0-20 oil too thin?

What about pancakes? 20W50?

 

Wow...really? This thread is still a thing?

 

There is an old expression: Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. For those who doubt impressions, use 0-20 oil and change it every 10K miles and my motor will last twice as long as yours!

 

If you can provide me with data or a link (NOT from the oil company lol) showing two identical engines, run under identical conditions on a test stand and one using 0W-20 and the other using the oil of your choice, and then showing the tear down and impact of 0W-20 on the engine, I will believe you. Until then? You know as much as the rest of us. Nothing.

You could google 3rd Gen Tacoma engine oil analysis and see lots of Blackstone reports from guys changing at different intervals, including 10K, and see that every one of them are coming back clean. But, that would be data, not feelings. Something you are apparently not interested in seeing or providing.

 

Here's what you do. Next time don't post an oil thread on TW because it clearly becomes a pissing match .
Drain your factory oil take a sample, send it to a lab and have it analyzed. If you want to use 5w-30 put 5w-30 in the engine for the same amount of miles and have that analyzed. If there are no abnormalities in the lab results and you want the "peace of mind" run 5w-30 in it. It's your truck, your money, do what you want with it. I will say My truck came with "lifetime" free oil changes. After the warranty is up I'm going to change it myself with Rotella T6 0w-40. Slightly thicker at OP temps, and that first oil changed I probably will have an analysis done on it to see if there any differences, if not thats what I'll run for the rest of the trucks life. One thing I KNOW with oil is it doesn't matter how much you spend on oil. If you put the best oil in the world in your truck with the worst filter in the world, you will not have good results. But as for the T6, if it can go 100k miles in a semi pulling 80,000lbs and withstand the heat of the diesel engine, and fuel contamination from the direct injection it will be perfectly fine in my Taco that I might pull 4klbs once a year with every 5k miles.

FYI Oil is always a touchy subject on vehicle forums, it's like politics it usually isn't a good idea to talk about it lol.

 

I used to think 5W-20 was too thin when it first came out and was recommended by TOYOTA for their vehicles. But I took a leap of faith that the engine designers and petroleum engineers had done their homework, doted all the lines, did all the testing and knew a LOT more then I could ever know about either and that it would work in my 20* - 100*f operating environment.

Well, it’s bee over 15 years since then, and surprise surprise!

It worked without a hitch.

How about that!

But You can use anything you like and no one can stop you.

So, do you feel lucky??

Cheers!

 

Use what the Engineers designed it for. Keep in mind, oil also has to effectively flow UP to your valve train and the thinner oils get there quicker (as per Scotty Kilmer)

 

Stop bringing LOGIC into this.... it has nothing to do with that....

EDIT: This needs an episode of "Will it blend?"

 

All the people complaining that the engineers know best. I am a mechanical engineer.
0-40 is better in almost every way than 0-20. Sorry guys but it's true.

The 0 means it's basically identical when cold, it will travel to your valves on startup just the same, promise.

The 20 or 40 is the thickness equalvalent when hot. Higher is better for wear. (generally).

For all those super tiny oil passages you might be worried about: I guarantee you that 40W oil is lower viscosity when hot than 0W oil is when cold.

Why do Toyota engineers demand 0-20? They don't (ask them, I haven't). The bean counters asked the engineers if it would harm the engines to use 0-20, engineers said no, so the bean counters had the lawyers write that section of the manual.

Now why did the bean counters demand 0-20? Because it costs less beans.

TLDR: use whatever you want, it's fine, but stop telling other people to use what you use because other people said so.

(0-40 is the best that is easily available, which is why people run it)

 

Simple question: Are you personally responsible for our warranty?

 

FYI I have been using 0W-20 on my TOYOTA 4R limited 4.0L for 60k miles with zero issues and it runs just like new or better!

The only difference is that I change mine every 5k miles instead of the recommended 10k miles because there are too many politics involved in that recommendation IMO.

