Filled in 10W 30 instead of 5W 20 engine oil. Problem? (car engine, Germany, camper)
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Ugh. At the last oil change I confused the engine oil for my Grand Caravan. Duh! I filled in 10W 30 instead of 5W 20. We live in Phoenix. I only noticed after 500 miles when I brought the old container to the recycling. Is this a problem? So far the car runs just fine. Thanks for your input!
What year Caravan and what engine? If I remember correctly, 10W30 (or was it 10W40?) was the recommended oil in those vans for a while, but the last one I owned was a 1993, so it's been a while.
What year Caravan and what engine? If I remember correctly, 10W30 (or was it 10W40?) was the recommended oil in those vans for a while, but the last one I owned was a 1993, so it's been a while.
It's a 2007 with the 3.8 engine. It says in red letters on the oil tank "5 W 20 Only!" I guess only an idiot like me could overlook that.
The biggest impact of the heavier oil will probably be slightly lower mpg, but nothing drastic will happen. Just use the correct weight next oil change.
As others have indicated, this is not an issue in the climate you are in. If a colder weather climate it potentially poses a bigger concern with the heavier oil weight. Change out as you regularly would and you should be fine.
I used 10w30 in my cars I Michigan for years in the winter. Remember 5w30 is really a newcomer. All there was before was 10w30 and 10w40.
Talk To ANY Mechanic.. 10/30 -v- 5/20 NO ISSUES.. For The Love... its summer time down there 365..... except for when its hell on earth.. 90-110.... Lower milage? I doubt it.. You cannot measure it closely enough to see a difference. What .25 miles to the gallon lower? Its not like it called for a syn and you went cheap with a petroleum product. Its NOT like you used lawn mower non-detergant oil. Run it 5000 miles and change it..
Talk To ANY Mechanic.. 10/30 -v- 5/20 NO ISSUES.. For The Love... its summer time down there 365..... except for when its hell on earth.. 90-110.... Lower milage? I doubt it.. You cannot measure it closely enough to see a difference. What .25 miles to the gallon lower? Its not like it called for a syn and you went cheap with a petroleum product. Its NOT like you used lawn mower non-detergant oil. Run it 5000 miles and change it..
I agree.. The difference in these viscosity's is NOTHING..... As a matter of fact you want a higher number if you live in Phoenix... The higher the viscosity number equates to the hotter outside temperature because the motor runs hotter.... So a 10w30 will handle the hotter temps a bit better than 5w20...
Should be just fine. 5w-20 is spec'd for CAFE requirements only. I believe the 4.2L v6 in my '03 F150 is spec'd for 5w-20 as well, but I've almost always used 10w-30 since I've owned it.
Personally 5-20 is really too thin of an oil to use in any car IMO, I don't care what the manual says unless you live in the Arctics. 5w-20 weight is given for the simplest reason, to increase fuel economy.
In terms of actually protecting the engine from wear over a long period of time, a 5-20 oil film seems much too thin especially when the temps are really hot outside including if you're doing a lot of stop and go driving. The oil will eventually dissipate compared to a 10w30. Conventional oil is known to burn off fairly easy compared to a full synthetic oil under hard driving conditions. I know from experience.
There should be no issues at all running a 5w30 or a 10w30 oil in a 5w20 spec'd vehicle. I run a 10w40 all year around in my Cadillac Fleetwood LT1 5.7 V8 living in CA, although the oil cap says 5w30. I was having a slight knock from one of the valve lifters every time I put in 5w30, plus the car has almost 200,000 miles on the engine, but after upping to a 10w40, the knocking and lifter tick sounds were gone.
I only use Full Syn oil, and amazingly the engine sounds and feels like it's still new.
The ambient temperature only matters in the warm up period. An engine runs at a temperature (over 100C in the coolant water and very temperatures in the hot spots in the engine), which is far higher than any ambient temperature. Fully synthetic oils are highly stable keeping thin at very low temperatures and thick at very high temperatures. Mineral and semi-synthetics do the opposite.
The stability of fully synthetics gives engine makers the ability to use thinner oils to that get to the bearings "far" quicker on start up than lesser oils.
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