I have a 2001 Ford Focus, and the Owner’s Manual suggests I use SAE 5W-20 Motor Oil. Not in the mood to drive, I walked to my local Dollar General and it appears all they have is oil that says 5W-30 / 10W-30 (if recall correctly). This would be my first time purchasing oil so I’m not sure if there is a huge difference between these types of oil and the 5W-20 recommended in the manual.
What does the label on a 5W-20 mean anyway? How is it different from a 10W-30? Please help fight my ignorance; I need your Dopey wisdom.
Dollar General is not an auto parts store, which is the type of store you need to go to, although WalMart should also have 5W-20… The numbers are the viscosity ratings of the oil (in this case a multi-viscosity oil, that’s why there are two numbers used to describe the oil). The 10W-30 is more viscous that the oil Ford recommends.
The 5W-20 means when cold, it is as thick as a 5 weight oil, and when warm as thick as a 20 weight oil. That means easier starting when cold but it doesn’t thin out too much and still protects when warm. The 10W-30 is thicker both cold and warm, harder starts, and more work for the engine when warmed up. It could mean slightly lower gas millage.
Be very careful of Dollar General oil. It may not meet modern standards. . Your manual also likely says SJ or SL service. The Dollar General stuff may only be SF or even SA. If you run the recommended miles between oil changes, you could have trouble with sludging. They keep improving oil and writing new standards. Many of your oils are labeled SM now. It is fine to use with cars specifying any of the older ratings.
Wal*Mart and other discount stores carry a wide selection of oils at good prices, perhaps less than Dollar General. If price is important, their Super Tech may be OK.
You may not be a car guy, but the people that wrote your manual are. They do have other agendas, millage, but what they say will work well in your car. You would do well to follow it.
I am a car guy and have ventured away from my manuals. I am running Mobil 1 0W-30 SL/SM in my old truck that calls for 10W-30. SE/SF and longer change intervals. If you go to an auto forum, you will find endless discussions of the type of oil and little facts to back the strong opinions. The one point most agree on is avoiding oil formulated to the older specs.
That oil from the dollar store is not even suitable for your lawnmower.
Oil is graded for gas and diesel engines. The grade is printed in a seal on the back. I was around when oil was graded SA, then SB, then SC and so on. My latest cheap oil from Wal-Mart is graded API SN. That would be suitable for your vehicle.
Look on the back of your dollar store oil. You will likely find that it says something like “Miscible with all oils including API SN” or something comparable. That does not mean it meet any standard. All that means is that it is mixable with decent oil. This is a way of deceiving unknowing customers into thinking that it meets some standard. It does not meet the standard for your needs. Throw it out or use it on the kid’s bikes or something.
Auto part’s store branded oil will cost from $3/qt. up. Wal-Mart Super Tech oil sells for $2.28/qt.and meets the industry standard. I’ve used it for years and never had problems in over 200K on engines.
Do not put that dollar store oil in your vehicle. If you did, get it changed.
Dollar General isn’t a dollar store per se (although they do definitely occupy a similar market position) so the oil didn’t necessarily cost 1$ a quart. But I’d agree that if the oil cost less than $3 a quart, I’d be very, very leery of it.
Not to start an oil debate, but I will just mention that Ford’s decision to use 5w-20 instead of 5w-30 seems to have been more of a business decision than an engineering necessity. In other words, they have no problem using the same 5w-30 oil that practically every other car on the road does, but Ford decided they might get a fraction of an MPG out of recommending a slightly lower viscosity oil. Realistically, you could probably use 5w-20 in most 5w-30 recommended cars also without any problem too.
So, with that in mind, if 5w-30 is the only oil available you shouldn’t fret too much about using it (assuming the API rating and all that is right). I believe a careful reading of the owner’s manual will say the same thing-- that Ford recommends 5w-20, but 5w-30 works just fine. I would venture to guess that most 5w-20 recommended Fords on the road are running 5w-30 because the quick lube places will almost always just use the 5w-30 they buy in super-bulk instead of pouring in bottles of 5w-20 (or-- heaven forbid!-- stocking two kinds of bulk oil).
