For people like myself who don’t know jack-diddly-squat about cars, videos like these are quite helpful.

A mechanic named Rich posted a video on TikTok and answered a question from a viewer: “Why are auto manufacturers going with such lightweight oil like Ow16?”

Rich told viewers, “Oil has more than just one property. It’s not just lubricating. It’s also protecting the the engine, conditioning the seals, and also removing heat from areas that it can as much as possible.”

He continued, “Thin oils do great with fuel economy and removing heat, but they have weak film thickness under more performance-based applications and more severe driving. Thicker oils don’t remove heat as fast, but they have a better film thickness, which is to protect the rotating assembly better.”

Rich continued, “Overall, it’s almost not bad to go thicker, but it’s almost always bad to go thinner than what’s recommended for the vehicle. Also, why would they tell us that we shouldn’t go from a 5W20 to a 5W50 on that Mustang, theoretically, because if you put a thicker oil on your engine, it’s going to mess with the timing and the VCT components and everything else, and you don’t want that.”

He added, “A lot of times when people say stuff like that, they’re full of it. The vehicle is going to be perfectly fine by running a thicker oil. Just monitor what’s going on and keep a feel for how your vehicle is doing.”

Take a look at the video.

@fordbossme

Replying to @howiemchowerton Why Such Light Oil In newer Cars?

♬ original sound – Rich

Now let’s see what viewers had to say about this.

This person shared their thoughts.

Another TikTokker spoke up.

And this viewer weighed in.

This is good info from a guy who knows his stuff!

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