is there any harm in running 20-50 racing oil.?

Question

i have a 91 mustang 5.0 and the engine has about 110,000 on it. it has a small oil leak in the rear main and the oil pressure likes to drop a little bit. ive found that thicker oil doesnt leak out as fast and keeps my oil pressure up. what if any is the harm in this? i live in south florida so i dont worry about cold starts so by the time it heats up it should be at a good consistensy and provide me with added pretection, right?

Answer 1

I agree with SVOMAN Just use a good quality 30W oil don't spend the extra $$$ on racing type oil. The racing oils because they are usually changed very often tend not to have the detergents that conventional oil have & that are needed in an engine that sees 3000 miles between oil changes. Go 30W.

Answer 2

I have an '89 LX 5.0 convertible with 243,000 miles on it. I use Amsoil Series 2000 20W-50 Racing Oil: http://www.amsoil.com/redirect.cgi?zo=1463115&page=StoreFront/tro
I live in Florida, too so the weather stays relatively warm. I guess if you have an oil leak, I wouldn't recommend synthetic just because of the cost. You should be good with a quality 20w-50.

Answer 3

No, 20-50 should not harm your car. If you change your oil at normal intervals; 20-50 is a good choice for what you have. I own a full size 1986 dodge with a 318 in it. I like to use the 20-50 in the hot months of the year. I live in AZ

Answer 4

It's probably a good idea to run 20- 50 you got a lot of miles the heavier oil will raise oil pressure a bit, something you probably need, and living down south your oil gets hottttttttt

Answer 5

Always give year, make, engine size and model # when asking questions. We need all of that info to give an informed answer. 20/50 oil is fine Some CBR600s had a cam chain tensioner recall - because of the symptom you describe.

Answer 6

Thicker is Better Myth
The reason that oil viscosities have gotten thinner is because bearing clearances have become smaller. Using thicker oils will interfere with oil flow and the oil pressure will increase. In a worn engine it may be okay to increase the viscosity of the oil because the bearing clearances have become larger.

Answer 7

You should be fine. With the heat of Florida, you want a thicker oil anyway. It will hurt your mileage a little but that probably isn't your concern.

Answer 8

For a warm climate like florida, its excellent. Heck, even BETTER than normal most likely. Low viscosities are only really needed in cold climates where thick oils just get too thick to work well. 20w50 is great stuff.

Answer 9

20-50 flows like 20w, 30wt is actually heavier, I use 40 wt in my Ford truck 351 with 220k miles

Answer 10

raceing oils or changed after each race,as they will gum up your oilpan if left long enough, just go with a good oil for the street, and do not use castor r,raceing oil for the street cars..