20W Oil Concerns

[rraiderr]

I have been reading lot's of posts lately implying that 20W oil does not provide top notch protection.

My last 2 SUV's called for 20W oil, one was a Jeep with a Hemi which required it due to the MDS and the other a Toyota FJ which calls for 0W-20 specifically.

All the posts are staring to concern me. I am not sure if I should continue to run the 20W if I plan to keep the SUV for an extended period of time especially since I do cross country towing.

Is there any testing or scientific data showing the 20W oil the manufactures recommend is not adequate?

Also would a manufacture really recommend an oil that could cause engine damage knowing they would have to fix it under warranty? Would they not just list a range of weights to use and say 20W is preferred so they can meet CAFE requirements?

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: rraiderr


Is there any testing or scientific data showing the 20W oil the manufactures recommend is not adequate?

Also would a manufacture really recommend an oil that could cause engine damage knowing they would have to fix it under warranty?

Would they not just list a range of weights to use and say 20W is preferred so they can meet CAFE requirements?


No, no, and no.

 

[Rand]

 

[crazyoildude]

20 weight oil Concern?

In that hemi the concern could be real... We are an engine shop and when we rebuild a hemi that requires 5w20 in our warranty it says use 5w20 or your warranty will have problems..
Use what your owners manuel says to use!
forget the cafe talk forget all the bull you hear from your friends the people that built your engine knows what works best.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
20 weight oil Concern?

In that hemi the concern could be real... We are an engine shop and when we rebuild a hemi that requires 5w20 in our warranty it says use 5w20 or your warranty will have problems..
Use what your owners manuel says to use!
forget the cafe talk forget all the bull you hear from your friends the people that built your engine knows what works best.


+1

Also, please note that 20W is slightly misleading. Should read 5W-20 not 20W. That is a particularly heavy and gruesome grade of oil For 95% of cars (20W-50.) 5W20 is a good oil. You can use it as normal. It is essentialy the new 5w30. Not literally but very normal and accepted.

 

[dparm]

20w is not the same as Xw20.

 

[TallPaul]

You can run Redline 5w20, it will be far better than any other straight 20 and most likely is a straight 20 that also meets the multigrade specification. Has the HTHS viscosity of a 30 weight, and double the antiwear additive of typical off-the-shelf oils.

 

[rraiderr]

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to 5W-20 and 0W-20.

I am trying to worry about this and I am sure Toyota knows what oil should be run in their motors but why are there so many posts and people saying 0W-20 does not provide good protection?

I just seems odd so many are against the 0W-20.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: rraiderr
Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to 5W-20 and 0W-20.

I am trying to worry about this and I am sure Toyota knows what oil should be run in their motors but why are there so many posts and people saying 0W-20 does not provide good protection?

I just seems odd so many are against the 0W-20.


No one here is against the 0W-20. You must have misread the posts.

What many people say is 0W-20 is optimized for fuel efficiency.

 

[rraiderr]

[/quote]

No one here is against the 0W-20. You must have misread the posts.

What many people say is 0W-20 is optimized for fuel efficiency. [/quote]

Seems like people are saying this is at the expense of engine protection.

 

[tribocessive]

almost each and every 0W20 oil is synthetic; outstanding shear stability is a key benefit of synthetics; of course grandpa used 20W50 in his big block V8...

 

[Indydriver]

Like many, I have become a student of 0W-20 oils in the last couple of years because the last two vehicles we purchased came OE with this grade. Both vehicles have 270 HP V6's that would have been considered HO engines a few years ago. The 2011 Honda has an OLM that generally indicates an OC at 6-7,000 miles. The Toyota, which has no monitor, just flat out goes to 10,000 mile OCIs right out of the box. I am currently replacing FFs with OE branded oil of the specified grade and testing the first few oil changes because these kind of intervals are new ground for me. What I am learning from both my personal subjective evaluations as well as the UOAs is that these oils are holding up as expected by the manufacturers.

