The Camry I gave away, had 350K on it...and it had leaks...that I didn't feel like getting down into and fixing
since I was replacing the car...
so the last 30,000 miles I had it, I just started running Walmart Super Tech oil in it...
I was always raised with the concept of heavier oil is what you use when your car starts using oil...
But I thought I'd do an experiment since the car was 'disposable' at that point...Since the new
stuff seems to want folks to use 5w20 or 0w20, I thought I'd use Wally World's 5w20 and just
see if it was going to cause any issues..
What surprised me, is that a quart of 5w20 stayed in there longer than a quart of 30 wt.
This was with the oil changed, not mixing the two weights...I was surprised the 5w20 would
stay in there twice as long as the 30 wt would...
Was talking with one of the instructors over at the college, and he said he wasn't surprised...
the 5w20 operated at a lower pressure rating and could get down into tight spots better than
a heavier oil. ( guess tolerances are that tight on newer engines)..
the 30wt running higher oil pressure, would push past seals much easier...
Made sense, whether fact or fiction...
have tried it in my lower mileage 93 Camry, that is used as a run around car.. but still gets
highway trips up to Potland and back... almost 600 miles round trip...
seals are tight on that car, and its not going thru any 5w20 oil...
the 5w20 has been in there 12,500 miles so far since it was changed... and its still fairly clean
and doing its job.. only adding was when I changed the filter and topped it off...
Looking down the filler hole, it doesn't seem to be forming any sludge either.
so contrary to the way I was taught, this light weight oil stuff seems to be doing its job,
and I really don't need to let the car idle a little to warm up before taking off in it...
a habit I've always done...
