Back in the 80's I would always get my oil changed at my friends auto repair shop and he would always put in 20w50 weight oil in my Honda Civic even though it called for only 10w30 he would put 20w50 in just about every car that came in and I was wondering was this a bad thing? and why don't car guys run the heavy oils today?
20w 50 in the old days
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EPA CAFE MPG ratings. The modern oils are so so so much better which allows the drop in recommended viscosity.
Well first it did not hurt a thing and second a lot of car guys still do run much thicker then 5W30.5W30 is the number one selling oil because everyone that changes their oil is not a car guy and most people use what is recomended by their OEM. More Oil caps say 5W30 then any other single grade! In the south from coast to coast 10W40,15W40,5W40,15W50 and 20W50 are insanely popular just like 140Wt. gear oil is too. In the south they do not need to contend with -30°F cold winter starts or need to worry about a cheap gear lube channeling etc.......! If you tried to run a 15W50 at -30°F while not a gurantee of it not starting you would significantly increase the risk or a spun bearing, excessive valve train wear on start up, oil pump drive shearing off etc...... My 1986 4Runner allowed everything from 5W30-20W50 depending on ambient temps and this was how many OEM's worked. My oil cap just said Toyota on it and nothing else. In fact 5W30 was usualy not approved in the 1980's and 1990's for sustained HWY speeds or ambient temps above some low ball number like 32°F or something like that. GM was the first I knew that went to the idiot proof siongle oil Viscosity recomendation. This was to reduce all the spun bearing they where haveing when some knuckle head from Ga. would travel to Michigan for a job and forgot to drain the 20W50 out before winter came and spun a bearing under warranty.
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
he would always put in 20w50 weight oil in my Honda Civic even though it called for only 10w30 he would put 20w50 in just about every car that came in and I was wondering was this a bad thing?
I hate it when you don't know what grade oil change places are putting into your engine. Yes, its a bad thing. It can void new car warranties.
he would always put in 20w50 weight oil in my Honda Civic even though it called for only 10w30 he would put 20w50 in just about every car that came in and I was wondering was this a bad thing?
I hate it when you don't know what grade oil change places are putting into your engine. Yes, its a bad thing. It can void new car warranties.
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It's the old falacy that thick oils provide better protection. Same reason many people fear the 0-weight oils; they think they are super thin.
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
Back in the 80's I would always get my oil changed at my friends auto repair shop and he would always put in 20w50 weight oil in my Honda Civic even though it called for only 10w30 he would put 20w50 in just about every car that came in and I was wondering was this a bad thing? and why don't car guys run the heavy oils today?
All I can say to that is I had a 88 Town Car with the 302 engine that called for 10w30..Had a quick lube change it one time and next morning I started it it sounded like rocks in the engine for the first few minutes..Then I finally looked at the sticker they stuck on the windsheild and it said 20W50..I went back and had them change it back out for 10W30 and the car sounded normal again..Ever since then I watch closely what oil goes into my cars.
I believe if most cars today were to use 20W50 it would die rather quickly and your warranty if you still have it will be void..I have seen that happen recently.
Back in the 80's I would always get my oil changed at my friends auto repair shop and he would always put in 20w50 weight oil in my Honda Civic even though it called for only 10w30 he would put 20w50 in just about every car that came in and I was wondering was this a bad thing? and why don't car guys run the heavy oils today?
All I can say to that is I had a 88 Town Car with the 302 engine that called for 10w30..Had a quick lube change it one time and next morning I started it it sounded like rocks in the engine for the first few minutes..Then I finally looked at the sticker they stuck on the windsheild and it said 20W50..I went back and had them change it back out for 10W30 and the car sounded normal again..Ever since then I watch closely what oil goes into my cars.
I believe if most cars today were to use 20W50 it would die rather quickly and your warranty if you still have it will be void..I have seen that happen recently.
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Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
In fact 5W30 was usualy not approved in the 1980's and 1990's for sustained HWY speeds
My 1996 3000GT`s owner`s manual said to use 10W40-20W50 if you do a lot of sustained high speed driving or racing. It warned against using 5W30 for the twin turbo model. My 1996 300ZX owner`s manual and FSM says not to use 5W30 for the n/a or turbo. A lot of TT Z guys have suffered spun bearings in their engines while tracking their cars on 10W30 and they always recommend 15W50 or 20W50 if you track your car or drive hard/fast on a regular basis. Maybe driving styles/certain engines are more suited for heavier oils. Me,I`ve always used 20W50 in all of my cars. But,I live where it stays over 100F constantly so I have no cold weather starts to deal with.
