Oil Discussion

Brandon and I are having a debate, lets open it up to the board.

Brandon runs 20W50 in his Talon. I say run 10W30.

His argument: Cooling properties
My argument: Too thick for the tight tolerances and passages, as well as too high oil pressure for the car.

Discuss.

I also ran 20w50 in my 94 for 2 years, no issues, I switched to 5w30 in the winter time for less wear on the engine when cold starting.

I heard the factory book said something wierd 20w40.

I always have rocked 10w30 never had an issue.

I have been running 20w50 in my talon for 12yrs with out a problem.

What I would like to know is why? What performance gains or longevity would you gain from running this thick an oil?

I'm all up for switching, if I can learn why. Sure there is research, but it's more fun this way.

Actually I just checked I have 5w50 castrol in right now.

I'm reppin' for the 20w50!

Better cooling and lubricating properties in high heat applications, like our disgusting humid summers here in Canada.

I'm with Brandon on this one

I've only used CASTROL 10W30.

I can't put anything over 10w 30 in mine because my oil pressure will go off the charts. Perhaps that's because my motor is a piece of crap but still. I vote lower.

Added a poll to make thing easier.

Adding a poll will not really make it easier, because you were trying to tell me that 20w50 will blow my seals in my motor. And the discussion is more so is 20w50 bad for your motor, or is it good for your motor, not what oil do you use.

A lot of people just look in the owners manual, see 10w30, and are like ok, good enough. Where I think that 10w30 definitely makes the cut in the summer and winter, but I think that 5w30 is way too thin for this turbo motor in the summer, I think 10w30 is just making the cut but will still thin out pretty good.

I think oils like 5w40, 20w50, or 15w40 will provide better lubrication to the motor and help to disperse heat better, when it's hotter outside, anything over 15 degrees and sunny.

Even with 20w50, I never had an issue with lifter tick, or anything like that. Granted, I switch it out around October to a 5w30.

I'm not trying to tell you it will blow your seals in the motor, I'm telling you the high oil pressure caused by a decrease in viscosity will not help your seals in your motor, as the increased pressure puts strain on them.

Why do you think guys port their oil relief valves when they do a B/S elimination? Too high of oil pressure IS NOT good for a motor.

As for the cooling aspect, yes I would agree that a thicker oil does help with cooling, and yes it will lubricate better than say a 5W30 or 10W30.

I am looking at this from a performance aspect, would 20W50 be a better oil to use than say 10W30, and why?

Like I said before, I want to learn.

I will have to install a nice oil pressure gauge from auto meter soon again and we will find out exactly what kind of oil pressure it runs the car at. I don't remember what it was at on my 94.

Also, maybe they port their oil relief valves so they can run 20w50 at a lower oil pressure

You know it's funny the one time I used 10w30 in my car I found driving in hot stop and go traffic my oil light would come on at idle.I had to give it a little gas to get it off,when I put 20w50 back in it went away.

I have always used 10w30 in my cars. Anything thicker and the engine feels to sluggish. My biggest concern has always been about fuel ecomony, and 10w30 seems like a good compromise. Enough protection without putting to much stress on the motor.

10w30 seems too thick on a cold spring or fall day, I wouldn't ever put 20w50 in. I switch to 5w30 when I change the oil at the end of summer.

I would say run the thinner oil and change it more religiously!

I know when I fire up my car in late fall this year running 10W30, my oil pressure skyrocketted quite high, upwards of 100+psi on a cold startup.

I could only imagine what it would be with 20W50!

Marco runs 20w50.

IMO, asking what you run, without any sort of details on when your running it, or where, how you plan to drive, isn't super helpful.

Secondly, one man's notchy is another mans 'tight'. So your going to get plenty of un-quantifiable opinions on this topic.

Fun winter conversation anyhow

I wouldn't feel bad about running 20w50 in my race motor, that's been clearanced, that's warmed up to (oil!) temp before it's expected to take load, on a 20c day, then expected to take an absolute pounding for 10 seconds, and head back to the paddock with a cool-down.

Would I put it in my daily driver that starts in -20, and probably hasn't hit target oil temp by the time it's parked? No oil pressure/temp gauge? Not a chance. It'll get 5w30.

Horses for courses. Oil's a tool sized to fit a job, not an exact science.

