20w 50 in the old days

[globey]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
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.


Even so, these grades are not as popular as 5W and 10W-30...not even close (I live in the south). I work part-time at an auto parts store and sell, by far, more of those grades than any other combined. I think the word is out on the thick stuff. It's just not necessary for newer cars.

A guy came in two weeks ago and complained that his mid-90's Civic oil light kept coming on. He wanted to do an oil change and quickly grabbed the 10W-40. He said he always used it. I asked him if his car was leaking and why he chose this oil and he said that's what he always used. I explained to him that the oil light problem may go away with a 5W-30. He listened and came back in last night and told me his oil light had not been on since.

Honestly, the time for a lot of those thicker grades is quickly passing. Sure, there will always be some applications for them, but they aren't necessary like they once were.

 

[MGregoir]

Infineum said 2007 was the first year that 5W-30 outsold 10W-30, I believe 10W-40 and 5W-20 are about equal for market share now, with 5W-20 growing 20% per year and GM being the last of the biggest auto makers to not adopt it.

 

[ChiTDI]

Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
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.


Yes, with an Austin-Healey 3000. I thought I was the only one.

 

[Kestas]

Me too. It was in my 85 Dodge Omni. I ran 20W-50 year-round. One time it was -10°F and I couldn't start the car because of the thick oil.

 

[bullwinkle]

20W-50 is great for old, worn out motors & racing, use synthetic & 5W-30 for newer engines. My worn-out '94 350 TBI Suburban actually starts fine w/4 qts of 20W-50 & 2 STP Oil Treatments @ 0 degrees F.-bearings are worn out @ 210,000 miles.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Yes but I am not advocateing any use it dureing the Winter. My point is that when people where smart enough to make intellagent choices the OEM's gave them a chart based on ambient temp.'s to best select the correct oil viscosity. Many vechiles allowed 20W50 for a long long time! Now that everyone is being dumbed down in America few car companies even give you the choice to make an intelligent choice. Their is nothing inheriently bad about a 20W50 just like their is nothing inherently bad about a 0W20 they each ahve their purpose wich may or may not fall in line with you usage and environmental issues!

My Dad is an over the road truck driver since he retired fromt he Army one time he had to make a long run that had him gone as winter was approaching. He had parked his truck at my place. He had left the M1 15W50 in it thinkin ghe would be back in three days to change it out to his prefered M1 10W30 for Winter use. Well that three day trip turned into just under a three week trip! So when he got back it was -20°F. I told him to just take my truck and we could drain the oil and refill with 10W30 latter when it warmed up. Nope he had to try and start it!!! LOL It was so funny. I said Dad look at this oil on the dipstick it was a thick and Black Strap Molases and would not run off the dipstick at all. He tried any way. That engine turned over so slow that I think I could roll it over with a ratchet and 19 mm socket faster by hand!!LOL He kept at it and final gave up. It also had frozen water int he fuel tank. Latter that day it warmed up to -10°F and he was back with plenty of HEET for the Fuel. It did start but man what an awful sound it made at first!!! It would have been too easy to slide under it real fast drain the oil into a pan and refill with 10W30 since his Tacoma is a 4X4 it sits high! It did not cause any damage to his truck but it was not the smartest thing to do either! SO while I love my M1 15W50 and 15W40's I never run anything thicker then a 5W40 in the winter and have never had a problem! SOmetimes a little bit of common sense goes a long way. You see though he lived in Gerogia for a long long time and down their he ran 15W50 year round and so did I.

 

[JustinH]

In my saturn, I've been running 10w30 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter.

Both grades get the same gas mileage..

 

[ChiTDI]

That 20w50 was also good for air cooled engines. VWs used to beat up the multigrades pretty regularly. People couldn't winter start the bugs with 6v systems and 30w in the crankcase, yet the 10 and 20w wore thin with that heat.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I think I have three quarts of Synpower 20W50. I had 4 put I have been useing it in my push lawn mower and I used some to top up a friends diesel. It was the last of some BOGO sale AAP had so since they where all sold out of the 5W30 and 10W30 and only had 4 quarts of 20W50 left I took them! As a top up oil it has worked great if I still have three quarts by next summer I will have to buy a 4th quart and give it a run inthe old 2003 Camry and do a UOA just for the heck of it!LOL I heard once that the 20W50 is all PAO in the SYnpower lineup. DO not know how true that is.

Aircooled engines love 20W50. 20W50 is used in light avaiation engine usualy AeroShell and VW and Porsche air cooled engines like 20W50 as well.

 

[artificialist]

My dad had a 1987 Hyundai Excel with a 3-speed automatic transmission and air conditioning. All 1987-1989 Excels ran hot. Dad ran nothing but 20w50 Castrol in there and he added a low temperature thermostat. The service writers at Lokey Nissan did not believe him when he said he was selling a 1987 Hyundai Excel with 112,000 miles. They saw it for themselves and were amazed. However, even with the thick oil, the engine always leaked from the crankshaft seals. Oh, well, nearly every Excel did that.

My dad always used Castrol during the 1970s and 1980s, because no other engine oil bragged about being torture tested in small engines, and during those years, Dad owned 2 Toyota Corollas, 1 Ford Pinto, 1 Chevy S-10, and 1 Hyundai Excel.

Now he doesn't use Castrol because they advertise that anything else will fill an engine with sludge, and that is total [censored].

 

[nthach]

We had a 1986 Mercedes 420SEL that saw nothing but Castrol or Pennzoil 20W-50 until we wised up in 1997 and ran Chevron Delo 15W-40 in it. I remember my dad had one [censored] of a time trying to get it to kick over in 10 degree Tahoe weather when I was kid...

 

[hominid7]

My 1988 VW Golf and 1989 VW Jetta both called for 20w50 above 14*F. Sounds crazy these days, but thats what the manual called for. I used 20w50 down here in Texas year-round and while i did have a few mornings that were down to 14*F or below, they were few and far between.

I sold the Jetta at 225,000 miles and it was still getting 30MPG with my foot in the floor nearly all the time. The VW 1.8 ltr SOHC gas engine was a good engine.

I experimented with various 20w50's and found regular old Valvoline AllClimate 20w50 seemed to work best. No scientific data, but it turned over easy in the winter and didn't give me any clacking. After around 100K i switched to Napa branded valvoline and used that for the second 100K. It never used any oil at all. I did change the oil very regularly though, and the filter on that thing was huge.

I do believe in following the owners manual though and would not want to pour 20w50 in my current cars engine.

 

[hominid7]

Originally Posted By: bobfather99
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.

Now that's a hard-core BITOG'er!

 

[bobfather99]

Originally Posted By: hominid7
Originally Posted By: bobfather99
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.

Now that's a hard-core BITOG'er!

I also got a couple of those little bottles of Quaker State 2-cycle oil, and a grease gun with 3 extra tubes. The former owner passed away, and his son told me that "Pennzoil is waxy" and would never use it.

I use it, since I LOVE wax!!!