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0-20w oil

31K views 38 replies 19 participants last post by  Scott 
#1 ·
So, just how important is it to use the Honda 0-20w motor oil vs. a 5-20w over the counter oil in my next oil change? Is the Honda product a synthetic? If I buy generic 5-20w should I change it as usual, every 3000?
 
#2 ·
Depending on how cold it gets where you live, the 5W-20 will work fine. As has been discussed previously, the difference between 0W-20 and 5W-20 is only going to be "noticable" on start up. Once the oil begins warming up, your engine won't know the difference between the 2. In VERY cold climates I would definitely want a 0W-20 synthetic. Since Mobil 1 is no longer available in 0W-20, I believe Penzoil is the only other manufacturer making a 0W-20 full synthetic. The Honda 0W-20, is NOT synthetic but perfectly accecptable if you want to stick with Honda's reccomended weight oil for the Insight. However, I suspect the cost of Honda's non-synthetic is probably only slightly less than a full synthetic. I last paid $4.29 Qt for Mobil 1 when it was available. Being that you will be using less than 3 Qts, it really shouldn't be a $$ issue, at least not for me.
 
#3 ·
I was just up at my Honda dealer last weekend and I saw they had a quart of 5w-20 oil out in a display cabinet. Do the Civic or Accord hybrids use this? I didn't ask if they had any 0w-20 but Honda's oil is made by Exxon/Mobil so maybe they're being forced to switch the factory spec to 5w-20.
 
#4 ·
The second the engine oil starts to get warm, which is like like in seconds, the weight of the oil has changed. So as you've already been told, the 0W is only required for extreme cold contiditions with starting. As the oil heats up it's weight changes. 5W oil is more than enough for most areas because it is also good for down into the minus temps.
 
#5 ·
I have an oil temperature gauge in my Miata, and it takes about 15 minutes for the oil to get warm. The water in the radiator warms up in about 3 minutes or so, but that's mostly cooling the cylinder head. The oil is cooling the block and the pistons, which only get really hot under a heavy load--autocross or hot summer highway driving.

I suspect that it's worth it to use 0w-20 oil if you can get it.
 
#6 ·
kapps said:
I was just up at my Honda dealer last weekend and I saw they had a quart of 5w-20 oil out in a display cabinet.
the parts department at the dealership has a little laminated placemat thing on the countertop who illustrates in a bar-graph fashion which oil weight for which car, based on year. *iirc*, no car *changed* its reccomended oil weight for the duration of a bar. i think it went to the '05 model year.
 
#7 ·
Dougie said:
I have an oil temperature gauge in my Miata, and it takes about 15 minutes for the oil to get warm.
What you have to realize is the oil changes temperature almost immediately and depending on how your oil temp gauge is marked, you might not see an indication of the change for 15 minutes. The oil will change in temperarture before the coolant will.
 
#9 ·
Are you sure about that? My Miata has an aftermarket oil temperature gauge with a probe in the crankcase. The lowest marking on the gauge is 140 degrees F, and it normally runs at about 160--after a loooong warmup. The highest it's ever been is around 220.

The regular water coolant mostly cools the heads and the upper part of the cylinder. It gets up to temperature in just a few minutes, and then is controlled by a thermostat.

But the oil cools the bearings and the bottoms of the pistons. There's no thermostat, so under most conditions the oil runs pretty cool, especially in the all-aluminum Insight engine.

The oil weight measuring temperature is 100 degrees, so the majority of the time the oil--at least in my Miata, as measured by my gauge--is running pretty cool.
 
#10 ·
Dougie said:
The lowest marking on the gauge is 140 degrees F, and it normally runs at about 160--after a loooong warmup. The highest it's ever been is around 220.
And at what tempurature do you think oil weight changes? Lower than 140 degrees. So my point is it doesn't matter what your gauge shows because the oil changes weight well before you see the gauge needle move.
 
