0W vs 5W engine oil

As per owner’s manual 5W can be used as long as 0W is used at next oil change. Being that I live on the gulf coast in southern United States and temperatures can reach 100 degrees during the summer I am thinking of running 5W-20 all year except winter months from January to March. Has anyone been running 5W-20 and if so what is your experience with it?

 

5/20 & 0/20 will be the same thing once it's hot...run it if it makes you feel better but it's literally the "same" thing at higher temps

 

filler cap says 0w so I will follow that...

 

I thought I’d have to run 5w-20 based on what I could find but then found that Mobil 1 has a 0w-20 so I’ll run with that. Always ran Mobil in my vehicles and had great success with them.

 

In my commuting days I ran 2 Camrys 800 miles per week along the I15 through some of the most extreme Mojave Desert summer time temperatures possible. The world's largest thermometer displayed 120+ on multiple occasions running 80+ up that massive grade coming out of Baker California.

Changed oil when service indicator notified me which always was around 5k and averaged every 1.5 months.

Royal Purple 0/20 with a couple 5/20 when 0 wasn't available.

Sold 6th gen I4 at 170k to get V6 Xse 7.5 gen currently at 147K no issues.

 

Why bother?, "0" and "5" is the viscosity for cold oil/motor. "20" is the viscosity when the oil/motor is hot. You do not gain anything by using 5w-20 instead of 0w-20 besides potentially not sufficient lubrication when the motor is cold, might be no issue for TX but still, why bother?

 

The only insufficient lubrication with the thicker oil at cold would be when the oil froze completely. Under all other circumstances thicker oil provides better lubrication.

That said, use 5w30.

 

It absolutely does not matter in your part of the world.

 

Motor Oil 101 - Chapter One - Operating Temperatures and Viscosity - Bob is the Oil Guy

Interesting read that may answer many questions.

 

a few moons ago, I posted a comparison of 0w-20 & 5w-30

in my engine.

and Blackstone commented the 5w-30 had remarkably less wear indicators.



5w-30 it is.

 

I believe it was first muttered at The Alamo: "Give me 5W-30 or give me death."

 

Not really commenting on the mechanical portion of your recommendation but I’m not sure with all the engine bs going on it shouldn’t be noted that I would stick to whatever is supported by the manual.

I haven’t looked yet but I don’t think that is in there is it?

 

As an engineer myself, I understand marketing and regulations BS pressure other engineers see every day. If not that, the engines would still use 20w50, purely for longevity purpose. From practical point of view, 5w30 is a bit thicker version of 0w20. Barely enough to show less wear materials in the samples. It does not affect oil pressure buildup times, VVT or hydraulic valve lifter function. Many of 5w30 break down into w20 range after only 1k miles, even in port injection engines.

 

that’s fine not questioning any of that , just saying it worth noting I don’t think that is supported in the manual

but alas, maybe that doesn’t matter who knows

 

Go with a boutique expensive 0w20 then, like Red Line. It will be thicker than some of 5w30 in couple of months. It is considerably thicker than Toyota 0w20. I was using Red Line for years, until we've got our third baby.

 

I can understand that. Good to have recommendations


For me I just go with whatever my dealer puts in and do every 5k, but I’m not a 200-300k owner anymore either so that’s a factor

 

Yeah, makes no sense then. Actually, paying $100+ for oil change makes no sense anyways, since modern machinery is not designed for a very long run anyways

 

lol, some truth to that, my dealer isn’t that expensive either which is nice

 

I still remember that night 200 miles away from home when the engine full of Red Line blew up at 2 am =) Certainly makes you reconsider how much time, money and efforts you put into a vehicle that would still break. And whether you really need a neat cabin and super-comfy lounge-grade chairs, or crappy plastic and cloth seats running for as long as you put gasoline and do oil changes is good enough (the answer: it is good enough and all you need).

 

for sure , with what you do you have the perfect rig

same here

 

I assume your past warranty period. If that’s the case go with a 0W30. All your changing is start up flow when you go 5W or 10W.

 

My understanding is the 20w portion is for gas mileage purposes to satisfy the all knowing Federal government. That being said, I run Amsoil 0w-20 in mine. I previously had F-150 Ecoboost's that called for 0w-30 oil, but ran 5w-30 because it seemed to like it better, with no decrease in mileage. I may consider going 0w-30 at my next change, but who knows? I'll be moving to Wisconsin next year, so I don't know if I'll see a benefit once I'm out of this Phx heat.

 

We saw no measurable MPG decrease going 0w20 to 5w30 in our V8 Tundra and Sequoia in Massachusetts, with winter trips further north to Maine and Canada.

 

Owner’s manual for Land Cruiser with same engine from Toyota.ae website.

 

Question every V6TT engine owner should ask himself and give an answer: "Do I drive in 0 F temperatures and below? No? 10w30 is good for me".

 

Link to post and thread?

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/switching-to-5w30.64203/page-21#post-3550274

#623


<you should be proud of me for figuring out how to find my old thread.>

 

https://www.youtube.com/live/mr07y1H3U7c?si=3zTwzEXPZjBrvz2h
watch introduction and question 10.

 

Thank you, and I am very impressed, particularly considering that I still have trouble navigating the search functions effectively.
I just saw the Kirkland oil during my Costco run on Monday, very interesting seeing your report on it. Is that what you use now?