Anyone use 0W-20 oil ?

Why? The average person has been getting screwed by the oil industry for decades by saying you have to change your oil every 3K miles (5K now in most cases). I've been changing my oil ONCE A YEAR for the past 12 years per the oil manufacturer's instructions.

 

That is correct. Service interval for oil on both the 4 and 6 cylinder calls for 5K mile oil changes regardless of the oil used.

 

The viscosity is fine. More wear occurs at startup than any other time. 0 is excellent protection there. Not to mention the help the cold weather folks get. But if under warranty, always protect that first, by following the book. After that, the gloves are off.

If your vehicle is older, it's possible that todays oils weren't even available when it was new. Doesn't mean you should stick to the original recommendation. If one is so hung up on that, one should never change to synthetic if it didn't come with that...........

As far as OCIs, the book is conservative, for warranty purposes. And the Jiffy Lubes of the world just want your money based on '50s technology. No filters and non detergent single weight oils.

If you really are all obsessive about your oil, spend a few bucks and have a sample tested at an independent lab like Blackstone. You'll learn all kinds of things about the health of your motor and the condition / remaining life expectancy of your oil.

The average user of synthetic will find that somewhere N of 10k will be the mileage available, and low mileage users often find the time based interval to be in years, not months.

Feelings don't matter when it comes to oil. Testing does.

 

The 4cyl (2TR) owners manual called for 5W-30 until 2008-2009'ish, then switched to 0W-20 for the same MPG reasons and with no engine design changes. I havent heard of any detrimental effects to the 4cyl from this switch. Just wanted to mention this as food for thought.

 

There seems to be some confusion about the "W" it stands for winter not weight. a 0 W oil is some thing you need if your temps dip below -50 on a regular basis.

 

So today I did an oil change, it wasn't until I was throwing the empty quarts away that I noticed I used SAE 0w-20, not SAE 5W-30. Will it be okay, or did I just waste quarts?

Edit: I live in California, really warm right now.

 

I wouldnt use xxw-20 in our trucks. Its thin when warm.

xxw-30 is optimal. I am going to be using 0w-30 full syn in my truck this time around as even at 75* 0w-30 still isnt "thin" enough to properly lube an engine, but its MUCH closer to being at that level vs 5w / 10w-30.

Drive to the auto parts store, get some XXw-30 of whatever, drive back, drain the 0w-20 and put the XXw-30 in.

 

Call me crazy but I've run this In my previous truck and continue to do so with my Tacoma. Previous truck had a GMPP crate motor putting down 546whp. In the 2 years I had that motor in the truck put 50k miles on it and plenty of red light to red light runs. Decided to run 0w-20 after the first oil change because of tight tolerances and continued to do so every oil change after. The oil always stayed golden and never found any particles during changes. Fast forward 2 years I got rid of the truck and kept the motor. Compression was still excellent and when I pulled the heads they still looked amazing. Figured if a GM performance motor that was run hard everyday stayed in this good of condition then why not use it in the Tacoma. So far no problems with the Tacoma other than user error.

 

I use 0W-20 in all my vehicles.

 

I've only used 0W-20 in my Camry (what it calls for). 5W-30 for the Tacoma.

 

This is the reply I received from Toyota when I asked them about using 0W oil in my '15 4.0L V6:

"Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We appreciate the opportunity to address your inquiry on engine oil.

The recommended oil viscosity for the 2015 Tacoma 4.0 V6 is 5W-30 and cannot recommend to use 0W-30. This information may be viewed in section 6-1 of the vehicle's Owner's Manual, titled "Specifications".

Please note that any potential damage or performance concerns resulting from using 0W-30 will not be covered under warranty.

The recommended "Toyota Genuine 5W-30 Motor Oil" is a conventional oil. You may feel free to use synthetic 5W-30 engine oil from another oil manufacturer provided it meets all criteria described on page 526 of the section of your Owner's Manual referenced above. However, regardless of the oil used in your vehicle Toyota recommends having the oil and filter changed at every 5,000 miles or 6 months, which ever comes first. "

So it's synthetic 5W-30 for me...

 

^ Read through this

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

you will switch to 0w-30 full syn in your 4.0L v6 once you do.


the 4.0L v6 still requires a XXw-30 ... i would not run a XXw-20 in it, thats just a bit too thin for comfort at operating temperature, for a motor thats not designed for it (unlike the 2TR)

 

I have been using 0W~30 Mobil 1 since the first oil change... In my Taco.
I use 0W~20 in my RAV4.
All as per owners manual.

Yuma Taco,

 

nope, no way

 

The 2TR wasn't exactly designed to run 0w20, Toyota recommended 5w30 up until 2008 or so. Toyota then issued a TSB saying 0w20 was allowed to be used in the 2TR for 2005-2008, and started recommending it in the owners manual for all new ones. They never did this for the V6 though, I am not sure why.