What weight oil

In my opinion, you're better off buying the oil on your own and buy what the manual tells you, 0w-20, don't let that guy tell you what to buy, or let him suggest

 

Nice 2015...Congrats, looks like a great find. Trees say northeast Houston, maybe toward Conroe...Woodlands?

Slight changes in search terms can yield a big difference in results. Below are results for "oil change"...ten pages of posts, many on the same thread. Sometimes I can't even find threads I KNOW are there, and were posted to two days before!

https://www.tundras.com/search/2163575/?page=2&q=oil+change&t=post&o=date

 

I agree. This guy has worked on our vehicles for several years. My step dad and brother also go to this guy. He and I but heads all the time. He is an arrogant ass, and since I am a woman, he thinks he knows more than I do. On some issues he does. But a couple of years ago I had a Jeep Wrangler. I put bigger tires on it and decided to put a stronger steering stabilizer on it. Now mind you, I had owned several Jeep wranglers in the past. Had lifts on all of them. Also used to wheel them at Jeep Jamborees. With that being said, I knew that bigger tires would put pressure on the stock steering stabilizer. Had death wobble one time from another Jeep after bigger tires were put on it. So I took the steering stabilizer to this guy and asked him to install it. He proceeds to tell me I was waisting my money. He said a steering stabilizer wasn’t needed. I laughed and told him it wasn’t his decision to make and if he couldn’t install it for me I would find someone who would. Well, he installed it. It made a world of difference in the handling of my Jeep.

Bottom line, I just wanted to be able to knipp any comments from him in the butt before I took this truck to him to have the oil changed.

 

Thanks for the posts to look at. I’m actually in Spring Branch. Conroe and the Woodlands are about 45-60 minutes away from wheee I live.

This Tundra is a nice one. Only had 38k miles on it. Still looked new. So far I’m very happy with it. Will see how it does on a road trip next weekend. Going to MO. About 675 miles one way.

 

Nice Tundra, if you need detail n washing help, @War Machine is go to authority

 

@Texas Girl there is also a company called chemical guys off of brittmoore since you're in the Spring Branch area for your washing and detailing needs

 

Thanks. When I had my corvette, the guy I bought it from told me about a product called Zanio. I’ve been using this ever since. I love it. One thing I’ve always done was wash my own vehicles. Neighbors to used to tell me I was going to wash the paint off. When I wash my truck, it’s not clean unless everything is washed. Wheel wells, inside the wheels, basically everything! Even pop the hood and clean the engine too. LOL

 

Nice Bluuuuuu!. 0W-20

 

Good strategy, but...from hanging around Tundra forums, I regret to inform you that I have read cases of "ticking" valve noise from the Tundra 5.7L, and probably the 4.6L as well. The difference from the hemi is (1) the 5.7L tick is only, uh..."annoying" never resulting in any serious mechanical problems, and (2) the issue does seem to respond positively to heavier oil, say 5W-20 or 5W-30. I probably wouldn't do anything if mine starts "ticking"...I'm little hard of hearing anyway.

My opinion is it's mostly the luck of the draw with Tundras, and with 38K miles and no "ticking" on yours, I would NOT worry about it until it actually starts. If it starts to tick, it'll probably be in the hot Texas summer. Search using "engine ticking":
https://www.tundras.com/search/2163644/?q=engine+ticking&t=post&o=date

Edit @Texas Girl What year Vette? Classic or late model?

 

Oh no. Hope that’s not an issue with mine. With my RAM, everyone always said, oh that’s the famous Hemi tick. It’s nothing. Well my thoughts on that are, if it’s something coherent with the Hemi’s then they should tick when you drive them off the showroom floor. Mine didn’t start ticking until it hit 100k. The first tick was related to the exhaust manifold bolts. It would really slap and tick loud. Only lasted about 60 seconds. Then it would go away. Then after the manifold bolts were replaced, the ticking game back. Not as loud or a slap, just a constant ticking. If you revved the engine the ticking was faster. In my opinion, it was in the engine. My mechanic took a mechanic stethoscope and listened to it. Said it was coming from number 1 and 3 cylinders. Said the other cylinders were fine. Lead me to believe something was going on with a lifter. But then another guy told me that the noise could be from anything inside the engine and he didn’t want me to spend 4500 on new lifters and a cam only to find out that didn’t fix the tick. He said the only way to know for sure what it was, was to tear the engine down and look at everything. Rebuilding the engine would run me anywhere from 8000-10,000. I didn’t feel like spending that kind of money on an engine and then have a transmission with 108k on it. So decided to spend the money and put it down on a newer vehicle. With my trade and the cash I put down, I’m sitting pretty good. Will have this paid for in a year.

