The brainwashing has worked, out with the 5w20!

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04SE

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I have been reading here very in depth for weeks. I have been trolling at all hours of the day. I have been trying to quench my thirst for knowledge and to finally settle my battle with the idea that I have to run 5w20 because Ford says I do or my car will miraculously die an early agonizing death on the side of the road.

My stash is mainly 5w20 & 5w30 in brands such as Castrol GTX, Supertech, Pennzoil & Formula Shell.

I will be doing some creative returns/exchanges at Wal-Mart and the local parts stores to swap out my stash. I am going to run a new diet of 5w30 in winter months and 10w30 in 40+ weather.

Come on poor MPG and self destructing engine!

***DISCLAIMER***

I am convinced that 5w20 is PURELY based on CAFE. I also believe that 5w20 is a darn good oil for my application (car in sig.) w/ light city and tons of highway driving. However, I think a 10w30 in the summer and 5w30 that will shear to a 5w20ish in the winter will do just fine.
 
I use M1 5-30 EP in my 07 Focus with great results. Quite engine, starts great in all temps, good mileage, whats not to like. M1 tech told me the 20wt. thing was CAFE, and use 30wt with no problems. Enjoy your Taurus for many years. My sons Ranger with the 3 ltr Vulcan has 330,000 miles on it. Valve covers have never been off, all on M1 10-30.
 
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Originally Posted By: 04SE
I have been reading here very in depth for weeks. I have been trolling at all hours of the day. I have been trying to quench my thirst for knowledge and to finally settle my battle with the idea that I have to run 5w20 because Ford says I do or my car will miraculously die an early agonizing death on the side of the road.

My stash is mainly 5w20 & 5w30 in brands such as Castrol GTX, Supertech, Pennzoil & Formula Shell.

I will be doing some creative returns/exchanges at Wal-Mart and the local parts stores to swap out my stash. I am going to run a new diet of 5w30 in winter months and 10w30 in 40+ weather.

Come on poor MPG and self destructing engine!

***DISCLAIMER***

I am convinced that 5w20 is PURELY based on CAFE. I also believe that 5w20 is a darn good oil for my application (car in sig.) w/ light city and tons of highway driving. However, I think a 10w30 in the summer and 5w30 that will shear to a 5w20ish in the winter will do just fine.


I think you made a good choice. No need for a 5w-20 for mostly highway miles. Be prepared for the thin oil nazis that will follow.
 
The ol' Vulcster's been around longer than 5w20 has been mainstream.
wink.gif
 
I dont think you will notice much difference. most 20 weights are pretty heavy 20s. viscosity when hot really is not very different. Im defiantly on your side though. i think the xw20 is just to thin. Probably good for most avg joes though. This is coming from the guy that still runs rotella 15w40 in my gas vehicles in the summer. All have 200k or more. I put heavy in the summer and 5w30 in the winter. This is usually perfect for 6k changes.
 
Originally Posted By: wannafbody
I'd just use 5w30 year round. You could even mix your 5w20 with 5w30.


I honestly think that 5w30 should be obsolete. Most (dino) 5w30 oils shear down anyhow, so why not just start with a 5w20? (Which I realize negates my idea of running 5w30 in the winter instead of just using 5w20.)

Plus, mixing 5w20 & 5w30? Why?
 
Just evenly mix the 5w20 with the 5w30 behind closed doors with the shades drawn after midnight and no one will know
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Well....except your scored burned out crankshaft bearings..
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ever since joining this place, i have been mixing my 5w20 and 5w30 50:50. usually the 20 weight is conventional, and the 30w is synthetic, but sometimes it's the reverse: i find my engines really run nice with that weight, even though the manual calls for 5w30 - I find that 5w25 is a nice compromise - you get protection from shearing down too thin, and the oil flows better when cold. The oil companies have had to work overtime to come up with a superior product - the 5w20. so far no ones engine has failed, despite the 20 weight being around now for years, it has stood the test of time. remember, even conventional 5w20 is a heavily processed hydrotreated group II+.
 
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5w20 is usually a better base oil and the 5w20 gets in places faster than the 5w30..
with that said i believe both 5w20 and 5w30 will work fine in most applications..10w30 in an engine that calls for 5w20 im not so sure about.. I know with the ford modular v-8 5w20 works really well .. I have seen a certain police force use 10w40 in those 4.6v8's a while back and on an extremely cold start up at full throttle the oil filters blew out and all the oil was lost.Also with the thicker oil there seems to be valve guide issues on some engines (not all), some believe the thin 5w20 gets to them faster and lubes them better in some of the tight spots. Chrysler does oil tests on every engine it has warrantee issues with and if the wrong grade is used they don't want to know anything i know this happened at least one time personally, we did the rebuild at the customers expense.I have not seen any engine damaged by 5w20 as of today and believe me i am looking. I was a former 10w30 and 10w40 user and still use those grades in my older classics.
 
I purchased an 07 Ford Focus for my 17 year old. The manual says "to protect your engine warranty, use SAE 5w-20." And thats what she gets and I sleep real good at night.
 
Originally Posted By: 04SE
...and 5w30 that will shear to a 5w20ish in the winter will do just fine.


So you're saying that 5w20 is out, yet you admit to 5w30 shearing back to 5w20 anyway. You'll be running back to WM to return oil that's going to turn into the 5w20 you don't want anyway.

This makes no sense.
 
Originally Posted By: HARTZSKY
I purchased an 07 Ford Focus for my 17 year old. The manual says "to protect your engine warranty, use SAE 5w-20." And thats what she gets and I sleep real good at night.


01.gif
 
Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
Originally Posted By: 04SE
...and 5w30 that will shear to a 5w20ish in the winter will do just fine.


So you're saying that 5w20 is out, yet you admit to 5w30 shearing back to 5w20 anyway. You'll be running back to WM to return oil that's going to turn into the 5w20 you don't want anyway.

This makes no sense.



Exactly. I guess sarcasm can not be detected over the net.

Also, warranty is waaaaaaaay out of the picture.
 
I'll run a 5w-20 in an engine that sees lots of highway driving. Originally calls for 10w-30, but started really hard in the winter even on full-syn 10w-30. It's currently on 5w-30, and will be until my stash is used up in a year. Replacements to the stash will be 20 weight since that's what 30 weight shears to anyhow.
 
My last company car before I retired was a 2004 Ford Taurus and I ran 5W-30 in it, but I think you will be disappointed in the 10W-30 for performance and mileage. Just my opinion. Those are tough old cars, I know I enjoyed mine.
 
This is actually funny. I went from a 5w-20 to a straight 30 and I can't tell a bit of difference in cold cranking in the winter. Are you sure there weren't other issues with the car?

If anything, long highway trips would be when you would want the heavier oil.

A quality 5w-30 is not going to sheer to a 20wt. People are throwing this around like it's an absolute truth and it's far from it.
 
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