Using 0w16 to 'thin down' oil viscosity

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pbm

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I have a fair amount of 5w30 and 10w30 full synthetics from sales and 'clearances'.
All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils. What are the opinions of mixing 0w16 and say 10w30
or 5w30 (in summer of course) to get closer to 20 weight? I know some will say "just buy the proper grade oil" but
my first sentence explains why I ask this...
 
Get a jug of 0w20 or 5W20 and sub in 1 quart per OC. you should be fine.

Problem is many 20 are getting to near 30 grade with D1G2.

Japanese 0W20 are usually real thin, genuine subaru was in the 7's

In the old days we had whale brain oil ATF to add.

That stuff was a super lube.

Poor whales, smarter than us sapiens and ravaged by moronic dopes.
 
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Originally Posted by pbm
I have a fair amount of 5w30 and 10w30 full synthetics from sales and 'clearances'.
All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils. What are the opinions of mixing 0w16 and say 10w30
or 5w30 (in summer of course) to get closer to 20 weight? I know some will say "just buy the proper grade oil" but
my first sentence explains why I ask this...

I have passed up a thousand oil sales where great money savings exist, but the product is not a fit for my vehicles.
I will blend GDI / TGDI oil viscosites tgether. But I won't blend a SN with a SN Plus - not a Dexos with a non-Dexos. Not a Dexos 1 with a Dexos 2......etc.

In my opinion, doing this weakens the necessary means of what you want the product to accomplish. I blend more than most-all here. But I have my limits on what I use to concoct my own formulas.
 
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"All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils"

that is CAFE talk.

Your owners manual most likely states other alternatives.
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
"All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils"

that is CAFE talk.

Your owners manual most likely states other alternatives.



Exactly, use the 30WT oils and don't look back, you'll do more harm trying to mix than just running it! Likely your engines will like it better!
 
I wouldn't even bother mixing. I know lots of people here that go off the "it didn't cause any visible harm today, so it must be just fine" people like mixing brands and viscosities and base oils, but... no. Nothing will happen from running 5W30 and 10W30 in those engines. As someone stated, just run them in summer so the cold viscosity doesn't matter... the operating viscosity is going to be determined by the temp of the engine & oil, and at 200* there is no meaningful difference between an Xw20 and Xw30. Use as-is!
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
"All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils"

that is CAFE talk.

Your owners manual most likely states other alternatives.


Not anymore - most don't or "shall not" They have to "require" the viscosity on the 710 and in the OM that was installed and submitted for FE. testing.

Most here should be able to tell if moving up a grade hurts or helps. I would only worry in below zero operation going up a grade ( not a hill!) .
Many japanese engine designs have only a 1/2 thousandth of an inch running main bearing clearance
 
Just buy an old beater or a fun car and use it in that...
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by tig1
I wouldn't mix brands of oil, but if you are mixing within brand I wouldn't have a problem.

Oil producers may have the same label....ie.... Mobil-1, but the base oils may come from different parts of our earth - are bottled to be different and so does the additives..... ie.... different molys for example. So sticking with a brand name still spells-out ingredients that are different.
 
Taking some of the advice already listed, look up the specs of each oil and understand what the kinematic viscosity is of your oil and of the 0w16 at 100 C. If you still want to bring it down go ahead and mix it. I wouldn't go crazy trying to get it all the way down to the 0w20 range.

Disclosure: I run 5w30 where 5w20 is spec'd in my Fords.
 
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Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by tig1
I wouldn't mix brands of oil, but if you are mixing within brand I wouldn't have a problem.

Oil producers may have the same label....ie.... Mobil-1, but the base oils may come from different parts of our earth - are bottled to be different and so does the additives..... ie.... different molys for example. So sticking with a brand name still spells-out ingredients that are different.

Obviously, but even M1 says that mixing within their brand is not detrimental to their oil, (but best to stay within the wt range) but much better than mixing between brands.
 
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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Get a jug of 0w20 or 5W20 and sub in 1 quart per OC. you should be fine.

Problem is many 20 are getting to near 30 grade with D1G2.

Japanese 0W20 are usually real thin, genuine subaru was in the 7's

In the old days we had whale brain oil ATF to add.

That stuff was a super lube.

Poor whales, smarter than us sapiens and ravaged by moronic dopes.


Well that was random
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by Jimmy_Russells
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Get a jug of 0w20 or 5W20 and sub in 1 quart per OC. you should be fine.

Problem is many 20 are getting to near 30 grade with D1G2.

Japanese 0W20 are usually real thin, genuine subaru was in the 7's

In the old days we had whale brain oil ATF to add.

That stuff was a super lube.

Poor whales, smarter than us sapiens and ravaged by moronic dopes.


Well that was random
lol.gif




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_oil
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
"All but 2 of my family's vehicles use 20 weight oils"

that is CAFE talk.

Your owners manual most likely states other alternatives.


Not anymore, I looked in the manual of the 2018 Nissan Altima and it says to only use 0w20, while older models that use practically the same qr25de engine recommended 5w30 in the manual.
 
Take 6.5 ounces of 0W16 and place in a quart container. Add to that 25.5 ounces of XW30.

Send it off to Blackstone.

If the results show a 100C Viscosity in the 20 Grade range, then you will know that one quart of 0W16 grade will thin 4 quarts of 30 grade
down to a 20 grade.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/viscosity-charts/
 
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Just make sure both oils (even a blend of 3) cover your own requirement, for what you want in your oils.
(example) I insist on Dexos1 Gen 2 oils, even thou Hyundai and Kia doesn't mandate it. Same with SN Plus, even thou the Korean manuals outline outdated SN.

My current Pennzoil Ultra Platinum does not wear the Dexos 1 Gen 2 badge. Keeps pistons up to 65% cleaner than required by the toughest industry standard. Keeps your engine cleaner than any other gasoline leading synthetic oil.

So I decided to trade Dexos for Best Cleaning Power. Can't have the cake and eat it too, I guess.
 
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