But I do hope this truck doesn’t have ticking issues. That’s not going to make me very happy.

 

@Texas Girl

https://www.tundras.com/threads/texas-tÜndra-crÜe.28557/

 

Texas Girl,

Beautiful blue Tundra!!!! I also would suggest to go the 0w-20 route. I have spent a good amount of time in the auto industry and work in the petroleum and lubes industry. A long as you stick to the name brand oils off the shelf you will be fine.

Mobil 1
Castrol Edge
Pennzoil Platinum
Etc.....

Heavier oil is not always better. That is very old school in thinking. I would almost bet the keys to my Tundra that 10w-30 is what he buys in bulk and is the cheapest Blend to buy. In our lubes business most of the customers still buying this blend is getting conventional and not even buying the synthetic blends in 10w-30. When delivered in bulk it can be a couple bucks per quart or sometimes less... I can guaranteed that is why he wants you to run it.

Since we have cartridge oil filters, we do not have a lot of options. I would stick to the OEM filters. I get them for $5.61 per filter or less if I buy multiple from a local dealer. They are cheaper than every single option at any of the parts store!

BTW, have no clue what it is about motor oil, but it is the most hottest debated topics on forums. I am on forums for lawn mowers, tractors, boats, ATV's. If you want to incite a riot ask a question about oil.

 

Thank you for that information. I would agree that the guy buys oil in bulk. When I would have him change my oil on the RAM, he had to order it from the dealer because he didn’t stock 5W-20. I think I may just get the oil filter and drain plug gasket from the dealer. I’m going to decide what brand of oil to use and may get it myself. Or I may just get it from the dealer once to see what brand they give me and then buy it myself after that.

I can see that there is a lot of different opinions on the brand of oil. In the RAM forums, a lot of them used Royal Purple. I honestly didn’t know Toyota uses Mobil 1 in their engines. If that is the case, I will use Mobil 1. And I will use what they recommend for my truck. (0W-20).

Honestly, I think guys like the guy I use to change my oil, all seem to think a thicker oil is the way to go here in Houston. But they also work on all kinds of cars and I don’t think they are always up to date on the newer engines. This guy does a lot of restoring older cars and trucks. He used to work at Dodge and he hated the Hemi engine. Always told me how much he hates the Hemi. At first it bothered me, but once I started having issues with mine (issues he told me I would have down the road) I now would agree with him on the RAM.

Thanks again. Just for giggles and grins, here is a pic of my RAM. I bought it bran new in 2012. This pic was taken about a year ago. It was a beautiful truck. I do love the Tundra I bought though.

 

Here’s one of my RAM and my Vette

 

Those Rams are pretty tough, I beat the hell out of a Ram truck that was assigned to me for 6 years and never had any problems !

 

Wise choice.
I’m in Phoenix, AZ. It doesn’t get as hot in Houston as it does here.
I’m going to use Mobil 1, 0-20 and change it at 10k intervals.

Tell the know it all that if they will put IN WRITING that they will comp ANY and ALL repairs that results from going against the manufacturer’s recommendation then and only then will you let them do what they think is best.
They *won’t* do it so piss on ‘em! It’s your truck.

I’d do oil changes myself or find a mechanic that’s not an ass.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. Older engines needed heavier weight oil and, with no disrespect to your mechanic, some guys are slower to embrace change, especially if they think those changes could impact reliability.

 

Nice healthy yard!

 

And on top of this, thin weight, quality synthetic oil didn’t even exist when older engines were designed for 10w-30

 

The million mile Tundra achieved that on the specified 5w-30 oil.

 

My manual says to use 0W-20.

