0W-20 vs 5W20 Warranty Question

[midnytwarrior]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and have been lurking for just a bit also. And I can say is that I really learned a lot here in this community. This will be my first post here in this great forum and I really looking forward on your great advise and expertise.

I'm currently working here in Saudi Arabia in an oil company with a chain of quick lubes. Recently one of our branches received a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe. The technician replaced the oil and filter and used 5W-20 synthetic oil.

After a couple of days, the customer came back and was asking for a refund, saying that he brought his Tahoe to the dealership due to a "ticking" sound after having the oil changed from our station. The dealership did not find anything wrong with his vehicle. He then mentioned that he just had it serviced. The "engineer" from the dealership asked for his invoice and saw that the oil used was 5W-20. The engineer told him that only 0W-20 oil is required for his vehicle and that using any other oil grade will damage the Tahoe's engine and may void his warranty.

Is this true? From what I had learned here is that, specially based on the climate that we have here in Saudi Arabia, the "20" would be the one "working"(what's the right term anyway?). And the difference between 5W and 0W would be small and most of the time, even during winter, the coldest we get can here (eastern part of Saudi Arabia) is 50F - would be of little use. I think it is correct to say that the 0W-20 recommendation for the vehicle is "mostly" for fuel economy due to regulations in USA, which of course we don't have here in Saudi Arabia. And based from a product data sheet file which I got from the internet from another oil company where they have a comparison of their products in different viscosity (0W-20 & 5W-20 included), the KV40 and KV100 differences between 0W-20 and 5W-20 is quite small (although I'm not entirely sure).

We contacted our engineers at the plant to shed light on the situation but they did not give a straight answer. In fact, they answered in a copy-paste manner about an article or note from API which I didn't quite understood(maybe due to lack of sleep or I'm a total newb). If needed I could paste it here also.

Looking forward on you great advise.

Thanks

 

[SatinSilver]

I think it has more to do with using cheap generic bulk oil that most quick lube places use than running 5w20. Put some quality oil in there that's 5w20 and there probably won't be any more ticking going on. Also quick lube places are notorious for putting 10w30 in everything. Also GM may have a an oil spec that needs to be met for that application(dexos1). If the engine is the 5.3, according to the owners manual it call for a dexos1 which is a syn-blend.

 

[demarpaint]

Welcome to Bitog! Interesting, in that heat and that part of the world I thought for sure they'd use a 30 grade.

 

[05LGTLtd]

At operating temp, the KV should be very comparable between 5w20 and 0w20. If it's ticking at operating temp, I doubt it's the oil. Of course that's assuming that the correct grade was filled. Mistakes happen.

I'd ask the Chevy tech where in the manual it says you should not operate you vehicle under -10*C, then they might have an argument. At some point the 0w20 is thicker than 5w20 of course.

 

[camrydriver111]

Some dealers put 5W30 in 0W20 vehicles. It shouldn't void warranty.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

You're basically right. Not much difference between a 0w-20 and a 5w-20 at normal operating temperature.

If you look at mobiloil.com recommendations for that vehicle, they say 0w-20 and 0w-30 are the only choices (of course dexos1). The only reason I can see for the recommendation to go against using 5w-20 is that it is actually thinner than 0w-20 at hot oil temperatures above 100 degrees celsius (where kv100 is measured and defined for the "20" number).

To illustrate:

Notice as the oil gets hotter above 100 degrees C, a 0w-20 will maintain a higher viscosity than a 5w-20 (since 0w-20 has a higher VI). The black line in the graph above would be 0w-20, and the point at which the two are equal would be at 100 deg C since thats how the "20" weight is defined. I agree with you the difference in very-hot kv would be small though.

Yet, maybe GM is worried about hydraulic operation of the variable valve timing and maybe the displacement-on-demand cylinder shutdown system getting too thin of an oil to work right. I know Ram trucks will actually give a warning light if oil pressure at a given RPM and temperature is too low (indicating low viscosity).

I seriously doubt if a 5w-20 would cause that ticking though.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
Some dealers put 5W30 in 0W20 vehicles. It shouldn't void warranty.
5w-30 is thicker, so the valvetrain hydraulics can handle that just fine. Its when an oil gets hotter than 212 deg F (100 deg C) that differences between a 5w-20 and 0w-20 may occur.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Note GM does allow a 0w-20 to be used in those engines that spec 5w-20, but not the other way around.

