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so theres oils out there, 5w20, 10w30.. blah blah blah

whats the 5w and 20 mean on the lable? what do the numbers mean

 
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Viscosity or thickness
there are 2 types of oil.
we use multigrade in our cars.
the first few numbers are viscosity.
5 10 and 15 are good examples.
the lower the number the thinner or less resistant they are
the "w" means winter conditions it keeps its viscosity at lower operating temperatures
the higher the second number the warmer the weather.
I use 15w-50
I live in florida
its thick and wont work to well in temperatures below 0
hope that is clearer....

 
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yeah it helped, thanks!

 
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No problem.

 
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Good post, short thread!

 
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You live in Florida and you use 15w-50? I also live in Florida and all I've ever used in my vehciles is straight 30 weight, except for my EP3 which I use 5w-20, and I've never had any problems in over 20 years of driving.

A 15w-XX means that oil will hold a viscosity of a 15 weight oil at a cold start up in a cold climate until its warmed up. So the higher the second number doesn't nessarsarly mean higher tempurature. While a 50 weight oil can be used in Florida, I would never run that high of a oil. The main reason is a higher weight oil at start up is very "thick" and may have problems properly flowing throughout the engine, and it could cause premature wear. I have used straight 50 weight oil in some of our old tow trucks, but those engines have over 200,000 miles on them and are pretty "loose"

While this whole subject can be debated to no end, the main thing to realize is that most all oils made now offer more than enough protection under most driving conditions. Plus if you change your oil regularly with any weight oil, you shouldn't have any problems with oil related failure.

 
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That's right. The first number is the relative viscosity at lower tempuratures, the second, the viscosity at higher tempuratures.

5w20 means the oil acts like a 5 weight when cold, and a 20 weight when hot.

 
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it rarely goes below 40 here.

 
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i use 15w50 because my car burns off anything lighter and I am not worried about sub-freezing conditions. not like when I lived in michigan.

 
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something is very wrong with your car then.

 
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xtreme heat conditions. thats whats wrong with my car.

 
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no way. its just your car. im sure theres plenty of civics in florida running 5w-20 or even 5w-30 without any problems.

 
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Yup, me Look at my earlier post, I run straight 30w oil in both my Mustang and Van and 5w-20 in my EP3. I live in the Tampa area, and it gets very hot here in Florida, but 5w-20 oil isn't going to break down under Florida conditions. Plus my van has over 200,000 miles and my Mustang has 135,000 miles, and neither of them use or burn oil.

 
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I run 0W/ 20 in hot azz AZ with no problem. I only used 50 rating in my 74 Camaro when it was burning oil!

The 0W/20 is what my Honda dealership recommends.

 
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I run the recommended grade. However, it frequently snows and goes well below freezing here. Should I use another grade of oil??

 
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nah. recommended is fine.

 
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I use 5w20 in houston... it gets really hot and I've had no problems

 
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me to, but will soon use mobile 1 synthetic 5w30 (TURBO)