being you are having issues I would only use oil that meets the ms-13340 cert.

 

^^^This...

 

A lot of people, including me, have noticed that engine sounds noticeably better after switching to AMS Oil. Even their 5W-20 made my 3.6 sound noticeably better. I use a 50/50 mixture of their Signature and Dominator products.

They formulate to prevent LSPI, so it should be a good choice for the 2.0.

My personal feeling is that most parts of the country are warm enough to use a full synthetic 10W-30 in most engines, but I haven't read much about the 2.0 LSPI issue.

 

Thanks for replies! I video taped cold start @84F with Pennzoil on my IPhone 11 (very good mic) mounted on tripod with hood open. It came out great, I can discern clearly different phases and sounds engine makes after cold start. The sound I was referring to appears a few seconds after start and only lasts a few seconds and not loud at all with Pennzoil. I can barely hear it, but it is there thanks to recording and hood open. With hood closed it would be imperceptible. With Mobil1 it was loud and lasted for over 60 secs even after backing up from driveway and driving away, I only caught it twice doing it at cold start at very hot temp during hottest days (last week was very hot in PA). Otherwise, it was all good and quiet with Mobil1. Next time my oil is due to change @10K I will replace it with Amsoil and make same recording. Will put those on youtube if I'll find anything interesting.

Just completed 270 miles round trip with 25.3mpg average on premium 93 gas. Same trip on Mobil1 on regular was 21.4mpg a week ago. So no issues with engine or car and efficiency is great.

 

Yep, synthetic has real anti-wear science to commend it. Dang, 3.9mpg difference between premium vs regular?

 

Recorded another cold start with similar condition (88F) to first recording and that sound is gone completely. So after ~ 300 miles (recent trip) this sound is no longer present. My theory: this noise was made by valve train and now that Pennzoil replaced Mobil1 in all the hydraulic parts - the noise is gone. I also used Wix 57060XP filter with Mobil1 and when switched to Pennzoil I also switched filter to OEM Mopar filter (MO-339). As it took some time > 10 miles I drove initially to return old oil before I took first video next day and it still had some remnants of the noise, I do not think it was filter contributing to the noise issue.

 

Wise call, going with Pennzoil. The independent lab tests that I have seen, all have shown Amsoil and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, as the top two performers.

 

It is over 10k miles and it is time to change oil and rotate tires again. This time I went with Valvoline 5w30 SP rated (includes SN PLUS) + WIX filter. The engine loves it. It seems to be quieter a bit, especially during hard acceleration. Usually, they all quiet down with new oil, but I think it is lower noise level than usual. No strange clanking on start, but it is not hot anymore, so can not verify the noise I was hearing with Mobil 1 5w30 originally. Next oil change I will try Amsoil 5w30 OE, but it will take some time to get to 15k.