It’s been a while and there’s still life in that carcass so here some fresh hay
Like cup holders and 20 inch rims extremely thin oil really does seem to be a trend with little benefit for most automobiles under most driving conditions.
I wouldn’t call 0w-30 “extremely thin”.
OTOH, 0w-16 …
My car uses 0W20.Toyota said that it improves fuel economy and cold starts.
None of those oils are that.
A good article on oil clearances and thinner oils. Specifically about racing engines but these lead diretly to street engines.
Mahle, that owns Clevite Bearings recommends as tight as 0.0007 per inch of clearance. That’s 0.00175 in on a 2.5 inch crank pin. Old school thoughts would have that as large as 0.0025 in.
Also interesting is the discussion with the oil guy about the tighter tolerances allowing a greater load area making friction even less.
With modern machining techniques, it would seem possible to machine to a tighter tolerance allowing the use of thin oils like the 0W20 and 0W16 and still provide good protection and long life.
Like high pitched roofs, gimmicky water faucets, outrageously expensive and problematic headlights, nitrogen in tires and so many hyperbolic claims for automobiles these days there seems to be a contest to see who can demand the thinnest oil to be used in their cars. But 300,000+ miles using conventional 10W40 oil changed every 7-8,000 miles on ‘primitive’ engines built in the 1970s and 80s leaves me questioning just how marvelous the engineering and lubricants are. No doubt there have been significant improvements in a great many aspects of automobile technology but the hyperbole far exceeds the actual from my perspective. And it is evident that away from the trendy US market in climates like our desert southwest manufacturers recommend significantly thicker oils these days.
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The machinists back in the old days were a lot sharper than many people give them credit for. The connecting rod oil clearance on a 1935 Chevy is .0005 to .001.
Even in the very early 1900s Harley manufactured rod and main bearing rollers in .0002 over sizes up to .001. Same goes for transmission bearings. At that point races and shafts must be replaced. And this was all done sans CNC machinery over a 100 years ago. I cannot even imagine any car manufacturer even considering such a thing in today’s world.
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First, 0W-40 is no thinner at operating temperature than 10W-40.
Second, why are you replying to me individually when others like Texases are saying essentially the same thing as me.
I find the far right column advice curious. I thought lower viscosity oils were better in extreme cold, but they recommend higher viscosity oil. The stuff I read here and elsewhere said that lower viscosity oils got into the lubricated parts faster when cold, and that was why they are preferred. IIRC, @Docnick said that more than once.
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I agree, that makes NO sense.
I’m not going to be suckered into this discussion again but if you think 0-20 is thin, try cleaning some up that spilled on the garage floor.
As a non-engineer, someone still needs to explain how, if the engine is maintained at a temp of 210 degrees, it makes any difference at all what the outside temp is. Until you exceed that is the ability of the cooling system to regulate the temp. The guy from Mexico is not with us anymore to explain the use of heavy weight oil down there in the hot climate. I’ll just use what the book tells me to and leave the engineering to the genius’ .
For over the road vehicles and long commute vehicles burning gasoline in moderate climates it would seem that 10W30 is about as good as you would ever need Bing. But I opened the hood on another car the other day and a sticker near the radiator insisted on 0W16 which is as inappropriate down here in the south today as 20W50 was in Minnesota 50 years ago when it was very popular and considered ‘racing oil.’
But to each his own. I see green tire valve caps in parking lots everywhere when indicating the tire is filled with pure nitrogen costing $1 more per tire around here when the what were breathing is about 80% nitrogen and free. “most of the people some of the time and some of the people most of the time” keeps the marketing people in business selling pigs in pokes and making many them think they got a great deal.
Really nothing to get concerned about. Many large tire stores just use Nitrogen to fill tires because it is easier then trying to keep 2 different systems and avoid putting regular air in a vehicle and having a customer complain they wanted Nitrogen.
Besides just because the valve cap is green does not mean that tire has Nitrogen.
Yeah I understand the higher viscosity in cold climates. When a car sits outside at 10 below, even a 10 weight will be like churning honey, with a slow starter response and no lubrication until the engine warms up. Not following the other way around. The engine will not exceed 210 even if it is 110 degrees out (hopefully if everything is working ok).
No big deal. I continue to run 0-20 in my Acura just fine and 5-30 in my Pontiac and small engines.
Sorry. I meant to stay out of this.
If you lived in the Northeast you would find that flat roofs are a false economy here. Any place that gets a lot of snow, usually also gets a lot of rain and in our climates flat roof require constant repair because of leaks.
The steeper the pitch, the longer the shingles last. Ice shield, flashing and roof overhangs are important as is insulation and ventilation.
See I should have stayed out of it and never read the original post about the steep roofs. The only places around here with flat roofs are commercial buildings and they have to use the rubber membranes and worry about snow loads. I’ve got a fairly steep roof(s) and never have to clear the snow off.
Best thing that could have happened to the Vikings. Now they’re out of that hideous monstrosity of a stadium and into a beautifully designed and modernized stadium.
Do current codes require choosing between Alpine ski lodge roof slopes or flat roofs? Two years ago I paid <$5,000 for a new roof and a few years earlier a neighbor in a similar sized home with a ‘trendy’ 16/12 roof paid >$12,000. The neighbor tried to save some money and get a metal roof but codes wouldn’t allow it.
Roof cost is largely a matter of what the contractiernthinks they can soak you for. We had a roof replacement estimate of $28,000, but eventually got an equivalent job done for $12,000.