5W-30 vs 5W-20

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I just bought a new Ford and am reluctant about using the specified 5W-20 and would much rather use 5W-30. I reaseached the topic on the web and found this site. Will using 5w-30 in a new Ford that calls for 5W-20 cause problems? I found this quote on the SynLube site:

"You will definitely get better mileage with SAE 5W-20 then SAE 5W-30 oil, but not by much, usually the optimistic estimates are LESS than 1%. The bad news is about 30% reduction in engine life (from 100,000 miles or 10 years to 70,000 miles or 7 years)." http://www.synlube.com/sae5w-20.htm


Thoughts please
 
I just picked up 8 quart of Quaker State 5W20 at Walmart on sale. It's like water. I'm used to 15W40 or straght 30 weight. I've noticed that you, like myself, live in Florida, so the low "5" number is unnecessary, (even in North Florida). I went ahead and bought the 5W20 to add one quart at a time in a five quart change for the very reason you mentioned.

Since the best properites of oils happen to be in the very thin 5W-20s and multi-purpose 15W-40s, why not split the differences to make a nice 10W-30? I just did exactly that in my daughter's ride. Used 2.5 quarts of Havoline 5W-20 and 2.5 quarts of Delo 15W-40.
 
Reading that website was like watching a Prolong or ZMax infomercial.

No oil or oil filter change for 100,000 miles. ( from 7,500 to 107,500 miles)
SynLube™ Lube-4-Life® Motor Oil has been re-processed and re-installed @ 107,500 miles and oil filter replaced.
No deterioration of engine performance.
No deterioration of fuel mileage gain (as compared to OEM oil).
No measurable wear of either Intake or Exhaust Cam @ 115,000 miles.
No visible wear of Timing Belt @ 115,000 miles (OEM recommends replacement every 50,000 miles).
No deterioration of Catalytic Converter efficiency or Emission System Performance.

C'mon. 100K on oil and filter with no wear?
rolleyes.gif
Oh, and I just love how they try to convince you that their 50wt will yield, what was it, something like 1-2% increased mileage over a 30wt?...oooook.

Me, personally, I think that as long as you don't fall under the "severe" category then you should be just fine running the 5w-20. Now, it might be a little different if you:
1) Drive a big truck that is used for hauling/towing heavy payloads
2) Drive like a bat out of h*ll CONSTANTLY
3) Drive a high HP car like a Mustang Cobra (I think it calls for 20w-50??)
4) Do a lot of city stop and go driving with excessive idling in 100+ degree heat (key word HEAT, which in Texas I'm pretty sure is worse than Connecticut)

Otherwise, the average Joe with normal driving habits, and, using reasonable OCI's shouldn't have any issues using the 5w-20. Especially the Motorcraft, which is a pretty good oil IMO. Mobil 1 5w-30 has been labeled a "thin" 30wt as it is, and you would see a H*LL of a lot more than 70K out of an engine using it. So how do they figure a 5w-20 is going to kill a motor?
dunno.gif
I just dont get it.
 
Any police departments out there running 5W-20 in the Crown Vics?? Does Ford give them different recommendations? If so, that should shed some light on the subject.
 
I think the "70,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles" was just an example because most people don't know what 30% is.

Especially people that are going to buy the syn lube for life stuff...

Anyways, the 5w20 vs 5w30 UOA spreadsheet for modular motors does show about a 17% advantage in iron and an even higher advantage for alum in favor of 5w30.
 
Why mix the 2 when you can freakin buy 10w-30! Don't try and oversmart the people that engineer the stuff.

Why you ask?.... cuz' you cannot buy it that way. The best add-packs come from 5W-20 & 15W-40.... sorta' makes mixing it the best oil then - best from both worlds. Who says the two oils I listed cannot be mixed?

Why not try to oversmart the people that engineer the stuff?. Are you saying present-day oil engineers are infallible?.... ingredients will never get any better?.... what then?
 
quote:
Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
Why mix the 2 when you can freakin buy 10w-30! Don't try and oversmart the people that engineer the stuff.

Why you ask?.... cuz' you cannot buy it that way. The best add-packs come from 5W-20 & 15W-40.... sorta' makes mixing it the best oil then - best from both worlds. Who says the two oils I listed cannot be mixed?

Why not try to oversmart the people that engineer the stuff?. Are you saying present-day oil engineers are infallible?.... ingredients will never get any better?.... what then?
Click to expand...
You could just go buy yourself some 10w-30 Delo or Motorcraft CI-4. There's no harm in mixng the two. There's also no point at all either!
 
This chart contains some very standard temperature recommendations for the oil grades listed.

The 10W-30 temps, listed in centigrade, run from -4F(-20C) to 104F(40C).

I would assume the asterik & verbage connected with 5W-20 is a JASO or JAMA spec similar to the Ford WSS-M2C930-A specification.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Steve S:
Ken what does the astrik mean and the temp chart is only 40F.
Click to expand...
Answered above...

The footnote translates into:

"The Environment Ministry has declared 5w20 a superb oil for fuel economy."
 
You could just go buy yourself some 10w-30 Delo or Motorcraft CI-4. There's no harm in mixng the two. There's also no point at all either!

Yes... there is a point! 10W-30 Delo ingredients (add-pk/base oil) are not the same as their robust HDEO 15w-40.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
You could just go buy yourself some 10w-30 Delo or Motorcraft CI-4. There's no harm in mixng the two. There's also no point at all either!

