Since I live in Houston, Texas, the weather never dips below 30. What benefits are there to using 10W as opposed to 5W? I read somewhere 5W is supposed to give you better gas mileage. Is this true?

 

i remember talkin to a technician, correct me if im wrong, but the oil grade 5w(lighter), and 10w(heavier) means the weight of the oil, ive put in 0w yes 0w-30, but the technician said changing the weight of the oil can be damagin to the engine. i notice the hondas and acuras use 5w, the new hybrids use 0w, and toyota and lex use 10w,.....

 

Yes, the 5w-30 will yield you better gas milesgae than 10w-30. It is less thick, thus, will yield more power and become more efficient.

I have been using Mobil 1 synthetic 0w-30 ever since my first oil change.

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Im going to stick with the 5W, but theoretically does the 10W help protect better since its thicker?

 

In extreme heat condition, yes, it will provide extra protection. Just stick with 5w-30 and you'll be fine.

 

I have been using Pennzoil 5W-30 since I bought my TL.

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I SEARCHED through approximately a dozen threads to find one to add my question to - Thus avoiding an un-necessary previously posted thread topic as well as making good use of the "posts of olde".

Ok so here is my question:
I read through Bob is the Oil Guy's Motor Oil University. And I have a very vague (albeit better than before) understanding of engine oil.

But based on what I read, why is 5w30 recommended for the TL? According to his charts, 0w30 oil is thinner than 5w30 at 75°F yet maintains the same effectiveness at normal operating temp. And since the thinner the oil at startup, the better for the engine.

Why not use 0w30? (or why is it not recommended?)

 

Actually, you can use it. Acura recently said it was OK if you live in colder climates.

 

You CAN Use 0W-30 but since its really hard to get and actually a little more expensive than 5W and the only real advantage over it is EXTREME COLD Protection! Nothing More.. If you dont live in places where winter gets down 32° stick with 5W-30.

Ive been using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W-30 + K&N Filter since Ever no problems so far.

 

Can someone explain why changing the viscosity of the oil is bad? I've been using 10w-30, and I live in San Francisco where the weather rarely dips below 50 and above 70. Should I start using 5w-30 or stick with 10w-30?

 

In today's oil world 10W-30 is an obsolete grade of oil, there is no point in using it. Nearly all synthetic 5w-30 oils will outperform dino 10W-30s when it comes to heat. In fact because of the advantages of synthetic oil there are many synthetic 10w-30's that have cold pour points as good as 5w-30, so they can basically qualify as 5w-30.

remember 30 is the viscosity when the oil is hot, the 0w, 5w, 10w refers to the viscosity when the oil is cold. Thinner at start up is most desirable for quicker flow to critical engine parts.

but hey, what am I to say, these engines don't care what you put in them! Today's off the shelf API SN rated oil is so high quality you cant screw up no matter what you do, maybe unless you put in 20w-50

 

Id stick to 5w-30 or 5w-20. I use syn 5w-20, but put in what ever grade makes you sleep better at night your not going to hurt anything.

 

Is the only main advantage w synthetic is you can run it longer between changes?

 

I ended up buying 8 jugs of Castrol Edge 10W30 at really good price ($13/jug). I have run 5w20, 5w30 and 10w30 oils before and all performed well. I use 10w30 in summer seasons and 5w grades in winters for our cold climate. Mileage didn't change much. Only difference I can see is that oil pressure light goes off almost instantaneously with 10W30 oil and engine seems to run quieter. I keep my OCI at 10,000km with OEM filter.

 

In your area it's not going to matter. The first part of the number (5w or 10w) isn't relevant in SF's climate. Get which ever one you want.

Also, follow your factory recommended oil change interval, 3K mile oil changes are an unecessary waste of money and natural resources.

<--- Auto parts manager

 

I use 5w20, whats on the oil cap lol

 

99-01 says 5w-30 on the cap.

 

the reason some years call for 5w-20 was to help with the CAFE fuel numbers

but the book says xyzW- 30 for most operating conditions
the W stands for Winter~ oil viscosity/abilty to flow- as measured at 32F
the 2nd number is measured at 220-240F

synth has several advantages over dino, temp, longevity and still working good, better for harsh weather, long drives, racers
but the engine will be fine on dino, or you can go back and forth,,it really doesnt matter.
the guys at blackstone labs- with access to all kinds of oil data- use dino in their cars.

Whats on sale in a 5qt jug is the right stuff!
keeping it changed is important
a seafoam treatment before oil change will restore oil pressure clear dirty passages and ports, remove sludge from vtec sliders etc

 

^^ All makes sense - Thanks guys.

Obviously at the time the car was built Acura probably only tested 5w and therefore made the the "recommendation". 0w seems tried and true no problems there, however I did not see it at my local Wally so it's obviously not as plentiful.

Thread can now go back into another 11 year coma?

 

No. There are many. Living in cold climates it offers superior cold start up protectionas it doesnt become as thick as dino, it also offers better protection as well. With you living in a cold climate i would recommend it just for that alone.

 

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

An interesting article from Australia for synthetic oil test comparisons. Royal Purple users will love this. Mobil 1 users may not. Not sure how old the article is, though.

 

Yea, that's the article that converted me to RP. Only scientifically based comparison, with minimal bias.

 

This is what I know:
5w is thinner than 10w when it is cold, but when engine get hot, both of them will be the same.

If car has 100k+ miles, it is okay to use 10w. I don't see any gas mileage improve when using 10w.

One important thing, when using 5w, I loose about half pint (half bottle) after about 5k miles. Since I changed to 10w last year, it doesn't loose any more oil. (178k miles now, drive 100 miles/day).

 

Awesome article!!

I've been on Royal Purp for the past year on my Accord, but just recently switched.. Good to know the premium price is justified!

I get the feeling that most consumer engines aren't going to stress oils to the point this machine does? Or maybe I'm wrong? I rly have no idea.

What I do know is that plenty of Honda vehicles have made it to 500,000 + miles on lesser oils so. meh.

 

I wouldn't base my motor oil choice on any one parameter, especially the falex/timken test in this article. Adding chlorine bleach or shampoo to the oil sample will make it perform really well in this test, but I'm not rushing out to put either in my car. Personally, I'd pick redline, amsoil, or mobil1 over royal purple if I wanted to put "the best" in my car, but I'm already overdoing it with cheap, generic synthetic. That is "synthetic" as defined by the federal government as opposed to what we once actually knew to be synthetic.