Can I run 5w-30 in my 2016 Tacoma?

only thermodynamics will

 

Toyota and some other manufacturers switched to 0w-20 mostly to appease EPA. 0/5w-30 should be just fine.

 

this was today


And it’s very unstable here. The most unstable it’s ever been. Not only did we have the port explosion 2 years ago, but we now have a big economic crisis. Majority of people are under the poverty line and we only get a few hours of electricity a day. We also have a terrorist organization (Hezbollah) here that’s funded and armed by Iran that control the country. They are horrible.

good news though, the hash is still amazing and plentiful. I can post a pic of some that I have if you want, but not sure if that’s against the rules. Cannabis grows all over the beqaa valley and they produce some amazing Lebanese blond and Lebanese red. Dirt cheap too.

Also, here’s a pic of my Tacoma I front of the blown up port just days after it happened.

 

Sounds like parts of california.

 

0w-20 is fine since you have US truck in other country.. it should be fine.

There are hot days down here... My truck runs fine with

$52 0w-20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0w-20 oil, no matter what temp each day gets.

Your truck will be fine as long as you keep it maintained.

You go there for work or moved there for good?

 

for good but I’ll probably come back to Texas in the next couple years. But yeah work as well.

I guess I’ll stick to the 0w20

 

Hmmmm...... Mechanics opinion vs Toyota engineers!

That's a tuff one.....

 

That damn Chad. I catch my wife touching her hoo-hoo thinking about him.

 

CAFE driven for sure. A good example of this is Toyota's Dynamic Force engines (A25 and M20). Those mills recommend 0w16 in The States. However, those same engines in other countries, like Australia call for a range of 0w16 to 15w40.

So people who mistakenly say...."U.S. engines have different tolerances, blah, blah, blah so they call for lighter oil". If that's the case, how can the same engine operate on a huge range of viscosities in other countries? Also, it would be very cost prohibitive to do such a thing.

In The States, the EPA requires a manufacturer to recommend the viscosity that the engine was certified on. It's almost never a requirement, but a recommendation. If you look at the verbiage in the manual you will notice there is a footnote that basically says you can run a heavier oil under certain conditions. That's Toyota's way around the EPA's rules.....especially by saying "you have to switch back the next oil change" (paraphrasing). Notice there is not a single word in the manual warning you against a heavier oil or that damage may occur if you do. There's a reason for that.

And some may not realize, but a

$52 0w20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0w20 oil at cold startup is considerably more viscous (heavier) than 5w30 is at operating temperature. So if that heavier oil is going to do damage then starting your truck and driving around for the first several miles on 0w20 should kill it, right? Of course not.

As for cold starting flow? The difference between 0w and 5w is negligible until you get into temperatures below -25° F. And frankly, the KV100 rating on 20s vs 30s isn't dramatic these days. Some of the heavier 20s come in close to 9. Light 30s comes in just under 10.

5w30 will do no harm no matter what temperature environment you live in. If you want a tad more film strength.....run it.

 

Couldn't have said it better! Same reason why up to a 15W40 or 20W50 is acceptable on many engines even. Because when cold and in the right enviroment (i.e., not colder than the lowest recommended temp for each viscosity per the manual like 15ish degrees fahrenheit for 15W40) then they aren't too thick to be unsafe, and once warm a 20, 30, 40, or 50 are all relatively close in thickness as well, just providing slightly different film strengths.

The tighter tolerances thing always cracks me up. I'm not really sure where it came from, to be honest. For one thing a tighter tolerance means they produce more consistent and repeatable machined passageways, bearings, etc. Means their quality control of manufacturing got better. Doesn't mean those passageways got smaller. If they said tighter clearances, then sure, smaller passageways, but where is the proof that there are tighter clearances in modern day engines? Bearings still need oil, that hasn't changed. They haven't made the bearing clearances noticeably smaller if you check the specs. If you compare the specs, most engines these days aren't that far off from the engines of 30 years ago. Different designs and stuff being mostly DOHC now vs OHV or SOHC 30 years ago, but still. The main argument from the tighter tolerance/clearance folk is that thicker oil is too thick to "fit" in those spaces in the engine. If that were the case, then as you already put, the cold 0W would be too thick to fit where the hot 20 or 30 can fit. So the logic just plain isn't there.

The VVT argument also always gets me, being that many folks believe if you use the 'wrong' viscosity, your VVT is gonna break or quit working. No, not how that works. Again, the cold 0W is thicker than the warm 30. If that were the case, then your VVT would completely not work until warmed up. The truth of the matter is that VVT relies strictly on oil pressure, which you either have or you don't, regardless of viscosity. You'll have more or less pressure depending on what that viscosity is, but as long as you have pressure, you will have functional VVT.

