Oil viscosity

I realize that this will probably open a can of worms, but I need the hive’s opinion.
I have a 2020 4Runner TRD Premium with about 28K miles. Looking through the the manual last night, I was surprised to find that 0W-20 oil was specified. Only 0W-20 oil. Yet looking up 0W-20 oil, the oil charts only recommend that it be used up to 30*C/86*F.
I live in the wonderfully hot Central Valley in CA, where temperatures usually run excess of 70*F 24/7. Currently in the usual summer heat of 105*F for daytime highs.
Wouldn’t something like a 5W-30, or a 10W-40, be a better choice?
I don’t want to screw up my warranty.

 

I think if you look through the manual enough, it recommends 5W-30 for some scenarios.

It is pretty well agreed upon here that the 0w-20 is mostly for the purpose of extracting out another .01 miles per gallon for CAFE standards.

I don't believe the 0w-20 will harm the engine. But, living in a hot climate I wouldn't hesitate to run 5W-30 as recommended in the manual.

 

James is right, you will not void your warranty. In warmer climates it is fine to run 5-30, i have been doing so for awhile now and i like it.

 

Engines aren't blowing up left and right running 0W-20 in hotter climates. The manual does state 5W-20 is fine "but must be replaced with 0W-20 at the next oil change."

 

5w30 won’t hurt it. 0w20 is for trying to squeeze .001 extra mpgs out of it. 0w20 won’t have any ill effects either obviously. I personally have ran 5w30 in mine for the last 70k miles.
This has been covered ad naseum in other threads.

 

Most engine wear occurs at startup. Even then it’s negligible. 0W20 simply flows more quickly, reducing oil starvation a little. In a million and a half miles on Toyotas, I have yet to experience an engine failure for any reason. We sometimes tend to over-think this subject.

 

Well, I warned you.

Thanks for the replies. I have an ‘06 Tacoma with the same V6, and I’ve been using 5W-30 for years. But it hasn’t been under warranty for probably 10years. I figured I had better be safe and ask, since I have no clue as to what Toyota might have done with the tolerances in the past 15 years.

 

It also states that it can be used in some specific conditions. And in Puerto Rico, where they apparently don't have CAFE standards.

 

You did so I can't hold you responsible haha. Welcome to the forum! Now for your second thread make sure to ask about what the biggest tire size you can fit without a lift

 

The 4Runner version has dual VVT-I, which is why we have like 40 more horsepower. That would be the only reason I could think of for the difference in recommended viscosity. But, the fact that 5W30 is recommended in Puerto Rico regardless of conditions pretty well confirms that it is for fuel economy reasons only.

 

FFS

 

Vehicle purchase 2nd/3rd hand(ie, 1-2 previous owners) from Toyota. I’ve already ditched the Factory street tires and now have stock size ATs.
Next “big” purchase will be a catalytic converter shield.

 

Read this post.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/why-is-puerto-rico-able-to-use-15w-40.18928/#post-229077

 

Oh I know but I don't really care what they do. People just make it seem like viscosity is earth shattering news and there's millions of blown 1GRs around...like millions of people that couldn't stop because of rear drum brakes on a pickup.

 

Oh, yeah. I have over thought this myself. But, I think people should just run whatever they're comfortable with. Asking the group for opinions is never wrong, though.

As far as drum brakes; I can tell you that the parking brake on my Taco was 1000% better than the parking brake on the 4Runner. I think that could have been a factor in Toyota's decision, since the Tacoma is available with a manual transmission and the 4Runner is not.

 

This is why I stick with 0W-20. For now, mine sits in the garage and doesn't get used but maybe every 2-3 weeks or so. The lower viscosity I think helps protect it on those initial starts after weeks of oil draining into the pan. When it gets rotated out into the daily driver duty, I'll probably switch to 5W-30.

Been using 5W-30 in my daily driven '06 Tacoma with the 4 cyl in accordance with the owner's manual for 12 years now with no issues. Only two model-years later Toyota recommended 0W-20 with no change to the 2TR-FE's engine design. It is indeed for meeting CAFE fleetwide fuel economy requirements, but I don't think it's necessarily detrimental to the engine.

 

There are endless discussions around oil on the Miata forums too. The only comment I'll add is that if you're thinking about switching from 0-20 to 5-30 or 10-40 then why wouldn't you just run 0-30 or 0-40?

