LaCostaRacer

I use a 5w30 mostly because this weight is more common- for example I can get 5w30 M1 at Costco and can't get 5w20 there- by the way there's a coupon for m1 now for $10 off a case of 6. Based on past discussions, Honda chose 5w20 over 5w30 for CAFE mileage requirements only- there is no improvement in engine protection and most likely there will be a slight decrease in protection using a 5w20 oil.

I think whatever oil you use you'll be good. I'm much more worried about other gotchas in my car when it gets old: Nav, Radio, Climate Control, etc. My hunch is those things will fail long before the engine- now the transmission is a different story all together. I would definitely go with a Type-F fluid in that and do.

Guiltyox

This is what I run, :-D.

Cheval

If I understand correctly, hot weather go for a higher one? Here in Oklahoma it tends to have a lot of cold (last year got to -28 here) as well as bloody hot (116 last July). Also, most trips are less than 10 miles. So since it's kind of split here probably go with Redline full synthetic 5W20 + Royal Purple filter 10-2867. Car is 4 years old with 18k on it. Like I said it isn't driven very much. Got the last oil change March 2011 and the only monitor is at 90%. lol

One question I have is even though the car isn't driven very much I've been sticking with what the manual says and getting one oil change per year (at the dealer ) regardless of mileage. Would the fully synthetic let me go a normal mileage regardless of years (within reason)? So say 7k miles before the next change and if that's in ~4 years then go with that?

Bearcat94

At cold temps 5W20 and 5W30 have the same viscosity - both 5W ("W" is for winter ?).

At operating temps the 5W20 will be more viscous than the 5W30; 20 is lighter weight than 30.

Acura clearly recommends 5W20 for pretty much all North American climates. There may be a few exceptions in the far north, but that's about it, I think.

That said, in general, both a 5W20 and a 5W30 should provide adequate protection, assuming it's a decent oil and you're using decent filter.

I hate cars

I think that's a great oil and filter combo. 5w-20 will still be a little thinner at startup than 5w-30 unless you start your car up at -35c every time. The 5w-30 will stay thicker at any given temp all the way to full operating temp. Either will work and when using Redline, their 5w-20 is nearly a 5w-30 anyway so it's a great choice.

Only at -25c does a 5w-20 and 5w-30 have the same viscosity. Above -25c the 5w-30 will be more viscous. So any normal starting temps, 5w-30 is thicker.

FWIW, at 10w has the same viscosity at -20c as a 5w has at -25c.

This explains why a 0w-40 is still thicker at normal starting temps than a 5w-30.

Acura has to recommend 5w-20 according to CAFE. Nothing internally changed when they made this recommendation and the engine won't die an instant death but the 5w-30 gives a higher safety margin.

Agreed. There aren't any "bad" oils made today. Very few bad filters.

You can look at a viscosity chart and compare to your climate and see which weights are acceptable. In my climate I would have no problem running a 15w-40 if I were still doing the amount of freeway driving I once did. I did run a straight 30 for a long time.

Acura's idea that a 5w-20 is ideal for every climate is retarded and it's just a dumbed down owner's manual due to CAFE "standards". The 5w-20 recommendation stamped on the oil fill cap is also a requirement. Printing it in the owner's manual is another requirement. I love how Toyota got around this by specifying in the owner's manual that under severe service a 30wt can be used and when you look at what qualifies as severe service, it pretty much covers all of us. In a very cold climate that 20wt at a 180F full temp is more like a 40 or 50wt. In a Vegas or Phoenix climate, with 230F oil temps, it's now a 10wt.

If you want to see something scary, heat even a 15w-40 up to 230F and see how watery it is.

I hate cars

I hope there aren't too many mistakes in the post above, it's past my bedtime lol.

ParaSurfer1979

Honda readjusted its recommended oil weights for all cars in/out of production. In that they now recommend using 0w-20 which Honda now carries and is full synthetic oil. This oil lasts a lot longer and also is supposed to yield additional mpg's. I'm switching to this my next oil change.

I hate cars

You're trading wear for an immeasurable increase in mpg. This is not a good tradeoff. We're talking under .2mpg in a best case scenario.

RAGINTYPE-S

I just read this entire thread and realized, I knew absolutely NOTHING about how oils work. Thanks everyone for all the knowledge...I will make my adjustment accordingly. Granted I wont take the next oil change for 25K, I will just follow my MID.

nfnsquared

Bottom line: With today's oils, if you follow the MID, you'll be perfectly safe to use whatever is on sale (and meets OEM specs). With the time interval that comes with the normal MID interval, it's plenty easy to find a sale on just about any brand/type of oil sometime during the interval.

BeezleTL85

I accidentally grabbed 10w-30 and noticed a few mpg loss overall. Car seems to run fine but 1500miles into it and I'm about to change it back to 5w-20.

I hate cars

The placebo effect is amazingly strong when it comes to oil. It would be hard to measure a difference going from a 0w-20 to a 20w-50. Even OEMs claim a .5mpg difference going from 5w-20 to 5w-30 and that's during cold weather short trip operation. Pumping losses due to oil viscosity are negligable in the grand scheme of things.

