Can a dealer detect what weight oil I'm using?

yeah it's actually against the law to not use the manufacturer recommended oil.

they have little scales they use to weigh droplets of oil, and most wont let you leave until an officer arrives to write you a ticket.

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>>14160915
Lmao
Yeah OP you're fucked

They never even look at that if your concern is engine related they will probably just have a visual inspection of the oil level/condition but I have never heard of dealerships checking oil by analysis.

I run 5W40 in my Crown Victoria which calls for 5W20
I run 5W50 in my Maxima which calls for 5W30 and 5W40 in temps above 18 celsius
I run 5W50 in my 350z which also calls for the same as the maxima

>>14160932
>devilish

but seriously op this will violate both your warranty and the Sarbanes-Oxley act. You could be liable for serious legal damages if your car becomes incapacitated and causes inconvenience to the public due to your negligence.

>>14160932
Translation please
God, it's like being in a military thread on k

>>14160953
Jesus Christ you mongoloid, fucking read a wikipedia article about motor oil or something.

Higher numbers = more viscous. The difference between 5w30 and 5w40 will literally make no difference in the life of your shitbox. If you started putting 15w40 in it you might have a problem down the road, but even then it would probably run fine for many oil changes.

Just fucking use whatever the goddamn jiffy lube you go to gives you.

>>14160953
They will check your engine oil if you come into the dealership with a complaint related to your engine (noisy for example)
THey wont do a chemical analysis but theyll check if theres enough oil in the engine, and how the oil looks.

If you bring it to the dealer for other things they probably wont check it

>>14160953
have you never bought oil before?

>>14160884
Why do you believe randoms on the internet over the engineers that created the car?

>>14160953
it really doesnt matter what oil you use, if theres a "recommended" number then go for that but otherwise don't worry

>>14161023
often oil viscosities recommended by manufacturers are thinned out so the car can achieve a better fuel economy as advertised, using a heavier weight in most cases better protects the engine from heat soaking but will reduce your MPGs.