i switched from regular to synthetic oil....so i put in 5w30 but then i found out that the
place i go to gives me 10w30.... should i be worried? and... can someone explain what
the numbers mean? i know it has to do with expansion in certain temps but i am still a
little bit lost... thanks

 

 

what are you running on? stock? engine?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by o0oz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i switched from regular to synthetic oil....so i put in 5w30 but then i found out that the
place i go to gives me 10w30.... should i be worried? and... can someone explain what
the numbers mean? i know it has to do with expansion in certain temps but i am still a
little bit lost... thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>


THIS IS WHAT I FOUND ON ONE OF THE LINKS, I HOPE THIS WOULD HELP

for example, a 5W-30. "W" means winter. In winter weather the 0W oil will flow like a 0W oil, and the 5W will flow like a 5W oil and a 10W will flow like a 10W oil just until the engine warms up. In order to understand the differences one has to first understand that the numerical values given to these various weight oils are strictly empirical numbers. For example, 0W does not mean that the oil has no weight. That is one of the reasons why we say it is strictly an empirical number.

Let's compare the kinematic viscosity of the three AMSOIL lubricants:

AMSOIL 0W-30 is 57.3 cST @ 40 °C, & 11.3 cST @ 100 °C

AMSOIL 5W-30 is 59.5 cST @ 40 °C, & 11.7 cST @ 100 °C

AMSOIL 10W-30 is 66.1 cST @ 40 °C, & 11.7 cST @ 100 °C

As you can see from the data above the kinematic viscosities are extremely close. Therefore, whether you use the 0W-30, 5W-30 or the 10W-30 is strictly a matter of choice. With the small differences in kinematic viscosity you would be hard-pressed to detect these differences on initial engine start-up without specialized engine test equipment.

All three oils are excellent motor oils and ANY one can be used in a vehicle which requires either a 0W-30, 5W-30 or 10W-30 oil as well as in several other engine applications including an engine which recommends a 5W- 20 oil.

In order to determine the differences between the three oils one has to look at the kinematic viscosity of each lubricant. The kinematic viscosity is essentially the amount of time, in centistokes, that it takes for a specified volume of the lubricant to flow through a fixed diameter orifice at a given temperature.

AMSOIL Series 2000 0W-30 Severe Service motor oil is one of the best synthetic lubricants AMSOIL manufacturers for gasoline engine passenger vehicles and light trucks. The molecular and chemical technology used to develop this oil was derived from AMSOIL's Racing Oil. It is a 35,000 mile/1-year motor oil. This is the same oil used by numerous police vehicles and severe duty fleets nationwide. In fact, many national racing teams use the 0W-30 for the qualifying event, then they change to the AMSOIL 20W-50 Racing Oil for the race. The extra horsepower and friction reduction from the 0W-30 often assists a race driver in attaining a better starting position. In fact, we know exactly which race teams use it, but cannot disclose that information.

This leads to the next topic: many people also ask us if the 0W-30 is too thin a viscosity oil for high ambient temperature operation. The answer is absolutely not! Thicker viscosity oils are not always necessarily better since in addition to its' various engine lubrication functions, an oil must also effectively transfer heat. Only about 60% of an engines cooling is performed by the engine coolant, and only on the upper half of the engine. The remaining 40% of an engines cooling is performed mainly by the engine oil.

Although a vehicle that is recommended to use a 30 weight oil can also use a 40 weight oil, it is usually not needed. You will gain absolutely no benefit from using a thicker viscosity oil if it is not needed. The only time we recommend a 40 weight oil, such as AMSOIL's 10W-40, to a customer in a passenger car or light truck application is if the vehicle's engine is excessively worn and consumes oil at a higher than normal rate or if the vehicle is being used for very severe duty, high load, high temperature applications.

 

to answer his question. no, you will be ok

 

You will be fine. If you were in a really cold climate I would suggest 5/30. You might find your car runs better with 10/30 in summer months.

On my gsr I run 5/30 winter. 10/30 summer.