15w50 mobil 1 motor oil ?

I have a 1998 v6 malibu with 167000 miles and i'm using 15w50 motor oil and i was wondering is that a good oil or should i switch back to 5w30 ?

I have a similar question. I have a 1998 malibu, my cap says 5w30. My oil is low, can I put 10 w 40 in there, or would i have to do a complete oil change?

I used 20w50 in my 2002 Mailbu, and I think that was OK as long as the weather was really hot... but when it got cold, my engine started tapping sound. It turned out to be a collapsed lifter.

Others here advise using the 5w30 oil in the Malibus. I have gone back to that after spending several hundred bucks to fix my engine.

Apparently the oil flow through the top part of these engines is not that great, and when you use a high viscosity oil, it may not get flowing soon enough... and engine damage could result.

The key to long engine life also rests with changing the oil frequently, and always change the filter too.

Using the inexpensive Purolator filter seems adequate, I have heard from several people to avoid the Fram filters... good luck!

shadetree is dead on.....don't mix oils when u already have a certain type...talk about about engine damage eventually.
I'm not that high yet, i have a 98 malibu too and I upgraded to 10w30 cause i thought since it was 132000 miles it needed slightly heavier oil, the lifters started all sorts of noises after driving it for a while.
I made a quick change back to 5w30 and stuck to changing every 3000 miles of course with new filters incase u're wondering and the car is smooth running.
As long as u change the oil and filter every 3000 miles with the 5w30 u'll be all right. Oh I use Castrol....works for me :)

As long as u change the oil and filter every 3000 miles with the 5w30 u'll be all right.
:iagree:

I'm chasing 200k miles with smooth runnin'. 5w30 castrol gtx has worked well enough. Oil and filter change every 3,000 miles or less

-Mark T.

They are correct, do NOT use a thicker oil, it has hydraulic lifters that will not "handle" the thicker oil and either lock up or, like someone said, collapse...

Fram filters are JUNK!!!!

No!Go by what the manufacturer recomends for oil,it says on the oil cap or in the owner's manual and sometimes on the emissions label.