Forget about warranty for this question

Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
15,636
Location
ROCHESTER, NY
and PLEASE focus on the question itself. And no other questions about..."why would anyone want to do this"? or "what are you NUTS"? etc.

If an engine & owner's manual require ONLY 0W20 motor oil and no other optional oil grades listed in the OM, will using a 5W20 or 5W30 conventional(which are actually a synblend), hurt the engine for the occasional OCI?

OK, maybe don't run this OCI on dino 5W20 or 5W30 for the full length synthetic OCI(6k-8k miles) but maybe for 3k-4k miles?

This has been a question that has haunted me since there are so many newer vehicles/engines that require the 0W20 and NOTHING ELSE.


Thanks,

CB
 
It's not going to matter but if you're worried and haunted just use the 0w20.

What engine requires 0w20 and nothing else?
 
Last edited:
Your letting this bother you too much and hopefully your not hunting an answer you agree with. I could give you the nice member bitog answer but that wont do you any good.
 
I would be skeptical that it would damage the engine; though there are some engines that have VVT/VCT that are sensitive to viscosity.

What is the intended outcome? Save money? Use an existing stash? You seem to be burning a lot of brain power over this.
 
Originally Posted by Leo99
It's not going to matter but if you're worried and haunted just use the 0w20.

What engine requires 0w20 and nothing else?


I'm not haunted about using 0W20, I love it. It's great oil a good price. And I'm not saying that I am going to use 5W20/30 dino. It's just that the question has haunted me as it doesn't seem to be discussed.

As-far-as what engine or manufactures require 0W20? Honda, Mazda and others for example...in certain engines!
 
Char Baby said:
and PLEASE focus on the question itself. And no other questions about..."why would anyone want to do this"? or "what are you NUTS"? etc.

If an engine & owner's manual require ONLY 0W20 motor oil and no other optional oil grades listed in the OM, will using a 5W20 or 5W30 conventional(which are actually a synblend), hurt the engine for the occasional OCI?

OK, maybe don't run this OCI on dino 5W20 or 5W30 for the full length synthetic OCI(6k-8k miles) but maybe for 3k-4k miles?

This has been a question that has haunted me since there are so many newer vehicles/engines that require the 0W20 and NOTHING ELSE.


Thanks,

CB[/quotte] What do you thing would be hurt by using a 5W-30
 
I would cut the oci back. If it calls for 10k on 0w20 syn I would cut it back to 5k on your blend. I do not have any evidence as to why I think this way.
 
Last edited:
Which year and model is the OP talking about? I don't know any domestic models that REQUIRE 0w-20 engine oil. Honda only RECOMMENDS 0w-20. It seems that it's mostly German cars that REQUIRE specific motor oils.

Personally in a temperate climate like NC and FL, where my vehicles are used, I use 5w-20 in my Camry and Ridgeline, even though the Ridgeline was back specced for 0w-20. I keep my intervals between 5K and 7K miles. Full syn and syn blend=yes. Dino=no.
 
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Which year and model is the OP talking about? I don't know any domestic models that REQUIRE 0w-20 engine oil. It seems that it's mostly German cars that REQUIRE specific motor oils.


As mentioned, Honda Civic (in sig) & Mazda(most) and my buddy's '18 Equinox 1.5T. Maybe the Chevy allows for other grades but the other 2 do not in basic trim.

CB[/quotte] What do you thing would be hurt by using a 5W-30[/quote]

I couldn't imagin anything being hurt except warranty. But I am still just asking!

CB
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
I would be skeptical that it would damage the engine; though there are some engines that have VVT/VCT that are sensitive to viscosity.

What is the intended outcome? Save money? Use an existing stash? You seem to be burning a lot of brain power over this.

Brother if the VVT/VCT is this sensitive to 1 or 2 CST then this engine is complete junk and Char Baby needs a plan for buying a new vehicle because by Summer and the temperature change it will die in short order.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Which year and model is the OP talking about? I don't know any domestic models that REQUIRE 0w-20 engine oil. It seems that it's mostly German cars that REQUIRE specific motor oils.


As mentioned, Honda Civic (in sig) & Mazda(most) and my buddy's '18 Equinox 1.5T. Maybe the Chevy allows for other grades but the other 2 do not in basic trim.

CB[/quotte] What do you thing would be hurt by using a 5W-30


I couldn't imagin anything being hurt except warranty. But I am still just asking!

CB
[/quote]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the 2020 Honda Accord manual only RECOMMENDS 0w-20 engine oil.
 
