Posted on 01/19/2024 9:19:40 AM PST by ganeemead
If your car engine has VVT, It’s recommended to don’t change the weight and stick with the manufacturers’ recommendation.Generally, Most of the newer engine model comes with this feature which needs a thinner oil. Because VVT mechanism performs well at recommended weight means in thinner oil compare to a thicker oil.
I use 5W30 Redline High Performance in my V8 Hemi even though the manual recommends 5w20. The Redline is a bit pricier, but so is a new engine.
They recommend 5W20 in my vehicle due CAFE regulations and in doing so Stelantis can say their total fleet of vehicles meets the government requirements.
Go ahead and put 10W30 or even 10W40 in those cars, if you want to. It’s your car, do what you want with it.
You can also put #2 Diesel in the fuel tank, even though it says to use gasoline. It’s your car, do what you want with it.
When you wreck the engine, though it’s YOUR fault. YOU decided that you know better how to run it than the engineers who designed it.
READ THE FKKKING MANUAL. Follow its instructions.
Or wreck your engine.
It’s up to you.
For instance, if you use 10W30 in a car designed for 0W20 in the winter the oil will not flow quickly enough through the engine and certain components will be starved for oil at start-up and will still be too thick after it gets to operating temperatures.
My car manual gives a chart that shows what viscosity of oil is to be used at different environmental temperatures. I am just making this up, but in the winter it could use 0W20 and in the summer it could use 5W20. If that car lived at the equator it might use 20W20.
There is discussion by people that are very knowledgeable on the topic that when the car gets some serious miles on it, you should increase the viscosity, maybe go from 0W20 to 5W30, but there is no consensus.
Depends on the engine.. what engine are you talking about?
OBTW, my car is a 2014 Honda CRV with 205,000 miles on it. It uses 0W20 synthetic all year round and I live in the south. The car uses no discernable oil between oil changes-7000 miles.
I was there when this all started in the '90s. The objective was to reduce oil drag to get a small mileage improvement. This drove the manufacturing guys to distraction, because the machine tool builders could not guarantee tolerances tight enough to keep engines from fragging themselves on that thin oil. The company I worked for back then had a lot to do with pulling GM/Ford out of that trap. I'm proud to say that we did it, but it was a near-run thing, and it killed what was left of the American automotive machine tool industry. Only the Germans were up to the task. (Even the Japanese MT builders failed.) Bottom line, 30 years on engines are indeed built much tighter, and thin oils are now the rule rather than the exception. At 78 years old it still makes me anxious to be putting 5W-20 in my 2009 Ford, but I do it. I still have nothing but contempt for the UAW and for GM's middle management, but their engineers knew what they were doing.
Be wary of the oil return ports that rely on gravity for the oil to return to the oil pan. Use the wrong oil and you could end up with a disastrous mess. I once used aviation engine oil in my car. Don’t do it. Thicker does not necessarily mean better.
Yes. Thicker oil will not flow through the tiny oil galleries and passages and will starve parts for lubrication. Do not use a heavier oil than is called for in modern car manuals.
Also worth noting is that these new hyperthin weights are specially engineered to last at those viscosities, but they have to meet more specs than just general weight to be compatible. Make sure your chosen oil is the correct weight and meets the correct separate spec (listed on the bottle.) This isn’t your father’s motor oil, nor is it even the oil from just 20 years ago.
Don’t listen to these bums, just believe everything you think and go do what you want.
I just purchased a 2024 Honda Accord EX. It uses 0W-20 fully synthetic. Thinner oils lubricate the engine faster, especially in colder wx. And would Honda, or any other car maker recommend an oil that would not be good for an engine, especially when the engine in question is under warranty for 4 years?
You could try extra virgin olive oil (from Greece, not Italy).
GM recommends synthetic for my 92 C-4, but latter thinking on older Cars is leaning towards conventional oil non-synthetic.
That’s the correct answer.
Wife’s minivan? Sure. :-)
300,000 miles on my 2010 Ram 1500 5.7L Hemi using recommended viscosity (5W20).
Don’t mess with it.
Yes, indirectly. Valve gear has changed a lot since the mid-1990s, now most engine designs use roller-tipped valve lifters or equivalents, supported by needle beadings. Same with rocker arms in OHV engines and cam followers in OHC ones. This sheds the old flat-tappet cam and lifter designs, allowing oils to be reformulated (the loss of zinc compound additives make rebuilding vintage and antique engines more challenging these days).
Why get rid of the zinc? Because zinc, slipping past the piston rings and valve guide seals in even minute amounts, speeds up the loss of catalytic converter efficiency.
The net result is less friction as the crankshaft and cams spin, so that does help efficiency - but it was really all to make the catalysts last longer.
I don’t believe for a minute that low viscosity 0-20W oil protects your engine better than 10-30W. I think it may be worse.
I think the use of 0-20W has ONLY to do with maximizing fuel economy to meet the ridiculous CAFE standards currently in place. If it causes your car to fail 20,000 miles sooner than 10-30W, than “oh well”!
It is all about meeting CAFE standards, not about superior protection. I think 0-20W does better during warmup but when you drive 2 hours straight, I think the viscosity is TOO low.
I don’t trust anybody anymore. When the experts say low viscosity oil is superior, you have to ask, superior in what regard. I am very skeptical about the protection 0-20W oil provides. I am convinced it is only about maximizing MPGs for EPA milleage tests.
My car, a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 manual says 10W30, but a factory sticker in the engine compartment says 5W30.
Now what?
void warranty?
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