Can we upgrade our engine oil to 20w-50??

[pavanbabut]

Hi all,

I am having a question about upgrading enigne oil grade. In my alfa, though the recommened grade is 10w-40 on a stock one, we all use 20w-50. There are couple of reasons for this,

Alfa engines are known to drain out oil (Like for every 2000 miles we have to add 1 quart of oil to keep the level).
The engines run relatively hot ocmpared to any other engines, my engine runs at 194degF at normal freeway driving conditions (which is considered to be normal) and sometimes on hot days it even goes to 212 (which is also common).

So, can we also change our grade to 20w-50 in my svx, so that I can use same grade oil in both cars (not that our temperatures go tht high, but based upon the age of the engine)???

thanks,
-Pavan

[SVXer95]

Thicker oil is not necessarily an upgrade. Unless you install an oil pressure gauge to monitor the oil pressure, I would not recommend using 20w50. Without knowing oil pressure, there is no way to tell if the system can handle it, that is, until your pump seizes.

[-JJ-]

I agree, personally i consider the need to use a thiner oil, the upgrade. Im no pro, but as far as im aware, the thiner oils are thin when cold allowing the car to start more eaisly and rev quicker, but these should only be used where recomended!

If you are not already using synthetic oils, i would consider swapping to a fully synthetic of the same weight an upgrade!

cheers,
Jake

[Bobb]

Hi Pavan, Heavier oil is not neccesarily better. Every engine is designed for a certain grade and weight of oil. To thin or to heavy will damage an engine. At the least, to heavy will give poorer gas milage. I f you look at owners manuals they always say if your vehicle is driven under adverse conditions, the oil should be changed more often. High speed, high temps or dusty conditions. If your vehicle is using oil then it has worn parts that are letting oil "burn" or drain out. Just using heavier oil will not change this. So as a rule use what the maker recommends. Consumer Reports tested oils in New York taxis. and found no difference in regular and Synthetic oils. I still use synthectic oil myself.Take care, BOBB

[pavanbabut]

Anyway I am still using 10w-40 syn blend (not fully synthetic). Also I wont use svx more often and its engine wont go such high temperatures (as my alfa), so I will keep using 10w-40. But if you check in the manual, they do recommend to use 20w-40 or 20w-50 in some deserted areas with high temperatures (ofcouse not for us).

I am not willing to change to 20w-50 in svx, but just thinking it would be easy to have same grade in both cars .

-Pavan.

[Manarius]

I've been running 20-50w in my Legacy for two years now with no major mechanical issues. I know it certainly doesn't leak oil as much as it did with 10-40w or 10-30w. My gas mileage isn't as good as it could be - I get around 22-23 with city driving.

[SilverSpear]

Pav, use 10W-50 at the most.

[STORMINORMAN]

...a quality 20W-50, even better, a 100% synthetic 20W-50 like Amsoil's, would not be a bad choice in a relatively hot environment, especially if the vehicle is being driven long distances at higher speeds. Not necessarily the optimum choice for a lot of short trips in Nome.

A 15W-40 HDEO such as Delo, or AGAIN, a 100% synthetic like Amsoil AME is probably a viable solution/sort of compromise for year-round application.

Either of the synthetics could be used in a significantly longer oil change interval scenerio. Oil analysis may be indicated for really long intervals, but 10, 12, 15K is easily attainable with quality synthetics.

All IMHO, of course. It depends where and how much you drive.

I use synthetics (Amsoil) in my motorcycles and in my Mercedes. I personally used a 10W-30 dino (Chevron Supreme) or, recently, Valvoline MaxLife (a semi-synthetic) 10W-30 in my SVX. The MaxLife because it was free. I get 28+ mpg on a typical 500 mile trip.

Cheers!