And while I believe and I know that recommendation is good, I also know that TOYOTA engines require or work best with clean good quality oil to get thru some tiny oil passages, timing chain adjusters, VVT and HPFP to name a few, that need that fresh clean oil.

But that’s just me, and no one outside my wallet is telling me I’m doing any harm.

Hope that helps
Cheers!

 

As an aside, when changing oil, you also change the FILTER. The oil may protect for 10 or 15k, but does the FILTER? I doubt it.

 

There are also environments where the filter is changed more frequently than the oil.

 

Yeah, you can keep your opinion to yourself. I could give a 2 rat turds less. You clearly ride on a very high horse.

 

I'll agree with @hiPSI, who's covering the warranty?

As far as bean counting being the reason for the 0W-20, why aren't they doing it globally. Lots more beans to save.

40 might be better for wear, but is it the right tool for the job?

 

0W-20 is a great oil and one of the best engineered. I'll agree that a 0W-40 would be better but you would sacrifice a bit mpgs and possibly increase engine loads but make up for it with less oil changes and increased engine protection. Typically a high viscosity or heavier oil does not need changed as often as a lighter oil. However, the manufacturers test with various oils and utilize the optimal oil for their engines.

Remember the folks that like to change their oil every 3k-5k. This old school mentality was pushed by companies to sell more oil and services than were needed.

We see all the time people balking at the fact that Toyota does oil changes at 10,000 with 0w20. Audi on the other had does a 20,000 mile oil changes and uses heavier oils such as 5w-40, heavier oil, better viscosity, less oil changes.

 

Oil arguments always remind me of the stupid shit many people said years ago when I started driving and playing with hot rods. Many of the so-called experts then swore that using multi-grade oil would destroy your high performance engine, the "smart guys" would only use straight weight oil, 30 weight in winter and 50 weight in summer. Spun bearings were fairly common, but blamed on poor machine work or that the engine was so powerful it spun the bearing from monster torque output. Yeah, right.

The arguments were just as stupid then, the only difference was it happened at the auto store/speed shop/local garage not on the internet.

 

I will personally speak on your behalf to Toyota if they deny your warranty for using a superior oil. Heads up: they won't.

Making informed decisions is what I do. I hate when people do or say things without thinking about it. Warranty Says X, so better do it or else!!!
Would you rather have a car that lasts 50 miles past warranty or 300k miles past warranty?

Different bean counters in different parts of the globe. In the US if you had to dig a hole, you'd rent an excavator. In Honduras, it might be cheaper to hire 12 people and buy 15 shovels...

Not every 0-40 is better than every 0-20. I'd personally recommend Amsoil 0-20 over Mobil 1 0-40. But I've never used Amsoil, because it's a lot bigger pain to actually get than going to Walmart and getting Mobil 1. And Mobil 1 0-40 is better than Mobil 1 0-20 which is better than T6 0-40.

Again: all the small oil passage concerns... What matters is the Film that stays on the parts before fresh oil can reach the parts on startup. When you startup, cold 0-20 and cold 0-40 are pretty much identical viscosity. Because of the 0.

The bigger differences occur at higher Temps (the 2nd number, 20 or 40). Also again: higher temp 40W oil is Lower viscosity than 0W oil when cold. So if cold oil can flow through the tiny pathways to sensitive parts, then hot oil flows even better (even if it's higher weight)...


Edit for phone spelling and following point:
A other reason I recommend 40W is for convienance. Oil change intervals.
Buy the best filter (almost as important as oil selection) you can with the best oil you can, then stop worrying.

 

I can't argue with points made in these posts. I change the oil every 5K miles or so and tried 5-20 this time. Use Amsoil signature series oil and Wix filters. Upgraded to the Baxter spin-on adapter which makes changes a lot easier and gives more filter area than the cartridge. The hard fact is that a lot of "factory" recommendations are not engineer inspired but for marketing or other reasons not in the best interest of the vehicle owner. While I never had my drain oil analyzed it sure looks plenty dirty even at 5K miles.