Switching to 5w20 in my van

G-MAN · Dec 14, 2003

I've had Auto-Rx in my Olds minivan for 1500 miles and now I'm about to begin the 2000 mile "first rinse." I've decided to use a 5w20 oil for the rinse. The main reason I chose a 5w20 is I want a thinner oil that will get to all the little nooks and crannies of the top end. I think I'll only be the second person on here who is trying a 5w20 in a vehicle that orginally called for an Xw30 oil. (TooSlick tried the Amsoil Grp III 5w20 in his truck, if I remember correctly.) Even though this oil will only be run for 2000 miles, it will probably take 6 months to accumulate that mileage, so I'll be doing a UOA on it next spring.

I picked up a 5 qt jug of Pennzoil 5w20 tonight at Wal-Mart for around $9.00. I wanted a 5w20 that had lots of moly, so that's why I picked Pennzoil over the Motorcraft (even thought the Motorcraft 5w20 has posted some outstanding UOAs). I was a bit surprised, however, to note that nowhere on the Pennzoil bottle does it say this oil meets the Ford and Honda requirements for a 5w20. One would have to assume it does, though.

Motorbike · Dec 14, 2003

Here at the Pennzoil site it lists the 5/20 to meet the Ford spec only .

I wonder what the exact differences are in the Honda-Ford specs ? Surely if it would meet the Honda spec it would be listed because I would not think the money for testing to be a problem .

FWIW the 5/20 uses the Shelvis VI Improver . It's the Pennstar Molecule used in the Longlife 15/40 .

http://www.pzlqs.com/Tech/Pdsheet/DomesticMarketing/EngineOils/pdf/Multigrade.PDF

Another FWIW,
Tooslick come to find out later used the ealier PAO Amsoil 5/20 in his truck not the group III- 6 month /7500 mile stuff currently available.

Al · Dec 14, 2003

I would have thought so also. Be interesting to see your results

TooSlick · Dec 14, 2003

I tried both the Amsoil 5w-20 and the very expensive Synergyn 0w-20 in my 2.4L Tacoma. Both provided excellent valvetrain and piston/cylinder wear, but resulted in accelerated bearing wear. The specs on the GP III, Amsoil XL-7500 series oils are actually a bit better than their original SJ formulations, but their 5w-20 is probably too thin to be used in all 5w-30 applications.

I think that xw-20 oils can work in some of these engines that call for 5w-30, but you have to be careful.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

Patman · Dec 14, 2003

I applaud you for your experimentation! I was almost considering putting a 5w20 in my mom's 94 Probe GT, mainly because she does all city driving and lots of short trips, plus she drives very gently too. So I figured she might actually see lower engine wear with a 5w20 since they usually have a much thinner viscosity at 40C than most 5w30s. In the end I put in 0w30 Walmart synthetic in her car though, so by the end of the interval she might have a 0w20 oil in there anyways!

MikeySoft · Dec 14, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Motorbike:
Here at the Pennzoil site it lists the 5/20 to meet the Ford spec only .

I wonder what the exact differences are in the Honda-Ford specs ? Surely if it would meet the Honda spec it would be listed because I would not think the money for testing to be a problem .
...

I beleave the Ford spec is stricter then the Honda's. So if it meets Ford's, it will also meet Honda's.

Whimsey · Dec 14, 2003

Motorbike,
In simplified terms Ford requires a tougher test for viscosity increase and a lower increase limit. Honda has the same tougher viscosity increase test as Ford's but it's viscosity increase limits are the more lenient limits allowed in the single length tests used for viscosity increase testing in the GF-3 oils. It would seem that since Ford's tests are more stingent than Honda's that if an oil met Ford's it would also meet Honda's.

Whimsey

Whimsey · Dec 14, 2003

MikeSoft, you beat me to the enter key

.

Whimsey

G-MAN · Dec 14, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I applaud you for your experimentation! I was almost considering putting a 5w20 in my mom's 94 Probe GT, mainly because she does all city driving and lots of short trips, plus she drives very gently too.

You've described how my van gets driven. I don't drive it much now that its pretty much my mother's vehicle. We sold her car because she can get in and out of the van much easier, and she likes the fact that she "sits up high" and can "see everything." But the consequence of this being her "car" now is that it doesn't get driven much and when it does, it's just short trips. I think this type of driving is a perfect recipe for using a 5w20 oil, especially in the winter. The UOA will tell the tale, though.

buster · Dec 14, 2003

I ran the M1 0-20 and had great results with it. My car calls for a 5w-30. It's not the viscosity per se, but the build quality of the oil that really matters most IMO.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000938

I think the M1 0w-20 is one of the best made out there.

[ December 15, 2003, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

Tones · Dec 16, 2003

quote:

it doesn't get driven much and when it does, it's just short trips. I think this type of driving is a perfect recipe for using a 5w20 oil, especially in the winter. The UOA will tell the tale, though.

G-Man, I face a similar situation in my wife's Honda. She does a lot of short trip driving. I am afraid that fuel dilution would thin an already thin 5W-20 oil. On top of that, any shear thinning of a dino oil would make the problem worse. What is your take on these problems?

G-MAN · Dec 16, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Tones:

quote:

it doesn't get driven much and when it does, it's just short trips. I think this type of driving is a perfect recipe for using a 5w20 oil, especially in the winter. The UOA will tell the tale, though.

