realtor

Well, I'll probably get burned by some people on the .org but even though my owners manual says to use 5W30 motor oil, I decided to try Mobil one 5W20 in my 2K2 Max. So far the engine starts very good and the oil pumps up very quickly. I don't have any smoke issues. I'll have to keep an eye on the oil consumption to make sure that the level doesn't drop too fast. This is the recommended oil for new Acuras, Hondas, Fords and Mazdas. I figured that 5W20 oils were not around back in 2001 when my car was built. But sooner or later all new car manufacturers will recommended it for new cars b/c it helps save gas. Any opinions good or bad are welcomed. Car has 72K miles.

Decoy036SPD

iTrader: (1)

no reason to change to 5w-20. I highly doubt that using 5w-20 'will save you gas'.

manufacturers tell you to use a certain oil for a reason.

realtor

The American Petroleum Institute (API) uses a round symbol on the label of most approved motor oil bottles or quarts. On the lower portion of the symbol you'll notice the designation "energy conserving". You'll only see that designation on 10W30, 5W30, 5W20 and 0W30 oils. 10W40, 20W50, 30, 40 and 50 grade oils don't have it b/c they are thicker and don't help engines save gas. Oils that are thinner pump up a lot faster when the engine is cranked up and lubricate all the moving parts with close tolerances a lot easier than heavy weight oils.

mist max2000

iTrader: (16)

yes.. that is very true,.. but theres a point where you shouldnt go beyond cuz it can end up costing you more money then that .87 cents per 15 gallons that you are saving... if at all lol,.... im not saying that 5w20 is bad,.. but if thinner were always better,.. we should all go and put vegetable oil in our cars

JohnWEngle

According to the owners manual (for 2002), the recommended oil is a 5w-30 viscosity oil and it should have an API rating of SJ. It's questionable as to whether you would improve your fuel economy and if you do, it will be small at best. Then, there is the possibility that you risk damaging your engine. If it were my choice, I'd opt for protection vs fuel economy. I doubt you'll save enough money from increased fuel economy to offset the cost of an engine rebuild. And since you live in Florida, reducing your high temperature protection doesn't seem wise. In fact, you could likely use for the optional 10w-30 or even better, then 10w-40 oil specified in the owners manual.

Kevon1

iTrader: (12)

You cant go by what car companys recommend because there opinions are bias. They are looking out for themselves by recommending 5w20 motor oil in there cars because of the C.A.F.E regulations. Every extra mile per gallon helps the car companys save "BIG" money but does necessarily benifit your engine or the consumer I would gladly give up a mile or two for solid protection for my engine. Here is a little quote for you................" Under the CAFE provisions of this law U.S. manufacturers would be fined $5 for every vehicle they produced for each l/lOth of a mile per gallon by which their fleet average failed to meet the mandated mileage targets. The fines were to apply to all vehicles if the company missed the fleet target, not merely the inefficient ones. This meant that if a company failed to meet a target by one mpg, and produced 8 million vehicles, it would have to pay $400 million in fines for that model year. Recognizing the punitive nature of these penal ties, Congress left open the option of a reduction in the mileage targets in certain cases." You can read the whole article here http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/bg426.cfm

Redstone

The key thing you have to remember here is that engine of the these newer cars you are referring to might be built to handle this type of oil. Now I am no oil expert, but I would check to make sure there is no significant difference between the 5W30 and the 5W20 grade oil. I generally use 5W30 in my 03, but I have also used 10W30 too in the past. For my own peace of mind I perfer to stick to the recommended grade, but sometimes if I can't find that in the store then I opt for the 10W30 instead.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Here's A33Black's link to the European VQ oil chart. 5W20 is specified for 14*F or below and "not for sustained high speed driving."

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2146165

optimus1

You should Amsoil series 2000 0W/30. pours like water, lasts b/c its a true synthetic. It has been around for a long time, been using it since '95 in all my cars. NO OIL BURNING. They recommend the weight of oil due to clearances in the motor. too thin of an oil will lead to shear damage at higher engine revs. the weight is very important!

BigFly_2K2SE

iTrader: (1)

IMO, 5W20 in our engines is not a good idea and I'll tell you why I think that.

1. C.A.F.E. See CCS's link to the European VQ oil recommendations. They are different than North America. Why? The C.A.F.E. influence is quite likely the reason. So if the manufacturer is recommending the thicker oils in Europe outside the influence of CAFE, which do you think is better for your engine?