For someone like me who did his first oil change on his air cooled motorcycle in 1972 (everybody used Castrol 20W-50 then), the light oils and extended OCIs have been hard to accept so I've had to prove it to myself along the way. BITOG has been a big help in this regard. The facts are, these oils work as advertised, at least in typical street use.

 

[Hounds]

Originally Posted By: rraiderr
I have been reading lots of posts lately implying that [0W-20 weight] oil does not provide top notch protection. . . . All the posts are starting to concern me. I am not sure if I should continue to run [0W-20 weight oil] if I plan to keep the SUV for an extended period of time especially since I do cross country towing.


As others have suggested, your owner's manual probably addresses this. Toyota, for example, recommends a heavier weight oil for extremes of temperature or continuous high speed operation.

Quote:
Is there any testing or scientific data showing [0W-20 weight] oil that manufacturers recommend is not adequate?

No. The issue is not "adequacy." The posts you referred to have questioned -- and will no doubt continue to question -- whether 0W-20 motor oils provide optimum protection. That issue is not going to be resolved here. Your best course is to follow the recommendations in your owner's manual.

Quote:
Also would a manufacturer really recommend an oil that could cause engine damage knowing they would have to fix it under warranty?

Knowing that it could cause engine damage they would have to fix? No.

Quote:
Would [manufacturers] not just list a range of weights to use and say [that 0W-20 weight oil] is preferred so they can meet CAFE requirements?

The regulations implementing the CAFE requirements do not permit that.

 

[rraiderr]

As others have suggested, your owner's manual probably addresses this. Toyota, for example, recommends a heavier weight oil for extremes of temperature or continuous high speed operation.

Not for the 2012 Toyota FJ. The manual states 0W-20 with the only option being 5W-20 and it states the 5W-20 must be changed back to 0W-20 at next service.

 

[rraiderr]

Originally Posted By: Hounds



Quote:
Also would a manufacturer really recommend an oil that could cause engine damage knowing they would have to fix it under warranty?

Knowing that it could cause engine damage they would have to fix? No.



I am not getting what you are stating here? If the engine fails using the recommended oil and oil change schedule Toyota would be have to fix it under warranty.

 

[buster]

I'm sick of 20wt threads. Show me the failed engines and premature wear in engines that call for 20 grades. Enough of the speculation.

 

[tribocessive]

i have put over 1 million miles on three different toyota vehicles; they are very conservative in their protocols; their brand's reputation is very important to them; their in- house oils are stellar and light; i have a lot of respect for what toyota (and honda) has to say about anything.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: rraiderr

Not for the 2012 Toyota FJ. The manual states 0W-20 with the only option being 5W-20 and it states the 5W-20 must be changed back to 0W-20 at next service.


Did you actually read the manual or you are just trolling here?

Quote:

Oil grade: ILSAC multigrade engine oil
Recommended viscosity: SAE 0W-20

SAE 0W-20 is the best choice for good fuel economy and good
starting in cold weather. If SAE 0W-20 is not available, SAE 5W-20 oil may be used. However, it must be replaced with SAE 0W-20 at the next oil change.

Oil viscosity (0W-20 is explained here as an example):

The 0W in 0W-20 indicates the characteristic of the oil which allows cold startability. Oils with a lower value before the W allow for easier starting of the engine in cold weather.

The 20 in 0W-20 indicates the viscosity characteristic of the oil when the oil is at high temperature. An oil with a higher viscosity (one with a higher value) may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load conditions.


http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM35A60U/pdf/sec_6-1.pdf

 

[4x4chevydude]

If you worry that much put in a 5w30 and sleep good....it wont hurt it either....5w20 is fine especially in cold weather a 0w20 is ideal....in very hot summers maybe go to a 5w30 but the 20 would also work fine....as long as there is oil in the engine I dont see there being an issue

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: buster
I'm sick of 20wt threads. Show me the failed engines and premature wear in engines that call for 20 grades. Enough of the speculation.

+1 and it better be a lot to counter the shear volume of engines that are using this as the recommended grade. Because millions upon millions of engines are using 20 grade oils.