Anybody running 5W-30 in 2n gen. 4 banger?

I run Mobil 1 5w-30 in my truck. Works and runs great.

 

I recently put Mobil-1 0w20 in my '09 2.7L AND I also thought I'd try switching to 91 octane gas (instead of the 87 I've been running) - because some on here said their fuel mileage went up enough with it to offset the extra cost. I've been completely through two tanks of 91 now and haven't seen any change at all in my fuel mileage. I'm going back to 87 octane. I guess the 0w20 didn't make any difference either - but I'm going to keep running it.

 

I have noticed that after a recent oil change back to 5w-20 Dino from 5w-30 Grp 3 Synthetic (both Quaker State), has boosted my mileage about 1-1.5 MPG averaged over 3 tanks. And the current tank has yielded about 25 extra miles at the 1/4 full mark which usually takes about 15 gal to refill. So it looks like this tank will be up about a 1.5 MPG again!

But lurking in the shadows waiting in the darkness, is winter blend gas. Get ready to lose 8-10% of your mileage very soon.

 

They're already screwing us with the B.S. 10% ethanol mix. The last station in my area that had ethanol-free gas finally caved in a couple of weeks ago and switched to the mix - so now I have no choice but to use it. Sucks.

 

Your top viscosity number (20 vs. 30) affects oil pressure and efficiency of flow through small passages, among other things.

I personally would be hesitant to depart from Toyota's recommendation without knowing how it would alter these variables. It's true that the oil recommendation might have something to do with CAFE standards, but I bet it's also a viscosity that keeps your crankshaft bearings happy and oil pressure within spec.

That being said, I'd be interested to learn what happened between 05 and 09 to warrant the change from 5w-30 to 5w-20.

 

The only difference between 0w20 and 5w20 is when the oil cools down. The 0w20 does not thicken as much, providing better oil flow at start up. There is probably an increase in fuel mileage during engine warm up, but after the engine reaches normal operating temperature, the mileage should be the same as 5w20. Both oils should provide better economy than 5w30, but I have no idea if it's noticeable or not.

 

x2

 

I have used 5-30 in my '09 2.7 for the last 10,000 miles,
I haven't had any problems.
The VVTi system is just a on/off valve,it relies on oil pressure only.
There is no way that the difference in 20 and 30 weight oil can effect its operation.

You may think that there must be a reason that Toyota specs 5-20 oil.
There is, it just has nothing to do with the engine requiring 5-20 oil to operate properly.

There is a EPA regulation that states that if a vehicle uses 5-20 or 0-20 oil,
in the EPA MPG testing(these are the MPG numbers on the window sticker),
Then the owners manual for that vehicle can only recommend 5-20,
or 0-20 oil. The owners manual can not recommend any other weight.

5-30 works fine,,and will not cause any problems.

 

Increasing the MPG by the NHTSA of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. The NHTSA has been increasing the average MPG standard for car makers the last few years.

Basically it is based on the various models a car maker makes and how many they sell to get this average. Obviously when you sell more low MPG models than higher MPG models, even the modest increase a 5W-20 or 0W-20 weight oil will help a car makers CAFE.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/Cfc_title49/ACTchap321-331.html#32904

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/fueleconomy.jsp

 

I noticed from the picutre the guy with a 05 Tacoma sent from his oil cap, his engine is also VVTI and it calls out 5W-30, so seems like the argument that the engines with VVTI have to have 20 weight oil to function properly is non-sense.

 

Maybe Toyota changed the VVTI system to run on 5W20 when they changed the requirements. I doubt that to be the case and I'm sure running 5w30 in your engine will not hurt anything, but why take the chance? Why not run what Toyota says to run?

Another issue to think about is warranty. Say I run 5w30 in my 2.7 and something happens to the engine. Toyota can deny the claim by saying I ran the wrong viscosity oil. I see no benefit to running 5w30 in an engine that requires 5w20. JMO.

 

The thought is I don't want to be limited to 20 weight oil just for the sake of Toyota trying to bring up their CAFE numbers and list a minutely higher MPG, at the expense of noisier engine with more felt vibration.

Also I don't think there would be any worries on warranty claims. unless you have a shop change your oil and have a sticker on your wind-shield that indicates what grade oil you got in there (which not too many people on this forum do), there is no way Toyota would be able to determine whether the oil in your engine is 20 weight or 30 weight. I don't think they would have some fancy, expensive oil test done that would deteremine oil weight, even if that would be possible, especially if that oil has been running in your truck for a while.

I guess the thought that there is some non-technical B.S. reason behind the manufacturer oil recomendation, just to meet some government regulations limits or score slightly better on some meaninghless rating annoys me.

 

I agree. I don't think it would be a problem, I'm just playing devil's advocate here. The only way Toyota would know if you are using a different weight oil is to look at the reciepts that you may have to show to prove you did maintain the vehicle. If people are running 5w30 in the late model 2.7 without problems, I doubt Toyota would make a big deal out of it, but I'm gonna run 5w20 at least while the engine is under warranty. Maybe when the truck is older, I'll switch to 5w30. JMO.

 

if i remember correctly....the 0w20 was for very cold weather areas...such as canada or somewhere...lol...i could be wrong but i think that just helps with cold starts or something...in my old '88 taco i ran 10w30 or 10w40 in the winter months and i ran 20w50 in the summertime..5w30 and such wasn't around back then...lol

 

Engine tolerences are so tight now, many car companies measure them in microns. This is one of the reasons modern engines can run thinner oils. In fact, a Formula One v8 that can rev over 20,000 rpm and put out over 800 hp, uses an oil that has a similar viscosity to water. Of course, those engines are hand made and are only used for short periods (a couple of races) but, it shows how far we've come in engine tolerence.

If you live in a cold climate, the first number in a multi viscosity oil is most important. You want that number to be low so it flows well at start up where most engine wear occurs. A 0w20 or 0w30 synthetic is great for those conditions.

 

yeah ok so unless you live where it's really cold there is really no need to use different from what is recommended

 

5w-30 ...... nuff said

 

I just had my first service done at the dealership for my 2010 2.7l, and my reciept says they used 5w20.

Should i do my own oil change and switch to 5w30? I used to run 10w40 in my car for track days and drag racing lol.. thick stuff. There are companies that do fairly cheap oil analysis for you, all you need to do is send them some oil and a credit card number haha.. maybe I should send some of my oil off to them after three thousand miles and see what they say!

 

The engine calls for 5w20 or 0w20. Why would you want to run something different? Reading these posts it sounds like running 5w30 will not hurt anything, especially since the early 2.7 called for it, however, running what Toyota says to run is what I am going to continue to do. Again, this is just MY opinion. As long as you change your oil, you should be fine.