should i raise up a grade in this climates summers

[ronp]

Hi, been enjoying these forums. Have followed for a couple years now and just recently joined.

Anyway, the speed limit around here is 75 on the highways which i spend hours driving on through the week at 80mph usually.

This is also one of the hottest parts of Texas. Texas is as a state average is the 2nd hottest state in summer and fourth throughout the remainder of the year. I also live about 3 hours sw of Houston which the 2nd most humid city in the US.
So I drive fast for long periods most days in a very hot humid environment in summertime.
My cars spec a 20 wt. Truck a 30. Could it be necessary to raise a weight in summer for my situation? Is a20 weight really protecting my engines well enough?

 

[hatt]

If you think the 20 is fine in the "winter" it should be fine in the summer. Driving 80 doesn't sound very stressful on most cars. I wouldn't run two different oils in South TX.

 

[barkingspider]

Can u use 5/10w30? Yes
Is it necessary? No

 

[Joel_MD]

Originally Posted By: ronp
This is also one of the hottest parts of Texas. Texas is as a state average is the 2nd hottest state in summer and fourth throughout the remainder of the year. I also live about 3 hours sw of Houston which the 2nd most humid city in the US.
So I drive fast for long periods most days in a very hot humid environment in summertime.
My cars spec a 20 wt. Truck a 30. Could it be necessary to raise a weight in summer for my situation? Is a20 weight really protecting my engines well enough?

You have a liquid cooled engine, right? It has a thermostat to regulate the engine temp once it's warmed up. The oil will be a little hotter than if it was cooler out, because the oil pan and filter have a cooling effect. The humidity doesn't mean anything to your engine. Stick to the oil viscosity recommended in your owner's manual. The manufacturer takes various climates into account when they make their recommendations.

 

[WANG]

I would be very surprised if there was more than a negligible difference in oil temperatures from season to season in that duty cycle. It would be interesting to know what, if any, difference there may be. I believe that if there was a need for higher vicisity in higher ambients, the owner's manual would call it out. What you're working with is probably as good as it gets.

 

[aquariuscsm]

What vehicles do you have?

 

[Pesca]

It is more dependant on how hard you drive your car and truck that the climate you drive in.

What is the rpms at 80 mph?
As long as you are not close to redline for a long time, there is no need to go thicker.

My 2 canadian cents.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Look around at a few global "lube matches" and see what they all recommend for your vehicles and compare them. Go on Shell's US and Australia's websites,as well as Mobil's and Castrol's and compare all the recommendations as per your climate.

You can also look in an FSM (factory service manual) for your cars as well. If you don't have one,they can usually be found online.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: ronp
Hi, been enjoying these forums. Have followed for a couple years now and just recently joined.

Anyway, the speed limit around here is 75 on the highways which i spend hours driving on through the week at 80mph usually.

This is also one of the hottest parts of Texas. Texas is as a state average is the 2nd hottest state in summer and fourth throughout the remainder of the year. I also live about 3 hours sw of Houston which the 2nd most humid city in the US.
So I drive fast for long periods most days in a very hot humid environment in summertime.
My cars spec a 20 wt. Truck a 30. Could it be necessary to raise a weight in summer for my situation? Is a20 weight really protecting my engines well enough?


Probably won't hurt anything, but this sounds like an excellent opportunity to do a test. Run this summer with one grade, next summer up a grade and compare the UOAs. Then there will be some actual information, rather than simple opinion.

 

[JHZR2]

I'd consider looking for a 5w-30 that meets acea a3 for a bit stouter viscosity in the same grade. That's about it, if I did anything...

 

[ronp]

Mu cars are a 94 Yukon an 08 fusion (2.3) and a little Mazda 2 with a 1.5 lol.takes a motor cycle filter lol.
Ive used both 30 and 20 but usually stay at 20 since it calls for it. Owners manual only says 20wght. I just got to wondering cuz i found that in some places like Singapore they use 30wght i think cuz of humidity or at least used to. And cuz its so darn hot
Thanks for your thoughts yall. I'll just keep putting 5w20 in the cars.

