5w 20 or 5w30

[Dginn69]

Since you brought up amsoil, look at their sheets. 5w30 operates at 10.3 visc, 5w20 operates at 8.8 visc, now look at the next weight up which is 0w40 that operates at viscosity 14.8. The point is 5w20 and 5w30 are thin oils not much difference either way, the 5w30 will give you a little more film strength. You can see when you jump to 40 weight you have a real heavy duty oil, whereas 5w30/5w20 are just your basic passenger vehicle oil. For a 2012 no doubt you want to be thicker, as tolerances widen you don't want thin oil. If you get a used oil analysis sometime, post it in blackstone thread in 4 gen performance section for feedback on what your engine is doing.

EPA uses CAFE standards to force manu's to use thin oils. Since CAFE is impossible to make the goals of, manu's need to prove they tried everything. It has been posted ad naseum. FCA engineers made hemi specific oil 0w40 for a reason, but they literally cant use that oil in a 1500 non HD vejicle.




.

So would it be better to run 0w40 in an older hemi?

 

[Burla]

sure

 

[Sherman Bird]

I know this is a controversial topic; my response to this question is always "the manufacturer's recommendation". Personally, I don't ever think it's a good idea to try and outsmart the engineers who designed an engine.

The engineering departments of OE car manufacturers have hundreds of millions of dollars for R&D and prototype testing cars. SO many people seem to think that the OE manufacturers are easily outsmarted.

A number of years ago, a seemingly intelligent customer brought his GMC 2500HD with a 6.0 Liter engine and was unhappy that the behemoth snarfed gasoline like cheap ale. In hand, he had a device with magnets to "straighten out fuel molecules" if placed on the metal fuel supply line . It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the ludicrous idea that a 20 dollar thing could double one's fuel mileage, as he was thoroughly convinced it would.

Maintaining my professional demeanor, I tried to convince him that the device would not work... but he would have no part in that thinking. So, I put it on.

A few weeks later, I saw him ride by on a motorcycle.

 

[1979PowerWagon360]

Obviously, there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to opinions so we'll all have to go with what we believe and hopefully enjoy our vehicles for a very long time

 

[MontanaHandyman]

The engineering departments of OE car manufacturers have hundreds of millions of dollars for R&D and prototype testing cars. SO many people seem to think that the OE manufacturers are easily outsmarted.

A number of years ago, a seemingly intelligent customer brought his GMC 2500HD with a 6.0 Liter engine and was unhappy that the behemoth snarfed gasoline like cheap ale. In hand, he had a device with magnets to "straighten out fuel molecules" if placed on the metal fuel supply line . It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the ludicrous idea that a 20 dollar thing could double one's fuel mileage, as he was thoroughly convinced it would.

Maintaining my professional demeanor, I tried to convince him that the device would not work... but he would have no part in that thinking. So, I put it on.

A few weeks later, I saw him ride by on a motorcycle.

How does the old saying go? Something like 'no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of people'?

 

[HEMIMANN]

I am living evidence that EPA and accountants call the shots at big corporations.

Lived it, done it, glad to be away from it. 5W-20 is for corporate EPA CAFE limits. Period.

 

[ramffml]

SO many people seem to think that the OE manufacturers are easily outsmarted.

SO many people seem to think engineers only have a single priority and mission (longevity) and can't possibly be influenced by other requirements.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[Whiskerfish]

I did not stay at a holiday in express last night and I am not an oil expert, my question is "are these engines prone to oil related problems/ failures?"
I see a lot of discussion regarding types and viscocity of oils. I see the same thing on my Motorcycle site and the bikes we focus on have extremely low incidence of oil related issues.

 

[Sherman Bird]

SO many people seem to think engineers only have a single priority and mission (longevity) and can't possibly be influenced by other requirements.

Fixed that for ya.

It didn't need fixing.... just comprehension as I meant!

 

[DA Smith]

Interesting thing to me about the oil debate is this, my fifth gen Ram 5.7 Hemi calls for 5w 20 my Challenger 6.4 392 SRT calls for 0w 40. I noticed in the thread that someone has a 2500 6.4 Ram that runs 5w 30 I believe. I know that the 6.4 truck engine is surely built stronger internally than the SRT Challenger but why the different oil recommendations. I use mobil one 0w 40 for my Challenger and 5w 20 Penzoil in my Ram, they both preform well.