I used Mobile 1 fully synthetic 5w-30 instead of 5w-20. Did I fuck up???

 

no you didn't. i'm pretty sure a few guys here use 5-30. it's just a different viscosity

 

No you should be fine... that's what i run for the extra protection

 

No. However, it would be up to you if you either wanted to wait to change it in the next oil change interval, or you could change it now. If I were you, I would do it now just for the peace of mind. Others might disagree.

 

I run 5w-30 all day, everday.

 

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.

 

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.

 

it's summer time and it's hot out so no it would not matter...now if it was like -40F outside it might........

 

+1

 

wat about when the weather gets colder?

 

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.

 

I'm using 5-40 and no issues

 

No worries at all, Ive been running 10-30 ever since I got the car.

 

 

You will be just fine. Drive with peace and dont worry. I had 5-30 on my wife's TL since it was 29K..its now at 72K and smooth as butter

 

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!

 

5-30 for 20k miles, runs like a beast.

 

Glad I could help!

 

You're fine, OP.

 

Did anyone mention that 5w-30 is okay?

 

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

 

IHC, what would be the best weight for Houston weather/heat.

 

Thechamp, he explained it in the post above us.
I use a 5w-30. because the temps hit extremely high levels.

 

Short answer is a high quality 5w-30 or if going with a cheaper oil 10w-30.

 

Yeah was just making sure, I usually only go 5W-30 anyways.

Different brand of oils have higher heat capabilities? Such as Redline?

 

Yep. Redline has the highest out of any street oils that I'm aware of (could be wrong though). Both the 10w-30 and 5w-30 are actually straight 30s with no viscosity index improvers. VIIs are what cause the oil to shear down under high temp/high sheer (HTHS). Making an oil with no VIIs will make it protect like one whole grade thicker. With it's excellent ester base oil, Redline can qualify as a 5w or 10w 30 due to the natrually high viscosity index.

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.

 

You are perfectly fine. No worries.