Oil viscosity questions

[Bxnanaz]

Originally Posted By: Ram02
I have a little concern with 0w20 I was using PP and M1 AFe for my Malibu and ever time I check the level around 2500mi mark im a notch down . Compared to 5w30 where no loss at all . I have the 2.5ecotec the motor revs a little. This motor has the same block as the LTZ 2.0t which requires 5w30 . I looked up part numbers between the two motors it has the same timing chain , oil pump and filter . The car is outta warranty next month . What you guys think??


If it loses oil on 0w-20 and not on 5w-30, I would think go with the 30. Maybe stay with 0W-20 in the winter depending on where you live.

 

[zeng]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Oil grade is a recommendation, not a requirement.

+1
Unfortunately CAFE seems to interfere with it ..

 

[4WD]

With so many good Dexos oil approvals ~ I’m landing on the safe side of “recommended”:

 

[ARCOgraphite]

That doesn't say viscosity. A grade jump of 20 > 30, or, as in the past decade, 30 > 40 is NO magin of safety issue. BACKWARDS can be problematic

Manual states >>> said "... failure to use the recommended engine oil ..." which would be:

Service category: API Spark N

then ILSAC GF5

then DEXOS1 on top of it all.

whew! Getting complicated.

The "or equivalent" opens a mystery door!

Guess the ILSA committee isn't doing its job.

 

[4WD]

I like that interpretation since a 5w30 is pretty logical where we drive … it does recommend 0w20 elsewhere in the manual …
Will just run that a while when the motor is new and think on it …

 

[4WD]

Some good 0w30’s out there …

 

[Bxnanaz]

No UOAs to back it up or no significant mileage. But during the hot summer days (100+) of SC and towing my 5KLb trailer 75 mph up and down hills, my truck still runs quiet at idle and always has at least 20 psi of oil pressure at 500 rpm.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
It specs 0W-20 mainly because of fuel economy regulations.
If you use 0W-30, 5W-30 absolutely nothing bad will happen, 0W-20 will be fine though aswell, and personally until the warranty runs out i would run 0W-20, because that way if anything went wrong with the engine and they saw you didn't use their specified oil, that may void the warranty.


I'd be tempted to use a 30 weight too, but I don't know if the variable camshaft timing phasers would like it.

And then there's that cylinder deactivation stuff that's viscosity sensitive too.

 

[4WD]

Some engines are - some are not. Running 5w40 after 15w40 in my 2010 5.3L and feel/hear no effects to VVT …
Motor is a bit quieter …

 

[Bxnanaz]

I wouldn’t think variable cam timing or AFM will suffer. I’m sure the oil orfices for those systems are much larger than main bearing clearances.