ARB1977

Running it and so far 1000 miles on it...even in 100 degree heat. Gas milage hasnt changed.

mkgarrison5

and gas mileage wont change. who told you it would?? slap them next time.. now if you go down to a 0w20 then yeah you may notice a difference.

TexanTaco

We need a 'Pimp Slap' smilie.

I run 5w30 year round here, but it rarely drops below 35F in the winter.

mkgarrison5

in texas you can easily run a thicker oil. 0-40 or 5-40 preferably.. but you dont have to.. now if you beat the hell out of it then i would go thicker in synthetic.. if not then what you have should be fine. just remember they all break down after time. but you knew that

mleaky

I switched to mobile 1 10/30 synthetic a few oil changes ago. I typically go 285-290 miles per tank. After synthetic I go about 300 miles per tank. Basically I get 1mpg better with sysnthetic under normal driving conditions.

TexanTaco

I've thought about that, going with a thicker oil. Do you think that would tend to help engine wear on shorter trips? My drive to work is very short now, about 5 minutes. I've decided to go with a 5k change interval (w/ synthetic) instead of 6k because of the short trips. Also based on your advice I'm going to switch over to either Pennzoil Platinum or Valvoline Synpower.

dbcx

A thicker oil will hurt you. It will not flow good at start up,and will take it a lot longer to get hot enough to flow well. No flow = engine wear

iselloil

use the 10w30w extended performance.

mkgarrison5

no you can go 6k mile just make sure you keep a clean airfilter. the air filtration on these trucks suck. many uoa's to prove that.. 6k miles on syn will be fine even for short trips. i would lean towards penzoil platinum.. that oil can take an absolute beating! quite a fantastic oil.. than and valvoline maxlife synthetic is really good too. btw i would go with 0w40 but if its just an every day driver you can stick with what you have. maybe a 10w30.

mkgarrison5

you are slightly off there. in his enviroment a 0w40 in SYNTHETIC would be just great. the O for the cold flow and a light 40 weight to allow for sheer in very hot weather. a 0w40 gets to temp just about as quick as a 0w20 and 0w30.. just thicker.. besides its a synthetic so your cold flow would be superior compared to dino. deff no harm in hot ass texas to run a light 40 weight. no harm at all... besides one more thing. the thicker the oil the higher the oil pressure correct?

cmdln

I have a similar situation, commute is 2.4 miles 3 stop signs, and 3 lights takes me about 6 minutes to get to work. I am currently running 5w30 mobile1, but before it gets chilly I will switch over to 0w30 and stick with that year round. Im not sure why someone would want to run a higher weight oil. It seems it would only increase viscosity. More viscus, less flow, higher pressure, less lubrication especially on cold starts. I have not found any measurements for 0w40 at different temperatures. I would be interested to see them if someone has a list similar to what I posted here. If I were you I would go with a 0w especially before it gets cold. The difference at 68 F is not much and the warmer the cold start temp the less the difference, at least between mobil1 5w and mobile1 0w.

Im curious why a 40w would be better. From what I read here
Both oils will shear 0w30 or 0w40. Perhaps you are buying more time out of the oil before too many of the viscosity improvers break down. But you are doing that at the cost of higher viscosity and less flow. I dont quite understand how higher viscosity withstands shear better. To me it would seem to depend on the oil formulation as to how well it withstands shearing. And I don't have any numbers to compare oils. I would think if you are doing 5K OCI the oil should hold up fine and you would be changing it before the viscosity improvers have depleted enough to compromise the oil. Of course the obligatory you wont know unless you get a used oil analysis seems to be in order. mkgarrison5 if you have some links to info on higher weight oils withstanding shear better I'd love to read them. I'm still new to all of this stuff but from what I have read thats how I understand it so if I'm way off and you have some better documentation please chime in.

TexanTaco

That's also something I have been thinking about, because I installed AEM's BruteForce intake (w/ their dry flow filter). So I'm guessing that type of filter will allow more air to flow through it, but could be letting more dirt in.

It is getting really damn hot here, so I know the oil is getting to operating temp very quickly. I might try Pennzoil Plat 0w40 and stick with that. I could use that year round correct?

cmdln

If I were you I would look more into what the viscosity is for the 40w oil you want to use. If your manual calls for 30w the viscosity of a 40w oil will be higher. It may get to operating temp around the same time but at operating temp it will still be more viscous than the 30w. And thicker oil == less flow == less lubrication == higher pressure. And I would guess that with higher pressure comes higher temps and higher temps would create more wear. So I still do not understand why anyone would want to run a higher weight oil than recommended unless they are having issues maintaining oil pressure. I would guess that if there is an issue maintaining oil pressure to the proper psi there might be another issue.

TexanTaco

^ Yep the manual calls for 5w30, which is probably the same for most trucks with the 3.4 V6. I've heard that depending on the area you live in Toyota may recommend a different oil. And I'm not sure if higher pressure would equal higher temps, but it makes sense.

mkgarrison5

the 5w30 is a basic standard for most cars now.. well the newer ones are going down to a 5w20 or 0w20 for CAFE reasons (saving gas) same with the
5w30... those are just mear guidelines to go by.. only UOA's will determine whether or not a 0w40 is working better for you than a 0w30.. so other than that its speculation. but i have read many 0w40 uoa's and not one was bad for any SYNTHETIC oil. i am not talking dino oils here guys.. if we were talking dino oils then i would say stick with the 30 weight and change it every 3-5k miles pending on your driving. but synthetics have different properties. i am mearly giving him an option. with very short drives constant then stick with any 0w bc you want that oil to warm up to operating temps quickly. besides most synthetic 30 weights are on the thin side of the 30w spectrum so bumping up to a 40w is nothing in synethetic. esp with higher mileage. so its up to you guys what you want to run. just remember its all speculation without UOA's so by all means get your oil tested and post it here. it would solve a lot of oil issues here.

TexanTaco

Well I know you've done a LOT of reading up on the subject, so I will take your advice. And like you said, the only surefire way to know what is best for your engine is to send the oil for a UOA. I don't plan on doing that myself, but seeing other people's UOA's can help a lot.

It makes a ton of sense also for my situation to run a 0w40 synthetic based on the fact that I'm making very short trips now. I want that oil to get up to temp very fast. I've been doing some reading over on BITOG and it sounds like one of the most important factors is the extra protection an oil provides after it's been sheared away. So using a good quality oil with the right additives is the most important step, followed by what weight to use. I'm sure I would be just as well off using a 0w40 dino oil, as long as I changed it more often. I like the extra peace of mind that synthetics tend to hold up better in more extreme conditions though.

cackalak han

If you want the best, get some Amsoil. That's what I'm running, along with their Ea filter. A little more expensive than the other synthetics, but since I decided to go synthetic, I didn't mind spending a few extra for the best. Haven't done a UOA yet, because I've only put on 1000 miles since the oil change.

mkgarrison5

you may can go 4-5k easy with a good dino 0w40 if you can find that weight in dino. for dinos i like Valvolin maxlife and penzoil the best. lots of good additives in both. havoline and the rest are ok also for about the same mileage..again only uoa's will show you which brand is best for your vehicle. with those short trips i would go with synthetic but thats my opinion

ARB1977

You will not find any dino oil in a 0W. You can run pretty much anything as long as you change it when your supposed to, youll be good to go. Im running Mobil One 0W30 and change it out every six months or 7500 miles.

mkgarrison5

you know i didnt think dino oils came in that weight. i know syns do but wasnt sure dinos did or not. thanks for the clarification.