benefits of 20w50?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
224
Location
Indiana, PA
i have a 2000 chrysler sebring with about 90k on it, i have been using 10w30 since i'ved owned it.. what benefits come along with using 20w50? is it better for the engine or what i've heard of a lot of people using it..
 
You don't want 20w-50 in your Sebring. It is an oil of higher viscosity at all temperatures. In engines with large clearances due to design/assembly, or severe bearing and oil pump wear, a thick oil can improve oil pressure and reduce noise. However, thicker oil requires more energy to pump and results in more drag on moving parts than thinner oil. In your car you would likely experience a reduction in fuel economy and slower response than the 10w-30. In my Integra which had 260k miles and was burning some oil I switched from Mobil 1 10w-30 to 15w-50, and the loss of power was dramatic, enough so that if I hadn't sold the car I would have put up with the quart per 500 miles consumption in exchange for the power.

Will it kill your engine? No. Maybe if used in below 5f to 10f temps.
Is there ever a good reason to use it? Sometimes (some will disagree.)
Should you use it in your car? That's up to you, but I wouldn't do it.
 
20w50 is best left for older german cars and lawn mowers. 90K on your seabring is nothing to worry about. Keeping up a regular oil change interval with a decent 5w30 or 10w30 is the best thing you can do for it. I believe the recommended oil for your car would be 5w30 however not the 10w30 you are using.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Jonny Z:
No. I've heard a lot of people also smoke cigarettes.

offtopic.gif


But interestingly 3x the population in Japan smoke cigarettes and they live longer then we do!

I think McDonalds is doing us more harm than RJReynolds. We should have a "fast food sin tax".
patriot.gif
 
Unless you are experiencing low oil pressure, stay with the 10w30. I would go with a robust 10w30 like high mileage. If pressure is somewhat low you could run a 10w40, but if you need 20w50 the engine is probably in pretty bad shape.
 
Jay if you owned it since new, keep running the 30W, 5W or 10W. This thing burning oil, or something? Sludge under the oil cap? Jeez, 90K is nothing assuming of course, good practices were followed. Run a 5W20 with a 1.5 oz. dose of VSOT, and you should be spot-on! 90K is just getting warmed up though, you're almost broken in, should be no need for 20W50!
offtopic.gif
offtopic.gif



The Japanese (and pretty much the entire Asian continent) eat a lot of fish, veggies and rice. The average Asian finds all of our fare here too heavy with meats, fats, and sugar. They do smoke like chimneys, and with the diet, you rarely see overweight Asian folks other than Sumos. Fat will kill you quicker.

Fat slows you down throughout your life..The smokes merely keep a 65 year old from reaching 75, 85, and beyond). Ya can't live forever, right?
 
quote:

i have a 2000 chrysler sebring with about 90k on it, i have been using 10w30 since i'ved owned it.. what benefits come along with using 20w50? is it better for the engine or what i've heard of a lot of people using it..

nono.gif

nono.gif


I run Mobil 1 5W-20 in my Gen4 Taurus and it loves it.

You may want to consider Redline 5W-20. It's generally considered a thicker oil. Based on it's HTHS rating, some might even say it's a thin 5W-30.
 
I tried 20w50 in my 88 Town Car awhile back when i had it.It sounded like a really broken washing machine till it got warmed up.Went back to 10w30 and all was well on 10w30 till i sold it at 200k miles.
 
Well I used M1 15W-50 in my '95 Saab 900 NA and I had noticed absolutelly no difference in power once the engine reaches its normal temperature then the difference between VIS of say ~11 for W30 and ~18 for W50 should not be detectable. Granted during first few minutes after start up you will hear the difference especially with dinos but later I think not.
I also used it once in my papa's Altima with the 2.5 litre 4cyl. engine rum much quieter but start up was a bit harder, had to crank it just a bit longer but again no sluggishness and quiet running.
P.S.
The difference in viscosity between 15W-40 HDEOs
and 20W-50 PCMOs is only 2-3 centistokes plus 20W/50s are likely to shear a bit more than 15W-40s so a thousand miles or so into OCI you might end up with the same vicosity oleum in your crank case yet HDEO are being praised (I know mostly for their robust addpack and stability). I think in hot climates and for short periods of time i.e. dot live it in untill cold morning are gonna make it hard to start 20W-50 might give you the protection you need.
Now the thin oil crowd will take care of me
itschy.gif
 
Hows about mixing a couple of quarts of 10W-30 and a couple of quarts of 15W-40, i.e., Chevron Supreme & Delo vs. going to the 20W-50?

I use this 50/50 mix in my '73 450SE with no problems, oil pressure is good, etc.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Dominik:
A lot of engines will run a bit quieter on say one type of 10W-30 oil a opposed to onother 10W-30 this fact is well documented here on this forum...

The only FACT that's well documented here is that SOME people perceive a difference, NOT that it is actually quieter. Further, it has yet to be established that this perceived difference in any way effects the wear in an engine.

[ May 20, 2006, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: 427Z06 ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by jayno20:
i have a 2000 chrysler sebring with about 90k on it...

If you have the 2.7 V6, you want a more robust oil, not a thicker oil as the oil passages in this engine are on the small side. A more robust oil is one with better base stocks and additives.
 
I use up my M1 15W-50 stock by mixing it with Havoline 10W-30 dino I figure high moly content of Havoline plus higher viscosity and PAO content of M1 seem like a good combination
 
i have the 2.5 v6, i usually run high milage valvoline 10w-30 in it.. so i'll probably stick with that unless there is something better i should use?
 
Few weeks ago I was browsing the oil section at Advance Auto Parts (wish we had them here) I seen that the 10W-30 is SM GF-4 rated and their 10W-40 was even A3 rated. But some stores may still have the previous stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top