[Jm1221]

Recently changed the oil on my 2020 accord 6mt from amsoil 0w20 to amsoil 0w30.
Noticed the car warms up in cold tempurature quicker and smoother then with OE viscosity oil.

 

[easymike]

your motor oil should not affect how quickly your engine reaches it's operating temperature unless it is increasing the load on the motor. increased load due to driving is fine, but i have doubts about increasing viscosity

 

[Jm1221]

your motor oil should not affect how quickly your engine reaches it's operating temperature unless it is increasing the load on the motor. increased load due to driving is fine, but i have doubts about increasing viscosity

Ive read alot of threads/posts of good and bad about 0w20 so i just decided to try out 0w30.

 

[Hudouc]

The only real benefit that I see with 0W30 is the protection from higher temperature. Thus why I was running 0W20 when the car was NA and now 0W30 after the turbo install.

 

[TGHI]

The reason why 0W20 is taking over is mostly because the higher viscosity at operating temperature means less friction, temperature, and ultimately helps minutely improve fuel efficiency. The downside is that 0W20 is not great at higher sustained temperatures (ie: racing) where it offers less protection over heavier oils.

 

[PetitFrereAccord]

Recently changed the oil on my 2020 accord 6mt from amsoil 0w20 to amsoil 0w30.
Noticed the car warms up in cold tempurature quicker and smoother then with OE viscosity oil.

That is good to hear. But most of these things where people change the viscosity recommended by the dealership really does not mean it protects your car any better than those who stick to oem recommendations. The oil protects your car exactly like oem. Nothing special.

The 10th gen Accords that will end up having the most miles (like 300,000 plus someday) on their odometer will be mostly those that kept up with oem viscosity oil changes. That is to say anybody can change their viscosity to any viscosity you feel comfortable with. But it will never mean that you get more protection than someone else who will stick with oem viscosity for the life of their car.

In my former Maxima and current QX80, I have mixed all kinds of viscosity. In fact, my QX80 right now has a mixture of 0W20 (mobil 1), 5W20 (mobil 1) and 5W30 (amsoil). All mixed inside it now.I did the oil change in June 2020 and have done 7,000 miles already. And the way I have been busy driving this Accord, I may do the oil change on that QX80 after a year (so June 2021) or 15,000 miles. Whichever one comes first. Car drives awesome! Car has not been driven for over 2 months now. Collecting dust.

 

[easymike]

The only real benefit that I see with 0W30 is the protection from higher temperature. Thus why I was running 0W20 when the car was NA and now 0W30 after the turbo install.

your engine's internal operating temperature is roughly 200F. There isn't a place on the planet that having heavy weight oil will provide added protection from high temperatures. If there was, you'd die driving there before your motor showed any signs of stress. What protects you from high temps is your cooling system (radiator and antifreeze). Your car, do what you want, but i recommend that you swap back to 0w20 when you do your next oil change. you're putting unnecessary strain on your motor (minor still) and you're risking issues with higher viscosity oil when starting in winter temperatures.

 

[Hudouc]

your engine's internal operating temperature is roughly 200F. There isn't a place on the planet that having heavy weight oil will provide added protection from high temperatures. If there was, you'd die driving there before your motor showed any signs of stress. What protects you from high temps is your cooling system (radiator and antifreeze). Your car, do what you want, but i recommend that you swap back to 0w20 when you do your next oil change. you're putting unnecessary strain on your motor (minor still) and you're risking issues with higher viscosity oil when starting in winter temperatures.

This is true, but again, a minor risk. The only thinking is that although water cooled, the CHRA of the turbocharger is still extremely hot. And being a dual ball bearing turbo, I would imagine it is quite sensitive to oil breakdown. Considering the turbo costs 3x as much as a used motor for the car, it seems to be worth it to me. Also considering I do autocross the car and the car doesn't have a oil cooler, I think the 0W30 route is better for my case specifically.

