This was a new one on me. My new van calls for 5W/20 motor oil. I took back four cases of Havoline 5w/30 (purchased for 89 cents per quart) and was able to trade for 5W/20. How much different is 5W/20 from 5W/30? Why do so few places stock 5W/20? I usually buy at Wal-Mart but they only stock the shelf with no extra cases and many Wal-Marts don't even stock Havoline 5W/20 yet.

 

I suspect that 5W20 isn't more readily available becaus the majority of the cars on the road are spec'd for something else and among those whose vehicles are spec'd for it, they are still reluctant to use such a "thin" oil, thereby making it less attractive for many. That's just a guess. If you do a search you'll see that many on the board (including myself) are using 5W/20 to good effect. MANY UOAs have shown 5W/20 to be great oil so you should not be skeptical.

 

I think 5w20s are not a whole lot thinner than 5w30. Nothing like the big jump down from 10w40 to 10w30. Right now the only 5w20 I will run is Redline, but then none of my vehicles are supposed to run 5w20. (I have a load of Redline 5w20 in the '92 Aerostar 3.0 right now.)

 

Right now the only 5w20 I will run is Redline


may i ask why????????

 

If the 5w-20 meets Ford's new spec (I forget the spec number - look in your owner's manual) then it is pretty darn good oil, from what I have read. The Ford spec is very tight, and the only way to meet it is to be a semi-syn.

So while I was like most of you, and did not see any point to a 5w-20 (at least in TX), from what I have read, the 5w-20 will probably be a better oil than the 5w-30, although a doubt that it is all that much better than a 5w-30 meeting the new API SM spec.

 

Only one of my vehicles was back specified for 5w20 by Ford. That is the '95 F150 300 inline six, but that engine just makes specification oil pressure with a 10w40! The Aerostar that I am running the Redline in is not back specified (though the next year's Aerostar is) and so I feel comfortable with the Redline 5w20 as it has the high temperature/high sheer viscosity of a typical 10w30.

As for whether I would run a 5w20 in a newer Ford that was originally specified for 5w20, I don't know. I am inclined to run the 10w30 minimum in everything. Most 5w20 seem to perform quite well in their application, but I doubt there is much margin for error (overheating or other abuse) since they have very low HTHS viscosities around 2.6 to 2.8 IIRC.

Finally, I don't believe that just because the manufacturer says 5w20 is the best thing for a vehicle that it really is. They are heavily biased to thin oil to save money from avoiding CAFE fines. If their engineers truly said it was best that would be great, but the bean counters skewed that and then the engineers had to figure out a way to make it work (at least for the warranty period) and probably the main stop gap to make these thin oils work was adding a higher volume oil pump (my guess).

 

I've heard that the bearings inside ford modular engines have such tight tolerances that 5/20 is desired to keep cool oil flowing throughout the engine. Thinner oil will lubricate just as well as thicker oil, but it is the sheer strength that I question also. I think I'd opt for a good synthetic 5/20 if I had a new vehicle rather than one with 225,000 miles.

Tony

 

5W-20 i sbecoming more and more common. you should be able to find it through any major brand at this point. i know Pennzoil, Valvoline, Castrol, and Mobil 1 all make it just to name a few...

Mike

 

The main reason 5W-20 may be still hard to find some places is the same reason 5W-30 was hard to find about a decade ago. The vast majority people with new cars still under warranty pay someone else to do oil changes. The do-it-yourself market even today still demands a lot of 10W-40, that is what the parts stores stock. Since 5W-20 is limited to just two makes so far, Ford and Honda, the demand will ramp up even more slowly than 5W-30 did.

Jim

 

What do Ford specify for cars sold elsewhere, for instance, in Europe?

 

My users manual for my 2000 F-150 4.2L says to use 5W20 synthetic blend. Sticker under the hood says to use 5W30 oil. I have always used the 5W30 since thats whats physically on the truck. However, I am switching to 5W20 synthetic blend the next oil change, because I noticed for the first time in my neck of the woods, the 5W20 synthetic blend Motorcraft is actually cheaper than my Penzoil 5W30 that I have used for years. I'll let you know next month what I think about the synthetic blend. No opinion about performance yet.

 

I use Motocraft 5W-20 in my 2002 F-150 with the 4.6L V-8. My last UOA was good except for the silicon #. But that seems "normal" with these engines.

Whimsey

 

It is interesting that the 4.0 OHC engine used in the Mustang, Ranger and Explorer specifies 5W-30 and not 5W-20. That engine is made by Ford in Germany.

In spite of much higher fuel prices, Europe, and the rest of the world, has been much slower in recommending thinner grades than in North America. They tax the heck out of gasoline to make people conserve, we pass CAFE regulations for the same reason. This shifts the burden from the consumer to the manufacturer. So much for the US having less regulations than the EU.

Europe is also different in that extended oil change intervals and synthetic oils are the norm and dealers do almost all the service. We still prefer cheaper oil and dumping it much more often at quick lubes. 5W-20 blend is more than adequate for 5000 mile intervals, but not 10-15,000. Some used BMW's are full of sludge at least partly because the 5W-30 synthetic sold here cannot last 15,000 miles. In Europe, XW-40 gas/diesel-rated syn is the most common factory fill.

Jim

 

Along the same lines (and probably for the same reasons), Ford still recommends 5W-30 for the "older" pushrod 4.0L ('90-'00), which is/was also built in Cologne, Germany.

 

My 2005 Dodge calls for 5W20 (3.3 and 3.8 liter. 3.0 liter still calls for 5W/30).