0w vs 5w in a typical winter.... Does it matter?

[JT20]

You realize Pour Point was replaced with CCS and MRV specifically because it does NOT properly gauge the performance of a lubricant at extreme cold temperatures, right?

Sure, let's replace controlled scientific tests with Backyard Bill trying to pour two oils at whatever temperature he managed to experience one night and assume that properly reflects the performance at a pump pick-up and impact on cranking speed rather than actually measuring it

I would suggest that Backyard Bill doesn't know oil has to go UP not down when an engine starts, lol.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

My cars don't beat on, they are easy on oil, so whatever difference there is between 0W and 5W is probably not saving anything (shear or whatever). 0W has less drag at lower temps, and from what I can see, costs the same at Walmart. I might not "need 0W" but if it the engine doesn't care...

That said I tend to just dump 5W30 into everything.

If this practice works for those cars in the sig, in NH, then we have an answer.

 

[OVERKILL]

Did you not read the line before the video link?

And, just because a 5w pours at -40 doesn't mean it passed or can pass SAE grade for 0w. So, it has nothing to do with labelling it a SAE J300 0w.

Nothing nonsense about the video. Much nonsense about your comments and your assumptions and jumping to conclusions.

Like API/ILSAC, I don't care for SAE either. Tests/requirements/specs constantly being revised in a leisurely vote/political fashion for the masses who think it means something. Look at GF6/SP and now oil protects timing chains in the year 2020+.... like we didn't use timing chains for 100 years.

I use synthetic oil and recommend it. If I use a 5w30 here in Death Valley, and decide to visit family during an Alaskan/Canadian winter, I am content that my 5w30 synthetic will do well enough and not bother with a 0w30. If you use a conventional, and you get caught in some cold weather, remember the nonsense Amsoil marketing video link I posted above.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why participate in a scientific forum if you are willing to flagrantly disregard the science?

This is like joining a drag racing forum and saying you don't like the SAE and don't trust dyno's or time slips, you go by "seat of the pants" to gauge how fast a car is. Why use real numbers when they can just be inferred from something horribly inaccurate? Sweet Christ...

 

[JT20]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why participate in a scientific forum if you are willing to flagrantly disregard the science?

This is like joining a drag racing forum and saying you don't like the SAE and don't trust dyno's or time slips, you go by "seat of the pants" to gauge how fast a car is. Why use real numbers when they can just be inferred from something horribly inaccurate? Sweet Christ...

He's back!

 

[edyvw]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why participate in a scientific forum if you are willing to flagrantly disregard the science?

This is like joining a drag racing forum and saying you don't like the SAE and don't trust dyno's or time slips, you go by "seat of the pants" to gauge how fast a car is. Why use real numbers when they can just be inferred from something horribly inaccurate? Sweet Christ...

He is confident his 5W30 oils, which passed all CCS and MRV tests, and other scientifically based tests, is going to work in Alaska, but he does not believe in those scientific tests bcs. politics.
Explains a lot of things going on.

 

[4WD]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why participate in a scientific forum if you are willing to flagrantly disregard the science?

This is like joining a drag racing forum and saying you don't like the SAE and don't trust dyno's or time slips, you go by "seat of the pants" to gauge how fast a car is. Why use real numbers when they can just be inferred from something horribly inaccurate? Sweet Christ...

Tunderin Jeezuz ‘bye …

 

[PimTac]

He's back!

He never left. What are you talking about?

 

[4WD]

IMO, 5w only continues to exist because it’s cheaper to make … and sells for same price …

 

[Quattro Pete]

IMO, 5w only continues to exist because it’s cheaper to make … and sells for same price …

It also continues to exist because some people associate '0W" with 'thin like water' and therefore avoid it like a plague.

 

[4WD]

It also continues to exist because some people associate '0W" with 'thin like water' and therefore avoid it like a plague.

Yep, The first time I used it was when M1 0w30 hit the south … went on clearance quicker than RGT …
Gathered up enough for 3 years of stash

 

[Snagglefoot]

I live 1 1/2hrs from coldest basin in lower 48. Mostly run 5W, and I am visiting that area at least once a week.
Anywhere in lower 48 5WXX is more than sifficient.

Ever been to Minot, North Dakota?

 

[ZZman]

It also continues to exist because some people associate '0W" with 'thin like water' and therefore avoid it like a plague.

I always thought this.....

 

[farrarfan1]

Ever been to Minot, North Dakota?

Stationed at Minot AFB from 1975-1978. The city had a sign that said Why Not Minot? And we’d say freeezins the reason! It was actually really nice in the summer.

 

[edyvw]

Ever been to Minot, North Dakota?

You ever been in Gunnison basin?
Yes, I have been there, it is cold. Not as cold as Gunnison basin.

 

[Kuato]

What is the "difference" you experienced?

Noticeably quicker turnover at cold temperatures with the 0w. Maybe even less valvetrain noise, but I can't quantify that.

But what difference are you noticing, weak battery or harder to pump oil?