FWIW Ryan, the time it takes to get 20w up to the head from a cold start would worry me. And depending on where your sourcing your oil for the turbo, it might be running without oil for a few seconds every time it starts. I'd side with you and say for a street car, in the summer, 10w30 makes a fairly well rounded oil in all but the most demanding heat/pressure.

Paul

The issue is not the oil breaking down quicker, the issue that on an extremely hot day, 10w30 will thin out too much and I believe, cause additional wear and tear on your engine while it's being run hard.

Of course there are different applications for different oil.

I will be trying a 5w40 or a 5w50 full synthetic this summer to see how it is on the oil pressure gauge and how my engine seems to like it. 5w50 or 5w40 will provide me with an oil that will flow nicely on start up, but after heated will be nice and thick still for the cooling properties.

And on a cold start, if the oil pressure is 10 - 20 psi higher than it is with 5w30, you wouldn't have to worry about it reaching your head or your turbo in time!

And also, like mentioned before, I switch my oils depending on the time of the year, 5w30 in the winter, 20w50 in the summer. Or well, 5w40 or 5w50 this summer

Paul hit the nail on the head.

Mine is a street car so my comment was biased as such

I agree a heavier oil may be better for the race track. Don't get stuck with your 20w on a cold morning! Or do, let us know how it goes!

20w50 is for summer shouldn't be run under zero degrees 10w30 is good to run to -18 and for us in Canada we should be running 5w30 cause it can get below -18 cause its good to -30.

before i got my talon he was running 20w50 mobile 1 all the way up to 173,000kms but was never winter driven, and since i am driving in the winter, i switched it to 10w30 Royal purple. (just for the winter)

But Brandon your right it all matters how hot your engine gets to what you should use. but it also depends on the outside temperature.

Agreed. If you run your car in the winter 20w will take a while to get up to temp. I would run castrol 5w50 or 5w40 in that case.
If you run 50psi on a nice summer day 20w50 offers greater film strength etc. I am running Mobil1 15w50 in the summer. My father who raced autin mini's for years still disagrees though. "Thats what a ran in the racer 25 years ago, oil has changed since then" he says. lol

Hmmm, definitely some food for thought.

So, since the car is a summer DD, a 20W50 could, theoretically, help "quiet" the motor, reduce phantom knock, and keep pressure higher at idle.

Perhaps a 10W30 in the spring, 20W50 in the summer, then back to a 10W30 in the fall.

Oil viscosity would change with me depending on the season.

Can always try it out, you will know almost instantly if the motor doesn't agree with the oil. And if not, then drain it out and put in a thinner weight of oil.

I only ever used Amsoil 20W50 once in my DSM one summer and vowed NEVER to use it again. It slowed the car down. Car felt like it had gained 10hp, like the equivalent of going from a stock air filter to a K&N when I switched back to 10W30.

If you don't want high oil presssure don't remove your goddammed balance shafts!

or you can port the releif valve opening

I have never ever ported the relief valve at all on any DSM's I have owned, and have run all of them without b shafts for the last 10 years with no issues at all with excessive oil pressure causing problems

my 2 cents:
10w30 Mobil 1 spring/summer/autumn (street car)

That's because you are a freak of the DSM World!!

I haven't had issues either. With 20w50 aswell. My new build will get the treatment just for the hell of it. Again if Marco does it, I do it.

20w50 is on special for $2 a litre @walmart - im going to stock up

What brand?

castrol gtx

oh snap, I'm definitely going to stock up

Is the 10w30 on sale too?

Read: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

I am starting to reconsider using 20w-50. The oem book has a highest number of 20w-40 for the hottest condition and lowest of 5w-30. They must also meet API SG or SG/CD, whatever that means.

The best all-around is 10w40 synthetic. Great low temp. flow and five minutes later when your engine is hot,

Summer time, if you are running some decent track sessions, run a 20w50. Just remember if you run a 'race oil' you have to change it more frequently as it doesn't have all the detergents, etc. that a non-race oil does for extended drain intervals. Sure, your oil pressure will be a little higher but putting around town but after 20minutes on track...I don't think so.

I haven't had any issues using 10w40 for winter, summer, and track (race track, not drag). No balance shafts and no oil pressure issues.

If I was serious drag racing, I'd use as low-visc. oil that I can get away with. Maybe a 0w20.