ericajackhannahjamie?

Hey people,
Need an opinion. Car is ready for the oil change, I am going synthetic with Mobil 1. There are 2 blends out there... 0w-20 and 5w-30. As you know, our TL takes 5w-20... so which is more suitable for our TL , the 0w-20 or 5w-30? RoadRage ?

please help

thanks

fast-tl

NOOOOOOOOO! Please search for "oil recommendations. Let's not start another thread about poly sulfides, detergent strength and upside down oil. PLEEEASE, take the 0w-20 and move on!

Ron A

Where you live 0W-20, where I live 5W-30.

For dyno oil, which I still use, RR said 10W-30 is fine for me also.

synoil

I use Amsoil 0W-30. Good startup pumpability and 30 wt synthetic protection.
Craig

Road Rage

Mobil tends to formulate very thin in all its grades, but it is fine. Personally, I do not see much advantage of it over the Motorcraft or Havolone 5w20's. I am not a fan of the Amsoil Series 2000 - nothing wrong with it, but it is way too pricey for what you get - and the UOA's have not shown it to sustain anywhere near 25K - plus the Amsoils are showing a thickening tendency which is puzzling. The XL-7500 is also a beat. if you want to go Amsoil, stick with their full-syn 5w30. The 0w20 should be OK for cold climates - Mobil may say it is OK, but Honda does not - does Mobil guarantee they will cover any oil-related failures rejected by Acura if a 0W20 is used? You will likely be able to get away with it, but I like to give all the options.

10w30 is the toughest 30W for summer use.

fast-tl: if someone chooses to respond to any thread, so be it - while I tend to not like to repeat myself or see the same thread subjects over and over same as you, I will almost always answer a direct question. OK?

fast-tl

The point was that this sort of questio has been asked and answered. It's nothing new to ask someone to perform a search.

bfogarty

I guess I misread the bottle of 0-20 Mobil One, I thought it said it met the Ford and Honda requirements and put it in my wife's Pilot. The only synthetic out there I see at 5-20 is the Castrol Syntec and there does not seem to be alot of support for Castrol in this forum.

Road Rage

By the lowered specificity of the term brought to you courtesy of the fiendly folks at Castrol* in its "victory" over Texaco in a lawsuit a few years back, Group III base stocks may be considered synthetic. So the regular Motorcraft 5w30 qualifies, as does Amsoil's XL series - problem is, the XL-series costs 4X as much as MC. The quality of the Motorcraft synblend 5w20 and Havoline's highly refined 5w20 makes a very good case for using them in lieu of any "full" synthetic, if you are locked into the 5w20 vis. I personally plan to use one or the other in my car. My first oil change at 3K was with MC 5w20 and a bottle of MLEP (1-time only).

*Castrol seems to thumb its nose at the North American market - it saves the best for Europe. US Syntec once contained a di-basic ester, and was a first-rate product - they then cheapened the formula trying to undersell the market, forcing Texaco to sue to try and maintain the integrity of Group IV synthetics - they lost, and cheapened the deal for everyone - note that the price did not substantially drop when everyone started selling GIII products - why should it, as the profitability is high, and few people have RR to give them the inside scoop that they can pay a fraction of what those big companies charge for the same product?

Read the lab tests of the 10w30 in the 3G Garage oil links I provided - you will see ample evidence where the pony has outrun the horse - where mineral oils outperform their synoil brethren. I keep saying this, but it is worth repeating - today's mineral oils are functionally better than the synoils of just 5 years ago!! The vast difference in performance between min and syn no longer exists. The best synoils still have an advantage at the exptremes: extreme heat, cold, or RPM.

I use an SH-rated synblend (LE 8130) in the S2000, as the performance of the product is second to none - their additive package is unique and results in tremendously low oxidation - and their additive pack seems to become effective at lower temps than synoils, as there is more and more evidence that synoil additive uptake is not all it should be. That is why LE blends about 30% GII mid-continent parafinnics, and 70% GIV PAO's. They could easily go to 90% PAO as the same price (about 4.75/quart) but have chosen not to for bona fide reasons.

Oswald Vater

I'm at the same point with mine. I just passed 5k and the oil life meter is at 20%. I had trouble finding 0-20 at the local Walmart so I went with 5-20 Castrol GTX. (As the car is leased, I don't want to spend the extra money for synthetic, but I do use Mobil 1 5-30 in my wife's mini).

Intox1221

RoadRage, my Acura dealer uses Quaker State. After a recent issue with them, I am planning to get my next Oil change from Honda, they use Pennzoil. Also they welcommed me to get my own oil. Which brand/grade do use or recommend for summer (Florida weather). My driving includes both Highway and city driving. Thanks.