Just put in 0w-20 oil and car runs different

[emccu01]

I just made my second oil change at 10k miles to mobil 1 synthetic 0w-20. Previously I was running castrol 5w-20 non synthetic. Car ran great previously (2008 Camry LE 4cylinder Auto). I average 26.5 mpg city and 33 highway. I have only put 200 miles on the car since the oil change to 0w-20 and I am not that happy. The car accelerates fine for the most part but just doesn't seem right. I was on the highway the other day and had cruise control on and it seemed to hesitate and lag more than it ever has and the transmission seems to be doing the weird shifting that others have reported. I never had any noticeable problems before. When I say problems it is not that bad but it is noticeable to someone finicky like myself. My major question is whether people have had success after changing to this weight of oil and if the car may take a few hundred miles to get used to the new oil and readjust the ecm. Any comments appreciated.

Ed

[2GR_4AG]

seems too light for the engine....why not use the recommended weight?

[njerald]

Originally Posted by 2GR_4AG

seems too light for the engine....why not use the recommended weight?

0W20 or 5W20 are the recommended viscosities!!!!!!

[emccu01]

Yea 0w20 and 5w20 are equally recommended. 0w20 is only found in synthetic which I believe is naturally why most people won't put it in this car...it is more for fuel economy which is something I take pride in.

[thrawnis]

I don't have the manual in front of me, nor am I am expert on such things...

On my 2000 Camaro's 5.7L V8, the car recommended 5w30 or 10w30. I had to use 10w30 when I switched to Mobil 1 because the oil would burn with anything less. I also noticed that the car ran very differently but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. Acceleration was slower and I had many points of hesitation.

On my 2000 Honda Civic and 2001 Honda Accord I experienced similar problems when I switched to synthetic for a few couple changes. Although with my Hondas, I switched back to regular oil because even with 10w30 instead of 5w30, I had some strange hesitation and idling problems though they never burned oil like my Camaro.

My guess, though I haven't tried it, is that if you use 5w20 Mobil 1, you may have better luck.

[2GR_4AG]

Originally Posted by njerald

0W20 or 5W20 are the recommended viscosities!!!!!!

thought 5w30 was....says in the back of my manual.6.5qt w/filter change.

[2GR_4AG]

forget it...missed the I4 in the sentence...

[emccu01]

yea i'm wondering if it could be due to bad gas? possibly water in it? I'll put some fuel system cleaner and refill my tank and give an update.

[squeakyg]

The problems that you describe do not sound like those associated with an oil change. When I switched over to 0W-30 (V6), I notice a slightly deeper rev, but no change in performance at all. I also burn about 1/2 pint of oil about every 4,000 miles. I might try a move to 5W-30 myself.

[TRD VVTi]

The oil has nothing to do with the problems noted.

[workerant]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

The oil has nothing to do with the problems noted.

Care to give more info?

I agree that it's not relate to oil change. How far can the car go with the oil drain empty? (considering he forgot to put in the oil or the screw is gone and leaks all the new oil he put in) But of cause this solution is not likely since his car is not smoking yet.

[njerald]

Originally Posted by TTM77

I agree that it's not relate to oil change. How far can the car go with the oil drain empty? (considering he forgot to put in the oil or the screw is gone and leaks all the new oil he put in) But of cause this solution is not likely since his car is not smoking yet.

?????????

Just drivel...............

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by TTM77

Care to give more info?

I agree that it's not relate to oil change. How far can the car go with the oil drain empty? (considering he forgot to put in the oil or the screw is gone and leaks all the new oil he put in) But of cause this solution is not likely since his car is not smoking yet.

Oil has nothing to do with shifting of the car or any increase or decrease of power that can be detected by simply driving the car. The only thing that I can think of is if the engine is actually noisier and the knock sensor is picking it up causing the ECM to retard the timing. That isn't likely, however. To check that, you would actually have to access the ECM and check the knock counts.

How far can the car go without oil? It really depends. I've seen cars go for 30 miles without oil and have seen cars that locked up after just seconds of running. For some reason Toyotas seem to fair well though. I've seen an Avalon run for over a half hour without oil and then still keep running for over 15 minutes after running at 4,000 RPM's (rough estimate from memory).

If there wasn't any oil in the car the oil light would be on anyways, as there wouldn't be any oil pressure.

[workerant]

"hesitate and lag" I was thinking there is more friction.. but not due to diff type of oil.

I just changed my oil from the previous 0-30 to the 5-30 (recommended). No change. MPG does seem to increase a tiny but I can't really say it's due to the oil change.


on 5/9/08 was the first fill up after the oil change. U can tell the MPG drop for that tank.

[njerald]

Ha!!!!!!!