I live in Florida and I am about to hit the 1500 mile mark on my 03' 4Runner. I am planning on changing the oil when I hit the mark, but I just wanted to get other people's opinions before I pour the new stuff in.

What would you guys recommend using? (AMSOIL) 10w40 or (AMSOIL) 20w50? It doesn't get cold (not below 60) down here so I was thinking 20w50 for the extra protection of the engine components. But then again, it's going to start getting cooler down here since winter is coming up. Although, it is highly unlikely going to drop below 60 (maybe during the night it will) but will the engine have any problems starting up etc, with 20w50 oil inside with that type of temperature range down here?

Thank you for any feedback.

 

I just went through the same thing in deciding which oil to use. I believe the 4runners have 5w30 as the original requirement. I previously used 5w50 Castrol Syntec in my VWs. Anyway, I would stay away from the thicker oils until you need them (burning oil, leaky gaskets etc..) I recommend the 10w40 Mobil1 full synthetic(first choice) or a 10w30 full synthetic(second choice). The way synthetics are made, they provide more than enough protection that you don't need the higher viscosities.
I have no idea about Amsoil as I haver never seen that here..... I can't imagine there is any advantage over Mobil1 synthetics.

 

Use the weight that toyota recommends. Other than that, just about any oil is fine.

 

What Robinhood said. I run Mobil1 10w30 here in AZ...much hotter than Florida. If you MUST have a 10w40, go w/ Amsoil...Mobil only makes a synthetic 10w40 for motorcycles. I wish they did make a 10w40 for autos as anyone w/ high mileage who has used 10w30 might want to "upgrade" (pardon the pun ) to compensate for wear.

 

Jmitch,

The climate here is almost exactly the same as where you are and I switched to Mobile 1 Supersyn 5-30 at about 3K miles and the truck runs great.

The Toyota recommeded oil is 5-30 and you would do well to stick with that.

My $0.02

 

Good catch Toy4x4 ...I thought I bought 10w40 Mobil1 and when i saw your post I double checked....10w30 is what I ended up with.

 

I don't understand why you guys want to use such heavy oils in practically new engines. The first number is the viscosity of the oil at 0degF, while the second number is the viscosity at 212degF. Your engine is never going to get above 212F so you it's useless to go any heavier. Plus, if you do see any cold temps then you're going to be out of the toyota specified viscosity range. I say just go with what toyota recommends.

 

Alright thanks for the replies, I guess I will just stick to the toyota recommendations (5w30) for now. I just figured that a little extra thickness in the oil would help for protection of the engine components. If I ever did change, then it would be 10w40....

 

I'd wait until 7,500 miles to switch to synthetic. The new engine needs dino oil the seat the cylinder seals and other internal engine components. Use 10-30 or what Toyota recommends, 5-30.

 

I too have heard that you should wait a few thousand miles before changing to sythetic. I don't think that is very accurate based on the fact that Corvette/Porshe/Ferarri and other high performance-luxury brands come stock with sythetic oils in the engine. If synthetic is so good that an engine will not even break in, then everyone should be using it.

 

I think that the waiting XXXX miles for break in is old school thought.

There are a few post here regarding this and I think Gadget, as well as others, have some pretty authoratative data to support changing to synthetic sooner rather than later is perfectly acceptable. A search should reveal the other posts and links.

I changed to synthetic at 5K kilometers and am going to change it tomorrow when I'll have about 10K kilometers.