My last one is synthetic vs conventional. I'm not against either type, I'll run both. Conventional has been around forever and engines run just fine on it. Tons of 500K+ mile engines out there that used nothing but conventional. Synthetic has been around a while and engines run fine on it, many with the same miles. No engine requires one or the other. Why would a chunk of metal need synthetic? What did they possibly do to it that made that part require a synthetic? How will the part know so that it can throw a fit if you don't give it the synthetic it needs? Is there some sort of meter measuring the molecules and reporting it to the ECM? Do the ILSAC ratings not matter? If ILSAC is a requirement, and both conventional/synthetic can meet that ILSAC spec, then who cares? Run what you want, it really isn't going to matter. YouTube tests show that metal to metal synthetic allows less wear, but barely, and those are only YouTube tests. No one seems to be testing the cling characteristics, which I believe would be better from a conventional. Maybe that's why neither engine is blowing up due to running one vs the other? They both work fine. Synthetic may hold up for longer intervals but that is about it. I don't have anything against either type of oil, but I do have something against folks spreading misinfo, or at least info lacking logic.

 

Just finding a true conventional oil is becoming harder. Lots of blends though....especially in high mileage formulas.

Yeah, we live in the Golden Age of good oils. Not too many truly bad ones out there. Some of the lower tier brands are great oils. Warren, for example, brews private lable brands like SuperTech (Walmart), Kirkland (Costco), Amazon Basics, Meijer, Harvest King and others. They're all just clones of each other and meet all current requirements, including Dexos approvals. If you're vehicle makes it to 300k miles, it's just as likely to do it on a Warren product than it is Mobil1's fancy Nascar approved juice.

Several years ago, Blackstone labs said they could find no measurable difference in wear among different brands of oil. Their advice was to stick to the manufacturer's minimum service interval or more. That was the most important thing.

However, there is a fair amount of proof that the average synthetic tends to hold up better over extended drain intervals vs a conventional. So, if you intend to run 10k OCIs, definitely stick with a synthetic. If you choose to run 0w20 that's not a problem, as all 0/20s are all synthetic. But, any other weight, just make sure it's a full syn.

Toyota knows this. They base their service intervals on whatever Toyota Genuine Motor Oil (TGMO) is. For example, their 5w20 is a conventional. So to play it safe Toyota assumes all 5w20 is conventional (which they know is not true) and discourages it because they don't want you scooting around town for 10k miles on a conventional. They know the average person hasn't a clue what type of oil is the case. That's also why the 1GR 4.0 never received the 10k OCI. GTMO 5w30 is conventional.

If you run a 5k OCI, then they truth is, most conventionals oils will be fine. 5k is generally considered the minimum these days. The days of 3k OCI are long gone. That whole myth was generated by the instant oil change industry in the early 70s. It's still engrained in some people's DNA.

 

Have you actually been to Houston?

 

Good info, what's your take on these claims:

• newer engine, such as Toyota Dynamic Force, has electric motorized VVT that's not controlled by oil pressure, and that system is tuned for a narrow spectrum of oil weight, which is 0W-16. Thus, putting 10W-40 in these engine is going to fuck up the e-VVT.
• also above mentioned engine, has dynamic oil pressure pump, which the ECU calculates what the pressure should be, as opposed to just a simple relation of more RPM more pressure. That calculation is also tuned for a specific oil weight.

@Plain Jane Taco your Corolla has such engine, are you sticking with 0W-16?

 

The VVT-i is controlled electrically but pressure still plays a role. As for heavier oil screwing that up? Don't start or drive your car in cold temps even with 0w20 in it. You're doomed.

I have 2 M20 DF engines in the family right now.





The Nightshade sedan has been happily running perfectly on Valvoline EP 0w20 since 1000 miles....bought on sale.

The Hatch will be receiving it's first OC at around 1000 miles....with M1 Truck and SUV 0w20.....also bought on sale.

I also have '19 Corolla in the family with the older 1.8 2ZR Valvetronic engine. Official spec is 0w20....and that's currently what's in it. However, it's had a couple of stints on 5w30 with zero issues.



And we have an old '10 Yaris that was my daughter's car at one time with the old 1.5 1NZ (best engine Toyota ever made). It's spec'd for 5w30. It ran for several years on M1 5w30 High Mileage synthetic which has a KV100 score of 12.9. Light 40 weights start at around 13. Never an issue with the VVT-i.

 

True, I'm not so worried about cold start because surely the engineers know that and the timing advances/retardations are not going to be too aggressive when the engine oil is not at normal operation.

It's when the oil is all heated up, 0W-16 and 10W-40 have big viscosity difference, and that might affect something, that's what I worry if the VVTi thinks the oil is 0W-16 but what's flowing in it is way too thick

 

The Australians are in deep trouble. Because there the viscosity range is 0w16 to 15w40

 

And to you too Mr Hasslesnatch

 

I challenge anyone to find anything in the manual saying heavier weights will damage your engine. In fact, they even basically say it's ok.

Trust me, if running a grade or 2 higher was dangerous it would be in giant bold print!

 

Later. I'm out before the inevitable happens.

Peace

 

I know, some say that despite being the same engine mechanically, the engine control modules are configured differently for US spec and oversea specs such as Australia, and that might be to account for different oil weight, who knows

I wish I knew someone who engineer for Toyota, and then maybe we'll get to the true answer rather than speculation. And of course, nobody would openly admit that they do it for CAFE regulation only, and engine oil thick as molasses would protect the engine better.