10w30 oil
 

I put in mobil 1 10w30 yesterday. Mainly cause I'm driving a long distance & going to be driving in cold weather. I know the book says 5w20.
Anyway, my car runs better. It's smoother, & the little valve chatter I had is gone.
The car is clean so I have no worries about any damage or anything of that sort. I was planing to go back to 5w20 when I got back from my trip, but if the car runs better, why?
I guess mainly for better gas milage?
Why exactly does it say it needs 5w20? The owners manual makes it sound like the engine will explode if that's not what's used.
10w30 has been a standard grade of oil for years & years. Only recently I have seen new cars shy away from it.

I asked someone about it before and really, there shouldn't really be a huge difference. In theory, the lower viscosity will help because the engine parts will not have to work as hard when the car is cold. I don't really see it being a big issue for you FL guys. But I could be wrong.

I always thought the 5w20 was better for colder weather since it is a lighter weight oil than 10w30?

i've used 10w30 since 1200 mi. and i now have ~103,000 mi. no problems for me.

This has been covered here many times before. Do a search. The 5W-20 is recomended for Acura's fuel economy numbers only. Ford, among others, changed their recomended oil at the same time for the same reason.

BINGO

Its also for faster flow during cold start-up. All things being equal, a 5w20 oil will flow faster than a 10w30 at cold temperatures. Faster oil flow may equal less start-up wear, which is where much of the wear occurs.

Of course your engine is quieter with 10w30. Thicker oil does help with NVH. ;)

It's true that thicker oil will flow much better at low temperatures but to me it doesn't make much sense for someone in Florida or Texas to be using the same viscosity of motor oil in the middle of the summer as someone in Alaska would use in the middle of winter.

Back in the old days owner's manuals would specify different viscosities for different ambient temperatures. I suspect that the recommendation of a single viscosity was made for the sake of simplicity as well as for fuel economy. Using 10-30 may decrease power and fuel mileage slightly, but it will probably reduce wear and extend the longevity of your engine. If you live in a warm climate I don't think it will do much harm.

Do you mean thinner. High viscosity will be tougher to flow when cold.

:agree: :nod:

5w20 will flow better than 5w30, period, whether it's at 0F or 32F. The better flow will allow for more rapid flow upon engine start-up, which will reduce engine wear. A lot of engine wear occurs during engine start-up.

Possibly, 5w30 (or a thicker oil) would reduce engine wear under certain conditions which would necessitate the need for a thicker oil (such as racing), but otherwise, any wear differences should be minimal (if at all).

:doh: Anyway, if you live in a place where it is 88 degrees F in the morning and over 100 F by midday, 10W-30 should do just fine.

i use 5w30 royal purple and i live in NY, im about to switch over to 5w30 motul

Have you noticed any difference in your gas mileage with 10w-30? How about acceleration?

I don't pay attention to gas millage. Sorry. Never have. I really don't care much.
Acceleration? I don't see any difference.