In fact 5W30 was usualy not approved in the 1980's and 1990's for sustained HWY speeds
My 1996 3000GT`s owner`s manual said to use 10W40-20W50 if you do a lot of sustained high speed driving or racing. It warned against using 5W30 for the twin turbo model. My 1996 300ZX owner`s manual and FSM says not to use 5W30 for the n/a or turbo. A lot of TT Z guys have suffered spun bearings in their engines while tracking their cars on 10W30 and they always recommend 15W50 or 20W50 if you track your car or drive hard/fast on a regular basis. Maybe driving styles/certain engines are more suited for heavier oils. Me,I`ve always used 20W50 in all of my cars. But,I live where it stays over 100F constantly so I have no cold weather starts to deal with.
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I use Mobil 1 15W-50 in an 86 toyota pickup(300,000 miles) 98 Chevy Cavalier(202,000 miled) 2008 Silverado(1886 miles) 2006 Pontiac G6(30 something thousand), 2005 Chevy Aveo(32,000 miles) 2004 Chrysler van(115 abouts thousand miles) 2007 Chevy Cobalt(40 something thousand miles) None use a drop of oil between OCI, all get better than EPA estimates. Three are in SE KY, two are in Charlotte, NC, two are in Fredericksburg, VA.
None of us had temps get down to 0F last several winters but we did get some single digits. Summer highs run mid 80 to mid 90F. My average cold starting temperature, for the year, all 4 seasons, is probably about 40F.
None of us had temps get down to 0F last several winters but we did get some single digits. Summer highs run mid 80 to mid 90F. My average cold starting temperature, for the year, all 4 seasons, is probably about 40F.
I always ran heavy oils.
From STRAIGHT 40 in my Triumph Spitfire, to 20 -50 in everything else for many years.
This was silly and was bad in most every respect.
From STRAIGHT 40 in my Triumph Spitfire, to 20 -50 in everything else for many years.
This was silly and was bad in most every respect.
Got 7qts Pennzoil (SJ I think) 20w50 at a rummage sale last year. Ive been mixing in a quart when changing oil on each of the family's cars during the summers. One quart left, no problems yet.
I know of a Japanese engine importer/supplier in San Antonio who requires that "conventional Castrol 20W-50" be used in the engines that he re-sells or he won't honor "his warranty".
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Originally Posted By: jmsbntz
I know of a Japanese engine importer/supplier in San Antonio who requires that "conventional Castrol 20W-50" be used in the engines that he re-sells or he won't honor "his warranty".
Probably Castrol GTX 20W50. I wonder how it compares to Pennzoil yb 20W50?
I know of a Japanese engine importer/supplier in San Antonio who requires that "conventional Castrol 20W-50" be used in the engines that he re-sells or he won't honor "his warranty".
Probably Castrol GTX 20W50. I wonder how it compares to Pennzoil yb 20W50?
I have a couple quarts of Pennzoil 40 from my earlier days. API SD I think. Anyone want them?
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: jmsbntz
I know of a Japanese engine importer/supplier in San Antonio who requires that "conventional Castrol 20W-50" be used in the engines that he re-sells or he won't honor "his warranty".
Probably Castrol GTX 20W50. I wonder how it compares to Pennzoil yb 20W50?
Yes that was supposed to be GTX, thank you.
Originally Posted By: jmsbntz
I know of a Japanese engine importer/supplier in San Antonio who requires that "conventional Castrol 20W-50" be used in the engines that he re-sells or he won't honor "his warranty".
Probably Castrol GTX 20W50. I wonder how it compares to Pennzoil yb 20W50?
Yes that was supposed to be GTX, thank you.
