Oil viscosity

But the 4.0l in it is still sold in other vehicles worldwide.

 

Does 0w matter if not running year round in winter? For hot climates seems 5w would work fine. Cold weather starts is what I think of needing the 0w for cold flow. If doing seasonal oil changes the cold flow seems unnecessary.

Different motor but my 2ur-GSE is 5w30 year round for a performance engine. I believe this was based off of optimal protection not CAFE for a niche car. This is the most powerful V8 Toyota/Lexus has produced.

I am not a tribologist but thought 0w shear more than 5w and 10w oils. Under load in extreme heat for extended runs is the use case I am thinking of. 100+ degrees I think 10w would be preferred with less VI.

 

One of important duty of oil inside working engine, besides lubricity, that achieved by viscosity and additives, is cooling of the piston "skirt", that cooling comes from oil jets located in a block. Those jets spraying oil onto inside of piston cooling it off. Oil pump produced only certain pressure, that effectively lost at every point of lubrication, and adding second, exhaust VVT unit, further "robbing" that pressure. Ideally best cooling would be by water and here we have 0W20, 0W16 and 0W8 - most expensive oil, like $25 per quart. Modern oils are marvel of science and engineering, it is not just lubricant (it still is), but become one of many parts of very complex moving machinery, overtaking our uneducated perception of "just oil it is".

 

Agreed, oil cools. So is thinner or thicker better for this? I'm going to say thinner due to higher flow.

 

I don't think the EPA cares about getting you 4Runner to 200,000+ miles though...
And to you're point I think 4Runner sold in Puerto Rico are using 5w-30. Although I have no idea why, and to infer it's because or CAFE standards, weather, or more likely oil availability... Well that would be pure speculation.

You're right about 4Runner sales but I'd say the same 1GR-FE is sold around the world. I specifically called out UAE because the I was trying to think of a place that sells this engine (UAE still sells new FJ Cruisers, and yes I'm jealous of that) that has an extremely hot climate. I suppose I could have said Texas or Florida where it commonly gets over 110 degrees.

I've read that many people in UAE use 5w-40 or 10w-40 in their FJ's to go play in the desert... for what that is worth.

 

Olive!

 

40 usually in turbo engines, German vehicles. 30 is a max, especially in equatorial africa

 

Yup, my GTI takes 5w-40. For being a GDI 4-cyl turbo, it runs amazing at 98k miles.

I can't wrap my head around why Toyota suggests 0w-20 for such a hefty 4.0 V6. With how much I drive on highway and with payload, I think I'll definitely switch to 0w-30 or 0w-40

 

Agreed.

For Puerto Rico, the 2019 manual recommends 0W-20, 5W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30, and even 15W-40.

 

I change engines, not oil due to those pesky CAFE standards and the recommended viscosity blowing them up.

 

I am thinking about switching to OW-16 for better fuel economy

 

Lol

 

Freak oil fight accident:

https://youtu.be/Ao-GDQ488DY?si=tLlLcztuQ9xfwY13

 

From my research, a 20W oil(0W-20, 5W-20, etc) is good up to about 87* AMBIENT temperature. If you looking at an oil and temperature chart, you’ll find find that for each 10W increase in oil weight increases the temperature at which it is optimal.
So, a 30W oil (0W-30, 5W-30) is good up to about 97* AMBIENT temperature, while a 40W (0W-40, 5W-40) works well up to about 106* AMBIENT temperature.
So, 9-10 months out of year 0W-30, or 5W-30, would work great. 2 months out of the year 0W-40, or 5W-40, would be appropriate.
I live in the Central Valley of CA. So, it is time for 0W-40 oil. IF I lived in Death Valley, I’d be using a 50 weight oil.

 

Here in Texas, Mid June through September and sometime even into October we are hovering around 110F on a day to day basis and over 100F pretty much every day.
I ve only used 0W20 as the manual states and my truck is about to hit 200k miles. I have no doubt that it would cross 300k if I continue to do what I ve been doing.
Still runs like any other 4runner I see on the road. Same acceleration, same shitty handling, same mileage same everything.
So if changing oil viscosity was an imperative thing for engine longevity, Toyota engineers would let us know.

