0W oil is a waste

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0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.
 
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Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.


And surely you have scientific evidence to back this up. "All is good" is quite subjective and proves nothing. What is factual is that 0wxx oils are still way too thick at startup, despite being thinner, and are often times the same price as their 5wxx cousins and are just as easy to find. Unless you have a race engine, or one that gets worked like one and extreme shearing is an issue, 0w oils are all I'll ever use.
 
While you may be right, there's no harm in using a 0W weight oil.

Whatever makes people sleep better at night.

GM's new full sized DI truck/SUV engines call for 0W20 weight oil from the factory, so it seems more automakers are going as thin as possible with oil grades to get the best fuel economy out of their engines.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.


And surely you have scientific evidence to back this up. "All is good" is quite subjective and proves nothing. What is factual is that 0wxx oils are still way too thick at startup, despite being thinner, and are often times the same price as their 5wxx cousins and are just as easy to find. Unless you have a race engine, or one that gets worked like one and extreme shearing is an issue, 0w oils are all I'll ever use.



Same price? Let me know where you can find conventional 0W oil.
 
It isn't "a waste." The low 0W number can really only benefit, and has to do with cold flow, and not the oil itself.

Some specific 5W oils may flow better than some specific 0W oil. Type of oil and basestock (loosely described as "conventional" and "synthetic," and now "semi-synthetic" would come into play.)

I could use a 0W, 5W, 10W, 15W, or even 20W oil. So could we all. If you read here enough... even in South Florida on a hot summer day, a 0W will still flow better than a 5W. Relevant? Not per se. But optimal? You betcha.

No harm or shame in going 0W in my opinion. That may not yet be your truth, and that's fine.
 
Youre probably right... to a point. Look at the pumping values and you can see that a 5w- or even a 10w- likely flows for the conditons seen by most. Heck, in my BMW, they spec 20w- down to something like 3F.

But there are benefits, especially if you turn it on and go, as well as some fraction of fuel economy, etc. Some 0w- oils may actually be better in terms of other attributes too...

Nothing wrong with 0w- oils, even if you don't need them.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
And surely you have scientific evidence to back this up. "All is good" is quite subjective and proves nothing. What is factual is that 0wxx oils are still way too thick at startup, despite being thinner, and are often times the same price as their 5wxx cousins and are just as easy to find. Unless you have a race engine, or one that gets worked like one and extreme shearing is an issue, 0w oils are all I'll ever use.


"way too thick" is also subjective, and I'm assuming that you have scientific evidence to back up that "fact"...if you were to say that High VI oils are "less wrong" in viscosity, I'd back you, but "way too thick ???"

Fact is, that provided you aren't at the limits of pumping (see the Esso videos for examples of lubricants used beyond their cold temperature limits), at any sort of "normal" temperature, there will be little difference in the delivery of oil to teh remote ends of the lubrication system...how is that way too thick ?

To reinforce my point, M1 5W30 and 0W30 to all intents and purposes, the 5W has an ever o slight advantage at start-up...until the extremes of cold weather are in the equation, and pumps start air binding and the like.

Wouldn't go so far as saying that 0W is a waste, I would always prefer M1 0W40 than a 15W40...bu 15W is just "fine" for my climate.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Thanks man.


LOL!
crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: GM4LIFE
While you may be right, there's no harm in using a 0W weight oil.

Whatever makes people sleep better at night.

GM's new full sized DI truck/SUV engines call for 0W20 weight oil from the factory, so it seems more automakers are going as thin as possible with oil grades to get the best fuel economy out of their engines.
CAFE fuel mileage is the big deal.
 
I think most of the 0w spec from car manufacturer is to mandate the use of higher end base oil that makes the oil last 10k miles.

Also lower viscosity helps some hybrid stay in lean burn / Atkinson cycle more often, so that's a bonus for sure.

If your engine weren't design for it, it may not help over other synthetic oil, and that may be a "waste".
 
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.


If this were the answer to a question, (Depending on the question asked) it might have some merit. But as a blanket statement.......Not so much.
 
Originally Posted By: KevGuy
0W oils are are waste for most people, in particular the USA. I live in the northern Canada and I use 5W and all is good. The only people I can see benefiting from is people in the way way north of me such as the NWT......and they all use oil pan heaters, block heaters and battery blankets. Just stick with the 5W-whatever and all is good.

So, synthetic oil, which allows longer OCIs, cleaner engine, better cold-engine fuel economy, etc. and costs only a few bucks more is a waste?
 
What part of the synthetic oil allowing longer OCI's, cleaner engine, better cold-engine fuel economy, etc has anything to do with a 0w30 vs a 5w30. Synthetic come in 5w30, 10w30, 15w40, etc as much as any conventional. The OP didn't say anything about synthetics, just the winter rating. And I agree with him. I commonly use a 15w40 in cold with no problems. Even starting at -10F as a couple of nights ago in Minnesota. The engine that it is in has 337,000 miles on it and I have taken previous engines to 1.4 million without a major repair on a 15w40 conventional, running only the upper tier of the U.S., Ontario, and Quebec year round. Granted, I use synthetic blends now for a number of reasons as opposed to just a conventional as in the past, but a far cry from some 0w40 full synthetic deal, and I have no oil related problems.

The OP is spot on. A 5w30 will work just fine for what the majority of folks deal with for cold weather. And as the OP stated, those of us that have lived in nasty, serious cold like NWT or interior of Alaska, we used oil pan heaters, block heaters, battery warmers, etc, so oil flow was a non issue.
 
Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
What part of the synthetic oil allowing longer OCI's, cleaner engine, better cold-engine fuel economy, etc has anything to do with a 0w30 vs a 5w30. Synthetic come in 5w30, 10w30, 15w40, etc as much as any conventional. The OP didn't say anything about synthetics, just the winter rating.

If he's comparing 0W-20 synthetic to 5W-20 synthetic, how is it a waste of money then, as they are priced identical?

If he's comparing 0W-20 synthetic to 5W-20 conventional, as I said before, synthetics are premium oils offering longer OCIs, cleaner engines, better fuel economy, and more, and they are well worth the small premium for many people.

It's not to mention that you may void your warranty with 5W-20 if the engine specifies 0W-20.
 
Originally Posted By: DirtyMoe21
Texan here,

I love 0w-20, it truly does help me sleep better at night.


Yup.......A couple of slugs before I go to bed knock me right out. Plus.....It works as an alarm clock, have to get up early, since it is such an effective laxative.
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
At what temp does 0w-30 become thinner or much thinner than 5w-30?


Good question. I'm too lazy to find the answer. Anyone?
 
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