2. www.bobistheoilguy.com. Go to this website and look at the Used Oil Analysis (UOAs) for the VQ. You will see that the best UOA's reported for the VQ have been using a thick 30 weight oil. Even Mobil1 SS 5W-30 seems to be on the thin side of what the VQ prefers (it is a THIN 30 weight oil - almost a 20 weight).

However, rather than listening to a bunch of faceless people on the internet, if you want to run a 5W-20......go for it. But at the very least be diligent about it. Take a sample of used oil for a UOA and let your ENGINE tell you what it thinks of 5W-20. And visual "observations" are NOT a substitute for a UOA.

P. Samson

Note that on the Euro spec. chart the 5W-30 isn't even recommended for temps. over 59 deg. F. If you want to keep an engine together under heavy duty use, you can't beat viscosity!

BigFly_2K2SE

iTrader: (1)

The one thing I don't understand looking at the European VQ oil recommendations is why they would say a 10W30 is okay for temps above 59F but a 5W30 is not? At engine operating temps, those two oils should be very close to the same viscosity and it's even possible that the 5W30 could be thicker.

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

put some Peanut oil in it and see what it does....... use Mobil and be done with it.

realtor

The one thing I don't understand is that my owners manual recommends 5W30 for all ambient temps. all the way to 100 deg. F.

P. Samson

Don't get confused here. The Euro spec. car oil chart quoted above IS different from the North American one. As someone above mentioned, the US Gov't has dictated fuel economy requirements for the auto manufacturers leading to the recommended oils being "Energy Conserving" lower viscosity oils, to help the manufacturers meet the fuel economy requirements. These requirements are not applicable to the cars sold in Europe and therefore the oil recommendations are different. They tend to drive like hell there, compared to the average driver here, and in a lot of places the highway speed limits are higher (the Autobahn for example) than what we have here, so they are trying to keep the engines "together" under more severe conditions in many ways. People tend to hang on to cars longer there as well I figure.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

well, duh. Show me one org member here that doesn't drive like hell at some point or another and doesn't want to keep their engine "together". That's the point In any case, it's his engine so he can do whatever he wants. That said, I recommend at UOA at lease every 2k miles, especially in FLA.

P. Samson

CCS2k.....You recommend an oil analysis every 2k miles? Get real. Oil analysis for most org. members is not only overkill, it's a complete waste of time and money, and can be nothing but a can of worms. It's not an aircraft engine, a fleet engine, nor is it likely used in racing etc. Anyway I was simply explaining that the charts are different, and obviously he can use any oil he wants. So......what's YOUR point again!

CoolMax

iTrader: (7)

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=227996
I wonder what Bob would say?
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

Kevon1

iTrader: (12)

UOA is a great way to see how the engine is performing & how well the oil is holding up. I know longer do a uoa on a regular basis but when I switched to synthetic oil 40,000 miles ago I did a UOA after every oil change to make sure the synthetic was holding up. I did this like 4 times over a year & a Half span. Mobil 1 synthetic & a Mobil 1 M110 filter after 6000 miles & the oil was perfect. I never went further then 6000 miles but I could have. UOA is a great tool especialy if you had a base UOA from when the car was new like I did.

P. Samson

If you use the recommended oils and change it and the filter at the recommended periodicity or better (and use some common sense), the average auto owner is unlikely to ever see anything "abnormal" in an oil analysis report. The rate of wear in an auto engine should be, and usually is, VERY slow. The engines and oils are so good. Thus the 200,000 mi. plus with no problems that you hear about all the time. Auto engines are relatively simple, plain bearing type engines that spend most of their life "loafing" along, maybe "pushed" for a few seconds once in a while. Oil analysis absolutely makes sense in industries/operations where the engines are worth big bucks, operate fairly consistantly at relatively high power settings, the operator has a maintenance program/trend monitoring system and the technical knowledge and support, for safety/to help prevent catastrophic failures requiring more costly repairs, and for engines that will have a long service life including periodic repairs/overhauls. If you want try it as Kevon1 did above, for maybe peace of mind or a learning exercise, go for it, but it is unlikely that you will see anything of concern in an OA report for your car.

realtor

Well Ok ,Ok guys. You all convinced me to change the oil again. I went back to Mobil one 5W30. Any complaints? BTW, I hope you are not too concerned about the 5W20 oil that I drained out of my Max. I poured the oil in my 1998 Quest minivan with more than 200K miles. I'm pretty sure that nobody cares about the engine on my Quest. So far there is no smoke issues either.

98sebring

I only use 5w30 synthetic.