5W-20 vs 5W-30. Is there a difference?

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lambrose

Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Messages
68
Location
Norfolk, VA
I tried to search for this and to my surprise, nothing came up. So the question is Ford recommends 5W-20 for the 3.0l Vulcan V6 in a 2003 Ranger, which I think is really thin. Would there be any benefit going to 5w30. It is a little thicker at operating temperature. Is there and real difference between the two viscosities?

Again, I am surprised nobody has asked this before.
 
FWIW many people use 5W-20 in their Fords with no issues. I'm running 5W-20 in my sister's '98 Escort ZX-2 that was back-specced to it and it's running exactly the same.
 
Originally Posted By: Bryanccfshr
No reason to run 5w30 the 5w20 works and has been working for along time.

+1
The cops and taxis use 5w20 in their Fords with no issues in Miami...Some of the taxis have over 400K miles on them and their a/c is always on.
 
Oh - it's discussed frequently. Just not searched easily because of the zillions of ways the question is phrased, and/or it pops up in the middle of some other topic.

That being said, the 5w-20 works fine in millions of vehicles (not just Fords). No need to worry.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: lambrose
5W-20 vs 5w30. Is there a difference?


Make sure your oil pan is equipped with a magnetic oil pan bolt. That may give you a visible comparison and tell you if there's a metallic difference.
 
0-20s and 5-20s are very well made.
They have to pass certain tough specs.
If you are not modifying your engine or racing it, use the 5-20.
 
Well I wanted to try a little experiment. My 3.0l Vulcan has 54000 well maintained miles on it. Due to an overheat, it has two new heads and head gaskets, so the internals are factory tight tolerances. It runs like new, making this a great test vehicle. I hooked up a vac gage while running the 5w-20 and the results were marginally satisfactory. The readings indicated piston ring wear which is ruled out via a recent compression test and cylinder wall inspection, and OIL DILUTION. The oil tested is only 750 miles old. Vac at idle was 17. I drained the PP 5w-20 an filled with PP 5w30 and drove around to warm the engine back up and idle vacuum went up to 18.5. That is a statistically significant increase.

From my research Ford's recommendation of 5w-20 is not for increased engine protection but solely to improve mileage due to the CAFE requirements. From my research this comes at the expense of some engine protection. I think I will choose the better protection over a insignificant mileage increase.

Has anyone else ever tried to quantify the difference between the two viscosities? I know 5w-20 works fine but I want what works best. I think the engine runs better and I have quantifiable numbers to make this assumption with.

What say you?
 
What say you? [/quote]


2001 Ford Windstar LX 3.8 engine.
Bred and fed on Motorcraft 5W20 regular 4,000 to 5,000 mile oil changes until 118,000 and then Amoil 0W20 and now Mobil 1 5W20.
Runs perfect, uses no oil at all (and that was even with a one year Amosoil 14,000 mile between changes).
I like the 5W20 or 0W20 oils.

Good Day,
Steven
 
My owner's manual ('06 Sonata) specifies the following (for both 2.4L and 3.3L):

- 5W20 or 5W30 for temps below 0°F.
- 5W20, 5W30, and 10W30 for temps above 0°F

The manual also says to use 5W20 "for good fuel economy."

I've heard of other makes/models specifying something to the effect of using 5W30 or 10W30 for more extreme conditions such as towing or driving at higher speeds.

What all this means to me is:

In any outside air temps, 5W20 will give you better gas mileage and provide ample protection for your engine. In outside air temps over 0°F, 5W30 or 10W30 will provide better protection at extreme operating temperatures (hard driving).

My personal conclusion is that if you drive hard and use 5W30 or 10W30, your engine might be in better condition - from wear standpoint - at 150K or 200K miles compared to if you had used 5W20 instead.

Would the properly maintained engine, driven hard with 5W20, be in "bad shape" or feel "weak" at such high mileage? Probably not, but it might not pull as "strong" as it would if it had been run with 5W30 or 10W30 during all those hard-driving miles.
 
Last edited:
Your Jumping to wild conclusions when there was no exclusion of 5w20 in severe service. It "allows the use of 5w30 or 10w30 if it is warm enough but I wouldn't conclude that that is meant for protection. It is meant to give service flexibility.