There's very little difference in a 5w-20 and a 10w-30 and they're practically the same viscosity when warm. I've gone from a 0w-20 to a straight 30 and saw absolutely no change in mpg. There is one guy on here running a 0w-40 with little to no change in mpg.

nfnsquared

I ran M1 0W40 for 10K miles and averaged about 1 mpg drop, maybe a little more (as compared to M1 5W20).

Cheval

Thanks for the info IHC. I'm still wondering if with this oil/filter combo (redline oil+purple filter) if I can then just go by the MID on the oil life and thus with the low # of miles I put on the car then I can maybe go 3-4 years without an oil change vs what the manual says getting the oil changed every year regardless of miles (unless that is Acura just spreading FUD?). Otherwise putting in $70 of oil/filter each years will get kind of pricey and may as well put in standard oil/filter for less than 1/2 the price...ya know?

Thus far I've just been getting an oil change each calender year with whatever stuff the Honda dealership puts in it.

rudboy00

So at the end of the day... am I better off using 5w-30 or 10w30 for Base 07 Acura TL?
Almost about to hit 70,000 Miles.... I use Royal Purple oil and filter. I live in Connecticut.

94eg!

5w30 I would say. It offers better cold performance than 10w.

BTW: Royal Purple oil is not known to be a very great synthetic. It's fine but doesn't last very long (not very good sheer strength). Be sure to change it at regular intervals. For the price, you may want to look into Redline Oil instead. I think Amazon has good shipped prices depending on the weight your looking to use.

av2600

iTrader: (1)

I use redline 5w-30 and a royal purple filter. Change according to MID.

Shoeface

After reading this, looks like I'll be getting some Redline 5w20 and a RP filter. I want my sh*t to last!

Thanks IHC

DMZ

Acura put 5W-20 as the recommended oil in order to get the overall average gas mileage for the entire Acura line up to a certain level. Some think 5W-30 gives better protection in the summer. Perhaps, but I stick with 5W-20 synthetic year round and am doing just fine after 123,000 miles having gone by the MID for change intervals.

I laugh when I see people on here wasting their money on things like Royal Purple products and K&N/Mobil1 filters. I use NAPA's own 5W-20 synthetic which is Valvoline SynPower with their name on it and NAPA's GOLD oil filter #1334 which is a WIX with their name on it. After trying all the filters, I find the WIX keeps the oil clean the longest. No need to spend $14 on an oil filter!

Royal Purple is the Starbucks of oil and filters, overrated and overpriced.
.
.

av2600

iTrader: (1)

Yeah... well that's just, like... your opinion man

DMZ

From my own 1st hand experimentation and observation having tried them all, I found the WIX filter keeps the oil cleaner longer than the K&N, Mobil1, and Royal Purple filters ... for about ½ the price. I didn't say those products are bad, but if you wanna keep overspending, that's certainly your choice. Hey, it's your car, your money.
.
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I hate cars

How do you know the wix filter keeps oil cleaner longer? Insolubles? Silicone? If you're going by color, that means almost nothing. Some additives in the oil darken from heat cycles alone.

The facts are out there for the rp filters. They were designed primarily as a long life filter but a look at the filtering beta ratio shows filtering to be better than anything out there.

beyond 1000

Mobil 1 5w20.

dschaos

I used 5w-30 Mobil1 full synthetic oil and filters in my built K20 motor in my civic because of the higher safety margin and i use it now in my TL. If you drive long distances or occasionally run your car hard why not have that safety margin. I will take the small marginal MPG loss to make sure that my engine stays safe.

True there aren't any "bad" oils made today, some are just made better than others.

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

Has anyone actually noted what their MPG loss/gain is between 5W20 and 5W30?

I hate cars

I've already stated theres no measurable difference. I went from a 5w-20 to a straight 30 or said another way, a 30w-30 and theres no difference. Its been explained why many times. Viscosity is not the only thing affecting mpg. An oil like Redline has lots of zddp and moly which greatly reduce friction and the better ring seal due to the better base oil also helps mpg. You're only focusing on cold operation pumping losses which is negligible to begin with.

nfnsquared

It's not even noticeable. You'd have to run it on a dyno to be able to tell, if even then.

94eg!

I went from a consistent 29mpg on my daily commute to a consistent 27mpg after switching from M1 5w20 to M1 0w30. That was the only change. I thought it might be winter gas related. But that's long gone now and 27mpg remains.

DMZ

I've ALWAYS used 5W-20 synthetic, still going strong after 125,000 miles, and I still get 29-30 MPG straight highway.

Acura put a 5W-20 recommendation in order to get the average gas mileage for the Acura line up to a certain level. That tells me 5W-20 provides the best mileage.
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tlorencz

iTrader: (1)

I buy the 5w - 20 at walmart in 5.5 quart jug. Less than $30 and have my mechanic change it. Why not go with the recommendations in your owner's manual especially if you are still under warranty? Now something you may want to do to save some $ is to burn mid range gas every other tank full. I mistakenly put in regular a couple times on near empty tank and noticed no difference over premium. Basically gas is all the same expect for octane numbers and additives (about a quart per tanker truck) as it basically all comes from the same refinery, etc.

