Switched to 5W-30 from 0W-20

[Kedis82ZE8]

I hear ya but the engine isn’t an oil burner or consumer in anyway. I’m gonna let my CX-5 run its course on a diet of Mazda Moly 0W-20. I will be honest too in the future if this comes back to bite me with oil consumption or other catastrophic engine issues related to lubrication. If I had a turbo I would consider other options and one reason I tend to avoid that option in vehicles. Cursed by legacy of mid 80’s Mitsubishi turbo experience

I’ve been use these kits

Mazda SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY Oil Filter, Drain Plug Washer and 5 Quarts of Mazda 0w20 Moly Oil

verything you need to do an oil change your Mazda SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY. Mazda recommends every 5,000 to 7,500 miles for an oil and filter change.

mazdaparts.org

As of ‘22 I was paying $59.52 an oil change. Now they are $67.58

 

[N7turbo]

At least you don't have the turbo motor so you stress the oil less.

For comparison, 5 qts of PUP plus a Mazda filter costs me $39.

 

[yrwei52]

I hear ya but the engine isn’t an oil burner or consumer in anyway. I’m gonna let my CX-5 run its course on a diet of Mazda Moly 0W-20. I will be honest too in the future if this comes back to bite me with oil consumption or other catastrophic engine issues related to lubrication. If I had a turbo I would consider other options and one reason I tend to avoid that option in vehicles. Cursed by legacy of mid 80’s Mitsubishi turbo experience

I’ve been use these kits

Mazda SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY Oil Filter, Drain Plug Washer and 5 Quarts of Mazda 0w20 Moly Oil

verything you need to do an oil change your Mazda SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY. Mazda recommends every 5,000 to 7,500 miles for an oil and filter change.

mazdaparts.org

As of ‘22 I was paying $59.52 an oil change. Now they are $67.58

View attachment 329642

I’m using Mazda Moly 0W-20 oil since new too. I bought a few cases of Mazda Moly oil and 20+ Japanese Tokyo Roki oil filters years ago and I have the last 5 quarts left. Once I exhaust the oil stock, I plan to use Castrol Edge 5W-30 SP oil afterwards. I trust Castrol oil and my 1998 Honda CR-V has been using Castrol GTX 5W-30 conventional oil for 192K miles with no ill effects at all. Oil consumption is about ⅓ quart per 5K miles which isn’t too bad.

My feeling is we can use ANY name brand SP oil and shouldn’t have to worry about oil related problems. Use any oil you prefer.

 

[Chocolate]

I used Valvoline Extended Protection 5W-30 in my last oil change as my research gathered from the VOAs and UOAs from the oil nerds on BITOG convinced me the additive package is a little better than Mobil1 EP. Less than $30 for 5 quarts and it's nice and quiet running. As said above, the maintenance schedule is more important than the brand of oil.

 

[madar]

I used Valvoline Extended Protection 5W-30 in my last oil change as my research gathered from the VOAs and UOAs from the oil nerds on BITOG convinced me the additive package is a little better than Mobil1 EP. Less than $30 for 5 quarts and it's nice and quiet running. As said above, the maintenance schedule is more important than the brand of oil.

Yep, Most "experts" will tell you 5k is the way to go if you're going the distance, I'm a believer in that. The extended oci is good if you're not planning on getting 200k miles out of it. Lots of stuff out there showing oil rings getting clogged up with extended oci and burning oil. I don't know much about the moly oil except it has moly. Don't get me wrong. I've used it, but not a big fan. Right now I'm using Castrol Edge 5w-30. Engine is super happy with that. Should've gone to 5w-30 years ago.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

One of the reasons I’ve held with the 0W-20 because somewhere along the development line Mazda felt a compelling reason to include moly into the oil for these engines.

Why? We will likely never know specific reasons.

Another thing to keep an eye on is arbitrary addition of “good additives”… it seems like these could do more harm than good especially if they are not compatible with the oil additive mix. Just some things I have read… and not a claimed oil expert. I’m not talk additives to oil mixes but stand alone additives. Some may think if a little moly is good.. a bunch more is better. I’ve not seen anywhere that is the case with more.

 

[N7turbo]

Moly is an effective friction modifier. However, it is not the only way to reduce friction.

Newer formulations/versions of moly additives can achieve the same effect with 2-3x less product, so beware when comparing oil analyses and know what you're looking at when you see wildly different numbers for molybdenum because it won't always be apples to apples.

And generally speaking, higher-end base oils don't need as many additives to meet or exceed API and ILSAC specs. That explains the differences between Quaker State and Pennzoil, for example. Higher numbers ≠ better.

 

[madar]

Lake Speed video, Start at the 17:30mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr07y1H3U7c

 

[Buzzman12]

I'm really curious to know if the person that bought my 2017 Mazda 6 will continue to use 5W-30. I switched years ago, and never looked back. The car sounded and ran happier. I even replaced the oil filler cap with one that says 5W-30 on it. I guess I'll never know. I hope he/she is happy with the car.

 

[dunhillmc]

I just switched to 5w-30 on my 2017 Mazda 6. The "feel" of the engine is definitely different. It's only been 2 weeks so it's hard for me to nail down the difference. What has changed is my mpg. I used to get 29-32mpg on my daily commute. Now I get 26-29mpg

 

[madar]

I'm really curious to know if the person that bought my 2017 Mazda 6 will continue to use 5W-30. I switched years ago, and never looked back. The car sounded and ran happier. I even replaced the oil filler cap with one that says 5W-30 on it. I guess I'll never know. I hope he/she is happy with the car.