 

[Pontual]

For some cars (like 4 cylinders 2.0 liters or less, small sump) 75+ mph or 3,500+ rpms, for long time (1,5+ hours) is sustaned high speed. I wouldn't do it in a 20 weight oil.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Look around at a few global "lube matches" and see what they all recommend for your vehicles and compare them. Go on Shell's US and Australia's websites,as well as Mobil's and Castrol's and compare all the recommendations as per your climate.

You can also look in an FSM (factory service manual) for your cars as well. If you don't have one,they can usually be found online.
+1 Some "factory recomendations" are based of CAFE goals as well as (or in spite of) "long life". They don't want to see warranty claims due to lube failures... but they aren't THAT interested in their products going 250K either.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Look around at a few global "lube matches" and see what they all recommend for your vehicles and compare them. Go on Shell's US and Australia's websites,as well as Mobil's and Castrol's and compare all the recommendations as per your climate.

You can also look in an FSM (factory service manual) for your cars as well. If you don't have one,they can usually be found online.
+1 Some "factory recomendations" are based of CAFE goals as well as (or in spite of) "long life". They don't want to see warranty claims due to lube failures... but they aren't THAT interested in their products going 250K either.


Are you suggesting that engines that call for a 20 wt. oil may not make it to 250K because of the oil alone?

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'd consider looking for a 5w-30 that meets acea a3 for a bit stouter viscosity in the same grade. That's about it, if I did anything...
Mobil I 5w-30 is probably the best synthetic oil sold in the USA and availability is as close as the closets Walmart.

 

[WANG]

Originally Posted By: Pontual
For some cars (like 4 cylinders 2.0 liters or less, small sump) 75+ mph or 3,500+ rpms, for long time (1,5+ hours) is sustaned high speed. I wouldn't do it in a 20 weight oil.


The question in that case is: what are the oil temperatures at "sustained high speed?"

Most liquid cooled cars and bikes today have oil to liquid head exchangers that are going to control the lube oil temps to a fairly small operating range. Even if the engines are buzzing along at fairly high rpm, they still aren't generating that much horsepower/not under significant load and therefore not really creating that much heat. This is one of the reasons why there are active grill shutters on some late model cars and trucks.

I don't follow the CAFE conspiracy theory that our engines are being short changed on lube oil protection for the sake of CAFE. Modern engines will generally last HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of miles with only modest maintenance using this evil low vis oil. This is a significant service life. While there are some recommendations for higher vis in some countries compared to others, you will also find that many oil recommendations are the same from market to market.

 

[robo339]

Yes 0w20 or 5w20 is doing just fine no need to change anything you're just over thinking this

 

[Pontual]

Anh? liquid head exchangers ... what? Most cars don't have it. Look at average old subaru service manual ... easily found online 1996-2004.

And they have oil coolers and heat exchangers. 5w30 "not recommended for sustained high speed driving"

 

[Astro14]

The classic trap: high outside air temperature = high oil temperature.

In fact, that's not usually true.

I had an oil temp gauge on a Volvo Turbo years ago, wonderful bit of insight. Oil temperature rose slowly with engine operation, and stabilized about 10 minutes after coolant temp stabilized.

In the below zero winters of Colorado, it ran about 85C once the engine was fully warmed.

In the humid, hot summers of Virginia Beach, it ran about 85C once the engine was warmed.

However, using the turbo heavily in the mountains in the cold winter, oil temp would rise to 105C. Cold outside, but hot oil due to the heat generated inside the turbo that the oil was picking up...for that car, load mattered far more than air temp. Since your car isn't a turbo, I doubt you'll see much variation in oil temp once it stabilizes...

 

[HTSS_TR]

Most if not all vehicles are test at Death Valley in summer, if your local temperature is hotter than Death Valley then up 1 grade is okay.