All,
I have a brand new 2016 Dodge Dart. Owners manual calls for 0W 20, I've never used any 0 weight oil, and was thinking about going with 5W 20. I remember reading somewhere online that someone had a screenshot from their owners manual saying that OW 20 was recommended, and if it could not be found, 5W 20 was an okay substitute, but only for a short interval. I use synthetic oil in everything I drive, so this will be no exception, but I just wanted to know what the consensus was?


Thanks!

What does the owner's manual say?

You think the collective here at MoParts knows more?

Synthetic is a not-sequitur, as in irrelevant.

Just use what the manual called for and don't overthink it.

Agree with S.cuda,
Why stray from the Owner's Manual in a brand-new car?
I'd definitely stay with the 0W-20 as called for.

Engineers don't just pick an oil type willy-nilly. But here you are, thinking about using a non-spec oil type "just because"?

Good luck,
- Art

0W-20 is just a 5W-20 with better cold flow.
Since you are in a state that gets pretty stinkin' cold, I'd opt for the 0w for sure during winter months.

I have a 2014 Dart that uses 0W-20. What is the motivation to not use that grade? 0W-20 is readily available, my local Meijers store has Mobil 1 in that grade in 2 choices, the regular with a green cap and extended performance which is supposed to be good to 15,000 miles. I've used both in my car but when I used extended performance I still changed it at 7000 miles as I don't think FCA approves of extending the oil change interval.
And 0W-20 the same price as the other Mobil 1 grades.
With a $5 off coupon last weekend, I paid $21 and change for a 5 qt jug of the green cap stuff!
My '09 Challenger R/T uses 5W-20, and I noticed they say you can use 0W-20 in the hemi, so I am debating if I should use 0W-20 in both of those cars.

No way I would stray from recommended oil viscosity...use what they say to use. With that said, remember that oils for new vehicles are spec'd with CAFE requirements in mind(among many other things),anything they can do for that extra .0001 mpg.Part of the reason we see so many light weight oils now.

they recommend 0W 20 then use 0W 20. not sure why you would want something else.

I tried researching this about a year ago because the 0W-20 is expensive.
Couldn't find anything anything definite but it really seems that the answer is most likely: No, no harm.
Just about everything sensible I could find to read on the subject was related to CAFE Standards .

I would not mind paying more for oil if it meant that doing otherwise would harm the engine, but I am not that excited about just getting ".00001" more mpg in order to help comply with the standards.

Just wish I could find something 100% definitive on the subject, both for myself and the OP.

If the manufacturer recommends a certain weight the you would be foolish to use anything else. Remember you are screwing with your warranty. I don't think the difference in price is going to send you to the poor house.

Went to Autozone and priced 0w20 vs 5w20 in synthetic, as the OP says he'll run synthetic.

SAME EXACT PRICE.

So much for paying more.

What many may not realize also is that in many newer cars using the wrong viscosity oil can actually trip a code and make the check engine light come on.

Use the correct recommended oil.

Treed

Definitely appreciate all of the feedback. To me, it was never a cost comparison issue, I look at oil almost like gasoline, you need it for the car and as sad as it is to say, when gas was up around $4 per gallon I didn't stop buying it because my car gets me to work and work is what gives me money to live... etc etc... anyways I plan to use the 0w 20 as recommended.

0w20 only comes in synthetic.
5w20 can go dino or synthetic.

you will lose 1 mpg or so switching to the higher viscosity.

If you look or if there was one of those engines in a few years back before the mpg requirements went up, you will see it was 5w20 for that same engine.

they did it for mileage not because the engine needs it.

Since both have the same viscosity warmed up it doesn't matter.

1 MPG? No way, no how.

Not completely impossible... my 383 Valiant's highway mileage would go from 15.0 to 15.4 when changing out 20W-50 oil for 10W-40.

So if a new Dart gets 30 mpg(?) I could see some change being possible - but they are both 20 weight when hot, so doubt it'd be a whole 1 mpg.

if you have the 1.4 or the 2.4 they are a multi air engines, very sensitive to oil viscosity. thicker oil will cause problems with the multi air actuators,early production engines had issues if they sat for more than a week, the engine would hard start, crank a very long time as the multi air actuator system couldn't pump up, it had no compression. there is a reason why the thin oil is called out.

The 0W/20 will provide a faster oil supply to the bearings and other internal engine parts on a cold start up.

So, the question is, on a cold start up, how fast do you want the oil to reach critical engine parts?

Buy your oil accordingly. Gene

I suggest you use what's in the manual. I know for a fact that a local dealer is sending out oil samples from blown or damaged engines out for oil analysis.

If they find the wrong viscosity was used they are telling customers tough luck.

I don't know how they test to prove the weight used but it is happening.