5w20 or 5w30

[Wild one]

So the MDS uses a slide valve actuated where it must move quickly in order to activate. If you use 5-30 the oil is thicker and may not allow the valves to move fast enough for a smooth transition. Also the bearing clearances and drain backs are very tight on the new engines, thicker the oil actually reduces the lubrication on the bearing surfaces and slows flow. If you damage your engine and the manufacturer can prove u used the wrong oil, buh bye warranty. Use a high quality stay in grade synthetic and you will NOT have issues. The lifter/cam issues on SOME 5.7’s was related to faulty bearing in the cam rollers... do not listen to the dibblers on here saying run higher weight oils. It’s total BS.....

If FCA's own printed manual up till 2017 states "5W-30 is acceptable if 5W-20 isn't available",your warrenty is still going to be intact for your 2009 to 2017 ,(and i'd argue the point that it should still be acceptable after that,as the engines haven't changed since the introduction of VVT in the 09 5.7 trucks),whether you run 5W-20 or 5W-30 as long as they both meet Ma Mopars specs for oil.To bad some of you guys don't have the 700+ page printed owners manual,as it has some very good info in it,that might change your tune as far as oil weights go

 

[Burla]

So the MDS uses a slide valve actuated where it must move quickly in order to activate. If you use 5-30 the oil is thicker and may not allow the valves to move fast enough for a smooth transition. Also the bearing clearances and drain backs are very tight on the new engines, thicker the oil actually reduces the lubrication on the bearing surfaces and slows flow. If you damage your engine and the manufacturer can prove u used the wrong oil, buh bye warranty. Use a high quality stay in grade synthetic and you will NOT have issues. The lifter/cam issues on SOME 5.7’s was related to faulty bearing in the cam rollers... do not listen to the dibblers on here saying run higher weight oils. It’s total BS.....

Nobody is telling anyone to do anything, just discussing the options for someone to weigh for themselves. Nobody cares what you decide to run in your truck, it's your equipment now, not the gov'ts or the manu's, but yours. I can promise you nobody on the planet cares more about how your truck lasts long term more then YOU. Take in all the info, good points on both sides, and make you own decision.

 

[Ed F]

I will never understand peoples' compulsion to defy the manufacturer's recommendation on oil.

Do you think they are trying to sabotage you with a deliberately wrong recommendation? Do you have a concept in your mind that oil quality is directly correlated with viscosity and more is always better? If the manufacturer recommends round tires do you find square ones to spite them?

I'm trying to understand what's happening here..

 

[Ed F]

I will never understand peoples' compulsion to defy the manufacturer's recommendation on oil.

I think what may run across some minds is that the manufacturer will specify whatever oil will give the best CAFE numbers with no regard to engine life. Just make it last through the warranty period and it would probably do that if you never changed the factory fill.

Do you think they are trying to sabotage you with a deliberately wrong recommendation? Do you have a concept in your mind that oil quality is directly correlated with viscosity and more is always better? If the manufacturer recommends round tires do you find square ones to spite them?

I'm trying to understand what's happening here..

 

[Octane]

With those square chevy truck wheel openings one might think that square tires would be recommended by those same "engineers"

 

[Octane]

https://images.app.goo.gl/dSZf5j44ghRN3geF9

 

[Octane]

https://images.app.goo.gl/dSZf5j44ghRN3geF9

These same engineers like 5w20 oil

 

[MTS]

I find it hilarious that following the actual instructions that come with the machine has become a controversial position. You guys put milk in your ramen because it says add water?

I like your common sense. Seems some folks read something or hear something and suddenly it becomes gospel. Now go over to the gas versus diesel forum and straighten some of those crazy-ass folks up;o)

 

[CYSTemrebel]

Ho hum. I know a man who is a qualified machinist who built engines for race cars. He taught a course on lubricants and owns a 1963 Dodge with a Wedge 426 and a race car. I asked him a few weeks ago about this oil controversy here and he asked me:

-what is the mileage

-what oil have you been using

-what engine is in the truck

After answering the questions he opined that I could use 10w-30 no problem and were it his truck he would have done so after it hit the 300,000 km He stated the worn surfaces of the engine components will easily be worn enough and large enough to allow oil delivery and subsequent lubrication of the surfaces and that he would even consider 10W-30 as a minimum grade of the lowest denominator. I have been running 5w-20 for 12 years and looking at his credentials, background, years of experience and qualification, I will next oil change continue synthetic but will go to 10W-30.

 

[Burla]

Ho hum. I know a man who is a qualified machinist who built engines for race cars. He taught a course on lubricants and owns a 1963 Dodge with a Wedge 426 and a race car. I asked him a few weeks ago about this oil controversy here and he asked me:

-what is the mileage

-what oil have you been using

-what engine is in the truck

After answering the questions he opined that I could use 10w-30 no problem and were it his truck he would have done so after it hit the 300,000 km He stated the worn surfaces of the engine components will easily be worn enough and large enough to allow oil delivery and subsequent lubrication of the surfaces and that he would even consider 10W-30 as a minimum grade of the lowest denominator. I have been running 5w-20 for 12 years and looking at his credentials, background, years of experience and qualification, I will next oil change continue synthetic but will go to 10W-30.

