Mobil 1 ?s

[chtucker]

My 2008 Civic did not want to start in Leadville this past weekend at -20F...

I was due for its first oil change. I went to autozone and picked up 4quarts of 0-40w. Honda specs 5w-20.

I did not know till I went to Napa later in the day that Mobil sells a 0w-20 synthetic.

Should I drain the 0w-40 and put the 0w-20 in??? Or am I worrying to much?

[Joey D]

My 2008 Civic did not want to start in Leadville this past weekend at -20F...

I was due for its first oil change. I went to autozone and picked up 4quarts of 0-40w. Honda specs 5w-20.

I did not know till I went to Napa later in the day that Mobil sells a 0w-20 synthetic.

Should I drain the 0w-40 and put the 0w-20 in??? Or am I worrying to much?

Does it start easier now? I would bet the 20 weight is more of a milage thing than anything. I would change it out as a precaution in the event a problem shows up and it happens to be towed to the dealer

[chtucker]

Dunno if it starts easier as I am back at a lower altitude (4500 feet vs 10,500 feet) Both days in Leadville the car did not want to start. Battery is fine, put it on the booster and it just turned slowly, like it was trying to flow some molasses...

Mind you this is a 2008 with 6k miles....

[Pickering Snow]

First Howard i would just run the oil til its due for its next lof never seen a dealer that did oil samples and checked wieghts on failed anything.....

On the hard starting the biggest reason the companys went to the thinner oil was for the starting issues with FI this dates back to 82 when the Iron Duke had trouble sstarting cold with thick oil....

Try going right to the floor with the gas pedal it puts the engines pcm in clear flood and should start quicker its in your owners man for extreme cold starting condtions the pcm auto comps for the high alt so no biggy there.

[ratlover]

Plugging it in an option? Slap a pad heater on the pan?

The first # is the viscosity when cold and the second # is when its warm. So you have an oil thats a lil thinner when cold and alot thicker when warm. Or thats how I believe the specs go anyway.

[crashz]

Howard,

The oil you have in there is a bit thick for your engine. Ratlover is correct, the first number is designated as a viscosity range at 0 degrees celsius (numbers in the thousands of centepoise), the second number is the vicosity range at 100 degrees celsius (5-15 centepoise). So the lower the first number, the better cold starting viscosity generally. But without exact oil specifications, there is a wiggle room here. Castrol's 0w-30 synthetic has a higher cold viscosity than Mobil One 5w-30 and very close to the 10w-30. So beleive it or not, both fall into a 0w-XX catagory, but are not marketed like that because of vehcile specifications. If a car specs 5w-30, then thats what the consumer wants, regardless of the actual performance of the oil.

So in short Howard, you'll be fine with the 0w-40. Its a bit thick on the hot side, and you'll see a mileage penalty, but thats about it. Next change, go with the 0w-20.