Correct oil

Owner's manual says to use 0W-20, but does not state to use synthetic. Have heard that 0W-20 is actually synthetic. Is it? Dealer says they are using synthetic and charge synthetic prices.
If using synthetic, why change oil every 5,000 miles per manual? Thought one of benefits of synthetic was longer life.

 

The benefit of synthetic is better protection and less resistance over conventional oils.

I can't speak to 0w20. I use 5w20 in my v6. Dealer may upgrade you to synthetic whether the manual calls for it or not.

 

You won't be able to find 0w-20 in a non-synthetic.

 

go synthetic and change every 10,000 will be fine

been doing that with my 1999 4runner since day one, and 210,000 miles later
(21 oil changes) thing runs mint, never had a knock, produces all the horsepower it should, passes emissions....no issues whatsoever. never had a non-start situation either

motor has never been opened for any reason and no sludge visible in valve covers through oil cap. looks clean....

 

4 cyl 2TR-FE engines use 0W-20

6 cyl 1GR-FE engines use 5W-30

5K intervals are for 5W-30 oil - this suggests the vehicle came
with conventional oil. Nowhere in any 2015 Toyota doc have I seen evidence that 5W-30 synthetic is used.

10K intervals are for 0W-20 oil

Currently 0W-20 is only available in synthetic form. I doubt it will anytime soon as it was used primarily to pass CAFE requirements.

C.A.F.E - corporate average fuel economy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy

 

Is states its in the maintenance manual. Schedule A for 4.0 V6 and Schedule B for 2.7 4cyl. Notice lower right hand side along the edge of page.

 

Ok so here is the Chart you need to figure out some of your questions.. Read it so you understand what is going on and make a copy for your glove box so you can show the dealership. You have a 4 cyl. so you can use 0w-20, looks like the interval is every 5,000 miles and you can use blended oil (if you can find it) or synthetic. Unless I'm reading the chart wrong thats been know to happen. So take a look at it and figure it out.


http://rav4world.com/pdf/T-TT-0005-10.pdf

 

It's not possible to have a 0W in conventional oil. Any 0W is at least a synthetic blend/semi-synthetic if not full synthetic.

 

5,000 mile interval for both Synthetic or conventional oil as per the Toyota Approved guidelines.

Here: http://rav4world.com/pdf/T-TT-0005-10.pdf

Of course it is your truck and you can do whatever you want. The 2.7L Has Not been approved by Toyota for extended oil changes using synthetic oil. Regardless of what other people tell you, this includes the service writers at the dealer.

 

I use 5w-30 mobile 1 synthetic every 5-6k miles

 

Has everybody used synthetic from day one or has any of you switched to synthetic after having 68,000 miles on your truck? Any problems?

 

I think the lady before me used regular and i,bought it with 60k and used synthetic ever since no problems

 

This is true. I called toyota technical services about this last year when I switched to synthetic, as I wanted to see if I could run it to around 10k miles between changes. They gave me a bit of a technical answer as to why not to go past 5k miles between changes. It can void the warranty also going past 5k according to them. So after my phone call with them I decided to just use synthetic and change at 5k miles.

You may very well be able to go past 5k miles, but its not that much money just to change it at the regular interval and guarantee your warranty will still be valid.

 

You can switch at any time. I don't know if they still make it but they used to make blends when synthetic was new. (part conventional part synthetic.)

When I switched on my last truck I did a flush with synthetic then a refill. On my new one I didn't bother.

 

I switched my 2009 2.7 4cyl to AmsOil Synthetic 0w20 after I bought it at about 68,000 miles. No problems, doesn't use enough oil to require adding between yearly (or 25,000 mi) changes.

 

I know several people who use syn & change just every year, I think they run the same filter also, no problems that I know of,, I wouldn't do it, but It works for them.

 

That's me. Sometimes it's 15K plus miles, sometimes only 10K, but it gets changed annually. I use mobil 1 full synthetic and mobil 1 filter. Been doing it for almost 10 years and 100K miles, no issues, and you would be hard pressed to find someone that consistently drives harder than I do.