Wrong Oil in the TL
08-05-2010, 02:04 PM
#6
Team Owner
Leave it in and use it the next time too, you did your car a favor by using the 30wt. My TL has been on a diet of 5w-30 since it had 10,000 miles. It's at 94,000 now.
5w-20 won't hurt anything but the main reason it's used is because CAFE mandates it. There are penalties for not printing it on the oil fill cap and recommending it in the owner's manual. You could run a 15w-40 with no problems if you chose to and in fact many cars that specify 5w-20 over here specify a 40wt over in Europe where CAFE doesn't exist.
Even my Acura dealer uses 10w-30 in all TLs.
5w-20 won't hurt anything but the main reason it's used is because CAFE mandates it. There are penalties for not printing it on the oil fill cap and recommending it in the owner's manual. You could run a 15w-40 with no problems if you chose to and in fact many cars that specify 5w-20 over here specify a 40wt over in Europe where CAFE doesn't exist.
Even my Acura dealer uses 10w-30 in all TLs.
08-05-2010, 02:06 PM
#7
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: South Side of Chicago
Age: 39
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great,, thanks. I think it's just because I changed the oil and air filter but the car feels much more powerful? It's probably just in my head, or slightly better because I changed the oil.
Trending Topics
08-05-2010, 02:11 PM
#8
it's summer time and it's hot out so no it would not matter...now if it was like -40F outside it might........
08-05-2010, 04:16 PM
#9
Race Director
iTrader: (8)
08-05-2010, 08:18 PM
#11
Team Owner
5w-30 is good down to -30F. 10w-30 is good down to -20F.
Most people here will be fine with a 5w-30.
Where a 0w-20 or 5w-20 shines is for people that do mostly short trips or extreme cold temps where the oil never hits full operating temp. If you do a <5 minute trip to work and back everyday and drive it easy I would go with a 0w-20.
At 210F a 20wt is a 20wt. At 185F a 20wt is as thick as a 30wt at 210F. If you drive the car hard and oil temps hit 230+ which is completely possible you want a 30wt at least because it's already thinned to a 20wt.
This is ONE of the reasons I use a 20w-50 in my turbo car. I can easily get the oil to hit 300F.
All else being equal the 30wt will give more protection at full temp especially when driven hard. Flow at statup is the same with the 20 and 30wts, this does not become an issue until you're down in the -30s.
If you're like the rest of us that occasionally drive it hard and go on normal length trips go with the 5w-30.
Most people here will be fine with a 5w-30.
Where a 0w-20 or 5w-20 shines is for people that do mostly short trips or extreme cold temps where the oil never hits full operating temp. If you do a <5 minute trip to work and back everyday and drive it easy I would go with a 0w-20.
At 210F a 20wt is a 20wt. At 185F a 20wt is as thick as a 30wt at 210F. If you drive the car hard and oil temps hit 230+ which is completely possible you want a 30wt at least because it's already thinned to a 20wt.
This is ONE of the reasons I use a 20w-50 in my turbo car. I can easily get the oil to hit 300F.
All else being equal the 30wt will give more protection at full temp especially when driven hard. Flow at statup is the same with the 20 and 30wts, this does not become an issue until you're down in the -30s.
If you're like the rest of us that occasionally drive it hard and go on normal length trips go with the 5w-30.
Last edited by I hate cars; 08-05-2010 at 08:20 PM.
08-06-2010, 07:36 AM
#16
This is so funny that you brought this thread up. So we just traded in the wife's BMW and I had all this Mobil 1 5w-30 sitting around. My service light came up in the TL and I said, what am I going to do with all this oil? I said screw it and put it in my TL.
The interesting thing is that I have 99700 on the car. With the 5w-30, the car is SOOOOOOOOOOO smooth. I kid you not, I can't even tell at a stop sign if the car is ON or not. This has never happened since ~30k miles. You could always feel a slight vibration at idle. Maybe it's coincidence OR maybe it's in my head. BUT I tell you the car feels smoother and quieter than ever.
I think I'll use 5w-30 always from now on. Plus it's a great deal when Costco comes out with their $9 coupons on a case of 6!
The interesting thing is that I have 99700 on the car. With the 5w-30, the car is SOOOOOOOOOOO smooth. I kid you not, I can't even tell at a stop sign if the car is ON or not. This has never happened since ~30k miles. You could always feel a slight vibration at idle. Maybe it's coincidence OR maybe it's in my head. BUT I tell you the car feels smoother and quieter than ever.
I think I'll use 5w-30 always from now on. Plus it's a great deal when Costco comes out with their $9 coupons on a case of 6!
08-06-2010, 11:39 AM
#18
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
Glad I could help!
08-06-2010, 12:13 PM
#21
5-30 is approved- look in the owner manual
as IHC stated before, the change from the spec of 5-30 gen2, to 5-20 gen3 was for fooling the CAFE standards
and now those are revoked and new standards in place that measure per model- not average across fleet!
xxW-30 offers more protection for the smashing and spinning of many parts at many thousands of revs/times per MINUTE,,hour after hour
the xx W is the cold viscosity measured at 32F,,not a big factor in most summer locals
W= WINTER
as IHC stated before, the change from the spec of 5-30 gen2, to 5-20 gen3 was for fooling the CAFE standards
and now those are revoked and new standards in place that measure per model- not average across fleet!
xxW-30 offers more protection for the smashing and spinning of many parts at many thousands of revs/times per MINUTE,,hour after hour
the xx W is the cold viscosity measured at 32F,,not a big factor in most summer locals
W= WINTER
08-06-2010, 12:22 PM
#24
Team Owner
08-06-2010, 02:04 PM
#26
Team Owner
For example you have a 5w-30. It goes under the extreme stress and temp in a journal bearing or ring pack. It can temporarily shear to a 5w or 10w and then go back to it's normal 30wt viscosity when it gets out of the bearing. In a way it lets you down when you need it the most.
One of the most important specs of an oil especially for high performance use or wear is the HTHS. This describes how it will hold it's viscosity under stress and higher is better. Redline's 5w-20 has a higher HTHS than most 30wts and some 40wts. But take a look at their 0w-20, the HTHS is not all that great. The higher spread might have required some VIIs making the HTHS lower.
So in Redline's case, the 10w-30 really has no use (my opinion) when the 5w-30 will flow better when cold and protect just as well when hot. I believe the 10w-30 is just a hair thicker when hot. In other brands that use a lesser base oil more VIIs have to be used to get the multi-weight designation. In this case a 10w30 would have less VIIs than a 5w-30.
What you get with a lot of these oils like the 5w-30 is the flow of a 30wt and the protection of a good 40wt. It's the best of all worlds with the only downside being price.
It's interesting the way the advertising is done. Most of their street oils do not contain VIIs. The farther the spread like 5w-50, the more chance there is of it having VIIs.
They market the racing oils as straight weight but the street oils as multi weights. I can understand though as they would lose a ton of business advertising a straight weight street oil.
Last edited by I hate cars; 08-06-2010 at 02:07 PM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
IBankMouse
1G TSX (2004-2008)
8
06-13-2020 12:53 PM
acuratl26
2G TL (1999-2003)
24
04-23-2020 07:30 PM
