is 5w20 oil ok?

Screenshots of the 2008 User's Manual from the Mazda USA website... FTW. My printed manual in the car shows the same.

Without Turbocharger: 5W-20
With Turbocharger: 5W-30


Okay, something very wacky is going on, these are the screen shots that I got just 5 minutes ago, with the page before clearly showing this is for the non turbo and turbo mazda. It clearly states something different.
 
sorry, i didn't realize I didn't post the pictures, here are the pictures from the manual I downloaded today. why the difference in oils?
 

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No way in hell would I use a 5W-20 oil in a high-performance turbocharged motor. This lighweight oils are for FUEL ECONOMY. You cannot tell me the engines built today are that much tighter than they were 10 years ago. However, emissions and fuel economy stardards are! I'm using 5W-40 Shell Rotella T Synthetic right now. I really don't care if I get 1mpg less than I did before with 5W-30. In the scheme of things, it's nothing.

Most of the UOD's show a 30 weight oil sheering down to around a 20 weight after 4-5k miles in this motor. Lots of people think this is attributed to fuel dilution, however you'll find that 'most' UOD's done on this car don't show fuel dilution being an issue. I'm sure different driving conditions can attribute to fuel dilution, ie: lots of stop and go, short trips, not allowing the car to reach operating temps, etc... I'm not concerned with my driving habits, as 80% of the mileage I put on the car is at 70mph on the highway. The reason why the oils are thinning is that they're running through a turbocharger that is heating up to 1,000 degrees F and spinning at 100,000 RPM at times. Years ago, manufacturers would give you a choice of viscosities in the owner's manuals and let people choose which oil to use depending on temps. Most of them overlapped. In the summer, I see nothing wrong with using a 5W-40 oil. In fact, the bulletin Neuspeed released for the K04 turbo says to use 20W-50 for the summer and 10W-40 in the winter. I don't know if I'd go THAT thick, but doing a 5W-40 in the summer and then back to the 5W-30 in the winter is my plan.

FWIW, my 08.5 says to use 5W-30 and the one online is the same. Maybe some manuals had typos? I can see the possibility of a tech putting 5 quarts of 5W-20 in the car. Regular Mazda3's outnumber MS3's by like 100:1 and I'm sure it's force of habit. If the receipt says 5W-20, treat it as such. I wouldn't take their word for it. They're just looking to make a quick buck and they're going to hear it from the manager if they find out they had to do another FREE oil change because someone F'd up.

I agree with everything you said 100% except about the whole manual thing, there are some discrepencies in what they say like I posted.
 
sorry, i didn't realize I didn't post the pictures, here are the pictures from the manual I downloaded today. why the difference in oils?

The header on that sheet just says "Mazda3". It also says on the bottom if 5w20 is not available to use 5w30...
 
The header on that sheet just says "Mazda3". It also says on the bottom if 5w20 is not available to use 5w30...

the sheet before obviously shows the non turbo and turbo version. Also, onthe website, it specifically says 2007mazdaspeed3 manual. Why are there different information out there from the same manual. My in car manual doesn't show the same info.
 
sorry, i didn't realize I didn't post the pictures, here are the pictures from the manual I downloaded today. why the difference in oils?

The header on that sheet just says "Mazda3". It also says on the bottom if 5w20 is not available to use 5w30...

That is whacky indeed. The date on that sheet, May '06 would be a VERY early for the MS3. I wonder if in making some initial changes to add the car with the turbocharger, they overlooked the oil requirement?

It would be interesting to see what people's printed manual says compared to their build/purchase data.
 
Well, I got the same thing. Went to the local mazda dealer on Friday, and called them today. I told them that the car requires 5w-30, but on the invoice it said 5w-20. He just said that they only use that as a base on the invoice since all Mazda's now use 5w-20 he said, and that the tech puts in what is said on the oilcap etc... Well let's hope that is the case.
 
Well, I got the same thing. Went to the local mazda dealer on Friday, and called them today. I told them that the car requires 5w-30, but on the invoice it said 5w-20. He just said that they only use that as a base on the invoice since all Mazda's now use 5w-20 he said, and that the tech puts in what is said on the oilcap etc... Well let's hope that is the case.