The Million Mile Tundra was a 2007 model, the newer ones are coming out recommending 0W-20. Which would be when some other manufacturers were still recommending 10W-30. Seems to me, these newer engines may be different. Then again these newer engines are also recommending the thinner oils so their average MPG are better. Then that makes me wonder if the thicker weight oil is truly better for the over all length an engine will last.

The whole thing is crazy if you ask me. Also years ago they recommended changing the oil more frequently. Now they say go farther between oil changes. Now I’m not at all mechanically inclined. Nor do I understand how an engine works. But I do know that keeping the oil clean is important on wearing parts of the engine. My dad used to change his oil every 2000 miles. Before the synthetic oils, most people changed their oil every 3000 miles. When I bought my RAM, they told me I could go 7500 between oil changes. No way was I going to do that.

People have mentioned that my mechanic may be selling the 10W-30 because that’s what he buys in bulk and he isn’t interested in helping me take care of my truck. He wants repeat customers. I could also say the same thing for dealers and the manufacturers themselves. I do believe the government mandating what the car manufacturers build is about environment and other things that force manufacturers to do. It’s about control for the government. Which is BS.

Bottom line, doing what the manufacturer recommends is what you have to do to keep the warranty intact. If you don’t do what they say, if you have a problem they won’t cover it. It sucks!

 

The lower weight or thinner oil recommendations are due to tighter clearances in the engine than older engines.
Extended use is due to better synthetic oils, does not break down as much.

 

Yes, that’s what a friend of my husbands said about the clearances between the moving engine parts. He also said that as the engine gets older, the parts wear down and the gap will get bigger which would be time to run a thicker oil.

I guess for me, oil gets dirty. I know with the synthetic it doesn’t break down as fast with wear from the engine. But it still gets dirty and causes sludge to build up. So for me, changing it more frequently helps keep those moving parts cleaner.

 

Threads about oil are a slippery slope.

That said, with 237,000 KM on my 5.7L, I’m running 0W20 on 8K KM intervals. It gets hot here, and pretty cold. It just works like a...


...you guessed it...



...well oiled machine.

 

Yes, everyone has an opinion on oil. Personally, I like to hear who runs what and why. It helps me understand oil and also it’s a learning experience too.

Thanks for your comment. It truly is appreciated and that’s awesome that you have that many miles on your truck. Love it!! You must be doing something right

 

The million mile 2007 Tundra had a 4.7L engine which was specified to run 5W-30. That is what I ran in my 2006 4.7L Tundra and I sold it to my daughter with 225,000 miles on it. It ran like the day I drove it off the lot when I bought it new in 2006. The oil/filter change intervals on that engine were 5,000 miles vs. 10,000 miles on the 5.7L.

Also, several posters here on this forum have had their oil analyzed by labs (such as Blackstone Labs) and have consistent reports of excellent oil quality at the 10,000 mile mark (5.7L V-8). Some reports (going from memory here) have recommended extending change intervals to 13,000 miles (or so) as a result.

The 4.7L V-8 represented the previous generation of engines from Toyota. It had a shim-under-bucket valve actuation mechanism while the 4.6L and 5.7L have hydraulic valve lash adjusters as well as a very sophisticated VVTI (Variable Valve Timing Intelligent) system. There is a comprehensive description of this system in a .pdf document that Toyota published titled EG-265. I have a full set of the engine specification documents that I will attach here for those that are interested.

Dan

 

Toyota published a paper, when they switched to full synthetic across the vehicle line up. I remember getting a mail in 2014 it was a sort of book from Toyota , test results from the switch to full synthetic.

Just stick to whatever is recommended by Toyota.

 

I get it from one of my vendors for around $29.00 per 5L jug so it works out to roughly $5.50 a quart. I usually buy three of four jugs at a time so I have it on hand whenever I'm ready and I don't have to worry about them having it in stock. They offer it in 60L & 205L drums but none of my vendors are able to get a hold of it for a good enough price. Couple that with the fact that I don't put that many miles on my truck & the potential for additive settling in the oil it doesn't make sense so I stick with the 5L. However I did buy a 60L of the 5W-40 Leichtlauf High Tech but I run that in almost every European car my family & I own. The Tundra is the only vehicle that runs the 0W-20.

 

Thanks Justin! Great info.