I am not an engineer but in my opinion using a 5W-30 would probably cause no damage. For years I have exclusively run 5-30 in all of my engines that ask for 5W-20. I have also used 0W-30 in my F-150.
And I have found that 0W-40 seemed to work best in my Ford which "requires" 5-20
 
Last edited:
Unless the temps are below -20F, the 5w vs 0w won't matter a bit. Above that, the difference between oils would only amount to the same difference as starting the engine at, say, 40F vs 50F.

Modern Xw-30 weight oils are very light (except for a few botique oils) at standard running temps and very close to the Xw-20's. It is only at excessively high, abnormal temps would there be much of a difference... where a synthetic 30 would be slightly superior to a 20.

Some systems like VTEC depend on oil pressure to determine when to actuate. The difference in engine and oil temp matters more here than the oils weight, and long experience with enthusiasts trying different oils has shown that it really doesn't matter.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
I would be skeptical that it would damage the engine; though there are some engines that have VVT/VCT that are sensitive to viscosity.

What is the intended outcome? Save money? Use an existing stash? You seem to be burning a lot of brain power over this.

Brother if the VVT/VCT is this sensitive to 1 or 2 CST then this engine is complete junk and Char Baby needs a plan for buying a new vehicle because by Summer and the temperature change it will die in short order.

Agreed; but the OP did not provide any information about the vehicle until after I posted so hard to give any feedback.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby


If an engine & owner's manual require ONLY 0W20 motor oil and no other optional oil grades listed in the OM, will using a 5W20 or 5W30 conventional(which are actually a synblend), hurt the engine for the occasional OCI?

This has been a question that has haunted me since there are so many newer vehicles/engines that require the 0W20 and NOTHING ELSE.

Thanks,

CB


Let me answer this from a design engineer's perspective and hopefully put your fears at ease.

A machine (in this case an IC engine but a machine is a machine on a drafting table) is designed to meet a plethora of criteria ranging from estimated life, performance, manufacturing price point and whatever.

Once that's done then things like tribology ( metallurgy, tolerances, lubricants) are dialed in.

Its done this way because you can have dozens of changes in the first line before the 'final' design ( the baseline) is decided upon to commit full resources to develop.

Then when we start doing the second line we often encounter things that call for further revisions such as hidden issues)

Then theres a prototype and that runs the process- this is a Venn circular effort eventually leading to a production model and takes a while usually.

Theres 2 ways this can be written ( published) say 0W20 is the oil that meets the design criteria- seldom do manufacturers go beyond this because of value added costs. That doesn't mean other oils wont or cant work- just means it was outside the scope of the designers list of objectives and most likely never considered.

The other is you MUST use 0W20 ( to the exclusion of all other things)- if its phrased like with warnings and such then theres a reason for it.

If its not written with a warning and a reason then more likely than not many other options will work just as well (maybe better).

Just as a rule don't differ radically from the design requirement without a good degree of engineering analysis.

I do experiments like this all the time for clients who want to consolidate a lube list to save money.

Just takes a degree of caution during the experimentation process to make sure something wasn't missed.

I would say your risk is very low if you try other oils close to the ranges you operate your vehicle in
 
Char Baby, assuming you are questioning whether you can run a 5W-30 in your Honda, my answer is running a 5W-30 weight oil, synthetic or conventional, instead of the 5W-20 weight (or 0W-20 weight, for that matter) is harmless. I've been doing it for nearly two decades beginning with an 2002 Civic Si, which Honda swore would absolutely explode on contact with any oil weight other than 5W-20. No so. Ran great. Since then, I've been running 5W-30 weight oils and 0W-20 weight mixed with 5W-30 weight (mostly Mobil 1) in an '05 Civic Si, a 2009 Accord, a 2015 Accord, and now a 2019 Ridgeline. As others said above -- within reason -- "it just doesn't matter."
 
they list ONLY 0w20 because that guarantees a synthetic oil will be used, 5w20 comes in dino or synthetic. with the longer OCIs listed to reduce pollution, you need a synthetic to go that far without breaking down. I would not run a 5w20 dino for 10k oci called out on my wifes sienna, but i will run a 5w20 synthetic.

regularly running a dino to 7 ot 8 k miles will expose the engine to increased deposits and sheared oil. Its ok for shorter OCIs though. in an emergency.
 
I am for thick oil. But, I figured that I would use the recommended 0w20. The blue SE has the same I-4 as the white LE. But it uses a little oil. Maybe 5w20/30 is worth a try? Use it for 10k OCI ,so gotta be synth. No oil stash to use up, gives me great flexibility.
grin2.gif
 
Back
Top