What you say is all true.
I shop at Dollar Tree where everything is a dollar. Dollar General does not deserve the name. They up sell so many items at higher prices. Regardless of their price for oil, I seriously doubt that it meets the API standard.
I suggest the OP just go to the quick oil change place and concentrate his efforts on checking the oil level and for leaks when he leaves as those can be an issues there.
In a lot of ways the quick change places make sense for non car guys.
It would be interesting to compare things like bearing clearances, oil pump volumes, etc. between the 30 weight and 20 weight engines. Are the Fords and Hondas sold in Europe built to different specs for the heavier oils called for?
Ford and Honda, maybe others, have been using it for years, long enough to show little effect on engine life. Although I have retrofitted my ancient truck to 0W-30, I don’t think I will be using the 20 weight until I buy something that calls for it.
None of the oils discussed here, and none (or precious few) recommended by car manufacturers have a rating of 20W.
“W” here does not mean “weight” – it means “winter.” As labdude mentioned, a 5W20 oil meets the “5” spec when cold (hence “5W,” which means 5 in the winter test condition) and the “20” spec when warm.
The 5w20, usually synthetic, oils were developed to meet Ford specifications. You can also use 0w20 which meets the same specs and what I have been putting in my wife’s 2003 F 150 since it was new.
I am a recent convert to synthetic 0W-X oils. I do not like many of the countries we import oil from. Using synthetic and longer change intervals is a wash economically. Note, follow your owners manual while in warranty.
I have actually seen legitimate street-legal motor oils at my local Dollar General. I think they had Pennzoil in an acceptable API rating.
They weren’t a good deal, though, and the cheapest oils in the store were certainly not appropriate for an '01 Ford.
Before we have you discard that oil, why don’t you tell us that brand of oil you picked up as well as the API rating?
You’re looking for a donut like the one at the top of this page:
We want the letters to the right of ‘API Service’ in the ‘donut’.
If it’s SL, then that’s a real oil, and you can use it in a 2001 gas vehicle.
BTW, Ford permits 5W30 in that engine last time I checked, with 5W20 being preferred.
If your oil is a 5W30 and has the SL, SM or SN rating on it, you COULD use it.
However, you will lose a small percentage of fuel economy because you’re running a needlessly high viscosity.
It’s on the order of 2-3% with regular driving cycles. To the extent that you live in a colder place and make only short trips, the loss will be higher.
Personally, if it’s 5W30 SL or better I’d put it in the car ONLY if I couldn’t return it to the store.
Otherwise I’d go to Wal-Mart and get Supertech 5W20, which is generally the cheapest 5W20 that meets all of your specs.
Everything that meets the specs is more than good enough, so just choose the cheapest and change regularly.
So far, this thread had mentioned Dollar General as a bad place to buy oil, and WalMart and auto parts stores as good places.
In truth, there are many more options available too. You don’t need to go all the way to a Wal-Mart or an auto parts store. Most large supermarkets offer enough of a selection that you should be able to find what your manual prescribes.
Perhaps that’s because most, if not all, of the times we’ve gone to grocery stores and seen passenger car motor oils on the shelves we have noticed that prices were higher than at Wal-Mart or auto parts stores.
Yes, you pay for convenience. As I said back in post #4 ''Be very careful of Dollar General oil. It may not meet modern standards. ‘’ I then explained what to look for. If they have a suitable oil, it may be worth it to pay a little extra.
Yes grocery stores carry motor oil, but again, I think it is more expensive.
I have bought most of my oil at Wal*Mart for years because they have good prices. Unfortunately, the local one doesn’t cary any of the 0W-X stuff I have decided to use. Nobody in this backwater does.
IME, that’s the cheapest way to get quality motor oil.
Go to Wal-Mart, get a 5 qt. jug of whatever SN rated oil is cheapest in 5w-20. Get an oil filter while you’re there- the Ford Motorcraft ones are actually great filters for the same price or less as the arguably crappier Fram orange ones.