 

[easymike]

This is true, but again, a minor risk. The only thinking is that although water cooled, the CHRA of the turbocharger is still extremely hot. And being a dual ball bearing turbo, I would imagine it is quite sensitive to oil breakdown. Considering the turbo costs 3x as much as a used motor for the car, it seems to be worth it to me. Also considering I do autocross the car and the car doesn't have a oil cooler, I think the 0W30 route is better for my case specifically.

I'm under the impression that this is more significant in a car that is driven hard. Supposedly just idling for a bit before shutting it down can help with oil cooled turbos, but if your is water cooled then it seems like your solution is best for your specific circumstances. For the every day 10th gen accord owner, there's no reason to change the oil viscosity

 

[sfx]

The only real benefit that I see with 0W30 is the protection from higher temperature. Thus why I was running 0W20 when the car was NA and now 0W30 after the turbo install.

Did the 10g Accord not offer a turbo option? (international forum - in US, they're all turbo's)

 

[Hudouc]

Did the 10g Accord not offer a turbo option? (international forum - in US, they're all turbo's)

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to my 8th gen that I did a turbo build on.

But to echo what @easymike said, there's no reason to deviate from the factory specification unless you track the car or such. Especially considering how tight modern engine tolerances are and how new the 10th gens are, a significant deviation in viscosity may actually hurt the engine more than it helps as the bearings in the motor is toleranced with oil viscosity in mind.

 

[easymike]

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to my 8th gen that I did a turbo build on.

took me a second to figure it out. you mentioned starting out NA, then i looked at your sig and put the pieces together.

 

[sfx]

took me a second to figure it out. you mentioned starting out NA, then i looked at your sig and put the pieces together.

Roger that...

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to my 8th gen that I did a turbo build on.

No worries...

0w-20 - I was a bit concerned about that 8 years ago with my K24 in the TSX, but 110K later, was just fine. Dealer fill there, which was always Pennzoil Synthetic...

I'm ok with the Honda engineers sorting this - if they say 0w-20 is good enough...

 

[zroger73]

Recently changed the oil on my 2020 accord 6mt from amsoil 0w20 to amsoil 0w30.

One might be well advised to use the specified viscosity of API-certified engine oil at least until the powertrain warranty expires. 0W-30 is the incorrect viscosity and most Amsoil engine oils have historically not been API-certified.

 

[Veggiemonster 67]

One might be well advised to use the specified viscosity of API-certified engine oil at least until the powertrain warranty expires. 0W-30 is the incorrect viscosity and most Amsoil engine oils have historically not been API-certified.

It is more important to use the first number in consideration. 0W means it's viscosity is similar to a 0 weight range oil, with protection like a 20 weight.

Going from 0W20 to 10W30 would add more viscosity regardless of temperature and would be more likely to have adverse effects.

This is also why your mechanic might recommend stepping up to a 5 or 10W oil when you have high mileage motors, because with wear there is added clearances, this would offer more protection as the oil is more viscous and more likely to adhere.

 

[qman]

A manufacturer recommends a weight of oil based on the design of the engine.

Oil that is too thick may not flow quickly enough to fill the spaces between the crank journals and main bearings while the engine is running. The oil may not form a consistent lubricating film, allowing metal-to-metal contact and wear. Not only that, but the engine will waste energy pumping the thicker motor oil, reducing fuel economy. Since thicker oils don’t transfer heat as well as thinner oils, operating temperatures will increase, too, possibly leading to accelerated chemical break down and harmful sludge and deposits.

Oil that’s too thin can fail to develop a consistent lubricating film, inviting metal-to-metal contact that causes wear.

 

[nickandre]

You can do a little digging though -- for the F23A1 (6th gen) the identical motor was offered in Australia and they recommended 5W-30, not 5W-20. The change in the US was for CAFE standards and will do nothing but degrade the longevity of the engine as such and offer a few pico-MPG improvement.

