A case FOR 5w-30 vs 5w-20

[nicholas]

Car in question - 2010 Santa Fe 3.5.
It had 5w-20 for 142,000kms - - at 142,500 the exhaust CVVT actuator seals went - requiring a total exhaust sidereplacement.
Oil was changed every 6 months regardless of kms - - -usually changed between 3-5000 kms - with syn 5w-20 or 0w-20 in the winter.

My commute is a 1.5 to 2 min suburban drive to work very little highway driving. In winter it can get -30 celsius for weeks.....

Most likely a high fuel concentration - - - - The tech seemed to think that the oil had thinned down and could not protect the seal anymore, over a number of years.

I just switched to a 5w-30 - - engine is much quieter and feel smoother - - - -

I think in certain driving situations 5w-20 does not work for all engines. Like my very short tripping.

My 2c

 

[d00df00d]

A thicker oil will certainly offer more of a buffer against fuel dilution, but it'll also have worse flow. Both are relevant to short trips. You're not necessarily making anything better by trading one for the other.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The seal just went from age. Nothing would have saved it I'm sure. if you are short tripping you need to take a bicycle or a scooter in fair weather. And you would want the a lighter oil since the oil is never up to temp.

My VW likes VW508 20 grade

Maybe look at a cheap used Smart fortwo E plugin.

No oil worries there.

 

[nicholas]

Don't think it was age - - - - the tech was very seasoned - - - he said it was a VERY uncommon job on the 3.5 V6.

The were only 2 other CVVT actuators replaced in the whole province in the last 5 years, were on very short tripped cars using 20 weight oils.

Just wanted to share my experience here.

 

[Linctex]

I can only think of two possible preventative solutions:

1) Make longer trips
2) Change oil more often

I'm not seeing many other alternatives.

 

[Gebo]

I would do a 3 month OCI with the 5W-30. It's great you live so close to work on one hand but on the other...

 

[Rat407]

You just happen to be the one in so few to have an issue. Seems to me the set up you are running is serving well. No need to change.

 

[dubber09]

5w-30 syn blend will work great for the engine and your climate. No absolute need to run full syn.
One thing I'd suggest - let engine run for 15-30 sec before driving off to get oil flowing.

 

[nicholas]

I am thinking of a 3 month OCI with 5w-30.
Thanks BITOG'ers...

 

[nicholas]

Originally Posted by dubber09
5w-30 syn blend will work great for the engine and your climate. No absolute need to run full syn.
One thing I'd suggest - let engine run for 15-30 sec before driving off to get oil flowing.

-----Thanks, its a good tip.

Ironically I have done this on all of our cars - - especially in the the colder months.

 

[dubber09]

I recently switched to Valvoline Conventional 5w-30 which is in fact a syn blend and one thing I noticed right away was how much quieter the engines run compared to Penn Plat 5w-30 I ran last 5 years.
Main reason for going Valvoline Conv - I got it cheap on sale and stocked up, both 5w-30 and 5w-20 are syn blends thou. Very happy with the oil.

 

[tiger862]

Originally Posted by nicholas
Car in question - 2010 Santa Fe 3.5.
It had 5w-20 for 142,000kms - - at 142,500 the exhaust CVVT actuator seals went - requiring a total exhaust sidereplacement.
Oil was changed every 6 months regardless of kms - - -usually changed between 3-5000 kms - with syn 5w-20 or 0w-20 in the winter.

My commute is a 1.5 to 2 min suburban drive to work very little highway driving. In winter it can get -30 celsius for weeks.....

Most likely a high fuel concentration - - - - The tech seemed to think that the oil had thinned down and could not protect the seal anymore, over a number of years.

I just switched to a 5w-30 - - engine is much quieter and feel smoother - - - -

I think in certain driving situations 5w-20 does not work for all engines. Like my very short tripping.

My 2c

Never said which oil you used. With those short trips most will be sludged up with conventional or synthetic so only solution is to drive longer drives. My last car was short tripped and got carboned up and seals started leaking even with synthetic 5w30. Changing oil grade to 5w30 don't think it would help or it can make it worse.

 

[nicholas]

Castrol - Mobil - or Penz syn - whatever was on sale.
Sometime used maxlife

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by dubber09
5w-30 syn blend will work great for the engine and your climate. No absolute need to run full syn.
One thing I'd suggest - let engine run for 15-30 sec before driving off to get oil flowing.



You DID see that his outside temperatures are -30°C for weeks at a time? I'd think a 0w-30 would do better.

 

[dubber09]

You think or you know the oil won't flow?
5w should be good at -30C as most have pouring point at -40C or so. Yes, if OP wants anything below -40C then 0w-30 or 0w-20 should be considered and even then he needs to be careful with oil selection.

 

[Urshurak776]

I don't think 5W-30 would have made a lick of difference considering the temperatures outside and your driving habits. Just get her up to temperature and open her up once in a while.

 

[Overfill]

because of the starting temp -30 I would pick a 5w-XX,
because of such short trips, I would have it be a minimum acceptable hot weight (20 in this case) and look for those whose additive packs don't require a lot of temperature to function.
From what I know, that is mainly organic FM/AW additives and boron-containing EP additives (someone correct me if that's off.)
I would look for an oil that features seal conditioners or one that is easy on seals.
Because of dilution, I would target a short oci.

I'd go with Maxlife 5w20. If all you do is drive
Originally Posted by Urshurak776
I don't think 5W-30 would have made a lick of difference considering the temperatures outside and your driving habits. Just get her up to temperature and open her up once in a while.

+1

 

[Silver]

0w30

 

[Smokescreen]

I run a 5w30 in either Penzoil Platinum or Quaker State Ultimate Durability all year round in all my vehicles. I sold a Corolla to my son with over 400,000 kms on it a few months ago and it runs like new. They all run as designed from +40C to -40C and then some with zero issues.

 

[Gokhan]

Originally Posted by nicholas
Car in question - 2010 Santa Fe 3.5.
It had 5w-20 for 142,000kms - - at 142,500 the exhaust CVVT actuator seals went - requiring a total exhaust sidereplacement.
Oil was changed every 6 months regardless of kms - - -usually changed between 3-5000 kms - with syn 5w-20 or 0w-20 in the winter.

My commute is a 1.5 to 2 min suburban drive to work very little highway driving. In winter it can get -30 celsius for weeks.....

Most likely a high fuel concentration - - - - The tech seemed to think that the oil had thinned down and could not protect the seal anymore, over a number of years.

I just switched to a 5w-30 - - engine is much quieter and feel smoother - - - -

I think in certain driving situations 5w-20 does not work for all engines. Like my very short tripping.

My 2c

Everytime you change the oil, the engine is going to run quieter and smoother because new oil has significantly less friction than used oil.

In addition, I don't know if you're using a different brand and making an apples vs. oranges comparison.

Seal life has nothing to do with the oil viscosity but only the seal compatibility of the base oil and additives.

Most 5W-20 oils have substantially thicker base oils than 5W-30 oils and they protect the valvetrain, timing chain, piston rings, and cylinder liners better than 5W-30 oils do. That's because 5W-30 uses more VII and they need to use a thinner base oil to be able to still meet the cold-cranking spec. 5W-30 will protect the bearings better because of the higher HTHS viscosity but most people don't run into problems in that area to begin with.