live in New Holland.