I hate cars

Are you trolling or do you really believe any of that garbage?

94eg!

Cool Story Bro!

I accidentally put in 85 octane in my wife's pilot. I didn't realize the shit shell station in Tonopah sold lower octanes at each pump to reduce cost compared to the Chevron nearby. It was only half a tank too. After burning half of that mixed tank of 87/85, the Pilot began to missfire every morning when I started it up (CEL would come on and missfire codes popped up left & right). I thought I was going crazy as I had JUST replaced the timing belt. On a friends recommendations I filled the tank with fresh gasoline (Chevron 87). After that there was never another missfire code.

I realized this past trip through Tonopah that Shell station was selling 85/88/91 gasoline. I didn't fall for it a second time.

4drviper

whooooo thread revival

I put mobil 1 high mileage 10W40 for towing and at 60F, (they were out of 0W40) i don't feel the difference at startup at all (except a bit quieter running engine)

and highway mpg took maybe 1MPG, same routine trip to school and back home.

since we rarely see anything in 40Fs i think i'm gonna stick to 10W40 towing or not

hofiveo

TYPICAL PROPERTIES
SAE Grade 5W-30
Specific Gravity (ASTM D-1298) 0.86
Viscosity @ 40C, Cst (ASTM D-445) 58.00 -73.00
Viscosity @ 100C, Cst (ASTM D-445) 10.00 -12.00
Viscosity Index (ASTM D-2270) 160
High Temperature/High Shear Viscosity 302F/150C,
cP (ASTM D-4683)
3.2
Cold Cranking Viscosity (ASTM D-5293)
@-30C, cP 6,000
Mini Rotary Viscosity TP-1 @ -35, cP (ASTM D-4683) 19,500
Flash Point F/C (ASTM D-92) 445/229.44
Stable Pour Point F/C (FTM 7916 Method 203) <-41/<-42
Total Base Number (ASTM D-2896) 7. to 7.5
Sulfated Ash Content % wt (ASTM D-874) 0.84%
Shear Stability (ASTM D-3945 Procedure A)
% Viscosity Loss 5%
Copper Strip Corrosion Test (ASTM D-130) 1a
NOACK Volatility %Evaporation Loss (ASTM D-5800) 10.5%
Foam Test (ASTM D-892)
Sequence I 0/0
Sequence II 0/0
Sequence III 0/0
Sequence IV 0/0
High Temperature Foam Test (ASTM D6082 Option A) 0/0
MHT-4 TEOST (ASTM 6335)
Deposit Weight, mg 10
TEOST 33C ASTM D-6335)
Deposit Weight, mg 12.4
Engine Rusting Ball and Rust Test (ASTM D-6557)
Average Gray Value 133
Sequence IIIG
% Viscosity increase @ 40C
Average Cam & Lifter Wear, μm
130%
9.8
% Phosphorous (ASTM D-4951 0.076

I use this stuff Schaeffer Oil 9000 Full Synthetic 5w-30. I have 3 2000-2001 F350 CC Dualiies, 93 F150, a 93 and 91 mustang lx, and 04 TL. I buy my products in bulk from them and also use their moly ep oil additive in all vehicles. I like their prices and alot of their products and never had problems, use Wix filters for all.

Watcha think IHC

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

-20 is thicker oil than -30
30 will give better performance of course, much thinner gets in everywhere, better for engine
But if valves are not adjusted and you use 30 during summer, it might leak into the coils
For that not to happen either adjust the valves or use 20 during summer.

I always used 30
That's just from my experience and that's all I know

vp55

iTrader: (6)

Would 5w30 or 5w20 be better for a higher mileage car (around 70k)?

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

If we were talking about a Civic, 20 would be safer but since this is TL and you took care of it well, 30 would be fine.
Mine had a one drop of leak at the rear middle coil when I was at 102K
Used 30 until then.

Saw the oil drop while replacing the spark plugs (was in summer) one drop is still not a big deal
Was going to adjust the valves and TB service next week, so got it done and still continued using the 30
Now at 113K
I don't use synthetic. If you ask me keeping the oil inside for long is not good.

I hate cars

Whoa there. This is very, very wrong. A 30wt is thicker than a 20wt. Any weight oil gets anywhere it needs to be in an engine.

Valves being adjusted has nothing to do with oil leaks anywhere nor does oil weight, there is not connection whatsoever.

Again, oil leaks have nothing to do with the weight of the oil. Civic vs TL has nothing to do with the oil weight recommendation.

You can change a synthetic out at any interval you want, it does not have to be left in longer. I change mine every 5,000 roughly. Once in a while I'll do a 3,000 mile OCI, usually in the winter although right now with the very short daily drive, I usually hit the year mark before the 5,000 mile mark.

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

What makes the coil get oil in there then?

I hate cars

I think it's a good oil, many old school racers swear by it. I know a couple people running it with good results. I've never seen a moly additive that would stay in solution though. Too many times it ends up caked in the filter or the bottom of the pan. I could be wrong, I've never used their moly additive. The Mustang is a roller cam, right? Can't go wrong with WIX.