I have an old 91 corolla that burns oil. A friend suggested I switch to 20W50 oil. Will this help in terms of oil burn, engine wear, or gas mileage? How is this oil different from whatever Jiffy Lube usually gives me.

Did JiffyLube indicate what viscosity of oil they used for your last oil change?

i believe it is 10w30. at least that is what i use, when i have to add oil between changes.

Is the oil burning a problem? I know it’s not environmentally friendly. Is that your reason? The 20W50 motor is worse for engine wear. The valve stem seals are probably leaking oil into the cylinders and being burned. You could replace the valve stem seals.

“How is this oil different from whatever Jiffy Lube usually gives me.” It is considerably thicker.

If you want thicker oil and the temperature only dips below 30 degrees F for a few hours a night in the winter, you should consider thicker oil. 20W50 isn’t it. You can use it, but use only three quarts and use straight 30 weight for the other two quarts and you might get less oil consumption. You w…

On the freak chance it could be something simple, you might check the PCV valve and make sure it’s not plugged up. This could promote oil burning. Heavier oil such as 20/50 could help but if you live in a northern climate or the mountains where the temp drops into the freezing range or lower on a r…

Yea using heavier oil is a good idea. You might want to follow pleasdodgvan’s suggestion, it has some merit. However like pleasedodgevan I have the suggestion that you loose the quick lube places like the one you have been using. Keep away from the quick change places. We hear far too many horro…

To avoid the cold weather starting issues with 20w50, you could try a dyno 10w50. It’s typically less desirable because of the large number of additives it needs to get the wide 10-50 spread, but for an old 91 oil burner, it may be just the ticket.

you could try a dyno 10w50. Who makes a 10w50?? Never seen it. I’ve seen 5w50 - synthetic by Castrol…but NEVER seen anything near that range as a dyno oil.

20W50 motor oil

Maintenance/Repairs

SteveF October 29, 2007, 2:24am 4

This may help a bit with the oil burning. It’s certainly worth a try. For a '91, go with anything that will keep the beast alive another year. You need worry no longer about engine wear. Gas mileage should theoretically go down, but probably not enough to even measure.

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20W50 motor oil

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