 

[05LGTLtd]

That shoud read the 0w20 will be thicker at a low temp than the temp your starting the 5w20 at in SA.

 

[lubricatosaurus]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I think it has more to do with using cheap generic bulk oil that most quick lube places use than running 5w20. Put some quality oil in there that's 5w20 and there probably won't be any more ticking going on. Also quick lube places are notorious for putting 10w30 in everything. Also GM may have a an oil spec that needs to be met for that application(dexos1). If the engine is the 5.3, according to the owners manual it call for a dexos1 which is a syn-blend.


dexos1 can also be a full-syn. Also, the issue is the oil getting too thin. Going to a 30 weight was never the issue here.

 

[Merkava_4]

You're gonna burn that Tahoe up with 0W-20 in Saudi Arabia, gee. . .

 

[CT8]

Not mostly CAFE but 100% CAFE.

 

[Merkava_4]

Why don't they try to lighten the behemoth up instead of running micro thin oil through it ?

Make the frame out of carbon fiber or something.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
You're basically right. Not much difference between a 0w-20 and a 5w-20 at normal operating temperature.

If you look at mobiloil.com recommendations for that vehicle, they say 0w-20 and 0w-30 are the only choices (of course dexos1). The only reason I can see for the recommendation to go against using 5w-20 is that it is actually thinner than 0w-20 at hot oil temperatures above 100 degrees celsius (where kv100 is measured and defined for the "20" number).


Notice as the oil gets hotter above 100 degrees C, a 0w-20 will maintain a higher viscosity than a 5w-20 (since 0w-20 has a higher VI). The black line in the graph above would be 0w-20, and the point at which the two are equal would be at 100 deg C since thats how the "20" weight is defined. I agree with you the difference in very-hot kv would be small though.

Yet, maybe GM is worried about hydraulic operation of the variable valve timing and maybe the displacement-on-demand cylinder shutdown system getting too thin of an oil to work right. I know Ram trucks will actually give a warning light if oil pressure at a given RPM and temperature is too low (indicating low viscosity).

I seriously doubt if a 5w-20 would cause that ticking though.


However HTHS is what keeps the things like bearings and rings lubricated, not KV, and the two will have similar HTHS (often the 5W20 will have a little more)...plus have a greater high shear viscosity at "normal" operating temperatures (e.g. Klondike 5W20 has a HTHS100 of 6.3 versus their 0W20 at 5.87)

 

[Rolla07]

Im very shocked they would recommend 0w20 in SA. Just use whats recommended to meet warranty requirements. Simple as that, but its not saying heavier would cause any issues, especially in SA.

 

[Merkava_4]

0W-20 is one step above SuperTech penetrating oil is what it is. . .

 

[dernp]

Perhaps you should pose this question to your legal team.

 

[buck91]

IMHO that dealership fed you a line of [censored] to avoid filing a warranty claim. Are they technically in the right by avoiding it based on your last oil change not meeting the GM specs, well maybe but you'd have to reference your specs as well as your warranty information and the laws over there.

Does that mean the 0w20 caused the tick. Well, not because its 0w20, although perhaps the oil is a noisier oil? I have noticed my truck ticks more or less with some oils than others... Also if its a start up tick consider the oil filter used.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I think it has more to do with using cheap generic bulk oil that most quick lube places use than running 5w20. Put some quality oil in there that's 5w20 and there probably won't be any more ticking going on. Also quick lube places are notorious for putting 10w30 in everything. Also GM may have a an oil spec that needs to be met for that application(dexos1). If the engine is the 5.3, according to the owners manual it call for a dexos1 which is a syn-blend.


OP: The technician replaced the oil and filter and used 5W-20 synthetic oil.

Sounds like he used a full synthetic oil. So that shouldn't be a problem.

OP, what specs did the oil have? API SN ? Dexos ?

I don't see any problem with a 5W-20 in your temperature.

 

[dlundblad]

Could the filter have caused this?

What filter did your tech use?

What did the dealer use?

x2 on being surprised they spec 0w20 in Saudi Arabia.