From my understanding there is usually not a risk from increasing the viscosity -- decreasing the viscosity is bad because the bearing surfaces may be designed requiring a particular film strength. Increasing will improve the film strength and the wear protection. The snafu however is the V-tec system which has been designed with a particular viscosity in mind, so that's the main concern.

The justification used by modern auto makers for the absurdly low viscosity is that the "engine is usually not the primary wear item in modern cars" which basically means "yes the engine will wear faster with the thinner viscosity oil."

An important note: after a period of miles in the engine, apparently the 20 viscosity ends up behaving similarly to the 30 viscosity. I would assume the 30 viscosity increases as well, so if you're doing this just make sure you keep oil change intervals lower and use full synthetic and I can't imagine you'd run into any problems at all since the viscosities overlap somewhat during the aging cycle.

You will also only see benefit from going from a 5W-XX to a 0W-XX which just means the cold weather viscosity is closer to the warm viscosity which will decrease wear during the winter startup times.

 

[Jm1221]

You can do a little digging though -- for the F23A1 (6th gen) the identical motor was offered in Australia and they recommended 5W-30, not 5W-20. The change in the US was for CAFE standards and will do nothing but degrade the longevity of the engine as such and offer a few pico-MPG improvement.

From my understanding there is usually not a risk from increasing the viscosity -- decreasing the viscosity is bad because the bearing surfaces may be designed requiring a particular film strength. Increasing will improve the film strength and the wear protection. The snafu however is the V-tec system which has been designed with a particular viscosity in mind, so that's the main concern.

The justification used by modern auto makers for the absurdly low viscosity is that the "engine is usually not the primary wear item in modern cars" which basically means "yes the engine will wear faster with the thinner viscosity oil."

An important note: after a period of miles in the engine, apparently the 20 viscosity ends up behaving similarly to the 30 viscosity. I would assume the 30 viscosity increases as well, so if you're doing this just make sure you keep oil change intervals lower and use full synthetic and I can't imagine you'd run into any problems at all since the viscosities overlap somewhat during the aging cycle.

You will also only see benefit from going from a 5W-XX to a 0W-XX which just means the cold weather viscosity is closer to the warm viscosity which will decrease wear during the winter startup times.

I'm under the impression that this is more significant in a car that is driven hard. Supposedly just idling for a bit before shutting it down can help with oil cooled turbos, but if your is water cooled then it seems like your solution is best for your specific circumstances. For the every day 10th gen accord owner, there's no reason to change the oil viscosity

My car is certainly driven hard, constant launches/speeding/downshift launching. So far it feels good it doesnt take any longer to start up and it warms up quick , i believe in a dofferent post these new honda are allowed to use 5w30 in other countries so im sure 0w30 should be fine, i change the oil myself and 0w20 comes out like water it scares me especailly since im keeping the car.

 

[nickandre]

My car is certainly driven hard, constant launches/speeding/downshift launching. So far it feels good it doesnt take any longer to start up and it warms up quick , i believe in a dofferent post these new honda are allowed to use 5w30 in other countries so im sure 0w30 should be fine, i change the oil myself and 0w20 comes out like water it scares me especailly since im keeping the car.

It the engine is approved for the different viscosity in a different country then you’re most certainly fine.

the only difference between 5w-30 and 0w-30 is how much thicker the oil gets when cold. There is only benefit from using 0w-30 in place of 5w-30, but the benefit is when the engine is cold before the oil has warmed up. How much benefit depends on your climate (never gets below Freezing versus starting often well below).

 

[2Accordz]

Recently changed the oil on my 2020 accord 6mt from amsoil 0w20 to amsoil 0w30.
Noticed the car warms up in cold tempurature quicker and smoother then with OE viscosity oil.

As @qman alluded to...If you're still under warranty and an engine related problem occurs due to incorrect oil viscosity/weight issues, you'll be chasing Honda for the money....and that's the first thing they'll look for to get out of covering it.

That's the downside to experimenting with oil viscosity and turbo engines that are still under warranty.