5w20 or 5w30

[OrchardRamHerder]

I just noticed this 20k/1 year mobil1 5-20 synthetic with matching filter at the store today.
What do you guys think about that in a non towing, light hauling, 100 miles per day highway application for a 09 1500 about to roll over 100k?

 

[HammerHead]

My new Toyota 4 runner runs 0w20 per the manual; the manual also states you can run a thicker oil if the vehicle is operated at high speed, and then goes on to say you should run a 40 weight oil if you live in Central America.
20 weight oils are for CAFE requirements, nothing more.
My buddy at work drives a 2009 Nissan Versa (fart can) with a 1.8 L engine and it calls for 5w30 on a NA engine. The 2009 and earlier Toyota 4 runners All call for 5w30 oils. So what happened in 2010? Tighter CAFE requirements.
Even Rat 540 is recommending 5w30 oils in most daily driven vehicles. Even if the manual calls for a 20 weight oil.

 

[kurek]

Even Rat 540 is recommending 5w30 oils in most daily driven vehicles. Even if the manual calls for a 20 weight oil.

How is 20 worse?

 

[Wild one]

How is 20 worse?

If you sleep better at night running 5W-20 by all means run 5W-20. I highly doubt any of the guys on here are going to break down your front door and force you to run 5W-30,lol. If the majority of your driving is unloaded and short trips where your oil temps may only be getting up to 150/160 maybe 5W-20 is the better oil for you ,the majority of miles I put on my truck are at 75+mph and usually for 2 hours at a time,in my case i'm a believer in 5W-30,lol. A lot depends on the usage of the truck and whether it's making short little trips unloaded,or making longer or higher speed trips and if it's loaded. Personally if I was towing 4,000+lbs i'd be running at bare mininium a 5W-30 just for a little more bearing cushion.Loaded trucks put more stress on the upper half of the rod bearings and that little extra oil cushion probably doesn't hurt.Everytime the engine see's a power stroke the cylinder pressure hammers the upper bearing halves,throw a trailer behind the truck and the load on the upper rod bearing increases

 

[ChrisWilliams]

I mentioned in this thread earlier, the only difference between the two in my truck was higher oil pressure with the 5w30. The 5w30 up to operating temp has about 6 more PSI of oil pressure. Is more oil pressure better or do we want lower oil pressures?

 

[Burla]

The forum mostly sees a 2 psi difference, we had a time where we had everyone report this info in syn thread somewhere.

 

[kurek]

I don't think there's anything conclusive a bunch of internet speculation can draw from trading velocity for pressure.

 

[JayLeonard]

If the majority of your driving is unloaded and short trips where your oil temps may only be getting up to 150/160 maybe 5W-20 is the better oil for you ,

This statement didn't seem right to me when I read it yesterday so today I set my screen to display oil temperature.
Driving between 20 and 40 mph going nice and easy on a back road my oil temp was 175 to 185 F once the engine warmed up. Coolant was around 200 F.
This is a completely stock 2017 with less than 9 k miles on it and running 5-20 synthetic (whatever brand the dealership uses).

 

[Wild one]

I don't think there's anything conclusive a bunch of internet speculation can draw from trading velocity for pressure.

Lets change this scenero around a bit and say you can't find 5W-20 that meets Ma Mopars MS spec's ,but you can find 5W-30 that does meet Ma Mopars MS specs.What are you going to do in that situation.Run a lighter oil that will get your warrenty disqualified because it doesn't meet their MS spec,or do you run the heavier oil that meets the MS specs and keep your warrenty intact in the trucks up to 2017.Keeping in mind that FCA says it's acceptable to run a 5W-30 if you can't find a 5W-20 that meets their specs,up to the 2017 trucks.Curious on what you would do in that situation

 

[kurek]

Heh, if you have to put someone in duress to pursue the answer you want.. there's no relevance I mean if I was in some middle of nowhere walk 100 miles in the desert because all my oil vanished and all I have is my usual gallon jug of K-Y Jelly... then I guess I'm running the engine on K-Y jelly.

 

[boblonben]

The assumption is that a 5.7 in a 1500 is built to the same specifications as those found in a 2500/3500. Anyone familiar with Mopars knows that there has always been technical differences in their motors based on service (EX: 360s came as 360-1 car, 360-2 truck, 360-3 HD, 360-4 police).

Look at the eight digit in the VIN. The current 5.7 engine code is different for the 1500 and HD motors, as well as cars.

In a completely healthy engine, increasing the viscosity of the oil could produce oil flow issues (viscosity=resistance to flow). This is important because when they went to MDS they changed the main bearing clearance from .0034 to .0021.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 17 July 2018. Now at: 027303 miles.

