A NASCAR engine is not any where near what your car engine is like.
Will Thinner Oils Damage Your Engine?
- Thread starter buster
- Start date
- Status
The
So, if the engine “tolerances” couldn’t handle 20W50, then they couldn’t handle 0W20 either...
Yep...
So, if the engine “tolerances” couldn’t handle 20W50, then they couldn’t handle 0W20 either...
I have little tolerances for your clearances !!!I need to find my old tolerance vs clearance thread.
Comparing apple to oranges. The time it takes 0W20 to get to operating temperature is no comparison to the 20W50 staying viscous during the entire time the engine is running. The engine will run with no oil at start up for a few minutes before it seizes up.
Last edited by a moderator:
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I'm aware. He had a few UOA's for the engine in question, the one just prior to the tear-down wasn't unusual for the engine; it wasn't abnormal.
It's important to note that this wasn't your Joe Average Camry engine, this was a high performance, high strung GM 3.8L V8 with a turbo making significantly more power than stock. This is why he was trying to track it with analysis and also doing tear-downs when warranted. I'm sure all his posts are still on here if one was curious enough to go back and read through them.
Last edited:
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Not really. Oil takes quite a time to come up to temperature, a 0w-20 in Winnipeg in the winter is likely more viscous for the duration of your average trip than the same engine operated in a Dallas summer on 20w-50.
From what I've observed by the oil temp sensor in my Jeep, on the coldest day I can remember, which was probably 5 below zero, it took about 15 minutes to reach 185 degrees. It gets there in 10 minutes in the summer, so not a huge difference. The comparison is for the exact same driving pattern, which is me starting it cold, and gently driving it until warmed up, while on my way to work.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Which Jeep? My SRT's temp tracks with coolant because it has a large coolant/oil heat exchanger. On cars that don't have an oil cooler, the period can be incredibly long. I believe it was Garak that noted that his Infiniti, the oil didn't come up to temp at all under regular driving in the winter? Don't quote me on that, going by memory. It had no oil cooler.
Ok. Let’s compare apples to apples. Tell me how they both compare in Wiinipeg winter at start up. Both at cold temps. Then both at operating temps. I am sure I can compare vegetable oil properties to motor oil properties in some way where they are alike but doesn’t mean it’ll protect the same. A car’s operating temp does not increase or decrease based on weather unless you have cooling issues
Last edited:
I'm struggling to comprehend the point you're trying to make in this thread? Are you attempting to say that thinner oils "protect" better than thicker ones? The only time that is true is when the winter rating is so inappropriate for the starting conditions that the oil cannot be pumped. But other than that a thicker oil will always protect better.
And the winter rating can be quite independent of the operational viscosity. A 40-grade oil with a 0W rating will pump at any temperature that an engine should be started without assistance.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
You'd never run 20w-50 in Winnipeg in the winter, the winter rating isn't appropriate for the climate (that number in front of the W).
You appear to want to be ridiculous and are hence missing the point.
Engines are broadly tolerant of a huge range of viscosities because ambient temperature has a far larger impact on viscosity than the grade on the bottle. This is why vehicle manuals used to have a chart that showed what grades were appropriate for what temperature.
An engine operating from November through March in Winnipeg on 0w-20 versus the same engine from April through October in Dallas on 20w-50, the actual operating viscosity may be higher in Winnipeg, depending on whether the engine has a coolant/oil heat exchanger or not and the average distances of the trips taken.
This is not advocacy to run a heavier oil then spec, simply trying to get one to understand that viscosity is not static and the grade on the bottle is only one part of the bigger picture.
Thread ask do thinner oils damage engines. The point I am making is no if the engine is spec’d for it. And a thicker oil will not ALWAYS protect better.
Other than the scenario I posted above, when will it not?
You’re not making sense Edd...d! Re-read what these fellers are telling you with a critical mind and you’ll see the light. BTW, Pat’s video been savaged here before.
It is a 2018 JL Wrangler with the PUG. It has an oil temp sensor and an oil cooler. Mine has no trouble getting up to operating temp on the coldest of days.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Yeah, it won't with the oil cooler, they are a fantastic asset in getting the oil up to temp nice and quickly, which also helps with fuel economy
The oil temperature absolutely varies depending on weather. Even with a thermostat-controlled oil cooler.
Absolutely.
As well as load on the engine.
I had an oil temp gauge on a car that I owned in Virginia, Colorado, and Vermont. In traffic in a Virginia summer, oil sump temps were 95-100C. In a Vermont winter, they never got over 80C, and took a very long time to get there. Climbing through a mountain pass in Colorado in the summer, under full boost, 110C was common and I would back off when it got to 115C.
There is a substantial change in viscosity going from 80C to 120C. That’s why it got 5w30 synthetic in Vermont winter, and 15w40 in the Colorado summer.
wait, I thought oil gets heavier as it heats up.
doesn't 5W30 mean 5 weight when it's cold and 30 weight when hot. Isn't 30 is higher than 5?
The W stands for winter, not weight.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
