# 20-20w Motor Oil **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515 "2009-11-15T14:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oman88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/0ea827/32.png) [@oman88](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oman88)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/1 "2009-11-15T14:04:45Z")
I found a case (24) of old Mobil 20-20w motor oil. They are in perfect condition. Is the oil good? Can I use it? What kind of engine uses this oil? Would an old car guy want this oil? ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/2 "2009-11-15T16:39:23Z")
I Can’t Imagine You’d Have Any Use For It. It Was Used When And Where Engine Manufacturers Specified 20-20w. Car Enthusiasts Someplace May Be Interested. CSA ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/3 "2009-11-15T17:45:53Z")
I would for the following and you could too. Unused, you could mix it with a little gasoline, pour into a garden sprayer and give a rust treatment to the rocker panels, rear quarters, door drains, inner outer-fender welds and anywhere else you see access to potential rust areas. Catch drippings on old rags/paper and wash in a week. Otherwise, I’d donate to a waste oil burner for heat if one was in the area. Also use to coat machine parts left out side that are perpetually exposed by “painting” on with a foam brush. Great rust preventative, but be careful of ground water exposure. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/4 "2009-11-15T20:53:47Z")
What is the API rating of this oil? SC, SD something like that? It’s suitable for '50’s and '60’s cars used in moderate climates…If its in the old tin cans, “collectors” will buy anything… ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/5 "2009-11-16T03:15:02Z")
I think that the owner’s manual on my 1954 Buick called for 20W-20 oil in moderate climates. I know I used this oil in the spring and in the fall. In the summer I used straight 30 weight,and in the winter I used 10W-30. I haven’t owned the 1954 Buick since 1965. My brother does own a 1954 Buick that he restored, but uses modern 10W-30 in the car. ---
**Author:** ![euryale1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@euryale1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/euryale1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/6 "2009-11-16T04:06:16Z")
Don’t use gas as a mix. Use diesel. Better for the environment. Then spray the rusty bits on the car. The degradation factor of the oil is the issue. Newer oils at any grade last longer due to new mixes. If you have a oil burner you can mix in a pint or so per gallon. I just take my oil to a guy who has a junk yard with a multi fuel burner and he filters and mixes the used oil for his shop. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/7 "2009-11-16T12:59:09Z")
Will diesel work as well to thin the oil for spraying for rust treatent ? Otherwise, will try it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/8 "2009-11-16T17:07:27Z")
Farmers have been known to spray drain-oil on the equipment that was left outside…But spraying oil on your car in your driveway?? You have got to be kidding… List the oil on E-bay and it will sell like hot-cakes…Does it have the old Socony Vacuum trademark, the Flying Red Horse? ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/9 "2009-11-16T17:14:14Z")
As long as you don’t mind that ‘truck stop smell’… ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/10 "2009-11-17T01:20:26Z")
The post referred to environmentally sound use of unusable oil. I would argue, that if done correctly, it would have a more positive affect on the environment then allowing cars to prematurely age. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/11 "2009-11-17T21:23:27Z")
Guess you’ve never had a need to do it, no smell after a few days if done correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Williams\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Mike\_Williams\_1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mike_Williams_1)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/12 "2020-04-29T16:50:55Z")
Some mowers use it as hydrostatic fluid. My old commercial walk behind Ferris mower uses that weight oil ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/13 "2020-04-29T17:04:56Z")
Hi Mike, the posts you responded to are 10 years old. You can read the response date in the upper right of each response. For instance, the last response before yours was November 2009. It’s fine to respond to old posts if you wish. I thought I’d point that out in case you missed it. Welcome to the forum, and keep posting. ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/14 "2020-04-29T17:57:57Z")
> [@Mike\_Williams\_1](#): > > Some mowers use it as hydrostatic fluid. My old commercial walk behind Ferris mower uses that weight oil “Straight weight” oil works okay in some applications, such as mowers and other lawn equipment. It is usually during “warmer” non-freezing temperatures when somebody would be likely to use a _“walk behind Ferris mower.”_\* There was a time I’d use it in cars, too, but would have to change oil (and oil “weights” or viscosity) when seasons changed to from warm summers to cold winters. I welcomed the advent of multi-grade oil and all-season tires, for that matter. Now I’m living an _endless summer_ and don’t need oil or tires for anything but summer weather. It never freezes here (They even run water lines above ground sometimes. Grass is cut all year, every week.) Feel the magic! _ **CSA** _ 🌴 🕶 🌴 ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/15 "2020-04-29T19:53:37Z")
If he/she/it/them is talking about the Tuff Torque K46 hydro transmission, there is controversy on what to use. If you go to all the work of pulling the transmission and turning it upside down to drain the fluid, the last thing you would worry about is saving a couple dollars by using found in a ditch 20-20 oil. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/16 "2020-04-29T20:11:21Z")
Back in the old days, straight weight oil was the norm. The late Tom McCahill, who did auto testing for Mechanix Illustrated recommended straight weight oils. He referred to 10W-30 as “sucker juice” and said that 10W-30 was a lousy #10 and lousy #30. He thought the real reason for multiviscosity oils was so service stations didn’t have to stock so many single viscosity oils on their shelves. Back in 1958, the Oldsmobile engines were having camshaft failures when certain brands of multiviscosity oil were used. Oldsmobile then said that only straight weight oils were to be used. Today, I use multiviscosity oil for everything. My two old mowers specified straight #30. I use 10W-30 full synthetic. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/17 "2020-04-30T04:29:20Z")
we still stock 1qt containers of SAE30 engine oil at work, and it gets used I think it’s Kendall ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/18 "2020-04-30T04:51:51Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > we still stock 1qt containers of SAE30 engine oil at work, and it gets used > > I think it’s Kendall **Wow, in steel cans? Plews spouts? Cool!** ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/7/b/7b3b50db9302b8f390907437d3c70f184e852e20.png) **When I pumped gas at an airport, I must have used that spout 10,000 times! We sold Texaco straight 30 and 50 aviation oil.** ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/e/8/e81c2185cecc21b2cfb28c8e14aef0e92a64d56b.png) _ **CSA** _ 🌴 🕶 🌴 ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/19 "2020-04-30T05:14:07Z")
No, it’s in red plastic 1qt containers You got a little ahead of yourself there . . . slow down ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/20-20w-motor-oil/39515/20 "2020-04-30T10:41:24Z")
> [@db4690](#): > > No, it’s in red plastic 1qt containers > You got a little ahead of yourself there . . . slow down Nope, not at all. 😁 I was joking with you, plus I can’t slow down, but it did jog my memory into remembering that oil always came in cans the required using a Plews spout. First, you’d take the point of the spout and put a small puncture in the rim to create a vent. Then 180\* from there, push the spout briskly into the can and pour. The big problem then was the dripping spout after it was removed from the can(s). Come to think of it, the procedure was similar for soda and beer cans prior to pouring them into your mouth, except the “Plews spout” was a can opener and didn’t drip oil afterwards _ **CSA.** _ 🌴 🕶 🌴