Ambient Temperature

[toyota62]

Hi Guys.
Australian summer can go up to 45'c and many people here still running 20w-50 engine oils.
I am not sure about the Summer temperature in USA.How many guys here run 0w-20 or 5w-20 engine oils in their automobiles in US summer?
Please Provide the followings.
*Vehicle make and model.
*Mileage.
*Ambient temperature.
*Oil consumption.
*Oil change interval.
Cheers.
Bob.

 

[tig1]

For example: Last summer we had the most summer days over 100F in my life time. Some days up to 109F. I use M1 0-20 in both Fords and it held up fine. No unusual darkening of the oil, or noise from the engine. Also no oil consumption at all from either engine at a 10K OCI.

 

[redhat]

I use Motorcraft SynBlend 5W-20 throughout the entire year and we do occasionally get some days in the mid to upper 90F. Nothing odd to report.

I would have no problem using 0W/5W-20 in warmer weather either.

No consumption noticed either... well if I want to be really anal, perhaps a sixteenth of an inch drop from the full line over the course of 6-7k miles.

 

[RamFan]

While living in Cuba my mom had a 2008 Sebring with the 2.7l V6. That car only saw the recommended 5w20 and never had an issue. Oil was changed every 6 months which usually meant 1k miles or so.

 

[Spazdog]

I run 5W20 in the Mazda6 3.0 V6 (150,000 mi) and 5W30 in my PT Cruiser GT 2.4 Turbo (105,000 mi)

Whatever is cheap in the Mazda usually QSGB or Mobil 5000
Synthetic in the turbo.

This summer has been somewhat mild with temps around 100°F (38° for the rest of the world) but last summer was 110°+ (45°C) pretty regularly.

 

[jimgoose]

You know, I don't think the weather temperature makes much of a difference anymore now that most popular motor oils are at least part-synthetic?

 

[toyota62]

Do you guys think Mobil1 0w-20 has better oil film strength in operating temperature than the Castrol GTX 10w-30 conventional engine oil?

 

[supercity]

0w20 HTHS will be lower

 

[y_p_w]

Unless you're towing or racing, the biggest issues with heat are probably going to be with the cooling system and the transmission. A coolant/oil exchange oil cooler is probably going to help too.

I'd have no issue using a 5W-20 or 0W-20 in any climate. I might consider an aftermarket performance radiator though.

I've been in Death Valley where it was 126 deg F (more than 52 deg C). Car did just fine on ordinary 10W-30.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I'd have no issue using a 5W-20 or 0W-20 in any climate.


Surely that needs to be qualified with "if the engine is designed for such".

 

[dave1251]

I only use the recommended 5W20 in both vehicles I maintain. Mine is a truck on a normal summer day the highs are 110-120F and I tow, off-road, stop and go, and cruise on the highway.

No oil related issues. Today we get a little break in the heat it will only get to 102F.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I'd have no issue using a 5W-20 or 0W-20 in any climate.


Surely that needs to be qualified with "if the engine is designed for such".

Maybe not "designed as such" since Honda seemed to have spec'ed 5W-20 without any sort of redesign but rather tests for suitability. Maybe "if approved by the manufacturer" might be how I'd describe it.

I was in a car in Death Valley for a couple of hours going up and down hills. If there's any place in the world where ambient temps would stress out an engine or motor oil - that would be it. Like I said - cooling system performance is the key. Every mile along the main road there's a tank with emergency radiator water.

 

[Errtt]

Main vehicle that gets the miles (2010 Hyundai 2.4L) I was using 5w-20 start of summer. We get triple digit temps. Then I decided to try 5w30 for the hottest span of summer, then went back to 5w-20 (because OCI due), and I couldn't tell any difference regards to mpg, temp, start noise etc. No noticeable consumption.
So now I have to think if next summer to stick through with 5w-20 or try the 5w30 since I have stash of both.

 

[Capa]

Originally Posted By: toyota62
Hi Guys.
Australian summer can go up to 45'c and many people here still running 20w-50 engine oils.
I am not sure about the Summer temperature in USA.How many guys here run 0w-20 or 5w-20 engine oils in their automobiles in US summer?
Please Provide the followings.
*Vehicle make and model.
*Mileage.
*Ambient temperature.
*Oil consumption.
*Oil change interval.
Cheers.

Bob.


A lot of people don't seem to realize that Oklahoma owns the record for the hottest three month period ever recorded in the US (in fact, we own two of the top three records). While we have had a very mild summer this year, we hit 117 last year. So we have real summers and winters here. I drive a 1999 Lexus GS400 (yes, once the fastest automatic sedan in the world). I do a yearly OCI and usually change it out around April 1st. Last year I ran 5 1/2 quarts of Mobil 0W-20. This year I am running one quart of 0W-40 and 4 1/2 quarts of the 0W-20. This vehicle consumes no oil. I average anywhere between 7,000-8,500 miles.

 

[toyota62]

Hi Guys.
Thanks to all.I have changed the oil two days ago.Performance wise i think Fuchs 0w-20 is slightly better.Too early to tell about the fuel economy.will do an UOA when oil hit 10000kms/6 months.
It seems to be some parts of America gets hotter as Australia.So you guys can run 0w-20 engine oils in that temp then why we cant.
I guess the Australian RAV4 owners manual recommended 5w30 due to 0w-20 or 5w-20 not available and hard to get.The only Toyota vehicle recommending and using 0w-20 engine oil as service fill is
Thanks again.
Cheers.
Bob.

 

[Brit33]

Yep coolant system will take the brunt of the heat.

I upgraded my rad to an aluminium one and added an extra fan for our hot summers.
Made a huge difference.
Oil temp didn't really vary.

 

[CATERHAM]

I run 0W-20 in my Caterham track car. The following is a UOA of the Idemitsu 0W-20 (HTHSV 2.6cP, VI 200) I ran for 17 months below:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/idemitsu-honda-0w-20-3614-kms-caterham.187596/

Ambient temp's do play a role in how high the oil temp's will get in a vehicle without an oil cooler, but it really is how hard the vehicle is driven that will drive oil temp's very high in certain applications.
Driving normally on the hottest days will not cause oil temp's to rise unduly.

Regarding FUCHS Titan GT-1 0W-20. This is one very robust ester based, VII free oil. Remember this oil was used a few years back in the Porsche Cup GT3 Racing series (the original 2.95 HTHSV version of this oil). I believe the current XTL version has a HTHSV of about 2.8cP.
If this oil wasn't so expensive here in Canada I'd run it in my Bimmer year round and even possibly in my Porsche.

 

[supercity]

Surprisingly Fuchs 0w20 is easy to get, it is stocked by one of the retail chains. It maybe the only 20 grade stocked in the country. It only comes in 4L jugs though which is a real nuisance.

 

[fdcg27]

We may have gotten to 100F once this summer.
We had a couple of warm weeks, but the temps were mostly pretty moderate, with highes in the mid-eighties.
We do see summers where the temps top 100F for days at a time.
The '12 Accord gets 0W-20 for the simple reason that Honda recommends it for all season use.
It had no measurable consumption on the FF out to 8700 miles, at which point I changed the oil (15% MM).
As long as the engine maintains low consumption on a 0W-20, that's what it'll get.
Twenty grades have been used in a variety of engines for years in this country, much of which experiences high summer temperatures and there is nothing to indicate that a twenty grade oil causes any problems.
The experience that you have in your country shows that thick oils don't cause any problems either, although for those parts of this country that experience cold winters, thick oils would not be well suited to winter use.
It seems that viscosity used may not be as important with most engines as many of us seem to think.