Mixing oil grades

[BE_RIGHT_ON]

Hello, all. This is my first post on bitog.
My question is this, can I mix a 0w20 and a ow40 to get a 0w30?
Or will I just have a weird mix that wont do what a 0w30 will?
And if there is a thread on this please direct me there.
Thanks.

 

[BrocLuno]

You can mix. It will be somewhat like a 0W-30. But unless the same brand and same chemistry (say Mobi1) there is no real level of anticipation it will be really that predictable...

For a high mile daily driver, it should be fine. For a critical application or under warranty, I'd do something else ...

 

[Kuato]

to BITOG...yes, you can mix and I agree it will perform similarly to a 0w30.

 

[beanoil]

Look up the specs for each oil, plug them into the calculator, and see what your final result is. Then compare that to other 0w30 offerings.
I don't see an advantage unless you have the 0w20 and 0w40 on hand, or just want to see what happens.
http://www.widman.biz/English/Calculators/Mixtures.html

 

[BE_RIGHT_ON]

Thank you all for feedback, I am going to use same brand synthetics to do this. The car is an older chevy 3.5 liter pushrod engine.(2005)

 

[SatinSilver]

I have 13 quarts of Synpower 20w50 that I picked up on clearance. For the Matrix I can mix 3 quarts of Napa 0w20 and one quart of the aforementioned to get 5w30. In the summer I can mix two quarts of the Napa and two quarts of the Synpower to get 10w30.

 

[SatinSilver]

Hello, anyone home?

 

[69GTX]

It should be pretty close to a 0w-30Something. The fact that many 0w-30 grades are nearly the equal of many 0w-40's, you likely won't end up with a "stout" 30 grade. The mix will be an average 30 grade. If you really want a stout 0w-30, best to go out and buy it. Another way to a stout "mixed" 30 grade might be to combine say 4 qts of 0w-40 to 2 qts of 0w-20.

 

[BE_RIGHT_ON]

Thank you all for the feedback, 'Stout' is what I'm looking for with 0 grade pumpability.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: BE_RIGHT_ON
'Stout' is what I'm looking for with 0 grade pumpability.


See that's the best part of mixing.

You want the 0W part.

That's the part that is least likely to be guaranteed mixing two fully formulated 0W grades, particularly from disparate manufacturers.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I have 13 quarts of Synpower 20w50 that I picked up on clearance. For the Matrix I can mix 3 quarts of Napa 0w20 and one quart of the aforementioned to get 5w30. In the summer I can mix two quarts of the Napa and two quarts of the Synpower to get 10w30.


I would be quite surprised if your W ratings are correct on those mixes. The 20W-50 is probably based very differently from the 0w-20, and subsequently likely has very different levels of PPD's and VII's resulting in ???? you might have a 10w-30, you might have a 5w-30, you might even have a 15w-30. Heck, you could even have soup. Without it being run through the CCS and MRV tests we have absolutely no idea. The W rating is one of those things that doesn't just blend nicely and predictably like the 100C visc.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: BE_RIGHT_ON
Thank you all for the feedback, 'Stout' is what I'm looking for with 0 grade pumpability.


Then buy yourself some GC 0w-30, which will actually be a 0w-30 and is certified to provide a guaranteed level of performance unlike the magic brew.

 

[kschachn]

Plus even with the same brand there's no guarantee the mixture will still carry any of the certifications the individual oils might have. My interpretation of the word "stout" means it meets a specific certification. Your mix, regardless of what it may be, will not necessarily still meet such a spec.

The only way to be sure you get what you want is to buy an oil that already meets the need like OVERKILL said.