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Is 5w-20 bad???

tyhuck

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tyhuck Senior Enthusiast

tyhuck

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Well, after waiting forever at the Wal-Mart to get my hunting liscence, and leaving a quart of oil and a bottle of fuel system cleaner at the register, I got home, drained the oil, and pulled the filter before I realized that I grabbed a jug of 5w-20 instead of 5w-30. I had no choice but to fill her up with the 5w-20. I know in my old 96 2500 the manual specified NOT to use 5w-20. Are the LS based engines ok to run on the 5w-20, or should I change it out ASAP? I will be honest, between the kids, making dinner, and trying to clean up after some remodeling, I barely had time to do the change, much less read the manual. My apologies. But, now that I have a moment, its easier to ask here than to go back outside and check. LOL!

 

 

tyhuck Senior Enthusiast

tyhuck

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Well, its kinda too late. Im 20 miles from anywhere I can buy oil, I had already drained the oil, and I have to get to work tomorrow. Had no choice but to put it in. My question is, will it hurt anything?

 

The oil actually was Mobil 1 5w-20 High Mileage. I normally run Mobil 1 5w-30 if that makes any difference.

Chris Senior Enthusiast

Chris

Posted
Posted

I would change it when you get the free time. Keep an eye on it and see if anything changes eith the truck

 

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Chris Senior Enthusiast

Chris

Posted
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I would.

 

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amc31b Enthusiast

amc31b

Posted
Posted

Personally, I would change just the oil when you get the chance. The filter is new and it wont really care what weight oil is passing through it. You could even catch the barely used 5w-20 in a clean container and re-use it in something else that takes 5w-20. A few hundred miles on filtered oil is no big deal, same for the filter. Having a few hundred miles of a slightly thinner oil running through it wont matter at all.

 

To avoid a problem like this again, just make a promise to yourself that you will not do any automotive work in a rush. Being in a rush will greatly increase your chances of a mistake or accident. Mistakes can be costly and accidents can injure or kill you or someone else. Either make plenty of time for your automotive work so you can really pay attention or do not do it at all.

 

That is the main reason I will never be a mechanic for a living. The Pro wrenches normally get paid by the job so the faster they work, the more money they make. Rushing leads to poor workmanship, more mistakes, and less memory retention of learned techniques and skills. The fact that I take my time, pay attention to all the details, do excellent work and learn from every job I do would not be appreciated if I was doing the work on somone else's clock. I know I am getting a little off topic here.... Sorry. lol

Black02Silverado Senior Enthusiast

Black02Silverado

Posted
Posted

It will not hurt a thing. I ran 5w-20 in my 2002 5.3 with no issues. Matter of fact the used oil analysis, UOA, showed no increase in wear over running a 5w-30. I ran the 5w-20 for 6k mile oil change intervals and did those oil changes to see how things would go for I think 3 oil changes. Like I said, no issues at all. I was kind of hoping to see an increase in mpg, even if it was 1mpg but I didn't.

tyhuck Senior Enthusiast

tyhuck

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From what Ive seen on other sources, the concern is under load or under high RPM cycles the oil doesn't provide adequate film thickness for key parts like the crank shaft and bearings. Im not a mechanic, or an oil expert, but would it make sense that if the oil pressure stays up around normal levels I am adequately protected, or will oil that's too thin make no difference in pressure once circulated?

 

My main concern is the fact that I am running in temps of 90-98 deg F. Mostly its highway driving on small rolling hills, but sometimes I am towing about 2000 lbs. Will this oil hold up to that?

 

On a side note, I also noticed a large amount of grey goop on the magnetic end of my drain plug, and I would assume this to be metal from the inside of my engine since it was magnetic. I have no idea how the previous owner of this truck maintained it, so I want to make sure I take care of it. It runs great and has lots of power, and no noises or leaks, but I don't know what the inside of that engine looks like. I just don't want to screw it up because I am not sure how long I will have to keep this one. Ideally, I will trade it in on a new 2500 in 2 years when my wife pays off the Tahoe, but who knows what will happen between now and then.

 

Again, I don't want to screw anything up, but with money as tight as it is right now, Im not all about throwing another $45 away if I don't need to. I realize it might be cheap insurance to replace it, but again, $45 is $45. Know what I mean?

kstruckcountry Senior Enthusiast

kstruckcountry

Posted
Posted

I'd change it when you get a chance. If you're worried about your engine get an oil analysis done next oil change, they'll catch anything that is out of order.

kstruckcountry Senior Enthusiast

kstruckcountry

Posted
Posted

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

That's who does mine. The reports are pretty thorough, here's my last one. I'm planning on sending another sample my next oil change. $20.

 

 

DANNY: Things look great in this first report for your Silverado. Our universal averages for the GM 5.3L V-8

are based on ~5,800 miles of oil use, and you can see that your metals are reading at or below those
averages on a similar oil run. That's a good indication that there are no mechanical issues or other obvious
problems developing, at least as far as we can see. No moisture, dirt, or fuel was detected, and the low level
of insolubles points to good oil filtration. All in all, things are looking great for this engine as it crosses the
100,000-mile mark. Try 7,500 miles next oil. Nice!

In addition to the written report, they'll include a chart showing all the technical information about what was in the oil (fuel, water, metals), as well as flash point and other properties.

ATMINF Enthusiast

ATMINF

Posted
Posted

5w20 won't kill your motor especially at the temp your at. If it was in the low 30s and below I would say change it, but you will be fine.

tyhuck Senior Enthusiast

tyhuck

Posted
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Well, I figured another $45 was cheap enough insurance, so I just replaced it today. Ide seen too many mixed answers on this topic all over the inter-web, so I just went ahead and drained it and put new 5w-30 in it. I couldn't save the oil because my oil drain pan is too dirty and grimy to keep anything clean. If nothing else, I now have about 12 qts of quenching oil for my handmade knives.

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