0-20 motor oil

Most, or at least many, new GM vehicles take either 5W-20 or 0W-20. The new Silverado/Sierras have been using 0W-20 for years now:
I just bought a new Canyon Elevation with the V6 and it calls for 5-30. I am a bit more happy with that grade. It is supposedly for the valve train and cam chains.
 
I had a 1993 S-10 with the 2.8 V6 And after changing the factory oil I ran M1 15-50 for 140,000 miles. Never had a problem or a leak and when I sold it the new owner did a compression check and it was at factory specs. Also did this on a 1992 4.0 V6 Ford explorer with no problem. My 2006 GMC Canyon I5 used M1 10-30 and I changed the oil at 15,000 with a filter change every 5,000. Never once had the oil change light come on during 12,000 mi. it went 160,000 with no oil related trouble. I won't do this now but after warranty I will probably use 10-30 M1 as it is hot here in Fla. I think whatever you use it will be good as long as you change it on time and keep up after other engine maintenance.
 
So the engine lugs. Sounds like it needs 20W50.
At a "low" 1200 rpm, a four stroke engine is firing each cylinder 10 times per second.
So in the Honda Van V6, that will be 60 power pulses per second. That is not lugging.

It may be soggy down low due to oversized valves and intake runner crosssection and long cam duration and overlap.

Old inline sixes and eights car operated from 500 rpm to never much over 2000.

I think the concern kschachn raised is the likely low oil pressure at low RPM with loading and a HOT engine
making moft important. But I cant speak for what he is thinking.
 
Lugging is not based on just the rpm of the engine but the load as well. 1200rpm in first gear is not lugging. 1200 in fourth or fifth gear, now you’re lugging.
 
I just bought a new Canyon Elevation with the V6 and it calls for 5-30. I am a bit more happy with that grade. It is supposedly for the valve train and cam chains.
The reputation of the GM 3.6 is pretty terrible. It doesn't do well with the timing chains and tensioners. If you go the manufacturer recommended OCI it'll still kill the chains and you'll have to drop a boatload of money to have them done.

The Pentastar 3.6, however, has been pretty good.
 
I don’t think it matters, most cars are going to the junkyard with a running engine and a blown transmission anyways. This site is largely just audiophile types having fun using different stuff. I doubt if anything there is really much of an advantage over going with what is in the manual for normal passenger car use.
Such rational opinions are not permitted here.
Any time someone questions thin oil, the army of defenders comes out…
So true....both thin and thick alike
 
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Any time someone questions thin oil, the army of defenders comes out…

like questioning the value of those high efficiency front-loading washers versus the old-school agitator washers.

I love new tech. But there is useful new tech, and then there is new tech that is more like a Rube Goldberg machine to get money out of your pockets.
 
When you tow 5,000 pounds up a 9,000 foot pass at 90 degrees with a motor that uses 0/20W and your motor doesn't blow up, there isn't much to defend.
And if in the same test 0w-30 does not blow up, its good also
 
When you tow 5,000 pounds up a 9,000 foot pass at 90 degrees with a motor that uses 0/20W and your motor doesn't blow up, there isn't much to defend.
So, just because it does not blow up, means it's fine? Have you had an UOA done with those conditions?
 
So, just because it does not blow up, means it's fine? Have you had an UOA done with those conditions?
I can't remember a single UOA where oil viscosity alone made any significant difference with wear metals. Maybe they exist...but I can't remember any.
 
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