0W20 oil

Mfg's spend a lot of time/effort/money in coming up with oil specifications... it's a good idea to follow them if at all possible.

0W20 is new, and might be tough to find for a while. If push comes to shove, maybe you could order it from Honda parts till it becomes available on the aftermarket. (I have an 08 Honda 'Fit' factory service manual here, and in the 'Lubricants and Fluids' section it specifies a Honda part number for the 5W20 oil the Fit uses. I bet the 2010 CR-V's service manual reflects a number for 0W20. Note I could not find a part number for the oil in the Fit owners manual.)

Also check a 'real' auto parts store... if they don't have it yet, ask if they can special order you a case.

You'll probably never have a oil related issue with plane old mineral oil, provided you follow the mfg's grade, service classification and change interval suggestions. Synthetics are expensive overkill IMHO.

Good Luck!

Erik

"Guy" wrote in news:0spfs51g726g9ek2mnoquve3uugaskb2cq@

4ax.com:

Check your Owner's Manual. You may find that it will allow 5W-20.

Typically, 5W-20 is perfectly fine in engines where 0W-20 is specified, but not vice versa.

I did check it but maybe not as thorough as I should have. I will look at it again.

It looks like I can get the kwik lube or Autozone to give me 0W20 oil so getting it should not be a problem but in the worst case scenario I would just go to the dealer. As I said I was more curious than anything about this and will note what you said and re-read the manual. Thanks.

Thanks Erik. Looks like I can get the 0W20 around here so it really shouldn't be a problem for me but I was more curious than anything else. I agree, best to stick with the 0W20 besides which, the extra cost isn't really much more in the long run. But I will re-read the manual to see if they allow for a substitution grade oil. Being the vehicle is in the deep south where it doesn't normally get too cold (except for a couple of days in winter), I don't think the engine would work much harder but I will go by the manual, not my guessing. Thanks.

Just curious, what is the recommended grade oil for a 2008 or 2009 CR-V automatic ? Or what does the oil cap say on the engine block?

My thought on this, for what it is worth, who knows your car better, a certified Honda dealer or Jiffy Lube? My usual is follow the money, since they both stand to make money on this transaction, that is not an option....I do not own a CRV, I have Civic Hybrid I pay about $45 for oil changes at the dealer, so, I would say Jiffy Lube is no bargain. I do belong to a Civic Hybrid users group, I have seen reports there of people who went with 5-20 instead of the 0-20 recommended by Honda then complain when they get hit with a 10% mileage reduction. My advice, for whatever weight is stick with what Honda recommends, so, 0-20 and if you have a service minder, stick with that for oil change intervals. I realize if you do not agree with this advice you will dismiss it but, you asked :-).

At least for Fords and Toyotas, 0W20 oil is OK instead of 5W20 as long as it meets the manufacturer's standards. I am not sure what additional specs Toyota includes, but Ford has a spec for "their" approved 5W20 oil that goes beyond the API spec. When I buy oil for the Fords I own, I always look on the bottle top make sure the manufacturer say it meets the appropriate Ford spec (all the ones I have looked at say they do, but then their are many brands I won't even bother to look at).

The SO's Toyota manual actually says 0W20 is preferred, but that 5W20 is OK. In a warm climate, I think the difference between 5W20 and 0W20 is trivial. The 5W / 0W part applies at 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) For temperatures higher then 32 degrees F, the viscosity of the two oils will be much closer together and at 212 degrees F (100 gegrees C) they should be roughly the same. For sure the 5W20 at 50 degrees F will probably have a lower viscosity than the 0W20 at 0 degrees F.

Of course, my standard advice still applies - use what the manufacturer recommends. If you think you know more about the car than the people who designed the car, then you may want to buy a different car.

Ed

I'm following this thread and I'm confused. Is 0W20 different than a straight weigh 20? Thanks

You're right I would dismiss it except that I tend to agree with it, if not 100% then 99%. Either way, likely I will do as you stated. Thanks !

Claiming a 10% fuel economy reduction becasue of the use of 5W20 instead of 0W20 is not credible. At normal engine operating temepratures 0W20 and 5W20 oils have essentially the same viscosity. Even for a "cool" engine, at non-artic temepratures, the difference is trival as far as driver measured fuel economy is concerned. I realize that for a hybrid, cool oil temperatures and start/stop engine operation would magnify the effects of oil viscosity, but I beleive, even for a hybrid, the difference would be on the order of tenths of a percent, no tens of percent. Likely the people claiming large changes in fuel economy are not making careful measurements. For a hybrid, the low fule usage and small fuel tank will magnify any fill errors. I believe you need to average the mileage over many fillups to get any sort of accuracy for these vehicles.

When Ford switched to 5W20 from 5W30 oils, they climed a fuel economy imporvement of soemthing like 0.3%. Going from 5W30 to 5W20 is a much more significant switch than the difference between 0W20 and 5W20.

Good advice.

Ed

Well stated. Keep in mind that Honda's 'strong suggestion' of 0W-20 has far more to do with meeting CAFE efficiency standards than keeping the engineers happy.

"Justbob30" wrote in news:hq9rrc$4bl$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

TEN percent??? Considering that Honda went with 0W-20 to get an increase of about 1/100th of that, I find this claim to be impossible to believe.

In daily use, NOBODY is going to notice ANY difference in mileage from 0W-

20 to 5W-20. Once the oil warms up, they're both the same viscosity (20).

"Guy" wrote in news:73jgs5lv3dlh1km0jo748237b4tudd7ak9@

4ax.com:

You're in the deep south? Use 5W-20 and don't sweat it. That W-number is virtually meaningless to you.

"Joe J" wrote in news:hq9v11$rft$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

Get thee hence to Google.

Joe Sixpack wrote in news:KY2yn.224413$wr5.14850 @newsfe22.iad:

Yepper. That is absolutely true.

Even the move to 5W-30 from 10W-30, and the subsequent move from 5W-30 to

5W-20 were CAFE related.

Each move only got the automaker some one-tenth of an MPG per car, but taken cumulatively, in the way the EPA figures things, each move made a BIG difference in the automakers' total CAFE numbers.

I am not speaking of the 10% reduction based on experience , I always insure the 0-20 is used in my car...so, it is only hearsay, I do not know how credible the info is, I am only passing on what I read...you must remember, a hybrid is very prone to little things making a big difference, air temp, engine temp, oil, tire pressure, rain, wind so, I would guess most people overstate these things because it is human nature. As I understand oil viscosity (I do NOT claim to be an expert) the oil does not get thicker when it gets hot, so, the 20w would be cold, the 0 or 5 would be hot, thus the 5-20 would have a bit more resistance than to 0-20 hot, they would be the same cold.

Uh no... 5/20 oil has the consistency of 5W when cold and 20W when hot. Obviously, operating temperature will determine actual flow in a given environment.

JT

snip

I will have to bow down to you on this one, as I said, I am not expert....I did some google research cause it just seems odd to me, I read enough to confuse me beyond hope, oil thickens, no well the properties change in the way it clings to engine parts, there are different measures of hot and cold, charts that make my eyes scream hey its all out there...so, my resolve is to stick with Honda's recommendations which is (I just checked the manual) to use 0-20, but if 0-20 is not available 5-20 may be used but it may effect fuel mileage. So, I am back to this, I do not change my own oil because it is far too messy a way to save $10-$15 (I clearly do not enjoy this kind of work) have it changed when the car tells me to and insure 0-20 is used. Your mileage may vary.

except that it's made form a [slightly] higher quality base oil.