New Member/Cold Weather Oil Weight

Hello,

I recently just bought a 2016 4runner trail premium in Reno, NV. I have a question about oil weight in extreme cold temps. My husband and I are preparing to make the trek back to our home in Alaska in January. Temps on the AlCan highway around this time of year will drop to around 20 below if not colder. I plan to have a block heater installed before we go. In Reno, I have been running the standard 0/30 Synthetic. Do any of you suggest that I switch to a 5/30 for this drive? Any other suggestions for the severe cold weather?

 

standard is 0W-20

I'm assuming people in cold temp warm up before going.

 

Yes, you definitely warm up the engine before going anywhere.

 

That is very useful information. Thank you so much!

 

There are many good options in 0W-20. Toyota Genuine Motor Oil (TGMO) is never a bad choice, and might be ideal for your application (runs thin, flows well in cold temps), but there are plenty of others which cost less. If an oil meets the ILSAC GF-5 spec, it should work fine.

 

Yeah Pennzoil is another good choice. I'm currently running bargain priced Havoline in mine, and have a stash of several others to try just for fun (Mobil 1 AFE, Rotella Gas Truck, QSUD, PP, Castrol Edge). I doubt I'll notice much of a difference in performance between any of them. As I said there are plenty of good choices available. I personally see no reason to pay up for TGMO since I live in Las Vegas, but if I lived in a cold climate I would want a thin 0W-20, and TGMO is one of the thinnest ones available.

 

Run the weight your vehicle recommends...Period... Brand well I ain't going there.

 

As said above there is no reason to run any higher weight than Toyota’s recommended weight of 0W20. I would wager that Toyota’s engineers know 99.5 percent more than us. Additionally there hasn’t been a rash of failed motors due to using 0W20 so in my opinion there is no reason to question its use. As far as brand is concerned any brand will get you to 200k. However in very cold regions I would stick in TGMO 0W20. I found (admittedly I don’t have any scientific proof to support my claims) that TGMO is one of the quietest oils at startup and slightly quieter during normal operation. So for 8 bucks a quart I will stick with it and I only change oil once a year. And allegedly the new formula has more moly which from my understanding is better for the engine...but I could be wrong and not sure how’s that affects cold start up.

 

Toyota engine oil spec is 0-20wt.. since your concerned about this vehicle you should get the vehicle manual to know what fluids to use. when you have fluids changed and when to change them the manual will give you the proper info.. make sure the service people will use the proper fluid spec...

TOYOTA ENGINE OIL IS WITH SPECIAL ADDITIVES .. this will work best in harsh conditions. moly is in the TOYOTA oil 800PPM.. mobil 1synthetic has 60PPM .. this additive will cause the engine to start crank faster and lower engine noise on a cold start.. also higher MPG ..