 

Can you share how you came up with that? The only definitive information I've seen is regarding engine operating temp, so I'm curious if you're making a connection between ambient and engine temps.

 

Almost all of the sites that discuss oil weight and temperature, use the term “Ambient”. Which is why I used it.
My understanding, and I’ll be the first to admit that I am wrong, is that Toyota is barred by LAW for recommending any other oil weight once they have recommended one particular weight. At least here in the USA/North America. Since they have recommended 0W-20 oil, they can’t, but LAW ,recommend any other weight.
If anyone has any other information, please share it with us.

 

I go over to bitog when researching fluids. This topic has been beat to death over the years. Our engine was originally speced for 5w30. Additional testing 0w20 showed adequate protection for the NA market.

Remove CAFE restrictions and the rest of the world gets viscosity suggestions that correlate to ambient temperature. Use 0w20 with confidence if concerned at all and follow the CAFE suggestion. Sure running the 0w20 in Australia is adequate and engine won't grenade. It is not optimal for that region and temperature.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...l-viscosity-and-oci-for-1gr-fe-engine.345706/

 

But but but Puerto Rico and break in oil!!!

 

I was told, they do this, to increase oil pressure thru ports in the engine, the oil holes are smaller, so they need less viscosity to be able to move the oil thru the holes and ports. Also piston squirters, kinda hard to have oil shoot out of piston squirters up into the bottom of the piston to lube the wristpin if you are running 10w40 with Lucas in it.
With the current synthetic blends, you dont have to worry about the oil breaking down, and dont need such thick oil like in the past. They are running 0w20 at 10,000 and 15,000 miles before its breaking down. You are fine at your 5,000 mile oil changes no problem at all.
ALSO, fuel mileage. The thinner oil creates less resistance for the crank, so the engine can spin more freely, and gain an extra %'age of fuel mileage.

 

Is it hard to believe that giving an engineer different criteria will result in different recommendations? NA with CAFE and EPA this limits viscosity as well as engines we can have. Remove these criteria and other options are presented. Oil viscosity, small turbo diesels, NA V8.......

Guess I am way to logical and analytical. There is nothing unique to America and our engine needs from the rest of the world. Given the fleet CAFE numbers to hit for the US market the engineers did a great job. Very reliable bullet proof platform. That doesn't mean suggestions can not be improved upon for specific climates.

But sure one size fits all 0w20 works for the masses if no analysis of your situation is desired.

Still looking to see any article on this topic is other than strictly fuel savings. I have looked over the years and all I have seen is CAFE and EPA drives the decision. If 0w20 was superior for protection and longevity I would expect this for all regions.

Does it matter? Who knows that's for everyone to make their own decision for their use. The engine will make it to 200k with abuse. Most people are tired of it or traded off by this point.

 

The manual gives more options than just 0w-20... You can use 0w-30 or 0w-40 if thr conditions call for it. It must not be illegal if it's published in the owner's manual.

 

Our engine, or the single VVTi version that was in the 4th gen & 2G Tacoma? Because that's a different engine, despite sharing a block.

 

From what I see in the manual


Also the oil change interval -

 

The last bullet point on the first page says you can use an oil with a higher second number.

 

For high speeds and extreme loads.... doesn't sound like a very common occurance

 

Maintaining 75 mph interstate speeds either s4 high RPM or gear hunting qualifies as severe service for me.

This is the age old towing or track days recommendation anyone running it a little harder jump a grade.

 

Yeah, the first time I referenced that, desert racing was the only thing I could think of to fit the bill.

My point here is that it's not illegal to talk about running a higher weight oil, like the poster above stated.

 

I like to run 5 w-30 in the summer & 0 w-20 in the winter, but you know old dogs are hard to train.

 

If it's anything like their qualifications for 5,000 mile oil changes, it's pretty much anything besides gentle highway driving.