0/20 or 5/30 oil

I just got a 2013 6cylTaco and went through the manual which recommends 5/30. This suprised me as My FJ came with 0/20 and recommended oil changes every 10K.

Which weight oil? Change it how often?

 

Why differ from what the manual recommends?
5w30

 

0w-20 combined with oil changes every 10k sounds like death. Use 5w-30 synthetic and change every 5k at most. I change mine every 3k.

 

Yeah i do not like the 10k either.

 

if your changing your synthetic oil at 3k ... you should do some reading.

 

Agreed. You're throwing money down the drain plug.

 

The 0w-20 is for better fuel mileage to go along w/ all the new govt regulations. I'd just go w/ whatever the manual says. I use synthetic 5w-30. Won't go into what brand because that will start all sorts of replys. I change every 5-7.5K myself but synthetic is good for 10K. I just choose to do it more often.

 

It never fails to amaze me that people on here make all kinds of subjective judgments and opinions about oil change intervals, use of synthetics vs dino, and deviate from recommended oil weights, etc. Why not simply use real data as a basis for these judgments like sending off an oil sample for analysis periodically (i.e. Blackstone Labs)? This way you can check on the condition of your motor oil and engine and proceed with your oil changes based on facts and not just feelings and opinions.

Might save you a little money along the way....

 

The factory has done that for you already. Im just not used to the 10k but if the engineers req. that then go with what they say. Stick to the manual. Believe me they know more then most on here do.

 

i just switched over to 0-30 just to see how it does, ill probably go this route for a few oil changes and see how it does.

 

Note the FJ's 10K interval has a lot of limitations. The booklet still requires 5K intervals if the vehicle sees "repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below 32°F / 0°C" or "extensive idling and/or low speed driving".

The FJ had 5K oil change intervals until 2010, which coincided with the dual-VVTi engine. The lubrication system is slightly different - oil now actuates the exhaust cams, and the filter is no longer spin-on.

 

I agree, but will add one other thought: Durability is not the only thing considered when making servicing recommendations. Marketing is also a factor. Chevy has extended oil change intervals now. Change the oil when the oil monitor says to do so. Toyota has to do something to compete. Raising the change interval to 10k with synthetic, changing viscosity to bump the MPG a little tiny bit would be a logical step. This may or may not cost 50K miles in engine life, but Toyota isn't going to tell you that. An independent oil analysis would.

Edit: Last time I was at the dealer, I had them change the oil. They told me there is a TSB that recommends 5w20 for all Toyota vehicles since 05? or so. I asked that they put 5w30 in it. Who knows what the actually did.

 

^Possibly more than just marketing. 12mo/10K interval means Toyota pays for the first 2 oil changes instead of 4, directly cutting their cost.

Wonder what the dealer charges for a 5K non-oil-change service visit...

 

I still don't understand all of the suspicions and skepticism over 10K oil changes with a quality synthetic oil other than old habits and dogma are difficult to break. Then again, look how long its taken to change people's minds about not wasting oil and resources changing it every 3K miles.

Most gas and diesel vehicles used in Europe have extended oil change intervals from 10K to 20K and their cars and trucks aren't breaking down prematurely.
It's so amusing that with all of this obsession over what you "think" or "feel" the oil change interval or oil weight should be, the vast majority of vehicle owners sell or trade their cars/trucks in long before any oil related engine symptoms occur.

So follow the manufacturer's recommendations in the manual and get an independent oil analysis periodically.

 

How long do people typically keep their cars in western Europe? While in the UK, I don't recall seeing many cars older than 5 years.

 

Yeah I've been using 5-30 full synthetic since its first oil change. I've tried the 0-20 for truck/SUV by mobile 1 and found no difference in performance or mpg. So I stuck with 5-30. The oil is "guaranteed" for 15k miles, and with the extended performance filter which is also rated for 15k iirc, I change mine every 10k without sweat. Sometimes I'll do 7k-8k if I've done a lot of offroad or lots of street driving.

Keep in mind that even before Toyota made this switch to 0-20 if you went on for an oil change and paid extra for synthetic, they said not to come back for 10k miles. Regardless of oil weight, synthetic is 10k and conventional is 5k. Its what Toyota recommends.

As far as 0-20 vs 5-30, there rely isn't much of a difference. 0-20 is lighter and thinner so it may increase mpg by .5 at most, but it will also break down faster. The whole 0-20 thing is just and emmisions thing. Its been 8 years now that we've been using 5-30 in our 2nd gens as recommended and nobody has has problems, so why would anyone suddenly switch to 0-20. Why fix something thats not broken. I honestly believe either one is fine. But I stick to 5-30. Its proven to work already so no need to change.

 

I will stick to the factory suggestions and use 0-20 in the FJ and 5-30 in the new Tacoma. After reading a lot on some of the "oil forums" I do believe synthetic is good for 10K in normal use. The best of the oil forums that I have found is " Bob the oil guy" and it has a lot of people testing their oil after use and reporting results. Check that site if this oil stuff interest you.

 

FYI: I just looked at the "Bob the oil guy" site and there is a recent post by a guy with an 06, v6 Taco who printed his Blackstone lab report on his most recent oil change. His oil is Mobil 1, his truck has 322K on it and it had been just over 11K since the last oil change. He states he has run this oil since the truck was new and did all changes around 10K but has gone as long as 14.4K between changes.

The Blackstone lab report was excellent on the oil changed at 11K.

 

^Not too surprising, actually. Because he puts on miles really quickly, he is still changing oil 4-5 times a year.