Any reason not to use 0w-20 in place of 5w-20?

[The_Eric]

I work at a shop- the other day a '10 Yota came in for a oil change and required 0w-20. We don't stock 0w-20, so we had some delivered. M1 AFE. This got me to thinking... Why not kill two birds with one stone so to speak and stock 0w-20 to use for both apps?

Now you have to understand, my boss will probably not go for it... He's decidedly old school and one of the biggest manual wavers I've ever seen. If 0-20 is called for, 5-20 absolutely cannot go in the engine or vice versa... Never mind at the current temps nothing and/or no one will ever be the wiser. When I suggested it, he winced and said "We'll talk to my oil rep"... Uh-huh.....

 

[Unleashedbeast]

as I've understood it, the 0W-20 will have better cold pour and flow at lower temps and will also have a slightly better Cst at normal running temperatures versus the 5W-20. Correct me if I'm wrong bitogers. I've asked myself the same question, if 0W-20 is truly better, why waste our time with 5W-20.

Oh, and I'm sure the engine would have had no problem with the 5W-20 oil unless it was in severe cold weather service.

 

[hardcore302]

I was wondering the same thing myself. My car calls for 5w-20, but am on the fence about a zero wieght for the cold winter months.

 

[Unleashedbeast]

My next fill will be Amsoil 0W-20 and I will run it for one year, as I never drive more than 12,000 miles per year. I will do a UOA upon completion of said year.

 

[dwendt44]

Most all 0W-20 oils are synthetic. A very few blends have 0W, but they are hard to find.
5W-20 can be either conventional or snythetic.
Obviously, synthetic oil changes would be more expensive and the
public often doesn't want to pay more than necessary.

My 2¢

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Most all 0W-20 oils are synthetic. A very few blends have 0W, but they are hard to find.
5W-20 can be either conventional or snythetic.
Obviously, synthetic oil changes would be more expensive and the
public often doesn't want to pay more than necessary.

My 2¢


You bring a good point. I didn't think of that. Our changes are spendy enough and I can see this being one of his reasons (probably the only valid one) not to go this route.

 

[HTSS_TR]

5W20 are available in both synthetic and dino and it can be purchased from many brand names. 0W20 is mostly synthetic and most auto parts only carry Mobil 1 in 0W20. Walmarts are now stocking Synpower 0W20, but no PP or any other brands.

If I have a choice of the 2 of the same brand name, I would pick 0W20 if the price is not much more than 5W20.

 

[ryan2022]

Would 5w20 be slightly more resistant to shear in a similar brand?

That would be my only reason.

 

[mechtech2]

Eric - Don't be too hard on the owner. It is HIS derrier that is on the line if he arbitrarily uses another oil than what is spec'd.

 

[Alex38]

Originally Posted By: ryan2022
Would 5w20 be slightly more resistant to shear in a similar brand?

That would be my only reason.


Same thing I've been wondering. If not, then might as well use 0w20, at least when using synthetics.

 

[robert_west]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Eric - Don't be too hard on the owner. It is HIS derrier that is on the line if he arbitrarily uses another oil than what is spec'd.


+1. He doesn't want to pay thousands of dollars if the guy's engine locks up, even though we all know the difference between 0W and 5W is minimal . IF something were to go wrong with the engine and his receipt says 0W-30 while his engine calls for 5W-30, most likely he would cause problems.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
I work at a shop- the other day a '10 Yota came in for a oil change and required 0w-20. We don't stock 0w-20, so we had some delivered. M1 AFE. This got me to thinking... Why not kill two birds with one stone so to speak and stock 0w-20 to use for both apps?

Now you have to understand, my boss will probably not go for it... He's decidedly old school and one of the biggest manual wavers I've ever seen. If 0-20 is called for, 5-20 absolutely cannot go in the engine or vice versa... Never mind at the current temps nothing and/or no one will ever be the wiser. When I suggested it, he winced and said "We'll talk to my oil rep"... Uh-huh.....


Eric:

I'll join the others in commending your boss's respect for the manuals. Sure, of course, you're right, but all of us are far ahead of the rest of the world concerning such things. If you see a 5w-20 car, it's probably just better to feed it what the manual says and be done with it. That said, I commend your willingness to actually think about the issue (again, far ahead of most others in your business). Heck, most shops are probably thoughtlessly dumping xW-30 into the vast majority of 20 wt cars. Oh well, one day. . .

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
I work at a shop- the other day a '10 Yota came in for a oil change and required 0w-20. We don't stock 0w-20, so we had some delivered. M1 AFE. This got me to thinking... Why not kill two birds with one stone so to speak and stock 0w-20 to use for both apps?

Now you have to understand, my boss will probably not go for it... He's decidedly old school and one of the biggest manual wavers I've ever seen. If 0-20 is called for, 5-20 absolutely cannot go in the engine or vice versa... Never mind at the current temps nothing and/or no one will ever be the wiser. When I suggested it, he winced and said "We'll talk to my oil rep"... Uh-huh.....


Eric:

I'll join the others in commending your boss's respect for the manuals. Sure, of course, you're right, but all of us are far ahead of the rest of the world concerning such things. If you see a 5w-20 car, it's probably just better to feed it what the manual says and be done with it. That said, I commend your willingness to actually think about the issue (again, far ahead of most others in your business). Heck, most shops are probably thoughtlessly dumping xW-30 into the vast majority of 20 wt cars. Oh well, one day. . .

I commend his respect for it too. Believe me. My only beef with it, that to him there is no life outside it. He has no capacity or maybe no willingness to think outside of it. If the book calls for a xx part and a xxx part would be better, he will not install it. I just wish that he would think for himself and evaluate the situation. I suppose in the end, the customer will always end up with an OE quality fix or service, but sometimes I know I (we) could do better.

This is just one of his many quirks. Trust me when I say that I could fill a page with them and get my dander all worked up... As I said earlier, the customer always gets excellent work- he is devoted to that, which is probably why his business is doing so well and I'm still there.