Yes... there is a point! 10W-30 Delo ingredients (add-pk/base oil) are not the same as their robust HDEO 15w-40.
Click to expand...
The base oil and the add pack is the same for 10w-30 Delo; it is a HDEO, CI-4/SL rated just like the 15w-40 Delo. Actually, straight 10w-30 Delo would be better than your mix because your dilluting the super strong additive package of the 15w-40 with 5w-20.
tongue.gif
 
quote:
Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
I just picked up 8 quart of Quaker State 5W20 at Walmart on sale. It's like water. I'm used to 15W40 or straght 30 weight. I've noticed that you, like myself, live in Florida, so the low "5" number is unnecessary, (even in North Florida). I went ahead and bought the 5W20 to add one quart at a time in a five quart change for the very reason you mentioned.

Since the best properites of oils happen to be in the very thin 5W-20s and multi-purpose 15W-40s, why not split the differences to make a nice 10W-30? I just did exactly that in my daughter's ride. Used 2.5 quarts of Havoline 5W-20 and 2.5 quarts of Delo 15W-40.
Click to expand...
Why mix the 2 when you can freakin buy 10w-30!
pat.gif
Don't try and oversmart the people that engineer the stuff.
 
The last time I used 20 weight oil was back in the 50's in my 1954 Ford V-8. the first year of Ford making OHV V-8s. By 1959, I had 140,000 miles on that car, and the engine was still in good shape, no smoke or other symptoms of wearing out. That engine had mechanical valve lifters, and they never needed an adjustment and remained quiet the whole 140,000 miles. If a 50's straight 20W performed this well, and who knows how long that engine eventually lasted, how would today's engines last on straight 20W, maybe in a good grade of synthetic?

Point is, this company saying an engine will wear out in 70,000 miles if subjected to these new xxW20 oils is laughable.
 
quote:
Originally posted by tom2002a:
I just bought a new Ford and am reluctant about using the specified 5W-20 and would much rather use 5W-30. I reaseached the topic on the web and found this site. Will using 5w-30 in a new Ford that calls for 5W-20 cause problems? I found this quote on the SynLube site:

"You will definitely get better mileage with SAE 5W-20 then SAE 5W-30 oil, but not by much, usually the optimistic estimates are LESS than 1%. The bad news is about 30% reduction in engine life (from 100,000 miles or 10 years to 70,000 miles or 7 years)."


Thoughts please
Click to expand...
welcome.gif
I was also hesitant to switch to a 5w20 when I got my '02 Ranger. I had been using 5w30 for the past 10 years in my other Fords. The thing that changed my mind was the used oil analysis section of this site. The Motorcraft 5w20 has not produced any bad reults to my knowledge. I recently bought out all the Motorcraft 5w20 in the discontinued section at my local Walmart so I should have enough to last 2 years.
freak2.gif
 
quote:
Originally posted by tom2002a:
I just bought a new Ford and am reluctant about using the specified 5W-20 and would much rather use 5W-30. I reaseached the topic on the web and found this site. Will using 5w-30 in a new Ford that calls for 5W-20 cause problems? I found this quote on the SynLube site:

"You will definitely get better mileage with SAE 5W-20 then SAE 5W-30 oil, but not by much, usually the optimistic estimates are LESS than 1%. The bad news is about 30% reduction in engine life (from 100,000 miles or 10 years to 70,000 miles or 7 years)." http://www.synlube.com/sae5w-20.htm


Thoughts please
Click to expand...
I might believe this if they got these #'s from a law enforcement agency pool or something. Normal useage a modern Ford modular V-8 will give service far beyond these numbers. Not even close.

If they got the #'s from people that never shut the engine down and drive extremely hard, there's no way to win anyway.

I bet they got this from police useage somewhere.

After looking at your link and their claims of their "permanent" motor oil, I would be skeptical of any of their information. 150K mile oil.
lol.gif
with PTFE and 5W-50.
nono.gif


[ April 16, 2005, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: haley10 ]
 
Never read any 10W-30 ingredients that were the same as it's sister 15W-40. Is there a VOA I could read of each?

Also.... the 5W-20s are generally stronger than 5-30s. What interests me-most is the mixing of these two separate oils. I'm not only interested in the diesel oil properties .... I want the strong ingredients found in many 5W-20s like Havoline, Pennzoil, Motorcraft.... possibly Mobil 5000 too - but haven't read the VOA on that one yet.

So until you show me ANY 10W-30 oil manufacturer that has the combined properties found in the Delo 400 15-40s and Havoline 5-20s... well then... that's why I've chosen partaking in "10W-30 Oil Mixology 101-1/2".
 
So, let me see if I have this 5w-20 vs 5w-30 stuff correct. 5w-30 has been used for a long time and it works well. But the new 5w-20 can protect almost as well and is good engough for the warranty period. But the big deal is that it will get you a mile per gallon or more mileage improvement with no other changes. And you get the mileage right now and don't have to worry about how long the engine will last, because you're going to trade it in anyhow. You can't see the HTHS values on the dipstick, anyhow. So it boils down to a trade, better mileage now for an uncertain total engine life, even though you are getting good UOA's, which of cource tell you everything you wanted to know about what a lab can tell you about your vehicle for a snap shot or two or three. And if this isn't getting complicated enough, we can throw in synthetic vs dyno oil and 3k vs 5k vs 7.5k vs annual oil changes, too. And that does not even consider climate, driving conditions and the vehicle itself. Enough speculation, already, nothing to it.....what's the answer? And the winner is.............
 
The winner for me, if I get the new Honda, is 0w-30 Mobil One. I know it will work for me. I am taking the conservative approach. The Element is a big vehicle with a small engine.
The used car market is looking grim, imo, with all the used cars on the market with oil issues. I have no interest in used cars after reading all the BitOG horrors.
 
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