5W-30 vs. SAE 30

[Midnight27]

Changing oil in the lawnmowers and snowblower. What is the difference in the two oils. I have some 5W-30 at home and want to make sure if I use it I will not be doing any damage to the small engines.

[BobT]

If your engine is air cooled it is my understanding that you do not want to use a multi-grade oil like 10w-30. The engine runs hotter and multi-grades may not protect well enough. There might be some multi-grades that are rated for air cooled engines though so I may be wrong.

[fishing tech]

You will burn more oil. My mower calls for 30w, after about 5 uses I add 8oz. If I add 30w I am good for about 5 more times. If i add 10w30 I have to add every mowing. 5w30 will probably be to light of a weight.

[fishorgolf]

With a lawnmower that is used constantly and in warmer weather I would stick to 30w but the snowblower is a different story. I used to run 30w in my snowblower and it was a bear to start (8hp B&S MANUAL START) and I switched to 5-30w and it is MUCH easier to start now. I am not that worried about oil consumption because a snowblower is a low use item unlike a lawnmower.

[BobT]

In the winter flowing 0 degree air across your engine heads is far more efficient at keeping the engine cool and I imagine you won't have any trouble with multi-grade. Flowing 80 degree air across in mid summer might be a different story.

[CJH]

I have a JD pushmower and the manual says it can use either 30w or 10w30. So far I have stuck with 30w, but in the fall when it gets cooler, I think I am going to switch to 10w30 this year. (It gets really stiff once the temps get below 50)

[Tyler23]

i was always told that 5w-30 or 10w-30 have hydralic properties and 30 weight doesn't. so you cant run sae30 in a motor that calls for 10w-30 but you can run 10w-30 in a motor that calls for sae30. so if your motor has hydrualic lifters you must run a 10w-30 or 5w-30 sae 30 is not recommended