2TR-FE oil type?

I have a 2008 Tacoma Access cab 4 cyl. The Toyota owners manual online shows 0w-20 or 5w-20. The factory service manual shows 5w-30 or 10w-30.

 

0w-20 for the 4 banger.

 

Thanks. Why does the FSM say 5w-30?

 

The 4.0l V6 uses 5w30.

 

According to the FSM, so does the 2TR-FE.

 

Sounds like the FSM is wrong. I had an 08 2TR-FE and it used 0w20 or 5w20. I just figured whoever wrote the manual got the engines mixed up.

 

I put 5w-20(synthetic) in mine. I've tried 0w-20 (synthetic) before and it didn't help with fuel economy, it was the same and the engine seemed a little more noisy, it's just too thin, since I did t see any benefit benefits from using it I went back to 5w-20 (synthetic) for better protection. 5w-20 has worked great for me even in cold weather.

 

0w-20 is the same thickness at operating temperature as 5w-20 etc..... 0w is still too thick even at 75*f ambient temps to properly lube a motor... but it is MUCH thinner than 5w at non operating temps and gets up to temp / proper operating thickness quicker than 5w-20.

There is a reason why i run 0w-30 syn in my v6 instead of 5w-30.

 

Didn't know that.

 

The older 2TRs recommend 5w-30 (like my 2005, and I think going up to 2008).

 

The owners manual of my 2014 says to use 0w20 but it also says that you can use 5w30 if you live in a hot climate or just want more protection for the motor. I've been running 5w30 since my first oil change. I think a little extra protection for the motor is always a good thing.

edit: mine's a 4 cyl.

 

Did Toyota re-engineer the 2TRE-FE at some point? WHY would they change from 5W30 to 5W20/0W20?

 

In 2015 they added VVT to the exhaust cam and a few other little improvements, but generally it's been the same engine since the 2005 redesign. Most manufacturers change oil recommendation to a lower viscosity for a marginal fuel economy benefit. This is evidenced in post #11 above where the manual states 0w20/5w20 is recommended, but 5w30 is allowed if you want better engine protection.

 

Blame the EPA fuel economy standards.

The Mexico owner's manual still says 5W30. (It even says 5W30 for the 3rd gen 3.5L V6.)

 

probably doesn’t matter. I have used 0w40, 5w40, 0w30, 5w40, 0w20, or a mix of the above without issue.

when people put things like 0w/5w40 in their engine or 75w140 rear diff they do so for protection not worried about 1mpg

manufacturers care about 1mpg

 

For an 08 I would use the full synthetic 5w-30 that is cheap.

 

Copy that. Mine has VVT... i'm guessing I could probably switch to 0W20 so my cars & truck have the same oil, but at 234K miles I'll bet that 0W20/5W20 oil won't protect as well as my 0W30?

 

Audis use 0w20. In an engine that goes faster, runs hotter, and has a turbo.

however that is in models like A4 that break anyway for other reasons.

higher performance models like S and RS tend to call for 0w30, 5w30, 0w40, 5w40

I think the only sketch thing is doing something like running a 10w60 or whatever weird shit E46 M3 calls for.

a high quality 0w20 should still have good properties such as HTHSV. But draining that hot it comes out looking faster and thinner.

probably was specd for economy. if you want to advertise better MPG and meet a higher standard created by a guy sitting behind a desk telling you to waive a magic fairy wand, simple, put a thinner oil. save the world by making 1.5b cars do +1 mpg.

 

Run 5W-30 full synthetic.

You can thank me later.