Hi,Camprunner - The 20W-50 viscosity was developed in 1958 for the BMC (Austin/Morris) Mini when it was designed with an integrated engine/gearbox lubricant supply. It was first developed by Duckhams and the followed by Castrol
This lubricant was needed due to high shear rates and high leak rates too! OCIs were at 1k to 1.5k miles. Average car utilisation then was about 5k per annum
I was involved in the Mini project from 1958-9
The 20W-50 lubricant became a "standard" by default really. There were many good 10W-30 lubricants around then too but SAE20W-20 and SAE30-40 were very popular in Euro cars along with the monogrades
This lubricant was needed due to high shear rates and high leak rates too! OCIs were at 1k to 1.5k miles. Average car utilisation then was about 5k per annum
I was involved in the Mini project from 1958-9
The 20W-50 lubricant became a "standard" by default really. There were many good 10W-30 lubricants around then too but SAE20W-20 and SAE30-40 were very popular in Euro cars along with the monogrades
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Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,Camprunner - The 20W-50 viscosity was developed in 1958 for the BMC (Austin/Morris) Mini when it was designed with an integrated engine/gearbox lubricant supply. It was first developed by Duckhams and the followed by Castrol
This lubricant was needed due to high shear rates and high leak rates too! OCIs were at 1k to 1.5k miles. Average car utilisation then was about 5k per annum
I was involved in the Mini project from 1958-9
The 20W-50 lubricant became a "standard" by default really. There were many good 10W-30 lubricants around then too but SAE20W-20 and SAE30-40 were very popular in Euro cars along with the monogrades
That was very interesting Doug! A cool bit of oil history. When you mentions the Duckhams and Castrol........I remember reading somewhere that Castrol was one of the very first 20W50s. Is Duckhams still around?
Hi,Camprunner - The 20W-50 viscosity was developed in 1958 for the BMC (Austin/Morris) Mini when it was designed with an integrated engine/gearbox lubricant supply. It was first developed by Duckhams and the followed by Castrol
This lubricant was needed due to high shear rates and high leak rates too! OCIs were at 1k to 1.5k miles. Average car utilisation then was about 5k per annum
I was involved in the Mini project from 1958-9
The 20W-50 lubricant became a "standard" by default really. There were many good 10W-30 lubricants around then too but SAE20W-20 and SAE30-40 were very popular in Euro cars along with the monogrades
That was very interesting Doug! A cool bit of oil history. When you mentions the Duckhams and Castrol........I remember reading somewhere that Castrol was one of the very first 20W50s. Is Duckhams still around?
Hi,
aquariuscsm - Duckhams is now a part of the BP Group along with Castrol and some others
Duckhams Q20W-50 is still available I believe - it was originally a mid green colour and I believe they retained that colour up until recently too!
By the 1960s 20W-50 had become a "catch all" for bad engine design (high oil consumption etc) and became popular as a race oil viscosity
10W-20 and 10W-30 were very popular viscosities then too (for Audis and French & Italian makes etc) but generally the Germans liked monograde lubricants. Of course many old VW and Porsche engines run on 20W-50 lubricants today. When new their prescribed diet was either a monograde SAE20W-20 or SAE30 viscosity (VW allowed SAE40 here in OZ) depending on the ambient temperature
aquariuscsm - Duckhams is now a part of the BP Group along with Castrol and some others
Duckhams Q20W-50 is still available I believe - it was originally a mid green colour and I believe they retained that colour up until recently too!
By the 1960s 20W-50 had become a "catch all" for bad engine design (high oil consumption etc) and became popular as a race oil viscosity
10W-20 and 10W-30 were very popular viscosities then too (for Audis and French & Italian makes etc) but generally the Germans liked monograde lubricants. Of course many old VW and Porsche engines run on 20W-50 lubricants today. When new their prescribed diet was either a monograde SAE20W-20 or SAE30 viscosity (VW allowed SAE40 here in OZ) depending on the ambient temperature
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Up here in Canada, you see very little other than 5W-30, 10W-30, and now 5W-20 on the shelf, for the simple reason you don't want to run aything thicker in the climate we have up here. Yes, in the summer we do have stretches of 28-32 degree C. temperatures in the summer, but even then, you have a lot of 'summer nights' that get down to 10-15 deg. C. Temperatures can fluctuate here so rapidly that you are best covered by a 5W-30...
Of course, 'modern' 20W-50 aren't bad oils, and with group II base, can probably function down to -10 deg. C., but you don't REALLY want to deal with a start in that situation...
Of course, 'modern' 20W-50 aren't bad oils, and with group II base, can probably function down to -10 deg. C., but you don't REALLY want to deal with a start in that situation...
I had to laugh, yesterday I walked into a store and the only grades of oil they had left on the shelf were 10W-40 and 20W-50 in their Quaker State display. Everything else was completely gone, and both of those had a dozen bottles right to the front of the rack.
Ever tried to start an MGA at 0 degrees with 20W50 in the crankcase? I did back in the early '70s. Tried was the operative word... it would barely turn over. In the end I burned the paint off the bottom of the oil pan with my Hibachi to get enough heat into the engine so it would spin over. With all the fuel leaks those old car were known for, it was a wonder I didn't burn the whole car up.
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