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

I Just woke up and logged in. Long day yesterday at the dentist.

Is this 1997?

Why are long time, and experienced, members asking theses questions that have been hashed over for decades here?

Man, I just don't know what is going on in this crazy upside down world anymore.

I thought the way to choose a multigrade oil for cold weather use was highest V.I. and lowest KV40.

- Ken
 
does it matter
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Oil cap SAID:

20210128_092012.jpg
 
ARCOgraphite said:
I Just woke up and logged in. Long day yesterday at the dentist.

Is this 1997?

Why are long time, and experienced, members asking theses questions that have been hashed over for decades here?

Man, I just don't know what is going on in this crazy upside down world anymore.

I thought the way to choose a multigrade oil for cold weather use was highest V.I. and lowest KV40.

- Ken
Click to expand...
Because all people want to do is fight over scraps of information after interpreting someone else's post incorrectly. I miss the old Bitog, where you could actually have a civil discussion and agree to disagree without it going nuclear.

This thread has become a dumpster fire, as so many do these days.
 
Kuato said:
Because all people want to do is fight over scraps of information after interpreting someone else's post incorrectly. I miss the old Bitog, where you could actually have a civil discussion and agree to disagree without it going nuclear.

This thread has become a dumpster fire, as so many do these days.
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It kinda turned into a T versus T thread with some gobbledygook mixed in.

99.9% of drivers will never notice any difference between a 0w and a 5w oil in their engine during winter.
 
Well said, both the posts above this one.
And some of us are perfectly OK with 3 gallons of a CI4+ Group 4/5 15w40 in winter.
 
bbhero said:
It gets colder east of the Rockies routinely... In typical cold front winter time scenarios. In the plains east of those mountains the coldest Arctic air moves southeast and eastward. The Rocky mountains act as a barrier to that cold air from moving westward and southwest typically.

On occasions extremely cold air moves west of the continental divide. Not all that often though.. Though it can and does happen. Coldest temp ever measured in Colorado -61 °F.... North Dakota... -60°F.... Not a big difference obviously. In fact in Alaska -80°F at Prospect Creek was at only 1,100 feet elevation... Not at the top of Denali...

And the Yellowstone basin does get exceptionally cold at times... Base elevation typically 8,000 to 9,000 feet in that high elevation basis as well.

However... Those high elevation basins see much colder temperatures vs other areas in the Rocky mts either in the fall season or late spring.

A look at the temperature map from January 1985 massive Arctic outbreak gives a normal air temperature setup seen in the lower forty eight. Or the Arctic outbreak in January 1994... Or early February 1996...
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-60 is exceptionally rare temperature. However, Gunnison Basin could have temperature of -40, while 1 1/2hrs drive is 32. Problem is dropping air from those 14,000+ft peaks around, and Basin is around 9,000ft. When it is clear sky, it could drop to -50 easily, while rest of the state and country for that matter is still relatively warm. There are numerous areas around CO where you have these microclimate phenomenons. A-Basin where I ski easily drops to -20, you sit in a car, drive half an hour and you can open roof and enjoy warm air. In March-April I regurlarly drive with open sunroof or tilted sunroof until I get close to these Bains and suddenly everything is frozen there. One of the best ski days I ever experienced in CO was in Breckenridge on 04/28/2015 when we could walk in shorts in Co. SPrings, while they got 2 1/2ft of snow and temperatures were dropping to -30 at Iron Bowl, which is highest ski lift exit in North America.
 
Zzman- you’ll be fine with either one. A cold start in my eyes is 0*f and colder. -10f (minus) or -20f (minus) or colder ambient air temp is hard on a vehicle. The oil may pump but needs to come back down also and some weird noises occur for the first min. Most people haven’t started a vehicle when it’s even near that cold. 0w vs 5w at or a little below freezing isn’t really a worry. Rand (with the second post of this thread) kinda hit the nail on the head.
I get some new members need to learn but thick/thin threads IMO shouldn’t be 5w-20 vs 0w-20 OR 5w-20 vs 5w-30. Maybe 0w-20 vs 5w-50 would be a better thick/thin thread to argue about. I agree with ARCO and Kuato that some of these threads are getting kind of ridiculous to fight over.
Zzman no offense at all to you or your question but this didn’t need 7 pages to answer.....
 
I don’t think it matters in a typical winter. If you constantly see -25*F temps, I’d take other avenues like a pan heater or block heater.

A good battery and starter are all you need.
 
dlundblad said:
I don’t think it matters in a typical winter. If you constantly see -25*F temps, I’d take other avenues like a pan heater or block heater.

A good battery and starter are all you need.
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That concept is OK for house owners for the morning start. However, most apartment outdoor parking lots (even in Canada) do not have plug ins and fewer parking lots at work have them. After a 9 hour cold soak, the start at the end of the day can be pretty cold. :)
 
Agreed, and I'll add parking in a field overnight doesn't lend itself well to a block heater either.

This is why I use a Webasto, fools that 15w40 into thinking it's a young slim thing.
 
I have 0w-20 in my Honda Civic ant it still took two tries with the auto start before it started. Glad I had the thin oil in it. I think it was 5 degrees below zero last night. The other vehicles are in our heated garage but the Civic is my daily driver and I am back to the office again instead of working from home.
 
*When it comes to GDI engines - I don't like the rise in VII's that 0W synthetic oils have added which is a source of intake valve deposits ... Therefore , 5W or 10W synthetic oils for my GDI engines please .
 
ChrisD46 said:
*When it comes to GDI engines - I don't like the rise in VII's that 0W synthetic oils have added which is a source of intake valve deposits ... Therefore , 5W or 10W synthetic oils for my GDI engines please .
Click to expand...
Where do you go to look up the VII amounts in various oils?
 
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