Damn good to read something from someone who knows what the hell he is talking about. Rather than some of these egg heads pushing their home grown BS. 56W-20, period and only should be sued.

 

[chrisbh17]

Damn good to read something from someone who knows what the hell he is talking about. Rather than some of these egg heads pushing their home grown BS. 56W-20, period and only should be sued.

Except if you keep reading you'll see contradictory information.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Wild one]

Damn good to read something from someone who knows what the hell he is talking about. Rather than some of these egg heads pushing their home grown BS. 56W-20, period and only should be sued.

Check out post #14.That page you're looking at is directly from the bigger printed owners manual.Notice what it says at the "note".

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/5w-30-oil-is-a-reconmended-oil-for-the-5-7.149653/page-2

 

[Jim Prendergast]

I just bought 2020 Ram 5.7 Hemi 1500 Limited by the way 1st dodge ever being a gm buyer for 50 + yrs must say this is the finest truck ever. In answer to post here in south Texas high heat I will run 10w-30 syn after break in period.


AIR FORCE VETERAN

 

[HammerHead]

How is 20 worse?

How is 20 worse?

I wouldn’t say 20 weight oils are worse but I do believe 30 weight oils have a better service range. Every oil has its pros and cons based on application specifics and climate. With 20 weight oils you’ll get better cold flow and gas mileage, but towing at max capacity all the time the 30 weight oils are ideal. So oil viscosity is application specific. I know that’s just one example out of many Many scenarios but you get the idea. Use and climate will determine what oil viscosity you should be using.
I just like the service range of 30 weight oils for most uses.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Damn good to read something from someone who knows what the hell he is talking about. Rather than some of these egg heads pushing their home grown BS. 56W-20, period and only should be sued.

Here is an early GM 2000 series 5.7 pdf......clearances on crank are tight......no 5w-20 recommenced back then......LoL

Should also be comparing 5.7 to 5.7 as in 1500 & 2500 not the 6.4 in the 2500

https://www.skidim.com/images/L510015.pdf

 

[crackerjack1957]

https://books.google.com/books?id=B...=onepage&q=5.7 hemi bearing clearances&f=true

 

[E-DAWG]

Lets change this scenero around a bit and say you can't find 5W-20 that meets Ma Mopars MS spec's ,but you can find 5W-30 that does meet Ma Mopars MS specs.What are you going to do in that situation.Run a lighter oil that will get your warrenty disqualified because it doesn't meet their MS spec,or do you run the heavier oil that meets the MS specs and keep your warrenty intact in the trucks up to 2017.Keeping in mind that FCA says it's acceptable to run a 5W-30 if you can't find a 5W-20 that meets their specs,up to the 2017 trucks.Curious on what you would do in that situation

I think this is a moot question. I highly doubt the dealer would chemically analyze the oil in the crank case to see if it met spec should a warranty issue arise, regardless I think if I had an issue I would simply change the oil to the proper spec oil before taking it in no? The dealer most likely doesn't have the equip to test such oils in use nor do they even care? they are being paid to repair an in-warranty engine by FCA no?

 

[tidefan1967]

Just bought myself a new to me used 2016 Challenger RT Plus with 5.7/A8 (31K miles) on Monday. Anyone care to guess what the first thing I did was...................replaced that watery ass 5W20 with some QSUD 5W30 and a Napa Gold filter. Probably run that for 3K miles max and then swap over to Redline 5W30. Was rather noisy before but much, much quieter now. Cranked it up and moved it at least three time in 15 minutes after that and no HEMI tick. Guaranteed I would have heard it at least once in those multiple starts with any 5W20 synthetic or otherwise.

 

[Wild one]

I think this is a moot question. I highly doubt the dealer would chemically analyze the oil in the crank case to see if it met spec should a warranty issue arise, regardless I think if I had an issue I would simply change the oil to the proper spec oil before taking it in no? The dealer most likely doesn't have the equip to test such oils in use nor do they even care? they are being paid to repair an in-warranty engine by FCA no?

Like I said earlier read post #14 and observe what is said in the "note".Also you'll notice a few lines up FCA says 5W-20 is best for starting and milege ,no where do they say it is best for the longevity of the engine,lol. 5W-20 is spec'd strictly for milege and Café standards FCA doesn't give 2 ***** about whether it's best for the longevity of the engine,all they care about is 5W-20 will make it through the warrenty period,after that they could care less if your engine blows up. They are in the business to build and sell vehicles at a "profit",and if they build something that'll last 20 years and 250,000 miles they wouldn't sell very many vehicles would they.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/5w-30-oil-is-a-reconmended-oil-for-the-5-7.149653/page-2