SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
#12
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by schmidtj
I change my oil every 3K miles so oil breakdown is less of a factor. Frequent oil/filter changes in my opinion are very cheap engine insurance.
J
J
IMHO
Last edited by jbollt; 08-17-2006 at 09:05 AM.
#13
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
I've been corresponding with Woods Bros. Racing, an Amsoil synthetic oil distributor. (Search for Amsoil thread on this site for more info.) Here is a quote from an email by Travis Woods, in reply to my question about Amsoil's 0W-30 vs. any 0W20 oil:
"As for the 0W-20 and all other 20-weight oils, I personally feel that they are too light, especially in severe duty and hot climates. More and more new cars are coming with these lighter oils, and I am pretty sure the sole purpose is to increase gas mileage and/or comply with emissions regulations. The downfall to this is that the new engines will likely wear out significantly sooner due to bearing wear and cylinder wear. The automakers did the same thing several years back with manual transmissions when they switched them from using gear oil to automatic transmission fluid. The result was more bearing failures at lower mileage (90,000-140,000 miles)."
"As for the 0W-20 and all other 20-weight oils, I personally feel that they are too light, especially in severe duty and hot climates. More and more new cars are coming with these lighter oils, and I am pretty sure the sole purpose is to increase gas mileage and/or comply with emissions regulations. The downfall to this is that the new engines will likely wear out significantly sooner due to bearing wear and cylinder wear. The automakers did the same thing several years back with manual transmissions when they switched them from using gear oil to automatic transmission fluid. The result was more bearing failures at lower mileage (90,000-140,000 miles)."
#14
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
My understanding is that some of the newer engines have tighter tolerances that also make using the thinner oil a requirmenet so that it can get everywhere it needs to get. And while I respect their opinion, I know that there are plenty of these cars on the road going 100k + miles. I think for average driving 0W20 or 5W20 is not going to casue significant wear. The truth is that the initial start up is what casues the most wear and 0W20 gets the key components protected faster and better. With the frequent starts and stop of the ICE in the TCH I would want oil that gets moving everywhere as soon as possible. And wither way since it has been a long time since I kept any car anywhere near 100K for me the point is irrelevant. I would be fine with convential oil, but choose synthetic becasue especially on 4 cylinders I swear I feel a difference on inital cold performance.
#15
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
The Prius and TCH ICE engine startup is a very gradual process compared to a "conventional" ICE start.
The MG1 turns the engine through several revolutions before an injector is even fired and then only 2 injectors and then 4.
With the amount of time the TCH's ICE is off, the wear and tear due to engine starts is more than offset by the ICE offtime.
J
The MG1 turns the engine through several revolutions before an injector is even fired and then only 2 injectors and then 4.
With the amount of time the TCH's ICE is off, the wear and tear due to engine starts is more than offset by the ICE offtime.
J
#16
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by schmidtj
The Prius and TCH ICE engine startup is a very gradual process compared to a "conventional" ICE start.
The MG1 turns the engine through several revolutions before an injector is even fired and then only 2 injectors and then 4.
With the amount of time the TCH's ICE is off, the wear and tear due to engine starts is more than offset by the ICE offtime.
J
The MG1 turns the engine through several revolutions before an injector is even fired and then only 2 injectors and then 4.
With the amount of time the TCH's ICE is off, the wear and tear due to engine starts is more than offset by the ICE offtime.
J
#17
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by kluken
True, but getting oil there faster and keeping a better lubricated surface is still better. I was sold on Synthetic with my ex-wife's 91 Celica, I have a steep driveway and on cold morning starts the engine was real rough climbing the hill, after synthetic you could feel how much smoother it was and seemed to strain less pulling up the extremely steep hill.
I am sure things have improved but no thanks. I'll stick with the manufacturers recommendations going forward.
J
#18
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by schmidtj
I got turned off to synthetics when the valve guides in my Tercel wore to a point it was burning a quart of Mobil 1 per thousand miles after only 40k miles on the car and I was changing the oil every 3k miles even with Mobil 1 at that time. Started with Mobil 1 on that car at 5k miles.
I am sure things have improved but no thanks. I'll stick with the manufacturers recommendations going forward.
J
I am sure things have improved but no thanks. I'll stick with the manufacturers recommendations going forward.
J
#19
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by schmidtj
I got turned off to synthetics when the valve guides in my Tercel wore to a point it was burning a quart of Mobil 1 per thousand miles after only 40k miles on the car and I was changing the oil every 3k miles even with Mobil 1 at that time. Started with Mobil 1 on that car at 5k miles. I am sure things have improved but no thanks. I'll stick with the manufacturers recommendations going forward. J
#20
Re: SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20?
Originally Posted by kluken
I'm not sure that you can blame that on Synthetics, as long as you use the weight oil the mfg recommends.
I traded the car in on a Hyundai. An even bigger mistake than using Mobil 1.