I put motorcycle oil in my car by mistake. Will this damage my car?

I changed my own oil and put 10w-40 4-stroke motorcycle oil in my car by mistake. My car takes 10w-30. I have been driving around for two weeks with motorcycle oil. Should I just leave it alone until the next oil change? Is motorcycle oil somehow bad for my car? Should I change the oil again?I put motorcycle oil in my car by mistake. Will this damage my car?
Ya mean Besides just making 2 wheels fall off and attracting more women asking for rides??


Naaaa,,,wont hurt a thing.





Seriously now-


Chop's Right,,,it's at Least as good in your car as what you'd normally use





And just for the sake of saying while on the subject,,


You would NOT want to do ';vice -versa';,,


10w-30 is Generally NOT good for use in motorcycles.





Not because it's ';car oil';,,,


but because most 10w-30 available these days has a formulation that's NOT COMPATIBLE with motorcycle's wet clutch





Almost Any bike oil is fine for use in cars,,,


and Many Car Oils are fine for use in bikes.





If there's a ';Rule'; to remember and follow,,,it's that thing about -30 weight oil being typically NOT ';safe'; for Bikes due to it's friction modifier additives





Bikes---stick with Anything that has a ';40'; in the numbers


10w40


20w40,,,and so on





Cars,,,you can use just about anything off the shelf.


It may not be BEST,,,but at least it's ';safe';





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Oil Brand,Grade,Weight,etc has always been a popular controversy among consumers to argue amongst themselves.





When BIKE-SPECIFIC oils were introduced(fairly recently),,


well that was just a NEW argument to liven-up the age-old stale debates among the Armchair Oil Experts.





Meanwhile,,,a funny thing happened for the First Time in the History of Retail Oil Market,,,,


and that got overlooked by everyone who is certain THEY know more about Oil than any of their debate partners.





A Certain Class of Engine Oils became ';DANGEROUS To Motorcycles';.





That situation never existed before,,,


where the Retail Shelves displayed oils which would actually DAMAGE a bike





Prior to that,,a person could literally be Blindfolded%26gt;grab a can of oil%26gt;put it into their Car,Bike,Lawnmower,Light Truck,Diesel Engine......


and at Least NOT HURT the machine.





IThe Blind Choice might be the Least Desirable,,Worst Choice,,,but it would be at least ';safe';.


That was Then......





NOW,,,there's oil which one can consider to be ';Poison'; to motorcycles.


It's use will actually damage them.





And it's all a matter of the Friction Additives in Lightweight,Modern ';Car Oils'; damaging bike's Wet Clutches.





If there's a absolute Bare Minimum that bike owners should know about Oil,,,that's it





Stay away from any oil with a -30 in the number,,,and anything that's labelled ';energy saving';





BIKE oil -into Car,,pretty much universally OK.





Car Oil-into- Bike,,,beware,,,


it might Be ';Snake Oil';,,Venomous to bike's wet clutch.





That may be no ';Revelation of Universal Truth';,,,


But is might come in handy anytime somebody is caught needing to Add Oil.





It's a new world,,a new deal,,, SOME oil these days actually Can directly cause damage to Bike clutches.





Cars are same as always,,,,anything goes.


A certain oil may not be Best Choice,,may be a BAD choice---but at least it ain't gonna Hurt the car.I put motorcycle oil in my car by mistake. Will this damage my car?
I would have thought by the second or third quart you would have noticed the bottle labeling.... Anyway, you did your car a big favor, but the downside is you used up some of your bike oil stock. Its getting hot outside anyway, and the extra protection the 10-40 provides never hurts. Just don't go trading off and use up your automotive oil on your bike when its time for a change as the oil designed for automotive use will not offer the shear protection in your bike as previously described...
Harley oil is not differant,all motorcycle oil is actually better than car oil because it has a higher shear resistance due to the fact that most motorcycles have their transmision unitised with their engine so the oil has to resist the shearing force of gears. I use motorcycle oil in my cars and allways have. Its flat out better oil!
Only if you used Harley oil. It is different and should be flushed out and replaced.





P.S. Alright choppy c, the pissing match has started. Harley oil has a higher heat rating than all other oil. It says so right on the front of the bottle, or at least it used to. Just under the bar and shield emblem there should be the number 260. Thats for 260 degrees. All other oil is rated lower by at least 20 degrees. Phosphates are added to Harley oil to give it this boost. They are what makes the funny colors when light hits it just right. This also explains the distinct smell of Harley oil. Simple physics denotes that thicker(less viscous) oil requires more heat to break down. The added phosphates give the oil this extra thickness. Remember, 10w30 or 10w40 is a heat rating system(what ambient temp. the oil may be used at), not a viscosity chart . It's only natural for 10w40 to be a little thicker. In todays automotive engines, clearances have become extremely tight, especially valve clearances. In the mid 1990's Chevy S10's started using 5w30 because of this. Others followed suit. Now, if regular 10w30 is to thick for valve clearances, I guarantee that Harley oil is way too thick.


As everyone knows Harleys are air cooled, therefore, they run hotter. So why don't all air cooled engine's run Harley oil?


First, Harleys engine clearances are bigger than anything I've ever heard of, including old British bikes. Even by custom rebuild specs., the thicker oil still gets where it needs to be. Second, the oil is there to cool the engine as well as lubricate it. The oil tank is a makeshift radiator. I can't think of another air cooled engine with a separate oil tank.
It isn't going to hurt anything.





Whoever told TXm42 his oil advice should never be allowed to give advice again.
Short answer - It won't hurt a damn thing, just leave it in.