0w-20... to do or not to do
I just bought a 92 Vx, and Ive read a few places where people run 0w-20 syn. oils, does this really make a difference? i understand the less friction=better, but does it adequately lubricate the engine and protect it over the life of the car? I live in Va, and it doesn't get bone chilling cold, but maybe the 5 coldest nights of the year it will get in the low teens maybe even 8 or 9, but thats very very rare, should I be concerned about this thin of an oil if it gets that cold outside?
Thanks Nick |
Thin oil is good when it gets cold out. Where it's potentiall a problem is if it gets super hot out.
The FE benefit of going to a lower viscosity is small. If you're running 5w30 now, you probably wouldn't even notice it. PS - I asked myself the same question. At first I mixed 5w30 and 0w20. Last oil change I just went to straight 0w20. |
Civic Vx; a good choice for an fe car. I have a '98 civic dx and I'm running Castrol Syntec 0w-30 down here in Austin, Tx. I think you'll be fine running a lighter oil year-round whereas, I will probably have to run 5w-30 sometime in April when it starts to get hot. In the summer we have weeks where the highs never drop below 100.
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Yea, our summer is your winter as far as FE goes. It's hard not to run the AC when the temp is 110.:D |
but is 20 weight oil thick enough? I don't think the vx sugests going as light as 20 weight at any point, does it?
I had some 0w-30 in my tranny for a while in it's last year of life, and when I switched to 10w-30, the horble bearing grinding sound lessened, both oils were synthetic, so that seemed like very clear proof that the 0w-30 wasn't offering enough cushening between old parts. Is there any good way to tell if an oil is to thin? I meen, if thiner is better, why not run light weight oil year round? why would they sugest running 10w-40 or 20w-50 in hot climets? |
UOA (used oil analysis) is helpful to determine how well a particular oil/weight works in a particular application. a UOA will show amount of wear metals in oil, condition of oil, etc.. Here's a couple places to get UOA done:
https://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html https://www.oaitesting.com/ Here's a good place to find UOA's posted by other people: https://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/ubbthreads.php Also, note that as an Amsoil "preferred customer" you can get UOA's done by Oil Analyzers for apprx $15, incl TBN (indicates life left in oil). |
I wouldnt worry about 0w-20 in a well kept VX. I think dan ran it in his. I run 0w-20 in my Civic and a mix of 0w-20 and 5w-20 M1 in the Accord. The only reason Accord has any 5w-20 in it is 0w-20 is hard to find in redneck Oklahoma. I even have 5w-20 in my Ranger. It would seem the lighter oils are getting better and better additive packages than the thicker so called normal oils people have become use to using.
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I think JanGeo once said the way to tell if your oil is too light is that your oil pressure will be too low. Seems logical. (But do you have a gauge for it?)
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I am currently running 0W-20 in my '99 Saturn with the DOHC 1.9L. I put it in when the car had 95,000 miles and have since racked up 5,000 miles and the car hasn't used a drop of oil during that time. I haven't noticed any rattles either.
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