oil weight, 0W-20

My owners manual for my '07 2.7L I4 5 speed recommends either 0W-20 or 5W-20. I have always thought that 0W-20 would be slightly better than running water (exaggeration but you get the point, I hope). So Since getting my truck about 6K miles ago, I changed it with Penzoil Platinum 5W-20. Now I took advantage of the Autozone Mobile 1 5 qt plus filter deal. I was wondering what exactly the pros and cons are of 0W-20 vs 5W-20 are. I know you get better fuel economy with 0W-20 but are you sacrificeing protection with it? How does temperature affect them. In the winter one mechanic told me to run 0W-20 to help with ignition but I have never had any issues

 

Ok so would it be bad if I got 5 qts of 0W-20 of mobile1 in stead of 5W-20, especially with summer coming?

 

I've used 0W-40 in my race mower, which I know isn't a truck, but we run the engines 2 times as fast as designed for. It makes a big difference and the engine runs a lot cooler and better. As for my truck, I've always just run 10W-30.

 

chris if i didnt think my questions might help someone else out I would just pm you directly haha

 

Well considering that a viscosity of 0 is equal to the viscosity of water you are pretty much spot on there. The difference is that water is corrosive while oil has better lubricating properties. Like Chris said though the only real diff between 0-20 and 5-20 is when the oil is cold. You will get easier flow out of the 0-20 at start up, which may improve your gas mileage and hp a tiny bit by making it easier for your engine to turn your oil pump, but once they reach operating temp they are the same.

 

Thanks for the input! I guess the only question I have left is why would anyone run 5W-20 instead of 0W-20? It seems the me (in my truck where I have the option for either) that there is no benefit to running the 5W. I'm not asking why oil companies make it, I know some vehicles require it, but why would they mention it in my manual? Easier to locate when you need a change?

 

5w20 is available in 5 qt jugs from walmart and other stores. That saves you a few bucks, plus it is easier to find.

 

Ya I put in the penzoil 5 quart last change, but I picked up five quarts of 0W-20 plus the mobile1 filter from autozone for $30. No huge desire for the filter but hell, its going on my taco

 

Do they not provide a graph in the owner's manual for different climates? That is my understanding when the engineers provide another oil viscosity in the book.
I run the 5W30 Castrol syntec in my motor all year. But it's the V6.
On real cold mornings I have not heard any adverse valve noise on initial startup so they know what they are talking about regarding oil weight.
I have sat in on conference calls with service engineering at work and the Mobil 1 0-40 is reported to reach the valvetrain in less than 2secs at -30F on our motors on initial cold start.

 

Toyota says to use 5w30 for year round protection in the v6. I would continue to use what you're using now. Synthetic does flow much better in extreme cold than the dino oils do. JMO.

 

X2

 

Ha ha. Thats what I do...just pm. Chris is the go to man for just about any tech question.

Thanks Chris!