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Will 20W 50 oil hurt?

  • Thread starter Thread starter stang1986GT
  • Start date Start date Aug 16, 2005

stang1986GT

Member
Mar 30, 2005
143
0
17
Charleston, WV area
Aug 16, 2005
#1
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #1
I've posted here before about my problems with oil going down. Simply put, I need an engine rebuild, but I can't afford to do it until next year.

I've read about others using 20W 50 oil in the summer to help cut down on oil consumption. Will this hurt anything? Will the thicker oil actually help any at all? I know I can't do this in the winter, but I wanted to try it through the end of summer.

Thanks!
 

The Shape

Founding Member
Jan 11, 2002
2,224
8
49
East ARKANSAS Delta
Aug 16, 2005
#2
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #2
Lots of guys run 20W-50 in the summer to help with consumption and oil presure.
 

stang1986GT

Member
Mar 30, 2005
143
0
17
Charleston, WV area
Aug 16, 2005
#3
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #3
The Shape said:
Lots of guys run 20W-50 in the summer to help with consumption and oil presure.
Click to expand...

Ok, cool. I thought I had read that before, but I wanted to make sure.
 

Daniel50

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
716
1
0
Discovery Bay, CA
Aug 16, 2005
#4
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #4
no it wont hurt the motor. but will kill hp a bit
 

stang1986GT

Member
Mar 30, 2005
143
0
17
Charleston, WV area
Aug 16, 2005
#5
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #5
Daniel50 said:
no it wont hurt the motor. but will kill hp a bit
Click to expand...

Yea, I wondered about that. This car is a bone stock 5.0 that I drive almost every day. Think I'll be able to feel much difference once it's warm and everything's flowing?
 
C

custom89stang

New Member
Dec 9, 2003
705
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Seattle, WA
Aug 16, 2005
#6
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #6
its fine, my mechanic recommended i run that since my car burns oil, he is totally against additives because he says they can leave "residue" at the bottom of ur oil pan
 

stang1986GT

Member
Mar 30, 2005
143
0
17
Charleston, WV area
Aug 16, 2005
#7
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #7
custom89stang said:
its fine, my mechanic recommended i run that since my car burns oil, he is totally against additives because he says they can leave "residue" at the bottom of ur oil pan
Click to expand...

Did it help? If so , how much?
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
31,179
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Aug 16, 2005
#8
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #8
Another guy who runs 20W-50 here. It should not affect HP enough to notice anything in the SOTP.
 
D

Daggar

New Member
Jul 19, 2004
3,902
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0
Aug 16, 2005
#9
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #9
I recently saw a synthetic 10W-50. Wished I'd paid more attention to who made the stuff. Might be a great summer weight oil for the Stang and good year round oil for my Suburbon.
 

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.
Sep 13, 2004
2,487
4
0
Miami, Ok
Aug 16, 2005
#10
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #10
I ran 20w50 and all was fine. you wont notice any power loss, sure it may be there but you wont feel it.
 
1

1SLO306

My 97 GTP owns you ALL!
Mar 31, 2005
904
1
17
Muhlenberg, ky
Aug 16, 2005
#11
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #11
i run castrol 20w-50 cause my machanic told me to run it also. I could not tell a difference in the performance. if im not mistaking 20w-50 is what they come out with in them but im not for sure.
 
T

tjm73

Founding Member
Aug 3, 2000
2,418
2
48
Rush, NY
Aug 16, 2005
#12
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #12
I run 20-50W all the time for over 25,000 miles. You'll be fine.
 

bobcatv8

Member
Aug 25, 2004
141
1
16
Ocala,FL
Aug 16, 2005
#13
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #13
I have run Kendall GT1 20w50 since the first oil change. That was 17 years and 170,000 miles ago. Religious 2500 mile change intervals. Never have had the heads or oil pan off.
 

Jason 302

10 Year Member
Aug 9, 2003
685
71
68
Newark, Ohio
Aug 16, 2005
#14
  • Aug 16, 2005
  • #14
bobcatv8 said:
I have run Kendall GT1 20w50 since the first oil change. That was 17 years and 170,000 miles ago. Religious 2500 mile change intervals. Never have had the heads or oil pan off.
Click to expand...

I too run this exact oil (just changed it today), although I've only logged about 1200-1300 miles so far.
 
A

Allforspeed

New Member
Oct 25, 2004
264
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Aug 17, 2005
#15
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #15
i changed over to 20w50 redline synthetic cause i have always run their stuff and love it, i gteched it before and after and was pretty hard to tell but i would say i gained a few hundredths in the 1/4 according to the gtech for whatever its worth, my oil pressure is nice and good now but it wasn't real low before, my car has 130K on it but i live in california. i also only run super high quality oil filters and i have noticed a small increas in my oil pressure just from going from the low end garbage that was on there when i got it to the K&N filter i quickly swapped on, redline 20w50 has helped me spray nitrous on this old stock longblock motor more times than i want to admit to!
 

85mcLaren

Member
Feb 26, 2004
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7
Aug 17, 2005
#16
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #16
Couldn't one mix a couple quarts of Mobil 10-30 with a few quarts of 20-50 to get something in the middle like 15-40 ? Or does this not work this way. I use to start out with 10-30 and before my oil change - add 20-50 back in to whatever burnt out.
 

ExplodingGopher

New Member
Jun 11, 2004
517
0
0
The mistake on the lake (Ohio)
Aug 17, 2005
#17
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #17
valvoline racing oil straight 40W for me, no additives. Mobil1 is just as good as is Rotella, they all have good amounts of zinc in them which can help a lot of things internally from wearing out or scuffing. Like for breaking in a cam on a flat tappet hyd. cam you pour in a bottle of GM EOS which has massive zinc in it to protect during extreme scuffing and stuff.
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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129
Aug 17, 2005
#18
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #18
85mcLaren said:
Couldn't one mix a couple quarts of Mobil 10-30 with a few quarts of 20-50 to get something in the middle like 15-40 ? Or does this not work this way. I use to start out with 10-30 and before my oil change - add 20-50 back in to whatever burnt out.
Click to expand...
I do this all the time. Do know that it is not a linear relationship though. One quart of 10W-30 and one of 20W-50 dont effectively make 15W-40. There are viscosity calculators on some oil manufacturer's site that one can use to figure it out.
 

Flavadave4

Active Member
Nov 28, 2003
1,044
21
49
Utica, NY
Aug 17, 2005
#19
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #19
i run it to keep the pressure up and consumption down.......sure i may loose a few HP cause of the heavier weight but who cares unless you are trying to squeeze every last bit of HP out on the dyno or somthing.
 

Michael Yount

Mustang Master
Apr 10, 2002
9,039
6
79
Charlotte, NC
Aug 17, 2005
#20
  • Aug 17, 2005
  • #20
tjm - do you have to endure cold weather starts in the winter in Rochester with the 20w50? 0F-10F?

I run 5w-40 year round.
 
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