Is the trend now to go with lighter viscosity oils in equipment.

[Quickster2]

Search for the video with Motorweek's Pat Goss. Folks that use thicker oil than what is recommended he calls morons. Good video based on facts of modern engines. Use what is recommended in the owners manual assuming you are utilizing the piece of equipment for its intended puirpose (not racing, etc. ).

 

[TractorGuy]

Still running 15W40 in all my diesels. My location allows for that year round and I often operate in high temperatures.

My experience with using lighter weight oil in my vehicles has been positive. I wouldn't have any reservations about using something lighter in my diesels if my stuff wasn't so old or if it had lighter oil from new. I have read that lighter weight oil flows faster and is needed for engines having tighter tolerances.

I have a 99 Ford Mustang and a 2003 F150 that both have the 4.6, 2 valve V8 engines. The Mustang called for 5W30 and the truck called for 5W20. Not sure if it's related but around 80K the Mustang developed some timing chain rattle on start up. After a while I changed it to the 5W20 I was putting in the truck and the problem lessened. The tensioners in these engines have a ratchet that is supposed to prevent them from retracting too far as the guides and chains wear. I think the tensioner on the Mustang finally caught a new tooth because the start up rattle went away and hasn't returned. I have a new timing set on the shelf in case it does.

This car is seldom used but gets a fair amount of track days put on it. It has 118K on the clock now and I imagine 30K are track miles beating the piss out of it. It was always autocrossed but most of the track miles were put on after I changed to the lighter oil. Autocross may be harder on an engine since it is more repetitive first and second gear high revs and deceleration.

The truck which has always had 5W20 oil is at 188K miles and has never made a sound out of place. It has towed the Mustang on a trailer all over the southeast.

 

[Texasmark]

Most of it is EPA driven to meet MPG requirements....clean air. However my current and it's predecessor both insisted you used the oil recommended as the oil pump was designed for that viscosity. Been a known fact that low viscosity oil lubricates better for initial startup so when I go to get Mobil 1 for my truck I move over to the 0-30 rather than the 5-30.

Other thing is tolerances are running "tenths" of a "thousands" rather than thousands....tighter tolerances mean smaller spaces, meaning smaller molecules to get where they belong. With oil pumps matched to the viscosity designed to keep a molecule of lube between moving metallic parts or so, what do you have to loose......spoken from a life long heavy oil guy....except since 2007.

Added brain pfart: Bought a new 2009 Ram Hemi. Had the 4-8-4 cylinder deactivation. OEM oil recommended was 5W-20....that's in a 350+ hp truck engine.....owners manual stated that if you used heavier oil than recommended the deactivation mechanism wouldn't work properly. Ok I let them have it their way.....wasn't sorry.

 

[RickB]

My Kubota M6040 is 2009. I've consistently used Kubota UDT 15w-40. However, the next engine oil change will be with Rotella T4. It's 15w-40 and available at the local NAPA store. Don't have to drive all the way into the dealer in Spokane. Dealer says I do not need full synthetic such as Super UDT ll or Rotella T6.

Now my new Taco Wagon( 2018 Ram Power Wagon) uses full synthetic 0w-40. The dealer uses Kendal super synthetic in the Taco Wagon.

My 2017 BMW R1200 GSA motorcycle uses full synthetic. Made specifically for BMW - $16.95 per quart. But a whole lot of that is branding & fancy jugs.

UDT and Super UDT are hydraulic oils. Hopefully you aren稚 using them in the engine.

 

[WilliamBos]

Been running T6 5W40 since the first oil change.

 

[Grumpycat]

In 1989 I had access to a coworker's SAE Journal. Lots of interesting reading but one paper stuck out heralding the future of 20 weight oils. It wasn't "the government is making us do this" although greater efficiency was desired. What happened was an advance in the understanding of how oil works in plain bearings. Previously it was assumed one must push the oil between the two surfaces and have viscosity and/or oil volume to keep the surfaces apart. Other factors were found to be significant. An engineer from Ford and another from GM co-wrote the paper. Found a lot more is happening in the bearing, that they could make a bearing carry the same load with lighter oil.

They didn't just put lighter oil in the same old bearings. So if your engine says to use 0W-20 then it really is designed to use 0W-20.

That Ford was involved leaves me curious how my state-of-the-art 2.7EB still uses 5W-30 but my very traditional old school Subaru 2.5i uses 0W-20. Then again when the paper was published 10W-40 was the definitive oil.

In short oil viscosity selection is not just "the EPA made us do it." Higher viscosity grades are no assurance of greater protection.

 

[DEWFPO]

Yesterday I was looking through a 2020 Dodge Challenger Owner's Manual at the oil specifications. The 3.6L V6 (305HP) and the 5.7L V8 (375HP) spec 5W20. The 6.2L V8 (supercharged 700+ HP in 3 configurations) and the 6.4L V8 (475HP) normally aspirated higher performance engines spec 0W40 oil.

At one point, Dodge put out a TSB that the 5W20 oil MUST BE USED so the multi-displacement system (MDS) cylinder deactivation system will work properly on those engines that are equipped with it. Yet the 6.4L is spec'd for 0W40 and it has the MDS version of the engine when it is connected to the automatic transmission. The weight of the oil affected the timing of when the engine would transition to/from 4 cyl. to 8 cyl. mode.

But, the 6.4L engine is essentially a bored out version of the 5.7L (with a few other modifications to make more power) and the difference in oil spec is interesting. 5W20 - 0W40.

DEWFPO

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Be careful with the use of lighter oils. They do not protect as well and they are used for fuel mileage in cars. Not a good reason for switching in your heavy equipment. Cars are trying to meet cafe requirements.

 

[MechanicalGuy]

Yesterday I was looking through a 2020 Dodge Challenger Owner's Manual at the oil specifications. The 3.6L V6 (305HP) and the 5.7L V8 (375HP) spec 5W20. The 6.2L V8 (supercharged 700+ HP in 3 configurations) and the 6.4L V8 (475HP) normally aspirated higher performance engines spec 0W40 oil.

At one point, Dodge put out a TSB that the 5W20 oil MUST BE USED so the multi-displacement system (MDS) cylinder deactivation system will work properly on those engines that are equipped with it. Yet the 6.4L is spec'd for 0W40 and it has the MDS version of the engine when it is connected to the automatic transmission. The weight of the oil affected the timing of when the engine would transition to/from 4 cyl. to 8 cyl. mode.

But, the 6.4L engine is essentially a bored out version of the 5.7L (with a few other modifications to make more power) and the difference in oil spec is interesting. 5W20 - 0W40.

DEWFPO

Are you sure the 6.4 has mds? I was under the impression that mds was only 5.7 l

 

[Industrial Toys]

I still run Deere 15w40 plus in all my stuff. The thinner oils does make me wonder why. But then, (apparently for the environment), many diesels don't come with and some don't even offer a block heater. Are the two related? Give me a block heater and my thick old oil.