Pennzoil Ultra Platinum PP 5w20 vs. 5w30 compare

[a990dna]

I've attached two Blackstone UOAs..

To the left.. I present a 2014 Jeep Wrangler 3.6L Pentastar with multiple UOAs. I'm comparing the 20K mile mark. This Jeep runs Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Pure Plus 5w20.

To the right... I present my 2013 Jeep Wrangler 3.6L Pentastar at 20K miles. I've been running Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Pure Plus 5w30.

Why the differences? Is 5w20 better for this engine than 5w30?

Is this the reason Chrysler changed from 5w30 to 5w20?

Discuss...

Link to Wrangler Forums

 

[lubricatosaurus]

5w-20 means about 1% more horsepower and fuel economy than 5w-30. Also, thicker oil means a thicker oil film, good for hard driving at high temperatures (towing or race track usage usually). Seems the 5w-20 has plenty (non-zero!) oil film thickness margin because your wear numbers are pretty low.

The iron ppm number is the first thing I look at on all reports, and all yours are very low. You could go longer on that oil, like maybe 3,000 MORE than you're going on it now, since TBN is still high. TBN < 2 is about the time to change oil, not before. TBN drops as oil ages and wears out.
Healthy engines, great oil, although insolubles of 0.3 means try a Fram Ultra oil filter for finer filtering maybe.

 

[Pontual]

Well you are comparing 2 different cars and judjing the oil based on that?

 

[Yup]

Because one gets driven 2 miles to work, 2 miles home and the other is driven for 20 miles on the freeway to work, and 20 miles home?

 

[a990dna]

Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
5w-20 means about 1% more horsepower and fuel economy than 5w-30. Also, thicker oil means a thicker oil film, good for hard driving at high temperatures (towing or race track usage usually). Seems the 5w-20 has plenty (non-zero!) oil film thickness margin because your wear numbers are pretty low.

The iron ppm number is the first thing I look at on all reports, and all yours are very low. You could go longer on that oil, like maybe 3,000 MORE than you're going on it now, since TBN is still high. TBN < 2 is about the time to change oil, not before. TBN drops as oil ages and wears out.
Healthy engines, great oil, although insolubles of 0.3 means try a Fram Ultra oil filter for finer filtering maybe.


Thanks...

The reason I went to 5w30 is because this engine appears to quiet down some.

I'm using Mopar filters... too many oil filter housing issues with the 3.6L.

Think I should stick with 5w30 or move back to 5w20?

.

 

[a990dna]

Originally Posted By: Pontual
Well you are comparing 2 different cars and judjing the oil based on that?


Yup..

.

 

[a990dna]

Originally Posted By: Yup
Because one gets driven 2 miles to work, 2 miles home and the other is driven for 20 miles on the freeway to work, and 20 miles home?


Nope

.

 

[demarpaint]

I'd stick with the 5W30.

 

[a990dna]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I'd stick with the 5W30.

.

 

[newtoncd8]

Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
Healthy engines, great oil, although insolubles of 0.3 means try a Fram Ultra oil filter for finer filtering maybe.


Fram doesn't (currently) make an Ultra cartridge filter for the Pentastar.

 

[53' Stude]

a990dna: at my work we use 5w30 synblend in caravans, wranglers and Chrysler stuff except the new darts, 200's and vehicles that require 0w20. No issues at all with 5w30. Our vehicles are brand new to less than 30k when they are sold

 

[Gokhan]

The engine with 5W-30 isn't broken in yet. That's the reason for higher copper numbers.

Also, comparing different engines, even if they are identical models, is not very meaningful. They might have different manufacturing details despite being the same model.

Chances are that you won't see much difference between 5W-20 and 5W-30 during regular driving. 5W-20 is better for fuel economy and 5W-30 is better to reduce wear during high-speed driving and towing.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Chances are that you won't see much difference between 5W-20 and 5W-30 during regular driving.


Looking at the cSt numbers they're almost the same. He has more copper wear with 5W-30 but the silicon number is higher too - which might account for it.

 

[901Memphis]

Too early in the engine life to worry about it. Look how much closer the iron is than the copper.

 

[Gasbuggy]

The trend is your friend.