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20w50 too think for a vg30?


ruggs
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Hey guys I just did an oil change inj my 87 pathy and I put in 20w50 oil in there cause I thought the old motor would like the thicker oil, but now at start up it does a load ticking noise now and it never did that before. Is that because the oil is too think to get up to teh top end fast enough? Sounds like lifters to me. Should I go back to the 10w40? BTW, I live in Vancouver, bc for an idea of what teh climate is like.

 

Also what should my oil pressure read ofter the truck is warmed up? On my gauge it reads around 2-3 kpa.

 

Ryan :beer:

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20 50 is warm weather oil.... takes too long to build pressure when its cold what temp is it in the am? set a quart outovernite and open it in the am and and see how thick it is compared to lightrer weight oil... i run 20-50 in everything i have here in LA... even in my CBR600. works good here u might need a lighter weight there

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I live in Phoenix and used to live in Seattle, and I use just regular 10W30 and have no problems ... today it was 108 degree's ... toasty! ... I would stick with that as it is pretty much a multipurpose oil ...

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yes most ppl say dont even mess with it in a older truck. from what i under stand the oil can slip through old seals makin leaks that wernt there before.

if it is doing that, then it is probably just a good idea to replace those seals that are leaking ... replacing seals is just a part of regular maitenence on a vehicle and isn't something that should be overlooked or "band-aid" fixed ...

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have owned 5 Diffrent Nissan Vechicles with a variant of the vg30 Engine and ALL have Ran 20/50 with NO problems and i Drive HARD. I beat the Living crap out of my Maxima and i Ran it with 20/50 for over 250K miles (I bought it at 77 and got rid of it way over 320k miles) Never had Nothing But good things to say about it. But if its REALLY REALLY COLD where you are (im talking 30 or below). Then Stick with 10/40 but i would NEVER Run 5/30 in a Motor that I drive. It would Degrade Faster than i can Change it! Also, Synthetic Molecules are Smaller than Conventional oil, so what conventional oil would Fill, Syntheic Slips right by and does Cause more Leaks. If you buy it new, Run the synthetic, But i wouldnt run syhnth after 25,000 miles.

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  • 3 weeks later...

High compression engines like thinner oil... and yes, the lifters will tick if the oil doesn't get there-guess what's going on in it's absence....the manual calls for 5/30 and i run 10/30. I wouldn't go with anything thicker then that no matter what temp. 40 is too thick when hot and 20 way, way too thick when cold. go with what Nissan recommends and you should be good to 300k at least.

 

as to synth. I would put in mobil1 if i were you no matter how many miles. i just got my tk and am breaking it in to receive full synth in the future. I mixed in about 1pt of synth(10/30) and 3qts of regular mobil 10/30. next time it'll get a full qt. and so on. thus far no leaks but i did use a bit of oil (1/2pt. maybe) on my last trip-2300mi. No leaks thus far but if any develop i'll stick with dyno till i do the timing belt and thus many gaskets.... When you just start using synth oil make sure you change filter everytime or more often-depending on how often you do your changes, because synth oil loosens all the crap in the motor and guess where all that ends up....

 

I ran synth in my old 89 (RIP) and the oil was as clear as in the new bottle even after 100k mi. It ran like a champ at 175k and probably would've for a good long time....

 

BTW: if you do buy a new vehicle do not run synth in it during the break-in period!

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Uhh, sorry, wrong...

 

10w40 will wear out way quicker than 5w30, I think 10w40 is actually the quickest degrading of conventional motor oils...

 

... So then Just to Clairify a Point.... an Oil with a HIGHER Viscosity Level is going to wear out faster than an Oil with a LOWER Viscosity Level? I Tend to Not Believe that. ALLTHOUGH This...

 

High compression engines like thinner oil... and yes, the lifters will tick if the oil doesn't get there-guess what's going on in it's absence

 

Happens to be 100% True, allthough I PERSONALLY have NEVER had a Problem with it. I Run some oil addidives and such periodically which is probbaly why i never saw a problem. I used to commute 300 Miles PER DAY with my maxima, and when i ran 5/30 my lifters would tap after a week of driving. Change the oil, and It went away for another week. I Went to 10/40. Had No problems there, but i found with 20/50 Is that It was Cleaner when Exiting the motor, I NEVER had a Valve tap with it, and She Ran BETTER with the Thicker Oil. (probbaly due to it Helping to coat the rings better). I didnt Burn oil in the car either and the Motor Ran Wonderfull.

 

Honestly, as with eveything in Life there are going to be Opinions on either Side of the Spectrum. This is obviously one of those Topics. If you want to Be SAFE and you are a Book-follower, then I would follow Nissan's Oil Reccomendations For your Climate.

 

Thanks!

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You are thinking in terms of regular old oil, when a multi grade oil is used the oil itself is almost never what is breaking down. Instead it is the polymers that allow it to behave as a multi grade oil that break down. 10w40 oil takes the most polymers to cover the viscosity range. Once the polymers are gone you are left with dirty oil with a viscosity of 10 at cold and who knows what when hot. Same with 5w30 but not quite as bad. 10w30 is the only way to go if you don't get below -18f temp.

 

From: http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-overview.html

 

 

Multi viscosity oils work like this: Polymers are added to a light base (5W, 10W, 20W), which prevent the oil from thinning as much as it warms up. At cold temperatures the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot.

 

Multi viscosity oils are one of the great improvements in oils, but they should be chosen wisely. Always use a multi grade with the narrowest span of viscosity that is appropriate for the temperatures you are going to encounter. In the winter base your decision on the lowest temperature you will encounter, in the summer, the highest temperature you expect. The polymers can shear and burn forming deposits that can cause ring sticking and other problems. 10W-40 and 5W-30 require a lot of polymers (synthetics excluded) to achieve that range. This has caused problems in diesel engines, but fewer polymers are better for all engines. The wide viscosity range oils, in general, are more prone to viscosity and thermal breakdown due to the high polymer content. It is the oil that lubricates, not the additives. Oils that can do their job with the fewest additives are the best.

 

Very few manufactures recommend 10W-40 any more, and some threaten to void warranties if it is used. It was not included in this article for that reason. 20W-50 is the same 30 point spread, but because it starts with a heavier base it requires less viscosity index improvers (polymers) to do the job. AMSOIL can formulate their 10W-30 and 15W-40 with no viscosity index improvers but uses some in the 10W-40 and 5W-30. Mobil 1 uses no viscosity improvers in their 5W-30, and I assume the new 10W-30. Follow your manufacturer's recommendations as to which weights are appropriate for your vehicle.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I run 10W-30 in the summer and 5W-30 synthetic (Mobil 1, Castrol...whatever is on sale) in the winter. We experience temperatures (last winter it never got above -25F as a HIGH temperature for a week) and in the summer it can reach 100 degrees. Extreme climate. I have never had trouble switching from Regular 10W-30 to 5W-30 synthetic. Although, when it's -30F to -40F in the morning, when you start a car (assuming it does start) oil will shoot out of the seals (this happens to any car because of the extreme cold). It also makes that "tick tick tick" sound of the lifters for probably 15 seconds...it makes me cringe. Anyway, my car uses oil in the winter...I expect it to. But, when spring comes around it doesn't...even with synthetic still in. Sometimes I won't change to 5W-30 until around Thanksgiving and we'll get a couple days of below zero during that time...I DO know that 10W-30 is WAY to thick for anything under about 15 degrees. I would definitely use 5W-30 if it's below 15F. Anyway, just my opinion.

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