Click to expand...

G-Man, I face a similar situation in my wife's Honda. She does a lot of short trip driving. I am afraid that fuel dilution would thin an already thin 5W-20 oil. On top of that, any shear thinning of a dino oil would make the problem worse. What is your take on these problems?

Fuel dilution is really only a problem if the engine NEVER gets fully warmed up, which isn't the case with the van. I make sure I drive it at least once a month to work and back, which should burn off fuel and/or moisture in the oil.

As for shearing, I don't think the GM 3.4 is all that hard on oil. It's a pushrod engine, with roller lifters, and operates at relatively low RPMs.

In the end, it's the UOA of the Pennzoil 5w20 that will tell us how well the oil is doing. If I don't see good wear numbers, I won't be using this oil.

talkinghorse · Dec 17, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
I tried both the Amsoil 5w-20 and the very expensive Synergyn 0w-20 in my 2.4L Tacoma. Both provided excellent valvetrain and piston/cylinder wear, but resulted in accelerated bearing wear. The specs on the GP III, Amsoil XL-7500 series oils are actually a bit better than their original SJ formulations, but their 5w-20 is probably too thin to be used in all 5w-30 applications.

I think that xw-20 oils can work in some of these engines that call for 5w-30, but you have to be careful.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

Does AMSOIL XL-7500 5w-20 meet Honda spec?

caremd99 · Dec 17, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by talkinghorse:

quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
I tried both the Amsoil 5w-20 and the very expensive Synergyn 0w-20 in my 2.4L Tacoma. Both provided excellent valvetrain and piston/cylinder wear, but resulted in accelerated bearing wear. The specs on the GP III, Amsoil XL-7500 series oils are actually a bit better than their original SJ formulations, but their 5w-20 is probably too thin to be used in all 5w-30 applications.

I think that xw-20 oils can work in some of these engines that call for 5w-30, but you have to be careful.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

Click to expand...

Does AMSOIL XL-7500 5w-20 meet Honda spec?

The XL-7500 has the API starburst and meets the following specs:
API SL, SJ
ILSAC GF-3, GF-2
Ford WSS M2C153H
ACEA A1, B1
JASO VTW

Since Honda states it should have the API starbust then this meets their requirements for a 5W-20 oil.

FWIW I use AMSOIL ASL 5W-30 in my 2002 Ody which states use 5W-20 in the North America market. The Japanese website indicates 5W-30 for the same engine in the same year in the Japanese market....

talkinghorse · Dec 17, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by caremd99:

quote:

Originally posted by talkinghorse:

quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
I tried both the Amsoil 5w-20 and the very expensive Synergyn 0w-20 in my 2.4L Tacoma. Both provided excellent valvetrain and piston/cylinder wear, but resulted in accelerated bearing wear. The specs on the GP III, Amsoil XL-7500 series oils are actually a bit better than their original SJ formulations, but their 5w-20 is probably too thin to be used in all 5w-30 applications.

I think that xw-20 oils can work in some of these engines that call for 5w-30, but you have to be careful.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

Click to expand...

Does AMSOIL XL-7500 5w-20 meet Honda spec?

Click to expand...

The XL-7500 has the API starburst and meets the following specs:
API SL, SJ
ILSAC GF-3, GF-2
Ford WSS M2C153H
ACEA A1, B1
JASO VTW

Since Honda states it should have the API starbust then this meets their requirements for a 5W-20 oil.

FWIW I use AMSOIL ASL 5W-30 in my 2002 Ody which states use 5W-20 in the North America market. The Japanese website indicates 5W-30 for the same engine in the same year in the Japanese market....

Would the S2K 0w-30 offer any advantages? We also have an 02 Odyssey

caremd99 · Dec 18, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by talkinghorse:

quote:

Originally posted by caremd99:

quote:

Originally posted by talkinghorse:

quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
I tried both the Amsoil 5w-20 and the very expensive Synergyn 0w-20 in my 2.4L Tacoma. Both provided excellent valvetrain and piston/cylinder wear, but resulted in accelerated bearing wear. The specs on the GP III, Amsoil XL-7500 series oils are actually a bit better than their original SJ formulations, but their 5w-20 is probably too thin to be used in all 5w-30 applications.

I think that xw-20 oils can work in some of these engines that call for 5w-30, but you have to be careful.

Tooslick
Dixie Synthetics

Click to expand...

Does AMSOIL XL-7500 5w-20 meet Honda spec?

Click to expand...

The XL-7500 has the API starburst and meets the following specs:
API SL, SJ
ILSAC GF-3, GF-2
Ford WSS M2C153H
ACEA A1, B1
JASO VTW

Since Honda states it should have the API starbust then this meets their requirements for a 5W-20 oil.

FWIW I use AMSOIL ASL 5W-30 in my 2002 Ody which states use 5W-20 in the North America market. The Japanese website indicates 5W-30 for the same engine in the same year in the Japanese market....

Click to expand...

Would the S2K 0w-30 offer any advantages? We also have an 02 Odyssey

Probably...TooSlick has convinced me that it will but I will not switch over until my next change. That means either January 04 or July 04 depending on my UOA results.

Switching to 5w20 in my van

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