ScottyBean

10w or 5w 30? I have a 96 Limited 4runner and usually I run 10w 30.. but recently i was reading the owners manual and it said that my truck requires 5w 30.. so i tried it. I havent driven it yet but should I be using a thicker oil? What do you guys run? The truck as 190 km's on it and I live in B.C. Canada, where in the summer it maxes out at 30-32 Celsius... any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

george16

I just switched to Mobil 1 5-30W synthetic and I think it drives better when I had 5-30w dino in it.

George

Gangus2006

In the 2000 4Runner manual, it gives a temperature scale for oil. Even the dealer here switches to 10w30 for th esummer months..

ScottyBean

so is it bad that i switched to 5w30 for the summer? should i change it back? am i going to have problems?

Ironmike4x4

Thicker oil is used to resist thinning in the hotter summer months. In the winter, thinner oil is used for easier cranking when the oil is already thick from the cold. Basically it depends on where you are geographical wise. I run 10w 30 year round because our winters here are fairly mild. At my dealership we run 10w-30 oil year-round to our customer's vehicles. I've heard of other GM dealerships having both for the changing seasons up north.

ScottyBean

our summers get pretty hot for western canada(vancouver area)... i really want to know if its gonna cause problems for my engine. someone needs to give me a solid answer to switch back to 10w or not. im gonna call toyota tomorrow and find out but i trust you guys more.

Ironmike4x4

I would say if you get around 40 degrees and above then run 10w-30 and you should be fine. I dont know how hot it gets up in Canada. I've always thought of it to be quite cool, but I've never been there so I dont know.

ScottyBean

nah. where i am we will get max 30-32 degrees. so i should be fine?

Slowrunner

I use 5w30 all year , if you find you need to top-up in between oil changes (1 litre or more) I would consider using a thicker oil.. Dealer always trys to sell me 10w 30 although..

Wade

I also recently switched to Mobile 1 5w30. I have a new motor with about 2,500 miles on it when I switched. I noticed it takes just a little bit longer for my truck to develop it's peak oil pressure after startup with the thinner oil. I think I'm going back to the 10w30 before the summer gets too warm.

90 Toy extra-cab 4x4 w/ 22re 5sp

CynicX

Thinner oil will give you better gas milage. But my 3.4 (2004) recommends 5w-30. The owners manual says I can use 10w-30 if thats all that is availible but to switch it back to 5w-30 at the next change.

If you live in a colder enviroment you DONT want to use a thicker oil. Oil will get "thicker" the colder it gets. You want to use a thinner oil so it can flow in cold coniditions.

The engine was designed and tested to use 5w-30 why use something it wasnt designed for? All in all I dont really see how 10w will HURT anything but you'll MPG wont be as good.

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

I use 10w40 in summer and 5w30 in winter.

The second number is what provides protection. The higher the number, the more protection. The 5-10w30's are just popular and recommended because they are energy conserving, not engine conserving. The thinner it is, the easier it will pump, but will not provide a think film to coat the internals.
Didn't the older cars call for a 40 and sometimes 50 oil?
I think the dood (Kyle22r ?) with the older yellow Toyota Pickup as an avatar uses a 40 if I can remember, and thats whats called for. Can that be why he has so many miles on it?
We all have our own beliefs about oils and what brand & weights are best. Some people are stuck in the past and some want the newest technology out.

__________________________________________________ _____________
"Look at J300 standard it has two HTHS specs one for "normal" engine oils and one for
"heavy-duty" engine oils, reason the 20% increase in viscosity at 300 F makes engines
last 200% to 500% longer. (SAE 40 oils)

All SAE 30 oils and lower are considered light duty oils and SAE 50 is heavy duty oil
by the HTHS specs.

The FLOW to a bearing has to do with the W number as that is how the oil acts when
COLD (and it does not have to be below freezing) to engine for which NORMAL operating
temperature is about 190 to 220 on oil, even 120 F in Arizona is COLD (when
first started)."

That makes sense.
From:
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cave/syn-tolo.html

Which in turn is from:
http://forums.noria.com/eve/ubb.x/a/.../626103953/p/5

kyle_22r

i run amsoil 10w40. a benefit i've noticed is that i seem to be getting 20-30 more miles out of each tank with normal driving than when i was running 15w40 diesel oil.

however, my engine is older, and i didn't get any bearing surfaces on the crank machined when i rebuild the engine(machine shop said it was good to go) so i prefer a slightly thicker oil. the 5w30 i did my initial break-in was too thin for my liking -- i seem to have the best luck on "R" engines with a 10w30 or 10w40 oil.

as a rule of thumb, as an engine wears over its lifespan, a thicker oil becomes more beneficial as the bearings wear and tolerances open up. it's also nice for our older 4 cylinders with fully mechanical valvetrains -- it keeps them quieter than a thinner oil...

rimpainter.com

5W-30 Mobil 1 synthetic. Always have, always will. My owner's manual does not suggest 10W-30.

Oh, and try 42 - 49*C sometime. We get that here quite often.

Astralplane

I've had M1 5w-30 in my truck for the last 4,400 miles. Truck has 146,600 miles.
This is first time I've used synthetic oil and the first time I've used 5W-30 grade oil.
I haven't yet decided on 5000 or 6000 oil change intervals.
Here are my observations so far:
I've burned less oil so far (2 quarts) and the oil gauge rises faster and is higher at start up than before. During highway travel the gauge reads the same level as before.
Truck only burns oil during highway travel for some reason. Started burning about a quart every 1000 miles since truck had about 75,000 miles.
Gas mileage is unchanged.
I'm going to try M1 10W-30 next time and will report back.