What is the lowest temp you all would use 20w50

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That chart is a JOKE. It says 5W-30 cannot be used above 60 degrees F in a 8 cylinder engine!!! 5w-20 is ONLY for use in sub freezing weather!

DANG! Its gonna get up to 72 degrees today. Way too hot for my 5w-30 oil! Gotta drain it immeadiately!! LOL
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
That chart is a JOKE. It says 5W-30 cannot be used above 60 degrees F in a 8 cylinder engine!!! 5w-20 is ONLY for use in sub freezing weather!

DANG! Its gonna get up to 72 degrees today. Way too hot for my 5w-30 oil! Gotta drain it immeadiately!! LOL


It definitely depends on the engine. Here's the chart from the Nissan Z32 1989-1996 FSM and the sticker that is under the hood:

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.. is that it has to make a bunch of assumptions, such as "95% of all people will just rev it up and drive immediately" - the only safe assumption. Are you willing to be different?

Then of course, there are vast differences in motors - clearances, etc. What's appropos for a 1970s sports car at 70 deg is not so much for a 2015 economy car.

Finalyl, what oil? A great base stock will flow at -20 and protect at +300, but a crummy one may have half that range -- all at the same "claimed" viscosity. read the specs and see.
 
I know my Tundra, with 10W30 in the sump, cranked more slowly on an 11F start. Is that a fault of the battery (5+ years old? or undersized?) or just slow(er) cranking due to cold? Dunno. With easy access to 0W and 5W I just don't see a need to run 10W in winter.

IIRC with 0W in the sump I don't recall much slowing down of the start at even -10F.

Me, I have no use for 20W50 in my fleet, so I have no idea what I'd use 20W down to. Freezing? Maybe 20F, with a decent battery I guess. With the way today's engines are going, I'm not sure I'll ever need 20W50.
 
Originally Posted By: jayg
Originally Posted By: Shannow


Take much out of context ?

I was responding to the bemusement displayed by others that GM specced 20W50 for my L67, demonstrating that it's not a bad choice...not commenting on the OP's question of how cold's too cold for a 20W...which I addressed also in other parts.

As to your reply to zeng...do YOU refer to 20W50 as molasses or tar ?

His comments and mine were regarding those statements, and where they typically come from.

If you don't then again, you've taken it out of context.


I don't refer to 20w50 as tar and Ive used it in parts of this country that it makes sense for. It IS very tarlike in winter where I live. You live in Australia and Zeng in Malaysia. The temperature doesn't swing +/- 140F like it can in the United States. Partly why 5w30 is so popular here is because it can handle extreme cold and heat pretty darn well so that (and other CAFE requirement for energy conserving oils)have OEMs are speccing that . It makes it a no brainer for availability and the markets where 20w50 would be most popular would be the south and desert of the US. You know what else works fine there? 5w30. It's a grade that just makes more sense for the majority of climates and applications here.

Hmmmmm.... am I interpreting correctly that you aren't vocal about a 20W50 as molasses or tar?

Shannow, you got me right.
 
I know 20W-50 isn't for everybody and every climate. But given where Nissan101 lives and what he drives, it's a legitimate choice. A good modern mineral 20W-50 oil would be affordable and have decent Noack and shear stability. To me it's a better choice than some 15W-50 mineral oils I have seen.

If I needed a 50 or 60 grade oil and it was a real cold climate, I would have to pony up more coin and get a synthetic. However Nissan101 has the option of using a 20W-50 mineral in his application.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4210386/1

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
The SR20DET engine is NOT one of those engines to try and play the thin oil game on.

Back in my Japanese import days, I spent a lot of time in the shops of two different guys who built these engines. They will croak driven hard on a 30, and a 40 has to be a very good 40.

This engine should run a good 50, unless used only for commute/grocery shopping.

At 200k miles with a good 50, if you tear down the engine, you'll feel like putting everything back in it will look so good.
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Originally Posted By: SR5
FCD, put that HPR 30 on your bucket list for when you win lotto.

Where is Silk when you need him, he puts Penrite 40-70 in a few cars he services.

lol , if i win the lotto i will rebuild the whole car and the engine and just rebuild the engine with semi tight clearances so i can run a cheap 15w-40 HDEO
smile.gif



but that won't help, likely the limit is in the rigidity of the block and cranck. You need more clearance if you want to run high RPM, not less. Recipe to spin a bearing, that is...
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
That chart is a JOKE. It says 5W-30 cannot be used above 60 degrees F in a 8 cylinder engine!!! 5w-20 is ONLY for use in sub freezing weather!

DANG! Its gonna get up to 72 degrees today. Way too hot for my 5w-30 oil! Gotta drain it immeadiately!! LOL


It's very outdated. I have an old Quaker State lubrication guide that covered the period of 1987-1995 IIRC. It states that some older (early 1980's) cars didn't recommend 5W-30 "for sustained high speed driving". This was around the SF period I think..

P.S.: like the above Nissan manual, LOL.
 
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I wouldn't use 20W-50 at all in a Northeastern winter, when I did my (88' Mercury Tracer/323) car sometimes cranked hard. But it should be said that the latest generation of 20W-50's have much lower pour points and seem to crank better due to better base oils. If today's 5W-20's and 5W-30's are much better due to hydrocracked Group II/II+/III blends, one can say the same for the heavier oils...
 
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Originally Posted By: SR5
FCD, put that HPR 30 on your bucket list for when you win lotto.

Where is Silk when you need him, he puts Penrite 40-70 in a few cars he services.

lol , if i win the lotto i will rebuild the whole car and the engine and just rebuild the engine with semi tight clearances so i can run a cheap 15w-40 HDEO
smile.gif



but that won't help, likely the limit is in the rigidity of the block and cranck. You need more clearance if you want to run high RPM, not less. Recipe to spin a bearing, that is...

If i rebuilt it i wouldn't probably throw any performance bits in it, i'd keep it stock like it is now , i never rev it past 4750rpm, it has a lovely flat torque curve so you can just lug it around in 2nd or 3rd all day if you want to really.
 
An update on this - the dealership closed it's doors about 3 months ago...I did a 6 week stint at the motorcycle shop, but now I'm running a car department in the corner of the tractor shop down the road, looking after customers we need to keep. She obviously needed a service during that time, and was in today for a safety check. 2000km and it's down half a litre, they probably used a 15W-40, it won't be dry at 10,000km, but pretty close.

Originally Posted By: Silk
Just to prove it exists, and does get put in engines. A 2E Corolla engine, fouls plugs and will run out of oil between services...sorted. Probably just runs around town and never warms up, in a town that regually sees -3c in winter. Not worth repairing, not worth thowing away.

 
Do you realize that thicker oil may accelerate burning on a Toyota four-banger? My nephew had this issue with a Celica, the thicker the oil, the more it burned. The oil return holes get clogged and this causes much of the issue, and it needs to be cleaned out and new, additional return holes drilled...

Sometimes thicker oil CAUSES consumption!
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
How does the thicker oil clog the holes ?


It doesn't, the 4-cyl. design coupled with poor maintenance practices of extended drain intervals on conventional oil did...

Thicker oil increases consumption due to the flow restrictions, HKpolice posted a link to a Toyota forum and I guess it's a well known problem and thicker oil doesn't help...
 
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
it doesn't... the holes are already clogged, and thicker oil in that case evacuates slower.

The oil viscosity isn't the cause of the consumption, the clogging is. LOORS strikes again


Perhaps I phrased it poorly but generally the thicker the oil the worse it gets. My nephew used more Pennzoil HM 10W-40 than he did regular 5W-30 PYB...
 
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