switching from 5w20 to 5w30?

[Audi Junkie]

I think simply saying to "follow the manual" without sound reasoning behind it smacks of being some kind of drone and goes against the spirit and purpose of this forum.

Follow the manual...."because" is more acceptable.

The Honda 2.4 uses 5w-20 in Accord/CRV, 5w-30 in TSX and HT-06 RDX apps, much heavier weights like 10w-40 in UK as well as other parts of the globe, and in race trim, the guys at RealTime use Redline SAE 40 in their TSX racers.

So, "follow the manual" is pretty weak sauce, especially here.

 

[tigerclaws]

For PP, the difference between 5W-20 and 5W-30 is that the 5w-30 is HTO-06 certified and the 20 weight isn't. Not that it matters, but I have been running 5w-30 on my 2004 'Cord for the past 100k miles and it is just fine.

I would therefore advise you to use 5w-30 once you are outside the warranty.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
So, "follow the manual" is pretty weak sauce, especially here.


I would agree with that. If everyone were interested in following the manual religiously, they would read the manual and not bother asking here, right?

I'd say the manual is helpful in finding the correct specifications (i.e. SM or proprietary specifications) or determining if, say, a certain weight is essential for a certain valvetrain.

Aside from that, it's not the Bible, and we do know that the same engines have different recommendations in different countries with different weather, in different countries with similar weather, in identical engines from differing years, and so forth.

Sometimes it's CAFE, other times it's, perhaps, actually an oil better suited to the engine. It just seems that these days, some look at 10w-30, and even 5w-30, like people used to look at 15w-40 or 20w-50 or single grades a couple decades back - as a relic.