Are you a Nuck? We discuss oil a lot here, there is a new thing with many ram forum members, and it is cold what seams to be piston slap, only happens when cold. I'm sure that fella knows ten times more then me, but we have many ram forum members experiencing the same thing. Point being, why 10w30 instead of 0w30? If you live in the cold, I would consider 0w30, because when warm both oils are about the same viscosity, it is just that 0w30 will help that oil when you start your truck. Just something to consider, if you do get piston slap with 10w30 you could always drain a couple quarts and add back some 0w20 to thin it out. Good day

 

[Wild one]

Are you a Nuck?

LMAO never really heard that one before,but it fits us nutbars who are dumb enough to live up here in the winter.Even the damn birds are smarter then us Canucks,they get the hell out of here in the winter,lol

 

[tidefan1967]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the 2008 and earlier HEMI's don't have much in common, the biggest thing being is cam/lifter problems. As I recall an occasional dropped valve was their problem and it was a far more rare occurrence than chewed up cams are on the Eagle motors. I would assume you could run Singer sewing machine oil in the older motors and it would be about the same as 5W20. That being said I wouldn't worry about it too much with those engines as they are not the same. Also the lifter that FU'd up in my 2015 RAM was #5 which is not an MDS lifter I'm pretty sure so its not an MDS problem.

I realize that its a different engine but try a Ford 4.6, 5.4 and especially the 5.0 on a thicker oil(5W50 is best) and see how much quieter they are not to mention significantly less wear in the cam phaser department.

 

[Rick R]

I would think that engine tolerances would increase with normal wear and thicker viscosities would be necessary to maintain the lubrication between bearing and cylinder surfaces. I have always used a higher viscosity oil in an aging engine.

 

[eddie046]

I bought my 2019 5.7 classic 3 weeks ago. Has 12,000 miles and I did an oil change with 5w20 conventional oil with the mopar spec. I'm wondering if i should stick with 5w20 or switch to 5w30 eventually. Either way I'd probably stick with non-synthetic.

Congrats on your purchase. As others have said I highly recommend going with a full synthetic on these engines. Been using 5W20 Mobil 1 with a Mobil 1 filter every 5K miles since my first oil change and at 41K miles no issues our odd sounds at all.

 

[Kukailimoku]

My manual specifies 5w-20 conventional or synthetic. For all models with the 5.7 in all climates.
Will something else work? Apparently it does.
But why wouldn't I go with what the design engineers recommend? I'm sure they've tested thousands of engines both complete and in sub assemblies.

The Titanic was built by experts.
The Ark was built by an amateur.

 

[BacavilleHemi]

Let me throw in what use in my 2015 Ram 5.7 Express.
0w-40 Mobil all year around. It runs really well and no ticking noise.
MDS is off from Pulsar Edge Tuner. Love this tuner!
Trying new Cooper Zeon tires. They work great in the rain.





View attachment 189654

 

[Kukailimoku]

The problem is that the engineers get overruled by the bean counters.

For all we know the FCA engineers are shaking their heads right now as the bean counters force thinner and thinner oils on customers.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Yeah, if bean counting and CAFE were trumping sound engineering, then how come we've never ever had an engineer come into these forums and say so?
How come we've never ever had a 20/20 or Nightline or 60minutes break the lid off of these conspiracies?

I guess we have to use 30-weight, FDR let Pearl harbor happen, Bush let 9/11 happen, and Trump colluded with Russia to steal Hillary's election. Yup, let's blow off the manual and switch oils...

On the other hand, the Titanic was designed and built by experts and the Ark was built by an amateur old man, so.....yeah, maybe we SHOULD switch oil.


Dang it these threads never resolve anything, do they?

 

[KJ6MTJ]

My 2Cents - I run Royal Purple 5w20 Synthetic Oil with a K&N 1018 filter (no one stocks the RP Filter around here), Have 20K on truck, I no longer have the Hemi Tick and I also run in it in Tow Mode due to how well it performs and operates. It compliments the Flowmaster exhaust. Think the combination of running good synthetic oil and few more RPMS shifting +500 to 1000 more RPM's a gear, helps avoid that HEMI tick. I've had very little burn off during my oil changes so think how I'm driving her and what im doing so far is working.

 

[boblonben]

5W30 for sure. Gives you much better oil pressure after the oil temperature warms up and especially if you do a lot of idling which is really bad for the HEMI and may possibly contribute to cam/lifter problems later on. Not worth the risk not to run it. By the way every oil receipt I have for my truck says 5W20 on it.

so, cheating makes it better???? enjoy.

 

[chrisbh17]

Yeah, if bean counting and CAFE were trumping sound engineering, then how come we've never ever had an engineer come into these forums and say so?
How come we've never ever had a 20/20 or Nightline or 60minutes break the lid off of these conspiracies?

I guess we have to use 30-weight, FDR let Pearl harbor happen, Bush let 9/11 happen, and Trump colluded with Russia to steal Hillary's election. Yup, let's blow off the manual and switch oils...

On the other hand, the Titanic was designed and built by experts and the Ark was built by an amateur old man, so.....yeah, maybe we SHOULD switch oil.


Dang it these threads never resolve anything, do they?

Because engineers like being employed. We know for a fact that FCA is on these forums in at least some small capacity.

How come we never see RAMCares commenting on any posts made by people having to shell out $5K for cam and lifter replacement?