Oil Viscosity, CAFE, and your Taco Engine

Aw, you remembered me ...

 

As a carpenter and not a mechanic I get my oil changed for me. Went to valvoline today and asked for 10w 30. Instead of the recommended synthetic. They tried to talk me out of it but I stood my ground. The price went from $76 to $45. Thanks OP for bringing this to my attention.
I do not mind spending money but hate to waste money.

 

I think what's intrigued me the most about this oil thread, isn't the actual subject matter. This discussion is nothing new on TW and it's been the subject of more than a few threads over the years.

Instead, what I find interesting is that, for the most part, it's not degraded into a "fuck you...my oil can beat up your oil" ass-fest as most of the 200 weekly oil threads that pop here on TW do.

A couple of you have gotten a bit testy. But it's remained mostly on the diplomatic side. So let's keep it that way.

Also...I'm a frequent visitor on BITOG site. Have been for years. Based on many threads, posts and OAs....I've personally never felt the need to use anything other than the recommended 5w-30 in my 1GR. But that doesn't mean I can't learn something along the way....or perhaps, just maybe be persuaded to try something else ....all be it unlikely.

 

The oil that's peaked my interest a bit is M1's new Truck and SUV juice. I try to keep from being sucked into marketing whenever possible. But here's what caught my attention:

#1...They claim it has a 10% boost in additives for wear, etc., etc.

Now that does automatically translate into better oil performance or engine protection. But we'll see as people begin to show up with OAs from Blackstone.

#2...There seems to be the potential for it to be on the heavier side of it's indicated viscosity range. For example: M1 High Mileage synthetic oils are known to be on the upper end of their perspective viscosity spectrums. So the M1 5w-30 High Mileage syn that I use in my daughter's 10 year old Yaris with a buck 35 on the clock might actually start out closer to a 5w-40....5w-35 if you will...before working it's way down to a more center of the spectrum 5w-30.

So perhaps the Truck formula will be on the thicker side of it's indicated range. Might be worth looking into in the future if that's the case.

I'll wait for folks with considerably more knowledgeable than me on BITOG site to break it down to it's basics and have some OAs on it before I drop another $3 a jug more over the standard M1 juice

 

Well that does it...I'm switching to straight 40W

 

My facetious response was the result of all of the nonsense in this thread.

 

The marketing has got you

 

VERY WELL SAID, SIR.

 

I got the UOA back from Blackstone on the 0W-40 and posted my results in a new thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/results-of-switching-from-5w-30-to-0w-40-in-my-1gr-fe.656237/

 

I'm running 0w-20 forever just to see the results. When I pull a sample from a warm engine that stuff is so thin! Like water. I live in Fairbanks, AK where 30 below cold starts are common so I figure I have more to gain by running thin oil.

As a curiosity, where I work they have a fleet of Ford pickups and they only service them with 15w-40. Probably because they use lots of it for the heavy diesels and the pickups are an afterthought. Anyway.. I cold start a Ford 6.2 daily with that 15w-40 in it in all weather conditions. It complains and rattles and even has the oil light on for a few seconds but in the long run it doesn't seem to matter. Additionally, we idle those engines all day, as in start it once at 5am and shut it off at 4pm, even though it's just sitting and staying warm inside most of the time.

Just sharing my torture test, worst case scenario... In the end I think it all amounts to not much. Engines are tough and oil is oil, apparently.

 

I don't know if you read the thread I linked to in the post just above yours, but that's not what the data shows.

This is such a boneheaded move on their part. 5W-40 and 0W-40 HDEO exists and in that environment is absolutely what they aught to be running in those diesels. It won't hurt the gas engines either.

 

I understand and I'm not sticking up for them. It's just an observation from my point of view. I do appreciate your effort in bringing more info to light.

 

Really interesting data. I hadn't considered changing to a different oil.
I'm in a '14, but it's heavy. Bumpers, sliders, full skids, winch, tools, etc.
The engine works hard, and I'm in Texas. 110* is common, over 100* for multiple days is a given.
Winters get below freezing, but rarely do we have a week where every day is below 32*.

Given all of that, what do y'all think about changing to a heavier oil? I tried to look on BITOG, but didn't see anything Tacoma specific on there.

 

If you go by the weights listed in the AU owners manual for the Hilux (which has the same engine) they specify up to a 50 weight oil.

I would say 5W-40 or 10W-50 could be good choices for you. If you change oil multiple times a year I'd run the 5W-40 in the winter months.

 

I end up changing every 7-8 months, so I could do a summer/winter oil change, but I'd prefer to run one consistently.
Might also be worth noting that I'm coming up on 135k mi.

 

5W-50 is a little more expensive than those other two grades, but you could run it all year without any worry of cold starts on freezing days.

One thing to keep in mind is that viscosity is a curve relative to temperature. A XW-50 oil might have the same viscosity while your truck is running hard on a 110°F day as a XW-40 oil on a 95°F day.

Take for example this chart:



This chart unfortunately doesn't go down to 0°C, but take a look at the 5W-50 curve relative to the 15W-40 and 20W-50 curves.

At extremely high temps (140°C = 284°F) the 5W-50 actually outperforms 20W-50. It would also significantly outperform a straight 50 weight.

Down at lower, but still warm temps (70°C = 158°F) the 5W-50 is much thinner than 20W-50 and is closing in on 15W-40. Too thick is just as bad as too thin.

Now have a gander at this chart:



I should note that this appears to be a chart with nominal values for the listed oils instead of actual values for a particular brand of oil. But it's useful for demonstrating what the two numbers in 5W-40 mean.

Note that the 5W40 viscosity crosses the SAE 5 viscosity at 0°C/32°F, and it crosses the SAE 40 viscosity at 100°C/212°F.

This is the advantage of modern oils that have a large difference between the first number and the last number in the oil grade, such as 0W-40 and 5W-50. The viscosity is far more stable across temperature ranges the wider that gap is, which means that you can run the same oil year-round and have both excellent cold start protection as well as excellent protection at operating temp on very hot days.