5W-30 instead of 10W-30

[Lawnman23]

There is none, and I'm not endorsing it. Sometimes, even I don't understand why I do certain things the way I do. I was banned from a mall for riding a kayak down the escalator, and even I don't know what was going through my mind in that moment. My wife thinks I have a touch of the 'tism, and she isn't wrong very often.

In all seriousness though, I have a couple pales of 10W-20 to go through and just felt like using it. Given the quality of that oil, I don't think twice about it.

Per the manufacturer, what specs a 10w-20?

 

[Lockasiam]

Per the manufacturer, what specs a 10w-20?

I don’t think anything does. It’s just such a narrow spread it’s very easy to achieve with no VIIs and be extremely shear resistant

 

[Lawnman23]

I don’t think anything does. It’s just such a narrow spread it’s very easy to achieve with no VIIs and be extremely shear resistant

So what would the intended use case be for it? Anything that runs a 20 weight and a warm climate?

Just seems like such a niche product

 

[Allaned]

Use it and sleep well tonight

 

[Lockasiam]

Anything that runs a 20 weight and a warm climate?

More than likely.

Just seems like such a niche product

Exactly. 10w20 would have to be something to hunt for and as far as I know this is the only option, and a very high quality option. Oil Niche people like high quality stuff.

 

[DaveInIreland]

. I was banned from a mall for riding a kayak down the escalator,

Seems perfectly fine to me.

 

[zzyzzx]

I use 5W-30 (synthetic) in the mower because I use it year round and that's what I happen to keep around. If I had synthetic 10W-30 around I'd probably use that instead, but I don't. That and I figure that the 5W might be making it easier to start in the winter when I'm mulching leaves.

 

[thastinger]

What are your thoughts on me switching from 10W-30 Synthetic Havaoline and/or Mobil 1

To the same brands but 5W-30 in my small engines including:

Honda EU2000i
Honda EU2200i

And

Yamaha EF2200iS

The reason I am asking is that I have less than a quart of 10W-30, but because I no longer have a vehicle that takes 5W-30, I am left with about 5 quarts of Havoline Synthetic SN+ and another 5 quarts of Mobil 1 Synthetic SP

Any good reason 10W-30 would be preferred? Heck, when I was a kid the specs were SAE 30 for small engines…

I mean 5W-30 is still a 30 weight oil right only a bit thinner than 10W-30 when vey cold, right? Or is it thinner when hot too?

I have read that oil can sheer down in viscosity… is that anything to worry about? I change it every 25 hours on average.

OR should I put the 5W-30 in my Mazda CX-5 that calls for 0W-20?

All those gens hold half a Qt. Look into the Kohler 10-30 oil, I have the same gens except all of mine are the 2Ks and I usually use that Kohler oil if I have it. I have also ran Mobil 1 0-40 and RP HPS 5-30 in all of them before. Just keep in mind that they are air cooled with no filter so short OCIs won't hurt here.

 

[crashz]

Um - those Hondas are pretty much bullet proof. My father (not condoning this) would wait until I serviced his generator (maybe half a dozen times in 20 years) out of guilt. It always ran fine. I used whatever grade and flavor oil I had on hand. We did have to clean the carb a few times due to old/bad gas. It's final demise was that it fell off the back of his pick-up while going up his driveway. Actually I'm pretty sure I can fix it. But he bought a new one so I might snag the old one.

So 25hr OCIs with anything better than day old coffee should allow a lifetime of reliable use.

 

[tired]

When it comes to common API oils, the 5W-30 version of a particular oil series is almost always superior to the 10W-30 version. The same applies to 5W-40 vs 15W-40 and 5W-50 vs 20W-50. The narrower multi-grades can be made with cheaper, lower quality base oils and still meet the spec. The major brands exploit this to increase profit margins. You're getting less for the same money. A 5W-30 or 5W-40 forces them to use better quality base oils and VII to meet the wider spread.

This does not apply to certain boutique brands that formulate to a performance point instead of a price point such as HPL, Amsoil, Driven, and Red Line. You're going to get top shelf quality from them no matter the grade.

This is interesting. I feel like I had this backwards. I feel nearly certain I'd read here that the wider the spread on the viscosity, the more VIIs are used, and this is unfavorable because they can burn off and leave deposits. Is this completely wrong? Please disabuse me of my misconceptions.