If it walks like a duck... what is so hard about putting what you actually did to the car on the invoice? Afterall, that is the customer's proof of service in which they'd be THE FIRST ONES to pull and claim you didn't use the right oil if you blew your motor.
 
If it walks like a duck... what is so hard about putting what you actually did to the car on the invoice? Afterall, that is the customer's proof of service in which they'd be THE FIRST ONES to pull and claim you didn't use the right oil if you blew your motor.

anyone who thinks a car can blow the motor because they used 5w30 instead of 5w20 or vise versa is a complete moron.... And just to school you guys Turbo cars should use 5w30. 5w20 isnt going to kill your car and it isnt going to affect your gas mileage....the viscousity of the oil just isnt going to change as much as it should...it isnt a devastating problem if you ran the wrong one....the only thing it would probably affect is oil consumption...and if anyone you know tells you a turbo engine doesnt consume oil...well then they are retarded...
 
anyone who thinks a car can blow the motor because they used 5w30 instead of 5w20 or vise versa is a complete moron.... And just to school you guys Turbo cars should use 5w30. 5w20 isnt going to kill your car and it isnt going to affect your gas mileage....the viscousity of the oil just isnt going to change as much as it should...it isnt a devastating problem if you ran the wrong one....the only thing it would probably affect is oil consumption...and if anyone you know tells you a turbo engine doesnt consume oil...well then they are retarded...

I think you need to do a little more research man.
 
anyone who thinks a car can blow the motor because and if anyone you know tells you a turbo engine doesnt consume oil...well then they are retarded...
Yes I also measure people's mental acuity by judging their prior knowledge about auto mechanics.
 
A 5W-20 will be a 0W-10 after 4000 miles. It's been proven with UOA's. It may not hurt your motor if you've run it once or twice, but I wouldn't go more than 2-3k miles on it. I'm running 5W-40. I may switch back to 5W-30 in the winter time, but I really don't think we get cold enough here in Jersey to even bother, especially since they're both a 5 weight for startup and this car still runs damn hot. I've read the Aussie's MPS owners manuals specify various viscosities for different temps. Why doesn't our manual say this? Fuel/emissions regs our Feds are pushing.
 
Screenshots of the 2008 User's Manual from the Mazda USA website... FTW. My printed manual in the car shows the same.

Without Turbocharger: 5W-20
With Turbocharger: 5W-30

Same here... In the real world you wont see a whole lot of difference if you do regular oil & filter changes... I run full synth in my 08; and there is no way that a 20 weight is going to break down in a normal oil change interval... The dealer put 20 in on the first freebie change and I went full synth M1 after that at 30 weight... I can tell you from running different oil weights in motorcycle engines with wet slipper clutches and 16,000 RPM redlines that 10 weight points is not going to matter for the most part... If you run WFO all the time then put some gear oil in and forget about it...LOL... Kidding of course...

As for the heavier oil causing seal leakage; there is some truth in that... If you go really high like 50 weight; the oil pressure rises and seal leakage will occur when the engine is cold and the oil dosent flow as easily... Thats one of the reasons for the low "W" number... 5w oil flows easier than 10w oil and so on... The "w" number is how the oil flows... Example: 5w30 is a 30 weight oil that flows like a 5w oil... Thus the difference between oils that have no "w" number... These are called "straight" weight (i.e. 5w30 ~vs~ straight 30 weight...

OK; now tell me how F'd up I am....(rofl)
 
FWIW, the Neuspeed K04 report recommended using 20W-50 in the summer and 10W-40 in the winter. I don't think I'd use an oil that thick and this was K04's on Audi's and VW's, but it just shows you that a thicker oil is recommended on turbocharged motors.
 
<snip>Thats one of the reasons for the low "W" number... 5w oil flows easier than 10w oil and so on... The "w" number is how the oil flows... Example: 5w30 is a 30 weight oil that flows like a 5w oil... Thus the difference between oils that have no "w" number... These are called "straight" weight (i.e. 5w30 ~vs~ straight 30 weight...

You meant to say the "W" is how the oil flows when cold. Right?
 
if i may, let me confuse you even more--the w does not stand for weight, it stands for winter. ha ha, im the smartest of us all!! ooops, i have to go now, the nurse is calling me for my medication.
 

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