Drawing such a faulty conclusion from an owners manual shows a lack of critical thinking. Please explain why 5w20 is not excluded for any circumstance in your owners manual and what can you conclude from that?
 
The difference is 10. You factor out the like numbers abd find the difference which would be 30-20= 10 simple no. If you load your engine or do really hard driving or do heavy loads use 30wt if you putt around or do short trips consider 20 wt . There isn't a whole lot of difference between the average 20 and 30 oils.
 
If you're having compresison/vacuum issues, than you should read this concerning my '97 Taurus with a Vulcan:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...rue#Post1083082

Your issue might be able to be cleared up by the use of ARX. It turned out that I had no true mechanical damage, but rather the rings were badly coked up after an overheating issue similar to yours. Ultimately, I went from very poor compression in two cylinders, to full compression after the whole experiment was done. All six cylinders were finally at 180 psi when the multiple applications and rinse phases were over.

So, given your situation, it might worth a try with the ARX. Then after one or two ARX treatments, if you're happpy with the compression/vacuum, you could give the 5w-20 a try. You might be blaming the thinner oil for an issue which isn't its fault.
 
Last edited:
"The difference is 10" ?? 10 what?

5w30 is thicker (higher viscosity) than 5W-20 at all temperatures not just at operating temp'.
To benefit from the heavier 5w30 grade you would have to be operating the engine at extreme oil temps (well in excess of 100C most of the time). For street driven vehicles that scenario will never occur in most applications. And the only way to no if you are seeing high oil temp's as unlikely as it is would be to install an oil temp gauge.
 
RPMster said:
My owner's manual ('06 Sonata) specifies the following (for both 2.4L and 3.3L):

- 5W20 or 5W30 for temps below 0°F.
- 5W20, 5W30, and 10W30 for temps above 0°F

The manual also says to use 5W20 "for good fuel economy."



I applaud Hyundai for their HONESTY. It's no wonder that Hyundai and Ford are the 2 automobile companies to watch.
Click to expand...
 
First, I am respectfully disagreeing, my wordcan come out as abrasive but I try to get to the point so please don't take my mannerism as personal.
There is not enough difference for Ford or Chrysler to recomend a heavier oil for towing. The difference is less than 10 the differnce is the differnce between Round 10CsT at 100c or 8CsT at 100c. and they are usually less since the average user rarely gets the oil up to that point. Ford for example is putting cooler Tstats in , My Jeep rarely gets above 180while crawling and actually goes down at highway speeds. The difference is vertually nothing but in certain ap;plications you can realize the difference on an individual level. This myth that 5w20 is not up to severe loading when used in engines that spec them has got to end.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
"The difference is 10" ?? 10 what
The difference between 20 and 30 is 10. There is no what to the 10.
 
Well I'm a willld and crazzzzy guy... just can't help jumping to those wild conclusions sometimes.
crazy2.gif


I'm in no way claiming to be some kind of oil expert. Just pitching in my 2 cents, however appreciated or worthless my ramblings might be.

In order to prove or disprove my non-scientific theory, we would have to...

take a group of, say, 30 identical engines in identical vehicles, using 5W30 in 10 of 'em, 10W30 in 10 of 'em, and 5W20 in the other 10.... then run them all exactly the same (same climate, same load, same driving route, same speeds, same number of 1/4 mile runs, etc etc) for 150K or 200K miles.... following the same OCI's and using the same filters and same brand of oil in all the engines...

then....

tear 'em all apart at 150K or 200K miles and send the blocks and all the internals off to a top-notch lab to be evaluated...

and then, just then.... maybe we'd be able to come a scientific conclusion, with hard evidence to back us up.

Any volunteers?
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Ed_Flecko
HPL 0W-20 vs 5W-20 vs 10W-20
Replies
15
Views
2K
kschachn
J
Castrol 5W-40, QS 5W-40, QS UD 10W-30, Amsoil SS 10W-30 Volatility Results - Dec. 2024
Replies
1
Views
2K
edyvw
D
Clearing up common misconceptions with Oil weights
2 3
Replies
40
Views
3K
tired
R
Pennzoil 5w-20 vs Kirkland 5w-30
Replies
14
Views
3K
Triple_Se7en
F
5W-30 in Ford 2.5L, 3.3L, 3.5L, 3.7L?
2
Replies
35
Views
5K
GMFan
Back
Top Bottom