#15 ·
I went to the Honda place today to pick up some 0W-20 oil and they were out. They said it would be March before it came in. :(

On a hunch I stopped by NAPA on the way home and scored a six-pack of Mobil 1 0W-20! I mentioned to the guy that Mobil didn't make it any more and he said he didn't know anything about that, and that they sold a lot of it. :?:

$5 a quart...
 
G
#16 ·
Hi All:

___There are differences between the low viscosity oils although you will probably never find out what the Honda 0W-20 stuff is :(

Kinematic Viscosities (ASTM D-445) of the respective manufacturer’s synthetic oils:

Mobil1 SAE 0W-20
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 43.0
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 8.4

Pennzoil SAE 0W-20 <-- The new hybrid stuff …
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 46.5
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 8.7

Mobil1 SAE 5W-20
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 48.3
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 8.8

Amsoil SAE 5W-20
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 49.6
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 9.0

Mobil1 SAE 5W-30 <-- Older information …
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 53.0
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 9.9

Mobil1 SAE 10W-30
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 62.0
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 10.0

Amsoil SAE 0W-30
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 57.3
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 11.3

Amsoil SAE 5W-30
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 64.3
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 11.6

Amsoil SAE 10W-30
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 66.1
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 11.8

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
 
G
#18 ·
Hi Dougie:

___The 0W-20 spec(s) was the last known available from Mobil1’s web site before it was discontinued last year. Supposedly it will be re-introduced in the very near future?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
 
#19 ·
Wayne,
Where did you get the specs on the Pennzoil 0W-20? I have not been able to find them anywhere. Also, Amsoil lists the XLM 5W-20 (as of 7/2005) as:

Amsoil XLM 5W-20
cSt @ 40 degrees C = 45.4
cSt @ 100 degrees C = 8.5

And finally, has anyone actually seen, bought, or touched the Pennzoil stuff?

I'm beginning to think that the Mobil1 will be reissued before the Pennzoil makes an appearance!
 
G
#20 ·
Hi Sean:

___I picked it up on Pennzoil’s site about 9 months ago. Here is the basic write up but I could not find the details …

http://www.pennzoil.com/products/motor_ ... tml#hybrid

___It can be ordered as there are GH members who have said as much IIRC? You will have to look around over there for the exact thread.

___I just looked at the revision for Amsoil XLM 5W-20. It looks like they finally have a competitive product …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
 
#21 ·
'Looks like Mobil 1, 0W-20 is available once again.
I saw it on the shelves at Walmart yesterday. It has
new packaging, with a reference to Hybrid vehicles on the label.

'Glad I didn't get too carried away with the hoarding process last year when we all thought it would be discontinued forever.
 
#22 ·
I saw the shelf sticker too at Wal-mart in Indy. I had assumed it was old and just never removed as there was no oil on the shelf, but it looks like it is back from what I have heard. However, I won't be needing any, as I was one of those people who hoarded enough to change the oil in every Insight on the planet for the next decade :oops: . Can I hold Insight Central liable??? lol :shock:
 
#24 ·
Ten miles short of my next scheduled oil change, I just found and bought the only 6 bottles they had on the shelf at a Wal-Mart out here. It is in the newer looking bottle.

One of the things I read was that it never really went away but was "repackaged" as 5W-20 for awhile. I don't know if that was true but I found it interesting that the 5W-20 slot was empty!

PS: Buying all the bottles they had was not hoarding, I would have only bought 6 no matter how many were there just so I don't have to worry about this for another 15,000 miles! 8)
 
#26 ·
Pennzoil 0-20W

Scott - I've been wondering the same thing. I've checked the Pennzoil website a couple times - they list the product, and direct me to a local distributor - but no 0-20! I wonder what Honda is selling at their parts counters if there isn't any 0-20 available to the aftermarket? Doesn't seem as though it would be financially feasible to manufacture a relatively small amount of 0-20 to sell a the dealers....
 
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