Question about oil weight

I've been keeping track of some of the threads about oil here and haven't really seen the answer to my question.

So, I know some people are running 0W-20. Recommendations were made to these people to switch to a heavier weight oil for towing, hard use, etc. Would 0W-30 satisfy this? Also, isn't the difference between 0W and 5W only when the oil is cold, i.e. at startup?

I recently put 0W-30 in my truck and am wondering if that will cover my uses...I only put my truck through "hard use" a couple of times a year.

 

Yes, the first number is the cold weight (lower the better) and the second number is the hot weight (higher the better). So -30 oil protects better than -20 oil when the oil gets hot. According to this page, 0W flows easier than 5W only when the outside temp is below -45F, which most of us never see. Therefore 0W30 is overkill and you can get equivalent protection with 5W30 and save some money.

 

This is a good place to start on reading up about oil weights. May not directly answer you question, but has a lot of good information. This has been posted several times on TW, so I'm not taking credit for finding it.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

 

i run 0-30 signature series amsoil with a Mann filter every 6 months.....oil goes 35,000 miles or 1 year no problems ever however i drive way less than that

 

Great article, thanks. Seems to me (making an educated guess) that stepping up a weight for towing would only be advisable if the extra load would result in an increase in engine temperature that would make the oil too thin. But, a result of going to the thicker oil is that engine temperature would increase, thinning that oil to the same thickness as the lower weight oil.

Seems like I would be just fine running the 0W-20 under all conditions, and it would give me slightly lower viscosity at startup than the 0W-30 (a good thing), but I'm still going to run 0W-30 for the time being due to the difficulty of finding 0W-20 and the increased cost.

 

I agree with your assessment. The one thing the article doesn't do well is quantify the differences between the viscosity of 0w-20 and 0w-30. Meaning, what is the real difference in those numbers? Is it significant or worth worrying about? .

I know it should be common sense, but it was nice to see that synthetic of the same weight is thinner than conventional of the same weight. I'm currently using 5w-20 syn and my truck definitely seems to runner smoother on it (may just be perception). I'm going to 0w-20 syn next time I catch it on sale with oil filter at Auto Zone, Advance or O'rielly.

 

Another thing...since Toyota has approved 5W-20 for our trucks, then there should be no argument that we can't run 0W-20. They'd have the same viscosity at operating temperatures, thus the same "engine protection" (lubrication, flow, heat reduction, etc).

I'll keep my eyes out for 0W-20 closer to my next oil change. Couldn't believe the stealership wanted $17/quart for the Toyota branded 0W-20. Wowza!!!

 

Yeah, that's crazy. No one is making 0w-20 in the 5 qt jugs yet, but you can get 5 qts. of 0w-20 synthetic (Mobil 1, Pennzoil, etc.) with an oil filter (Bosch, Mobil 1, Purolator) at the auto store chain generally for ~$33 when they run an special. So if you split your sixth quart between two oil changes it should be ~$36 an oil change.

That's still cheaper than the 5qt jug of Mobil 1 at Walmart ($23.50) plus and extra quart ($6.50) plus a Pureone oil filter ($6.50). Plus, with the auto chains they generally throw in the $13+ filter (Bosch, Mobil 1, K&N) with the specials.

I subscribed the email updates to all of the auto chains in my area so that I would know when the specials are running.

 

I use Mobile One 5W20 seems to be good

 

www.bobistheoilguy.com has an informative 9 part toutorial covering information relevant to this topic.

One thing I notice about my '06 Taco 6cy is that the oil does not really get hot unless you drive about 30 miles. That really surpirsed me. Today was oil change day for me and it has been in single digits past few nights and only 20's in the day. Even after a trip of about 30 miles, my oil was pretty cool. I have been using 5-40 Rotella T6 for summer and its fine for that, but I've been cranking pretty slow past feew days. I was surprised to see how much more zip the starter had with 5-30. I could not find a deal on 0-30 and was contemplating 0-20, but dayhem that seems "thin" to me even though I understand the real viscosity under use is not that much different.

prs

 

Owner's manual says to use 5W-30, so that's what I use. Toyota engineered and built the engine, so they should know what oil is best for it.

 

Dude! My dealership sells it for $6 per. What a rip off joint you got!

I like the OEM oil, too. It has lots of moly anti-wear additive in it.

 

You guys should have checked the Deals & Coupons thread around Thanksgiving. Advance Auto ran a special on Mobil 1 Syn for $3.99 a qt. Included the 0w-20.

 

I think you missed the TSB that Toyota issued that says it's OK to use 0w20 in the I4 and 5w20 in the V6's.

Can't argue that they should know what oils are best for it.

 

Answering your first question: the manual specifies 5w30 for V6's and the TSB, EG018-06, revises the manual to allow use of 5w20 in V6's and 0w20 in the I4's. I have to think there's a reason they didn't allow the 0w20 in the V6.

The purpose of allowing 5w20 is for fuel economy.

Probably a good idea to stay with a 5w oil unless you're in a really really cold location and can't use a block heater or something. Not that I have any reason to think it would matter in the end, it's only to be able to totally sidestep probing questions on the extremely unlikely chance you ever needed major motor work under warranty.

Also if valve ticking on start-up bothers you.

 

+1
It's CAFE.
My '07 I4 manual said to use only 0W-20 or 5W-20, with 0W-20 "preferred."
The 2011 I4 manual says about the same but adds in that a heavier oil may be better for hard driving, towing, extended high speed driving, or to that effect. That statement was not in the '07 owner's manual.

The '06 I4 service manual also calls for an XW-30 in the I4.

I use 5W-20 or 5W-30 in my I4. The 0W-20 tends to shear pretty thin early in its use life.

 

My dealer is right there in the middle, at $9 a quart for Toyota brand 0w20.

With all my previous vehicles, it's been 10w30, 10w40, maybe 5w30 sometimes at the very coldest. Just curious as to why the latest I4s take an oil that's so much thinner. Tighter engineering spec's? Anyone?

 

Predominantly it's much higher quality oils...ILSAC GL-4 test sequences for obtaining an SN rating are extremely tough. In 0w20 weight mostly only full synthetic oils can pass.

I've read also that surface finishes of wear surfaces like cams and cam followers, not tolerances, are design considerations allowing use of light oil weights.

 

I use Mobil 1 0w30 in my Truck and Mobil 1 0w-20 in the wifes Honda Pilot. Not a single problem