0W-20 vs. 05W-20 in the 2.7L, does it really matter?

Yeah me to where the valve cylinder head gasket are concerned. The OEM exploded view describes the two gaskets involved as Cylinder Head Cover Gasket and Cylinder Head Cover Gasket no 2. I most likely crapped that up trying to say it right.

I'm with you though, they are "Valve Cover Gaskets".

I was actually thinking about a clean-up to make sure that what I suspect is actually a contributor to the oil I see on the block.

I absolutely will be knocking out the PCV while I'm in there for sure. As well as anything else you guys can think of while I am in that far.

So please reach out if anything comes to mind before it's too late.

 

If you plan on keeping it for a long time. Might not hurt to replace the coolant bypass pipe with the metal one. First they get a small crack and very small coolant leak. It runs under the intake manifold up to the front of the motor near the thermostat. It could have already been done they are common to fail on the 2nd gen 2.7

 

His 2012 should already have a the metal pipe.

 

Just saw this, thanks toyodajeff. This is the kind of information that if we know, we need to share, very helpful. Does anyone have an exploded view part numbers etc of exact location???

I do plan on keeping her for now, but I do see myself going to a 4wd in the future. Love the idea of an adventure truck. But even with that, the truck is overall in excellent condition and deserves to be well taken care of. This way whoever ends up with her in the future will have that much less to worry about and can enjoy her all the more.

Many thanks, and please keep this kind of information coming, it is much appreciated.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/water-bypass-pipe-no-1.201053/
that’s a thread about replacing it. If yours is plastic those are the bad ones. According to the post above yours is the metal good one. That thread I linked explains the diffrence.

 

Got it thanks. Question though, is there a cutoff year when they no longer used the plastic? And are the metal ones a concern or prone to leak if you find that this is what you have? I have a 2012 Prerunner of course with the 2.7L.

 

I have a 2010 with the 2.7L, and I'm currently within a day or two of hitting 140K miles...

I first discovered mysterious oil consumption at about 107K-110K miles, so I switched to 5W20 after having run full synthetic 0W20 since 80K miles. My truck had been "using" oil at a rate of roughly a quart ever 3,500 miles or so. There were no signs of leaking or burning, and switching to 5W30 seemed to alleviate the problem for a little while, but it quickly came back.

I've been running Mobil 1 Full Synthetic in my truck since 84K miles, and I switched to 10W30 High Mileage Formula at 135K miles. I discovered just past 139K that it was "using" oil again and replaced the PCV valve ($8.50 at the dealer); This seems to have taken care of the problem!

 

Just saw this. So if it is metal are there any failure concerns? And what was the last year they used plastic? Or was this a hit-or-miss thing throughout production?

 

No concerns with the metal pipe as far as I know. It uses a gasket instead of an o-ring to seal the flange end.

I'm not sure what year they switched to metal over the plastic.

I based my comment off the fact that my 2012 has the metal pipe in it from the factory.

 

The metal on is the good one. The plastic ones would crack and leak.

 

0W-20 is the oil that will behave like 0 weight at zero degrees fanhrenheight. If you live somewhere where it gats damn cold then I would use this oil. Otherwise there is little difference between 0W-20 vs 5W-20. The oil get up to the top where it needs to be. Follow the manual on the frequency that you need to change the oil and get on with life.