Where did you get the cap?

 

[Lazy2.5]

I just switched to 5w-30 on my 2017 Mazda 6. The "feel" of the engine is definitely different. It's only been 2 weeks so it's hard for me to nail down the difference. What has changed is my mpg. I used to get 29-32mpg on my daily commute. Now I get 26-29mpg

Impossible for a small variation in oil weight to make such a profound difference on MPG. other factors at play.

If the engine feels "different" with 5w30 (Assuming you mean it feels smoother) Then the thicker oil is filling in some minor engine wear. All the more reason to use it.

 

[Buzzman12]

Where did you get the cap?

Dealer. I ordered the cap for a CX-9.

 

[Buzzman12]

Impossible for a small variation in oil weight to make such a profound difference on MPG. other factors at play.

If the engine feels "different" with 5w30 (Assuming you mean it feels smoother) Then the thicker oil is filling in some minor engine wear. All the more reason to use it.

I agree, and yet this is the exact reason Mazda goes with 0W20 in North America, and 5W30 in every other country. It's all about CAFE rules.
When I switched to 5W30, it was probably more of a placebo effect, but I still felt the car ran a bit quieter and happier.
As for engine wear, there was none. The car only had 43,000 kms on it when I sold it this spring. That's about 26,000 miles....in 6 and a half years.

 

[Mazdiod2]

I switched from the 0w-20 Mazda to 5w-30 and maybe I noticed the engine didn't seem to spin as easily in Neutral, but I don't think it was a measurable difference. It's only one grade different.

 

[madar]

I agree, and yet this is the exact reason Mazda goes with 0W20 in North America, and 5W30 in every other country. It's all about CAFE rules.
When I switched to 5W30, it was probably more of a placebo effect, but I still felt the car ran a bit quieter and happier.
As for engine wear, there was none. The car only had 43,000 kms on it when I sold it this spring. That's about 26,000 miles....in 6 and a half years.

CAFE rules are in every aspect of the what car manufacturers come up with as far as oil maintenance schedules in this country.
Here's another Lake Speed video about CAFE and "break-in oil".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4424Q5lLR8

 

[Lazy2.5]

Agreed. I’ve been a fan of Mobil 1 and stocking up each year during their rebate offers. I continue to use Mobil 1 0w-16 in my hybrid RAV4 and I’m now using Castrol Edge 5w-30 in the 23 CX-5 turbo. Castrol supposedly has a really good formulation for preventing deposits, something I’m interested in for the health of the turbo.

I used to use Amsoil for extended intervals a long time ago, but I just don’t drive enough to justify that anymore.

Back in the old days when I had a Bimmer and frequented their forums, users of Mobil or Castrol noted yellow oil gunk deposits in the underside of their oil caps; me including. Switching to a different oil completely negated this.

Most oil is oil, but these two are not good ones and should be avoided.

 

[madar]

Back in the old days when I had a Bimmer and frequented their forums, users of Mobil or Castrol noted yellow oil gunk deposits in the underside of their oil caps; me including. Switching to a different oil completely negated this.

Most oil is oil, but these two are not good ones and should be avoided.

The old days being when? Oil companies change their formulations almost on a yearly basis. I've used both, currently Castrol 5w-30, and not have noticed any deposits. The deposit you saw sounds like water vapor condensing on the cap due to the car not getting hot enough to burn it off. Just a speculation.

 

[ruthrj]

Back in the old days when I had a Bimmer and frequented their forums, users of Mobil or Castrol noted yellow oil gunk deposits in the underside of their oil caps; me including. Switching to a different oil completely negated this.

Most oil is oil, but these two are not good ones and should be avoided.

The old days being when? Oil companies change their formulations almost on a yearly basis. I've used both, currently Castrol 5w-30, and not have noticed any deposits. The deposit you saw sounds like water vapor condensing on the cap due to the car not getting hot enough to burn it off. Just a speculation.

I agree with madar. That sounds like a symptom of short trips and will happen with any oil. Very common over on the RAV4 forums, funky gunk up in the underside of the oil cap. I’ve fortunately not had any gook in the cap of my vehicles, no oil consumption, never an engine issue due to oil use (only what I think was carbon buildup on my intake valves due to short trips years ago on my old CX-5).

I’m not advocating solely for Mobil1 and Castrol. I’m personally a firm believer that any oil will work just fine as long as it meets the API specification called out by the vehicle manufacturer. Mobil and Castrol just happen to be readily available, cheap, and have numerous good used oil analyses all over the web. I probably won’t test my ‘23 T’s oil as I swap every 5k, but I had really good analysis on my RAV4 with up to 10k OCIs using Mobil1 0w-16 AFE.

 

[Lazy2.5]

I agree with madar. That sounds like a symptom of short trips and will happen with any oil. Very common over on the RAV4 forums, funky gunk up in the underside of the oil cap. I’ve fortunately not had any gook in the cap of my vehicles, no oil consumption, never an engine issue due to oil use (only what I think was carbon buildup on my intake valves due to short trips years ago on my old CX-5).

I'll try to find the thread. I remember the guys on the forum claimed they never saw this residue on underside of oil cap ever again after ridding of Mobil1 or Castrol.

I was using Castrol at the time, and I had this gunk. I switched, and sure enough, never saw that stuff again. My driving habits stayed the same.