what oil should I use?

[BlackBeauty]

Hey folks.... the previous owner of my car ran 20w50 semi-synthetic in the car, so I did so as well for the first oil change. Some people on here were against that, so I switched over to 10w30 regular oil (organic). Since the oil change, I get blue smoke out the tailpipes on start-up. It has been two months and 2k miles, and I needed to add almost two quarts of oil, no signs of leaking. I guess I am burning it, although I don't see smoke from the tailpipes at any time besides a couple seconds after start-up. Soooo..... should I try heavier oil again? Should I stick with regular oil, or go to semi- or fully synthetic? Thanks for the advice.

 

[salvageV6]

Actually if I was in Florida, assuming it's usually hot there, I would also consider the 20-50 blended oil on a high mileage car.

I like 10-40 Valvoline non-synth. oil in the summer here, maybe one or two 20-50's tossed in if it's over 90 for a stretch.

10-30 in the winter.

Change it out every 3K along with the filter.

 

[Black Box]

A puff of smoke at startup usually means valve guide seals are going bad.

I run 10W-30 Mobil 1, I usually have 60 psi when driving, and 20 psi at hot idle. I agree with salvage, a heavier weight oil in hot weather in a hi-milage car can help.

Steve

 

[GENE ROSS]

which oil

BB-Good luck! I drive 80 miles one way to work. I look for mileage. I drive a 94 Geo Metro 3 cyl with 5 spd. I work with a guy that has two of these also. Quite the NUT. He said the lifters needed lighter oil to function properly so after 150K miles of 10w40 I swapped to 5w30. I am using amsoil. Between oil changes(25K miles) with the 10w40 I was down 1 qt. NOW at 5K miles I'm down 1 full qt. I questioned the distributor & he said before I switched he was concerned about consumption. I said he didn't know what he was talking about. Apparently-I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. If you can swap back and the problem goes away-HURRY UP! I've changed back to the heavy oil & it still disappears. Not burning/leaking-but still disappearing. I'm still getting 50 miles per gallon-just have to add oil. Don't understand it,though. At start up sounds like seals to me.