5w20 vs. 0w20

Pennzoil motor oil
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pbm

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As winter approaches I am thinking of what to use for the next oil change in my 2001 Accord 4 cylinder.
I have some 0w20 Mobil 1 and some Pennzoil conventional, Exxon and Havoline 5w20 conventionals. I'd rather use one of the dinos because they are the older SL versions.

Is there really much difference in cold start performance between Mobil 1 0w20 and conventional 5w20 when the lowest temp. I'm likely to see is above 0*F this winter??

I'd appreciate all opinions. Thanks
 
Regardless of older SL rating of Conventional oil , use your synthetic first during winter and the conventional in the Spring / Summer.
 
I should clarify that normal winter temps. in my area are in the 20's with single digits being rare and infrequent. It might get down below 10*F a couple of times (overnight) all winter.
Further upstate NY is a whole different story, but the NYC suburbs aren't like Buffalo.
 
Originally Posted By: yaris0128
well if your going to see 0*F you way want to use that synthetic 0w20.


+1
 
You're going to have to use it sometime... winter makes the most sense. Use the synthetic Mobil 1 0w20 now through winter and the 5w20's after that. That is using the oil's the best.
 
Originally Posted By: pbm
Is there really much difference in cold start performance between Mobil 1 0w20 and conventional 5w20 when the lowest temp. I'm likely to see is above 0*F this winter??


You could run a 5W20 and be just as fine at 0 degrees or slightly above 0 degrees.
For extended periods at or below -30 degrees, I would run a 0W20.
 
I'd use the 0W20 over the winter, unless for some reason you make far more short trips in the summer.

People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.
 
Originally Posted By: JOD
People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.



By that reasoning, my Mazdaspeed's engine should be in shambles because I ran a 10W30 oil in 12 degree weather for a whole month.
Yet the UOA came back looking just as good as other Miatas running 0W40 and 0W20 oils.
 
Originally Posted By: JeffGoji
Originally Posted By: JOD
People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.



By that reasoning, my Mazdaspeed's engine should be in shambles because I ran a 10W30 oil in 12 degree weather for a whole month.
Yet the UOA came back looking just as good as other Miatas running 0W40 and 0W20 oils.


When has there ever been a whole month of 12 degree weather in Houston?
 
Originally Posted By: JeffGoji
Originally Posted By: JOD
People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.



By that reasoning, my Mazdaspeed's engine should be in shambles because I ran a 10W30 oil in 12 degree weather for a whole month.
Yet the UOA came back looking just as good as other Miatas running 0W40 and 0W20 oils.


That's a bit of a strawman, don't you think?

-were you regularly getting the car up to operating temps? If so, then you probably weren't increasing wear significantly

-how do you know your UOA wouldn't have been better with a thinner oil?

-your UOA is a lot better indicator of the oil's condition than engine wear, particularly at the margin. Who knows, you could have had extra particles just end up in your oil filter.

No one is saying a 10W oil is going to "wreck your engine", but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a marginal increase in wear using it in those conditions, particularly if you had a lot of short trips.
 
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Originally Posted By: JeffGoji
Originally Posted By: JOD
People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.



By that reasoning, my Mazdaspeed's engine should be in shambles because I ran a 10W30 oil in 12 degree weather for a whole month.
Yet the UOA came back looking just as good as other Miatas running 0W40 and 0W20 oils.


When has there ever been a whole month of 12 degree weather in Houston?


Good point, it was actually a few dozen scattered days throughout Winter and a couple of days in Spring actually.
Really sucked for me, as I never thought I would see the day I was scraping ice off my windshield in Houston Texas.
frown.gif

One night I had to run the engine a while and let it heat up, and even gently revved it (held around 3,000 rpm for a while) to get some heat going to help defrost the ice enough where I could remove it so I could drive home.

UOA came back looking good.
 
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: JeffGoji
Originally Posted By: JOD
People seem really hung up on the lower pour point, saying "if it's not 30 below, don't bother". I don't see it that way. The 0W oils typically have lower 40C viscosity as well, so they're flowing more freely at a whole range of temps, and presumably that means they'll reach full operating temp more quickly. Both of those seem like good things to me.



By that reasoning, my Mazdaspeed's engine should be in shambles because I ran a 10W30 oil in 12 degree weather for a whole month.
Yet the UOA came back looking just as good as other Miatas running 0W40 and 0W20 oils.


That's a bit of a strawman, don't you think?

-were you regularly getting the car up to operating temps? If so, then you probably weren't increasing wear significantly


No I wasn't.
5 mile trip total, the coolant was just up to operating temperature by the time I hit my driveway (which I will admit, worried me some from a wear standpoint.)
Drove it this way for 10,500 miles.

Originally Posted By: JOD
-how do you know your UOA wouldn't have been better with a thinner oil?


Seen allot of used oil analysis on the same engine with varying miles on them driven in comparable conditions around the US.
Also seen close to 50+ rebuilds on this engine type where the owners have used everything from Mobil 1 to the cheapest conventional oil they could find.

Originally Posted By: JOD
-your UOA is a lot better indicator of the oil's condition than engine wear, particularly at the margin. Who knows, you could have had extra particles just end up in your oil filter.


Possibly, filter choice also has a little bit of an impact on UOA data.

Originally Posted By: JOD
No one is saying a 10W oil is going to "wreck your engine", but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a marginal increase in wear using it in those conditions, particularly if you had a lot of short trips.


I would be very surprised to see any increase in wear at all in a driving condition that wasn't consistently harsh (-30 degrees for one) or where the driver was running the heck out of a cold engine.
I've never come across some increase in engine wear from using a 5W or 10W over a 0W oil in engine tear downs.
I have come across owners who applied full-throttle on turbocharged versions of this engine before the oil was ever up to temperature and had raced bearings and cylinders to match.
 
Last edited:
For the record I am curious to see what kind of UOA data I get back on my particular engine running 5W20 oil.
So, I ran 5,202 miles on Mobil 1 5W20 and have sent it off for an analysis to give me a basis of comparison to the 10W30 for my particular application.

Just waiting on the lab now...
 
I'll run 0w20 when it comes in 5 qt jugs..and not before.
Silly to charge a premium..just because they choose to sell it by the qt.
 
I'd look into what add packs are in the 0w20 and 5w20, more so than caring which one to choose based upon cold flow or whatever.

The add packs can be quite varying and something everyone tends to overlook when making this choice between 5w20 and 0w20.

Price, obviously plays a role as well.
 
When we look at the oil cap, does it say '5W20 spring/summer, xWxx fall/winter'? That means the engine was tested under many temp variations and the oil worked well. No need to 'seasonize' oil. UNLESS where you live, it's below zero everyday for MONTHS.
 
Originally Posted By: SkyGod
I'll run 0w20 when it comes in 5 qt jugs..and not before.
Silly to charge a premium..just because they choose to sell it by the qt.

Why not just use oil change specials?
 
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