0W oil is a waste

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Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.


What happens when it's -40 and all the plug-ins are taken so you can't plug in your block heater?
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
At what temp does 0w-30 become thinner or much thinner than 5w-30?


Good question. I'm too lazy to find the answer. Anyone?

We do not have any reliable calculators for this. The viscosity calculators aren't accurate below freezing temps.
 
The 0w / 5w pour point etc is only applicable to virgin oil.

As oil degrades it's cold performance worsens. So your 5w may at some point begin behaving like a 10w, and then a 15w.

Given the right circumstances, an 0w could make a big difference.
 
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good.

Which 0w oils have you tried so far?
 
Originally Posted By: aa1986
The 0w / 5w pour point etc is only applicable to virgin oil.

As oil degrades it's cold performance worsens. So your 5w may at some point begin behaving like a 10w, and then a 15w.

Given the right circumstances, an 0w could make a big difference.


You make it seem as if the same wouldn't happen to the 0w...
 
Watch some of the 'cold start' videos on YouTube if cold crank viscosity interests you. It's pretty fun.

The 15W-40 diesels suffer most when not plugged in. Brutal.
 
Originally Posted By: aa1986
Really?

"The 0w / 5w pour point etc is only applicable to virgin oil"


Not that part. The segment where you mention the degradation of cold performance. You only sited the 5w when the same degradation occurs to both viscosity.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
I think most of the 0w spec from car manufacturer is to mandate the use of higher end base oil that makes the oil last 10k miles.

Also lower viscosity helps some hybrid stay in lean burn / Atkinson cycle more often, so that's a bonus for sure.

If your engine weren't design for it, it may not help over other synthetic oil, and that may be a "waste".


^ this


The 2013 - current Cummins engine in the Ram has 15k mile service intervals and is spec'd for....conventional 15w40
 
Originally Posted By: wemay
Originally Posted By: aa1986
Really?

"The 0w / 5w pour point etc is only applicable to virgin oil"


Not that part. The segment where you mention the degradation of cold performance. You only sited the 5w when the same degradation occurs to both viscosity.


It's true what they are saying about attention span these days. It was only a four sentence post.

If by sentence 3 you've forgotten what I said in sentence 1, then I think the reader has formed the impression rather than the writer created the impression.
 
Ok, relax aa1986. I understood your post implicitly, other members may not have through your omission of 0w in that sentence. This was the assertion.
 
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I wouldn't say 0wXX oils are a waste, they do have their advantages, but they are certainly not a must in cold climates, as some on here make it ought to be.

Somebody asked "What happens when it's -40 and all the plug-ins are taken so you can't plug in your block heater?"

If you have a healthy battery, NOTHING! You may have to crank a second or two longer on a 5wXX oil and that's about it.
 
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.


In the USA, your post will be dismissed for trollishness, because at Walmart the 0W- oils cost exactly the same as 5W- oils. BITOGer's know the 0w-'s are usually composed of better base stocks. There's no reason for the knowledgable not to get the better oil for the same price.

Whether that is a "waste" depends on your point of view. When I get Pennzoil Platinum or Ultra, I am buying GTL oil that was previously Natural Gas most companies burn off into the atmosphere. About 100% of my waste oil gets recycled (I pop my cans and drain the media), it costs me exactly the same as every other synthetic, and now that all my vehicles are out of warranty, I can easily extend the OCI a bit. So I don't agree to the idea this is a waste.
 
You still also have mechanics that tell their customers that 0W - ANY 0W - oil will "ruin" an engine, and 5W will "chance" it for being "too light." The miseducation of oil by those in the business runs rampant.

This is how 10W-40 ends up in brand new and late-model vehicles, at their first service outside of a dealer.
 
It's obviously trolling since the OP hasn't followed up on any of the responses. Clearly just trying to get a rise out of people, or just "start a thread".
 
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What's a waste is the food that gets tossed out of the fridge every year, or the "must have" household stuff that goes to Goodwill after sitting around. Oil is vanishingly down my list of wastes and I use a lot of 0W.
 
Originally Posted By: wemay
Originally Posted By: aa1986
Really?

"The 0w / 5w pour point etc is only applicable to virgin oil"


Not that part. The segment where you mention the degradation of cold performance. You only sited the 5w when the same degradation occurs to both viscosity.


So, logically, if 5 degrades to 10, then 15.......0 would degrade to 5, then 10 in the same period. So you are still better off....

But 0 tends to be made from better base oils, so chances of it degrading are slightly less than 5, in the first place.

To follow the OP's logic......My old 4runner cranks faster in -25F with 0W/30 in it than it did with 5W/30. I might have changed the battery in there someplace.......But obviously the 0W is better. Regardless, it started everytime.....Thanks, Toyota.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I wouldn't say 0wXX oils are a waste, they do have their advantages, but they are certainly not a must in cold climates, as some on here make it ought to be.

Somebody asked "What happens when it's -40 and all the plug-ins are taken so you can't plug in your block heater?"

If you have a healthy battery, NOTHING! You may have to crank a second or two longer on a 5wXX oil and that's about it.


My point exactly.
 
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