Accidentally put in 2 different oils. What do.

[methusalem]

Messed up and accidentally put 1 quart of 20w50 in with 2 quarts of 10w40.

How screwed am I? What should I do? Also changed oil filter btw.


Thanks for the help! And yes, I already feel sufficiently stupid

Edit: I should add, they're both Castrol full synthetic. the 10 is apparently "optimized" for i4's, the 20 for v-twins... don't know if/how much that matters.

 

[Nastybutler]

Was the 20W50 a motorcycle oil or regular car oil? Conventional or synthetic? Same questions for the 10W40. Have you ran the engine yet? If so for how long?

If they are both motorcycle oils, I wouldn't worry about it. Otherwise, worse case scenario, you just drain it out again and put the right oil in. A waste of new oil, but not that big of a deal.

 

[HillCountryRider]

Typically, mixing viscosity isn't a problem, providing they are the same brand....mixing brands isn't recommended simply because different companies use certain additives and mixed additives can damage your engine.

 

[Nastybutler]

Typically, mixing viscosity isn't a problem, providing they are the same brand....mixing brands isn't recommended simply because different companies use certain additives and mixed additives can damage your engine.

I was assuming they were, otherwise you'd have to be pretty dim to not be able to tell them apart.

 

[methusalem]

Same brand, both fully synthetic, all that's different is the weight.

 

[BKP]

Same brand, no problem:

From the Chevron.com site:
"Yes. It is always advisable to not mix motor oil brands, however, different viscosity grades of the same brand motor oil are compatible. Be aware that mixing viscosity grades will turn out a product that is different in viscosity than either what was originally in the engine or what was added."

From Shell.ca:
"If you mix viscosity grades such as a 5W30 low-viscosity oil and a 10W40 higher-viscosity oil, it is reasonable to expect that the resulting product will have viscosity characteristics which are thicker than the 5W30, but thinner than the 10W40. This change does not reflect incompatibility - it's simply a re-balancing of the viscosity characteristics. In all other ways, the product should work as expected. But there's absolutely no danger about incompatibility resulting from mixing engine oils," Miller says. "We've tested all of our grades and brands, and we haven't observed any problems."

 

[Nastybutler]

Same brand, both fully synthetic, all that's different is the weight.

I hope they are specifically for motorcycles otherwise you'll have issues no matter what viscosity you put in. Car synthetic oil is a big no-no for bikes. If it is motorcycle specific, you can breath a sigh of relief. You're good.

 

[blkbrd]

Doing the math, I would say you currently have 13.33W43.33 in your bike?!?!