5w-20 in 100 degree heat? Will it protect?

[j_mac]

I'm running fresh Quaker State Ultimate Durability 5w-20 full synthetic in my 2012 Hyundai Accent. I went on a long trip with the AC on all the way and then tooled around downtown Cincinnati with everything up to maximum operating temp. It was nearly 100 degrees that day.
Do you guys think the 5w-20 is up to the task? I know it will stand the heat because its a synthetic, but could it thin down to the point that it could cause trouble with wear, or possibly affect the operation of the variable valve timing mechanism?
I would say that the oil temperature reached its zenith pretty much. I don't envision any conditions where I might push it higher. Unless it gets to 110 degrees and I take this same 150 mile trip.

 

[david_ES2]

Wouldnt second guess it all, i drive around a 2010 ford ranger 2.3 around all day for work that uses and has dino 5w20 in it and gets driven to rev limit all day long in 100+ degrees in fresno california weather with a/c on

 

[tommygunn]

If it was designed for it, its fine for it.

Heck I have a 1997 Stratus with a 2.4L; in 2005 or so Chrysler started suggesting 5W-20 for vehicles with the same engine. They never back-spec'd old engines. I found BITOG, did my research, and despite people saying "its old, go thicker" I went thinner and haven't had a single issue.

Ironically finding 5W-20 is easier when its on sale. Everyone gets the 5W-30 the instant when the store opens x.o

 

[Shannow]

Ford engineers did lots of testing to prove that it's fine in your Honda.

 

[Hounds]

Hyundai.

 

[Zaedock]

I just towed my Jeep around last weekend in the heat with my 5.0L F150. Wasn't worried one bit.

 

[scurvy]

The thermostatically-controlled engine block at 190°F doesn't much care that it's 100°F outside. Or 0°F for that matter. It generates its own heat and is equipped with cooling passages, a specific coolant mixture, a thermostat, a radiator and thermoswitched auxiliary fans specifically tested & designed to keep it around 190°F ALL THE TIME. Not to mention it has bearing clearances that were designed for 20 weight oil at 190°F. Unless the truck is overheating or underheating, the oil is fine.

This "XwYZ can't protect in my [hot | cold | humid | pudding] ambient temps!" idea needs to go the way of the dodo.

 

[Zaedock]

A vehicle will typically see cooler oil temps in winter than summer, despite the cooling system being 190*. The coolant temp can also remain constant with elevated oil temps as well. Tracking or racing would be a good example. I would rather race on a 75* day than a 95 or 100* day, but for the most part, vehicles spec'd to run 20wts in all climates are well engineered "packages" that keep the oil near optimal temp.


Just to clarify, the bearing clearances were not "designed" to run 20wt. Modern mass produced vehicles can accommodate a range of oil viscosity depending on the market.

 

[bourne]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
The thermostatically-controlled engine block at 190°F doesn't much care that it's 100°F outside. Or 0°F for that matter. It generates its own heat and is equipped with cooling passages, a specific coolant mixture, a thermostat, a radiator and thermoswitched auxiliary fans specifically tested & designed to keep it around 190°F ALL THE TIME. . Unless the truck is overheating or underheating, the oil is fine.

This "XwYZ can't protect in my [hot | cold | humid | pudding] ambient temps!" idea needs to go the way of the dodo.



This!!!!!!

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
The thermostatically-controlled engine block at 190°F doesn't much care that it's 100°F outside. Or 0°F for that matter. It generates its own heat and is equipped with cooling passages, a specific coolant mixture, a thermostat, a radiator and thermoswitched auxiliary fans specifically tested & designed to keep it around 190°F ALL THE TIME. Not to mention it has bearing clearances that were designed for 20 weight oil at 190°F. Unless the truck is overheating or underheating, the oil is fine.

This "XwYZ can't protect in my [hot | cold | humid | pudding] ambient temps!" idea needs to go the way of the dodo.


This is exactly my experience with a turbocharged Volvo that had an oil temp gauge on which I put over 100,000 miles in climates/conditions from Virginia Summer, to Colorado Mountains, to Vermont Winter... It ran at 80 - 85 C (after warm-up, which was much slower than the coolant) year round. It would exceed 85 C only when I was running it hard, e.g. full-throttle/high boost driving. The high engine load = high heat via turbocharger, even though the turbo was water-cooled. A turbocharger can get extremely hot during high-boost operation, and affects oil temp more than a normally aspirated engine, case in point was my Mom's Audi 4000, also with an oil temp gauge. So, oil temps were relatively unaffected by ambient temp, but oil temps were affected by engine load.

Your question then, should be "will 5W-20 work if I drive hard?" ... and the answer, from extensive OEM testing and specification, is "Of course it will."

 

[Vikas]

Last oil change on 2000 Maxima got sticker of 5W20; I was thinking of going back to the shop and asking if the sticker was wrong or they really put 5W20. The spec is for 5W30.

Should I not be worried? The car has 178K miles and no oil needs to be added between OCI. I would like to keep it that way.

