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Old 08-03-2004, 01:38 PM   #1
ahatley
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Question oil weight, why not 20-50

Why is no one thinking of using 20-50 to reduce some of that oil loss in the hot summer? Does anyone have a definite reason for not using 20-50 other than the label saying not to use? My aurora 4.0 is running now on 10-30 and losing some oil. Andy
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Old 08-03-2004, 03:45 PM   #2
newscarver
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Re: oil weight, why not 20-50

its not likly to matter all that much providing you dont use it into the colder months...good lubrication depend upon easy flowing oil at all temperatures...the heavier the oil the harder it is for the oil pump to move it around...you may have see this toy at garages to advertise lucas oil products.. you turn the 2 cranks and you can see that the one with the lucas additive stays on the gears better, what isnt mentioned is that it takes a lot more effort to turn the crank with heavier lubricant, in real engine life this means more gas to power the same engine. if you look at different grades of the same brand of oil you will notice that 5-20,5-30,10-30 usually say somthing about being fuel effecient, this is never stated on 10-40 or 20-50
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Old 08-03-2004, 10:26 PM   #3
BigDaddyB83
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With it being as hot as it has been I was wondering if I should use a heavier weight oil. when my car gets hot it seems that the oil get too thin and my car starts to clader loudly. when I start moving agian and the car cools of it goes away but as it warms up it starts to tick agian any suggstions now am am using Val Max Life 10w-30 how about 40 in the summer? or what do you think might help.
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Old 08-04-2004, 10:54 AM   #4
philipja
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I was using Castrol 10/30 and it would get thin on me and burn a qt between changes. I went to Mobil 1 10/30. Now have 3000 on the Mobil one, full and still clean. Will never go back to Castrol. As for valvoline, it does not fair well on tests. I had a site that compared all the major brands. If I can find it again, I will post it. I think I will try synthetic next.. Mobil 1. the only thing holding me back is the 5 buc price tag... Oh, I also went to Mobil 1 filter. 10 microns... happy car!
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Old 08-04-2004, 04:18 PM   #5
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Some say that thicker oil may take longer to get to all of the bearings etc. during startup when a lot of wear occurs, so a thicher oil may solve the short term problem but lead to other more expensive problems down the road.

Maybe try a different brand of oil.
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Old 08-05-2004, 12:45 PM   #6
Roraman
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First, look at what oil does. It cools, cleans, scavenges and lubricates. The ability to cool is negligible for most of us, although thinner oil will theoretically cool easier. Viscosity really has nothing to do with the ability to clean (detergents, buffers, etc.) so we won't go there. Scavenging a little more so but not important enough for this post (the ability to hold contaminants in suspension to the filter medium). Lubricating, wow, where do we start? Oil forms a fluid wedge between the friction surfaces to prevent metal to metal. The tolerances between these parts are much smaller today than they ever were due to materials available, forging/machining techniques, and the R&D implemented in the engineering. The use of thicker oil is more often than not unnecessary. It causes power loss, elevated oil pressure, and decreased fuel mileage, given that they are used under the same conditions. To tell you the truth, I haven't owned any vehicles that didn't lose at least a quart of oil between changes. That's everything from my Corvair, El Camino, Prelude, Integra, assortment of mini-vans, to my current cars, an Expedition and of course, the left handed Aurora of death! The problem is finding a happy medium. If you live in Yuma, you may have to use a 20-50 oil to maintain the proper oil pressure. If you live in Seattle, you can probably live with a 5-30. A previous post described hearing valve clatter. Is that because your oil is too thin for your region? You may have to use a heavier oil due to your local conditions. People also use heavier oils in worn engines to fill the increased tolerances from wear. Sometimes, a heavier oil is used in smoking engines because it doesn't leak past the valve seals as readily. There is no one standard that can be applied to every car in every region. Usually the only time you will experience low oil pressure is at idle. If memory serves correct, my 327 in my ElCamino used to idle with less than 10 PSI. I'm happy with a 10 PSI per 1000 RPM rule. Thinner oils are happier than heavier oils being pumped at low temps so don't be surprised to hear some valve clatter upon start up if you live in Minnesota and run 20-50 in the winter.
BTW, I use 5-30 in FL w/ 95+ temps. I still have great oil pressure and I don't lose any more than if I were using 10-30. It's also very rare for my coolant temp to go above 200 degrees.
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Old 08-06-2004, 11:14 PM   #7
dsatt12
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Re: oil weight, why not 20-50

I've seen in a couple of places that it's normal for northstar engines to use a little oil also. I personally notice I use some oil with 5w-30 but not so much with 10-30. I keep the 20-50 valvoline racing oil for my motorcycle. You want clatter, you should listen to the damn clutch system on an '81 Kawasaki cruiser
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Old 10-18-2017, 09:58 AM   #8
uncledick
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Re: oil weight, why not 20-50

oil viscosity has two numbers ex: 20-50 weight. The first number is the operating viscosity when hot and the second is the viscosity when cold. Some oils are not rated at both extremes and are just ex: 30 weight. Running a higher hot viscosity to prevent oil loss is not a problem, also running a thinner cold viscosity in winter (up north) is not a problem either. Synthetic oil reaches "thermo-breakdown" temp at a higher temperature then standard oil. They also have chemicals to reduce the amount of moisture oils pick up during use. This moisture burns off during operation and creates hot spots in the engine and in the oil. - that's as simple as I can say it.
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Old 10-18-2017, 04:34 PM   #9
maxwedge
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Re: oil weight, why not 20-50

Welcome to AF. The first number is the cold temp viscosity rating , the second number is the equivalent viscosity at operating temp. In cold weather 20w is too thick for proper engine protection. Btw, please check the dates, this is a 10 year old thread.
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