Without actually testing, you don't know what you are experiencing.


Not sure the testing is worth the effort for most of us as it's largely been done by the auto makers. Just use what they say to use and 99.44% of us will be fine.

Sorry, but *I* don't know what *I* am experiencing? You're off base there my friend. I submit that *you* don't know what *I* am experiencing.

If you've started a car at low temperature you may have noticed how it cranked more slowly and the starter had to work harder than when started when it's hot out.

With a 0w as opposed to a 5w, the vehicle cranked faster. This was with the same battery (why you mentioned that in this discussion I'm sure I don't know), the same brand and tier of oil filter, at the same temperature. I lived in Northern Montana, and temps there did get down below -15F frequently in the winter so I have that 4-1/2 years of experience to back up my assertions.


+15°F was approximately the temperature I started to notice a difference in cranking between a 5w and a 0w. So, even though a 0w will [flow, be pumpable, meet the standard, choose terminology that works for you] at a lower temperature than a 5w, it still offers some reduction in startup friction as temperatures rise, up to a point.

Will a 5w serve in Michigan? Probably with no issues, even when it gets really cold. But for ease of starting, less battery and starter wear, I'd choose a 0w if there were going to be more than a few below zero F starts in the winter.

 

[JT20]

Control of the Octagon.

This should get good.

 

[blingo]

Some prep for winters, some prep for the day a recycling guy might tell them that they could have come a little later had they only upgraded grades...

Video is okay, especially the second take for 0 degree F is fine here. They didn't make their 5W-30 quicker than a 0W-30 but merely pushed their synthetic. Just like Mobil1 pushes its blends.

Curves for -15°C aren't necessarily more popular as we've seen.

 

[JT20]

Noticeably quicker turnover at cold temperatures with the 0w. Maybe even less valvetrain noise, but I can't quantify that.



Sorry, but *I* don't know what *I* am experiencing? You're off base there my friend. I submit that *you* don't know what *I* am experiencing.

If you've started a car at low temperature you may have noticed how it cranked more slowly and the starter had to work harder than when started when it's hot out.

With a 0w as opposed to a 5w, the vehicle cranked faster. This was with the same battery (why you mentioned that in this discussion I'm sure I don't know), the same brand and tier of oil filter, at the same temperature. I lived in Northern Montana, and temps there did get down below -15F frequently in the winter so I have that 4-1/2 years of experience to back up my assertions.

+15°F was approximately the temperature I started to notice a difference in cranking between a 5w and a 0w. So, even though a 0w will [flow, be pumpable, meet the standard, choose terminology that works for you] at a lower temperature than a 5w, it still offers some reduction in startup friction as temperatures rise, up to a point.

I would agree with you, you noticed a different "feel" on the oil.

The reason you're getting roasted ? and this could be a is that your observations were not scientific.

 

[Kuato]

I would agree with you, you noticed a different "feel" on the oil.

The reason you're getting roasted ? and this could be a is that your observations were not scientific.

Before answering I'd like to know what your meaning of "getting roasted" is. Is it you mean that others are roasting me, or that I'm getting heated about it? . Heard it both ways.

Nothing about a feel, but the time it took to make the normal startup revolutions was definitely longer with the 5w, and the difference became larger the colder it got. Yeah nothing scientific here but I did try to time it once or twice.

 

[javacontour]

Noticeably quicker turnover at cold temperatures with the 0w. Maybe even less valvetrain noise, but I can't quantify that.



Sorry, but *I* don't know what *I* am experiencing? You're off base there my friend. I submit that *you* don't know what *I* am experiencing.

If you've started a car at low temperature you may have noticed how it cranked more slowly and the starter had to work harder than when started when it's hot out.

With a 0w as opposed to a 5w, the vehicle cranked faster. This was with the same battery (why you mentioned that in this discussion I'm sure I don't know), the same brand and tier of oil filter, at the same temperature. I lived in Northern Montana, and temps there did get down below -15F frequently in the winter so I have that 4-1/2 years of experience to back up my assertions.


+15°F was approximately the temperature I started to notice a difference in cranking between a 5w and a 0w. So, even though a 0w will [flow, be pumpable, meet the standard, choose terminology that works for you] at a lower temperature than a 5w, it still offers some reduction in startup friction as temperatures rise, up to a point.

Will a 5w serve in Michigan? Probably with no issues, even when it gets really cold. But for ease of starting, less battery and starter wear, I'd choose a 0w if there were going to be more than a few below zero F starts in the winter.

Well, maybe I said it poorly. You don't know WHY you are experiencing the WHAT.

At least two things are in play here, condition of the battery and the oil.

Unless you had the same battery condition during your experiences with both 0W and 5W you cannot say with any certainty that the difference was due to the oil. Ditto for exact same temperatures, exact same quality of electrical connections, condition of the starter, engine, etc.

I'm not saying it's not, I'm saying that unless you had all other variables the same, the two experiences are subject to a host of variables, not just the oil.

I didn't mean to say you didn't know WHAT you were experiencing.