Quote:
Originally Posted by robwbright
When I told my long time transmission mechanic/racer/car builder father in law that Honda was calling for 0W20 in my Accord Coupe, he said, "You might as well piss in it as put something that light in it". We went with a 5w20. LOL. I was surprised that Honda calls for petroleum based.
For what it's worth, my father in law likes the synthetics a lot, but doesn't use them in any of his stuff because - in his opinion - dirt in the oil is a lot more of a problem than the oil breaking down (as long as you change it at regular intervals - shorter for petroleum based).
And when I say he doesn't use synthetics in anything, I'm including his 125 and 250 shifter karts, his modified dirt track car, his personal cars and trucks... he hasn't had any issues even when running the karts wide open at 12k+ rpm for 30 minutes at a time.
I use Castrol semi-synthetic in my MX bikes with no issues (one of which issues is that some oils don't work well with MX bike clutches) but I've used Mobil 1 synthetic in the bikes before with success. Petroleum based in the Accord. I'll likely use Mobil 1 synthetic in my BRZ because (1) I anticipate keeping it for 5+ years; (2) I'd rather go a bit longer between changes; and (3) the Mobil 1 is easily obtainable... but I agree with the dirt vs. break down argument. Don't let the motor get too hot and change the oil regularly so it doesn't get dirty and it probably doesn't make much difference for street use.
BTW, I'm a hair over 4000 miles - mostly longer trips - and checked the oil in the BRZ today (Still haven't done a change). Its at a good level and looked very clean. Almost like it came out of the bottle. I was a bit surprised.
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Has your long time transmission mechanic/racer/car builder father in law seen the evidence that 0W-20 is fine? There is even data posted in this forum in the form of uoa's.
Does your long time transmission mechanic/racer/car builder father in law know that the only difference between 0W-20 and 5W-20 is that the 0W passes the cold cranking viscosity test at -35C and the 5W passes it at -30C? They are both 20 grades above those temps.
Oil color does not indicate that oil is breaking down or that it is "dirty". It can simply be from the detergents and some oils can darken in as little as a few hundred miles.
-Dennis