 

[INDYMAC]

I've been wondering about using 0W-20, 5W-20, or 5W-30 in my 2012 Toyota 4Runner 1GR-FE here in Texas. Toyota recommends 0W-20 for better fuel economy and colder start capability, neither of which concerns me much. But they do suggest using a higher than 20 grade oil for extreme load conditions or high speed driving. Well, all we have here is high speed driving. Heck, even the two lane highways are 70MPH. And most of the interstates are 75MPH-85MPH now. I'm leaning towards a 5W-30 after a couple of wear in OCI's using 5W-20.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: INDYMAC
I've been wondering about using 0W-20, 5W-20, or 5W-30 in my 2012 Toyota 4Runner 1GR-FE here in Texas. Toyota recommends 0W-20 for better fuel economy and colder start capability, neither of which concerns me much. But they do suggest using a higher than 20 grade oil for extreme load conditions or high speed driving. Well, all we have here is high speed driving. Heck, even the two lane highways are 70MPH. And most of the interstates are 75MPH-85MPH now. I'm leaning towards a 5W-30 after a couple of wear in OCI's using 5W-20.



If they actually recommend using a higher grade for those conditions, then I would. Especially for where you are. If they didnt suggest that, then I`d have no concern. Heck when I was stationed at Ft.Polk Louisiana in the early 80`s, I had a 1981 Ford Escort, 1983 Olds Cutlass Supreme, and finally a 1986 Mercury Lynx. And ran 10W-40 in all three of them. Never had any trouble what so ever. I know the Lynx called for 5W-30, I dont remember what the other two called for. Of course this was waaaaaay before bitog.

 

[MBS500]

My personal opinion: automakers pushing more and more 20 weight grade oils to meet new mpg requirements and be competitive with other higher mpg autos, not to give you "best" protection.
Sure it's not true for all of the cars, but some just seem to catch up on mpg.
I always look up oil recommendations for same car and engine in US,then Europe, then Japan for example, and if other 2 state using heavier oil, then...

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: scurvy
The thermostatically-controlled engine block at 190°F doesn't much care that it's 100°F outside. Or 0°F for that matter. It generates its own heat and is equipped with cooling passages, a specific coolant mixture, a thermostat, a radiator and thermoswitched auxiliary fans specifically tested & designed to keep it around 190°F ALL THE TIME. Not to mention it has bearing clearances that were designed for 20 weight oil at 190°F. Unless the truck is overheating or underheating, the oil is fine.

This "XwYZ can't protect in my [hot | cold | humid | pudding] ambient temps!" idea needs to go the way of the dodo.


+1 to that!

Also: quote this to those noob on here who constantly coming on board trying to deviate from their factory spec'ed oil grade, citing that they are living somewhere out there in florida.

(*how hot can florida be?? besides: ambient temp has almost no bearing to oil temp inside a liquid cooled engine to begin with*)

Q.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
A vehicle will typically see cooler oil temps in winter than summer, despite the cooling system being 190*. The coolant temp can also remain constant with elevated oil temps as well. Tracking or racing would be a good example.

While I don't disagree with your statement, the OP didn't mention tracking or racing. In fact he seems to be talking about some city driving and long distance cruising, neither of which is stressful on a modern vehicle.

Some cars, like my Golf, have an oil-to-coolant heat exchanger to greatly mitigate the effect of oil heat soak. I would expect most turbocharged vehicles to have one or any car that sees regular track time.

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Just to clarify, the bearing clearances were not "designed" to run 20wt. Modern mass produced vehicles can accommodate a range of oil viscosity depending on the market.


This is just a semantics exercise, but yes.

Modern engines are designed to run the oils specified by the manufacturer. Our new Mazda 5 'requires' 0w20 in the US & Canada but 0w20, 5w20 & 5w30 are acceptable in Mexico. These are still very close in viscosity (especially since many 5w30s shear down to a 5w20 fairly quickly) and may be more of a reflection on what is most easily available in the local market, not that the driving conditions there require a different viscosity.

The oils don't know that you've crossed the border and in my experience they don't care what the weather is like. 99% of all cars can use what's listed in the manual and will live long, happy lives. High speed driving, tracking & towing are all special cases, of course.

 

[hattaresguy]

Nope I doubt Hyundai ever thought that one of their cars would run in 100 degree temps with the AC on. Way beyond design parameters.

 

[Jeff_in_VABch]

Will any modern engine specd for 20W run fine at the highest temperature extremes the engine will ever face, sure.

Will that engine face greater wear than if it were run on 30W in the same extreme high temp situation, almost certainly.

However, hopefully the operating time in extreme high temps will not be all that significant, and the increased wear wont be either.

 

[Jeff_in_VABch]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Nope I doubt Hyundai ever thought that one of their cars would run in 100 degree temps with the AC on. Way beyond design parameters.

Actually, we have no idea what the design specifications are or what prototype testing was done.

The thing the mfgs know is that the high temps will likely not cause a catastrophic mechanical engine failure within the warranty period. They are concerned with plastic/soft parts that can fail or cause fire or safety issues.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: MBS500
My personal opinion: automakers pushing more and more 20 weight grade oils to meet new mpg requirements and be competitive with other higher mpg autos, not to give you "best" protection.
Sure it's not true for all of the cars, but some just seem to catch up on mpg.
I always look up oil recommendations for same car and engine in US,then Europe, then Japan for example, and if other 2 state using heavier oil, then...


I agree. Looking at the same Toyota engine in Camrys, at a certain point Toyota, NOT changing the engine, went from a whole list of grades up to 20-50 for certain climates to 5-30 only in the US . No change in the bearing specs, I checked.