0-20 oil too thin?

"Toyota said so". Cool. Well, their engineers also tuned the v6 that everyone complains about. They also tuned the transmission that everyone complains about. I guess engineers are perfect, and just because the manual says

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

0w-20 oil is 'recommended' that we know the exact thought process that went behind that recommendation. That an engine will fail if anything else is used. I suppose the same people who believe anything they watch on YouTube just because it's shot in a professional setting are probably the ones who get too bored reading studies on oil, viscosity vs wear, oil additives and all that fun stuff. If you actually enjoy reading this boring shit then youd probably know off the top of your head why boron and calcium are added to oil. Youd also know that thicker oils have a higher HTHS value which correlates to better engine protection. There is just no way around it. But let's say you're not into this boring shit. You like to drink beer and hang out. If you read the owner manual you'd realize that your favorite Toyota engineer who knows best had this written in the manual:
"SAE 0W-20 is the best choice
for good fuel economy and
good starting in cold weather."

They even go as far as to say you can use heavier grades.
"An oil with a higher viscosity (one with a
higher value) may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high
speeds, or under extreme load conditions."

Hint, extreme conditions and high speeds are high bearing load conditions where a thicker oil with a higher HTHS value will protect your bearings better.

Fun fact: HTHS is a measurement as to how oil behaves underload as it's squeezing between the bearing journals.

In the warranty book they even kindly tell you that if you're not using 0w20 oil, np. Just change that shit every 5k.

Don't take my word for it though, open that dusty book and read pages 571-572.

Most 40 weight oils will shear down to 30 weight oil after 500 miles. Most 30 weight oils are on the thinner side of the 30 weight range nowdays. In either case it's not like you're putting 60 weight oil so it's not the end of the world. The scale isn't linear. 30 weight oil is not 50% thicker than 20 weight oil.

Your cams need a minimum pressure to work and the computer calculates an x degree of articulation and starts pulse width modulating it until it gets its desired calculated value. If you have oil pressure you're not going to get a code. Even 20 weight oil has a range of values and values differ from oil to oil, so the system was made to be adaptive.

Bearing clearance vs oil weight is a myth. It's figured out by things like how wide the journals are and how fast your engine redlines to, because they warp under load. Even though we have the technology and Toyota makes good engines, your v6 Tacoma isn't a high performance engine with tight bearing clearance. Yes, even if you paid 40k for the TRD badge.

Read the manual people.

 

“I wasn’t invited to my graduation.....my head was too large to be fitted for a cap”

“The odds of having a head the size of mine, is millions to one”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBmnjD4Fw2U

 

Simple questions: Are you responsible for my warranty?
Do you have design control?

I thought so.

 

The cup holders are just design of the plastic mould. They do sell cars though.


As far as oil, lets check that out.

Toyota sold 10,386,000 cars in 2017. Lets just say that the average number of quarts of oil for all of Toyota's vehicles is 5. That makes the number of quarts of oil needed is 51,930,000. If I can change oil and save $0.01 per quart, that is $519,000.

So for every two cents per quart, you are looking at 1 million dollars in savings.

 

While I agree with the video in general, I'm no so sure about bearing clearances being tighter. Maybe more consistently on the lower side, but the physics of how much clearance you need on a babbit bearing for a 2 inch diameter shaft really probably hasn't changed ( around 1-1.5 thousandths for every inch of journal diameter). The cooling though, makes lots of sense. Engines today are more efficient and have more compression (with exception) with leaner fuel, got to get rid of that heat!

 

These threads are quite annoying and arrogant. Use the damn oil that the engine is designed to use and change it at the designated interval (10,000 miles). Not a single person here knows half as much as the engineers that spent thousands of hours designing this engine and observing how each oil weight affects the engine.

CLOSE THREAD.

 

Sure, 0W-20 may be not be "the most ideal" viscosity for all scenarios, but isn't everything in vehicle design a compromise? Toyota, and all manufacturers, are being pressed every year to improve gas mileage and oil viscosity does play a role (even though it may only be 1/2-1%). 0W-20 has been used by several manufacturers for many years and their engines continue to run 200K+...
Question:
How many miles do you expect my engine to run using 0W-20? And how many using 5W-40?

 

I'm going to bring this thread up at the next NLGI (national lubricating grease institute) conference.

https://www.nlgi.org/annual-meeting/future-annual-meeting-dates/

 

Cruising down -I-10 in west Texas fighting a headwind at 90 mph. I prefer to have 0w40 in the sump.
I also keep the 0w20 dealer change oil in a sump for the right application, it Works great for city driving where the oil never gets warmed up. So the 4 runner gets to keep 0w20 in for now while my wife uses it as a local errand vehicle. While I drive the Tacoma 400 miles of high speed interstate every other week. And use it in the “thunder dome” type environment of the Permian Basin.

0w20 is adequate. It is what is used during the CAFE sequence test so they can make the mileage claims, so toyota must recomend 0w20.
But toyota does give additional recommendations and permissions if you drive severely, or at high loads. Examples include but are not restricted high speeds driving, towing use a car top carrier. Drive mountain roads, drive in deep sand a lot, have oversized heavier tires.basically if you drive In a condition that the automatic transmission won’t stay in overdrive to move against the resistance.. you may want to consider a step up in HTHS.

 

I believe Tundras have been 5 20 or 0 20 weight since 2007. What say you to that?

 

Same engineers which gave us a cartridge style filter which has 69% of the filter area than the 2nd generation spin on. Not to mention the PITA to change it.

 

But you have to factor in that we can go twice as long for oil changes compared to the 2nd Gen. I have an extra housing that i rotate in, it's already clean and ready to go with the cartridge filter in it, during the next change I will set the other housing aside to clean and repeat the process.

 

Do you know how much area is needed? Calcs?

 

Think I'll only use 4 qts of oil for my next oil change. That's 69%. Good grief!

 

Yes, but then again, most manufacturers design these things as if you're never going to work on it yourself and only ever take it to the dealer for maintenance.

I'm sorry but there is no arguing that there is a better choice out there for oil viscosity than what was already designated. Even if there WAS... define "better".

 

From the dragon's mouth. Fuel economy, fuel economy, fuel economy, fuel economy, fuel economy...0W-20 is for FUEL ECONOMY and not for engine performance and longevity.
I have used 5W-30 for close to 2 years and no problems. Is your truck, do whatever you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VES8xzHgYM

 

And what has been the benefit of using 5W-30?