 

OP here. After reading all the posts and doing a bit of research this is what I've come up with.
I agree(suspected it when I posted) that it's all about fuel economy. With regards to the Puerto Rico exemption I found a site that states the proper oil viscosity for the ambient temperatures in my area would be 10W-40(+5*F to 122*F). Which might fit Puerto Rico.
I'm on the fence about 5W-30 though that's what's recommended for my '06 Tacoma which has essentially the same engine. The Tacoma manual shows it up to 100*. But my research has the 5W-30 works best below 86*, the same as the 0W-20.
I've come to the conclusion that the large oil capacity of 6.6 qts for the V6 in my 4Runner, as compared to the 5.5 qts in the V6 of my Tacoma, is due to the higher oil consumption of the newer cars due to the thinner oil and low tension rings. Toyota says 1 qt/1200 miles is normal, while other brands are as low as 1 qt/650 miles.

New Toyota Car Losing Oil - Lighter Weight Oil To Blame | Toyota Parts Center (olathetoyota.com)
"According to our mechanic contact, Toyota’s “normal specification” for oil consumption is 1 quart every 1,200 miles. This means if you change your oil once every 10k miles, you could be faced with a low engine oil situation."


Tech 101 - What oil viscosity ratings mean | Hemmings
"For example, 10W-40 is recommended for ambient (outside air) temperatures of +5 F to +122 F, while 5W-30 works best in temperatures between -22 F and +86 F. Good old 30W straight oil is currently only rated for +32 F to +86 F, and even 20W is not rated for temperatures below 14 F."

 

My 2018 4Runner has 75,000 miles. My oil change interval is every 5000 to 7000 miles, always synthetic. 5W-30. I noticed no loss of oil on the dipstick. Zero. In fact my two previous 4Runners (1987, 180K miles and 2000, 240K miles) used no oil either. If an engine is burning a quart every 1200 miles that’s not “normal”, something is very wrong.

 

The car care nut livestream answered a few months ago, basically he said he's seen 4runners running on ow-20 for over 200k miles, but he also said these engines were designed in the era of 5W-30 so ideally running 5W-30 is better but keep it full synthetic and 5k/6mon OCI

 

I tend to agree. That seems excessive.

 

OP here again. Continuing my research, I've now run across two threads where it is stated that in Australia, it is normal to use at least 10W-30 at a dealership, and up to 15W-40 at owner's request. Apparently, the 0W-20 limitation is only here in the States. I found one thread where the guy, IA, changed from 5W-30 to 0W-40, and the metal contamination in his oil dropped significantly.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/results-of-switching-from-5w-30-to-0w-40-in-my-1gr-fe.656237/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oil-viscosity-cafe-and-your-taco-engine.610049/

https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php/336458-Recommended-Engine-Oil-1GR-FE-4-0-V6

https://www.fjcruiserforums.com/threads/2011-fj-cruiser-oil-viscosity-in-australia.129903/

 

How many miles were on it when he switched? I skimmed through the last link and didn't see anything about that.

If the change was made at lower mileage, it could have been due to the leftover bits from manufacturing being washed out already. If there was significant metal contamination at higher mileage, that sounds like a problem to me.

 

1st link. He doesn’t say how many miles he had on it, or if he did, I missed it. He did say that both samples had about 5k miles on them.
I did find it interesting that in the 2nd link it says that Toyota uses different oil specs for the US than other places. Which I’m sure is due to CAFE(Corporate Average Fuel Economy).

 

Yeah, the Puerto Rico thing comes up in every one of these threads. And, the fact that the manual recommends higher viscosity in some scenarios has been mentioned as well. I'm thinking about switching to 5W-30, as I'm pretty hard on mine.

 

Here’s another forum post with an EPA document explaining that whatever oil an auto manufacturer used to qualify emissions and fuel economy with, they have to attempt to make the customer use it. That’s why the user manual has language that makes you think you “must” use 0W-20.

 

....FWIW, I have a petroleum engineer/oil nerd in the family who says exactly what you just posted. No, he doesn't work for Toyota but he knows how and what oil is engineered to do. We live in the deep south where it's mostly hot as balls and we run 5w-30 regularly with no issues so far.

 

I run 5W30 in my 2015 Tacoma and change at 5K now that I'm over 100k mileage. Based on one of the posts above, I may bump up to 10W30 based on summer heat here and the fact I am brutal on my Tacoma - meaning high speed flight / driving.

 

In the 2020 manual, it no longer makes mention of 5W-30 for Puerto Rico or anywhere else. It only mentions 5W-20 as a short term alternative to 0W-20.