What's the harm...

[wantin150]

This is not me doing this. I'm too paranoid to try it but I'll ask here anyway, for the discussion. Although names have been changed to protect the guilty, the vehicle info is accurate.

Car - 2003 Brand X import
Engine - 1.8 L
Mfg oil recommendation - 5W30
Mfg OCI - 5,000 miles or 5 mths (don't know if that's his OCI though)
Spirited driving (don't know about trip duration)
Location - Ontario, Canada

"I" have been running 5W50 in this vehicle for a year without any known problems. No used oil analysis to track wear, or lack there of. Based on the info provided, would you recommend that I continue to run this oil and why/why not?

 

[Quest]

As much as I would love to agree/disagree, vehicle info is NOT accurate:

citing 2003 brand X import, what da ---- is brand X import with 1.8L engine?

Sorry, my guessing game can only take me so far.

Q.

 

[Cooper]

No, I would not recommend it, because the mfg recommends 5w30.

 

[wantin150]

Brand X import is a Toyota Matrix. 1.8 L is either the 1ZZ or the 2ZZ as the model isn't specified.

 

[Cooper]

Well, no because aren't they back speced to 5w20? I don't know, I just thought I read a tech bulitin to that nature.

 

[wantin150]

Not that model year. The 5W20 was back spec'd for the 2006 I believe.

 

[wavinwayne]

5w50 is not needed. Won't hurt anything except fuel economy, though.

 

[vronline]

It's too thick, especially for that small of an engine. Use 5w30 as recommended.

 

[Panzerman]

No harm, if it aint broke dont fix it. Too many people live by that I can only do what the book says. You are exceeding you manufacters spec's. I would keep using it. Your fuel milelage may have decreased to a level barely noticable. Oil is meant to be a barrier between moving parts, explain to me how a thicker barrier causes inreased wear between those parts. Dont claim it takes longer to get to the parts, cause I claim it stays on the parts longer.

 

[Panzerman]

Fill a squirt gun up with Karo syrup and one with water squirt them both out, does that syrup pump slower.

 

[Junior]

Quote:

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Fill a squirt gun up with Karo syrup and one with water squirt them both out, does that syrup pump slower.

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Obvioulsy you have never been where it gets cold in the winter. A few days of -30 to -40 will change your opinion.

 

[wantin150]

Has to do with the pressure / vs flow which I don't fully understand. Pressure helps keep the bearings separated and flow lubricates, right? Higher pressure w/ thicker oil = less flow and less lubrication, right?

 

[Junior]

Pressure really has nothing to do with keeping bearings separated. It is the hydrodynamic wedge effect that keeps them separated.

 

[1999nick]

Quote:

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It's too thick, especially for that small of an engine. Use 5w30 as recommended.

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I have a lawn edger my Dad purchased back in 1977. Never been overhauled. I have used Castrol Syntec 5W50 in it for the last 7 or 8 years and it runs just fine. I don't know its exact size in cc, but it is supposed to be 3 horsepower. It does burn a little oil, and I use the 5W50 to minimize consumption.

Owner's manual recommendations now are limited by federal regulation to the grade and weight used by the manufacturer when they determine the EPA fuel mileage for a given vehicle, i.e., if they use 5W20 in their test, they can only mention 5W20 in their owner's manual. In older owner's manuals, many different viscosities were listed as permissible, depending on the ambient temperature. I am looking at the owner's manual for my 1980 Pontiac Bonneville, and it lists nine (9) different viscosities all the way from straight 10 weight to 20W50, depending on the temperature.

 

[Schmoe]

If it ain't broke.........

 

[surfstar]

Quote:

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If it ain't broke.........

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...fix it 'till it is.

 

[BennyL]

interesting you may ask this. i've wondered about it before too.

we have a 1992 Lexus SC400 in the family. very low mileage.

anyways, the engine is a 1UZ-FE and specs 5w30. since we bought it, my dad had been putting 5W-50 Castrol Syntec in it. why? because my dad doesn't bother reading oil weights. he just wanted synthetic in it, and bought cases of what ever costco had. and they always had 5W-50 syntec. this was before i knew much about oil or started educating myself here on BITOG. so the engine was consuming massive amounts of the syntec 5W-50. i switched the car over to Liqui-Moly 5W-40 about 4000 KM ago, and it hasn't moved at all on the dip stick. not sure why, but thats just how it is.

my plan is to run an Auto-RX treatment with Mobil Clean 5000 5w30 for the cleaning cycle and again for the rinse cycle, then put the car on GC 0w30 and see how it likes that oil.

 

[BennyL]

for the record, i also use LM 5W-40 in my BMW 318 all the time, and it has never once consumed any oil. just stating that for the record.

 

[mechtech2]

That wouldn't be my first choice for an oil to use in Canada winters.
Nor is it my second, third, or fourth.

 

[BGK]

Just curious, I don't know if this has been answered before, but is there a DIY method of measuring an oils viscosity?