0W20 Oil Choice Considerations ?

Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
3,806
Location
PNW
Well , just added a 2020 Toyota Corolla 1.8L (non DI) to the family fleet ... This will be the first vehicle that specifies 0W20 oil in the manual , so my questions are :
  1. I chose Valvoline 5W30 Advanced synthetic for my '17 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L DI engine (very good oil - less VII adders to reduce intake valve deposits) . Can I assume the 0W20 in the Valvoline Advanced line up is equally as good an oil ? Since I believe the Corolla 1.8L is not a DI engine - then I worry less about VII adders -> intake valve deposits .
  2. Pennzoil Platinum 0W20 (cSt 8.6) , M1 0W20 (cSt 8.8) , QSUD 0W20 (cSt 8.3) and Valvoline Advanced 0W20 (cSt 8.4) are the main synthetic oils I will consider for typical mixed driving OCI of 6 months / 5K miles. *Any of these oils found to be a favorite of the Corolla 1.8L engine ?
  3. Interesting that the OM states to use 0W20 and that "5W20 is acceptable only if 0W20 is not available - but switch back to 0W20 for the next oil change" . So , no range of oil weights allowed as does Hyundai 0W20 , 5W20 , 5W30 . Thoughts on this ?
*Being a bit older design , I don't figure the Toyota 1.8L DOHC 4 cylinder PFI engine to be and engine which is too picky on oil choices (as long as they are 0W20) - but I could be wrong ...
 
I suspect, Toyota 5w-20 oil is non-synthetic while Toyota 0w-20 oil is synthetic.
So, Toyota assume that all oil out there is like that.
I put 5w-20 synthetic non-Toyota oil (Pennzoil Platinum) in my 2017 Sienna with that same statement on the manual and it has not blown up yet.
Actually, I changed to dino oil during break-in after 1st oil change at 1000 miles in the engine for about 4000 miles.
The car is at around 60k miles now and still running like a champ.
There is probably some mpg loss but I was not doing any calculation.

IMO, take your pick, all brand name oil you mentioned is within the spec of viscosity.
Don't overthink it.
 
Yes. You can assume with confidence that Valvoline Advanced 0w20 is as good as any. Use it my GMC Sierra to include towing etc and it protects as stated.
 
You could even just use 5W30 in it if you don't wish to stock multiple grades, Toyota isn't very peculiar about oil viscosity, the only requirement in the manual is ILSAC GF-5 Multigrade, so you can run pretty much anything from 0w-20 to 10w-30. The manual even recommend that you use a higher viscosity oil if the car is operated under heavy loading or at high speeds.
 
Even the new Toyota engines that spec 0W-16 in the US (and state "must use 0w-16, can use 0W-20 once but must switch back to 0W-16") spec all the way up to a 15W-40 in other countries. You'd be fine running basically anything in that engine, depending on climate.
Even in the US they say that you can use heavier oil under extreme condition so long as it's API SN Resource Conserving, which means you can run up to 10w-30 and still be within the Toyota specs for the US.
 
We run Mobil 1 0W-20 in our 2017 Camry but it has the 2.5 not 1.8. Any name brand oil will do fine. I would not run a 5W-30 the oil ports on these are pretty small and a thicker oil might not do well especially if it’s cold. 5W-20 should be fine too. Valvoline, Castrol, Pennzoil, Royal Purple, Quaker State, Mobil 1 any name brand really doesn’t matter.
 
Actually it’s not I’ve taken an engine down to the block compared to the old ones they are definitely smaller.

and that has any correlation to 0w-20 oil picked by OEM? Maybe they decided to make them smaller. 0w-20 is more viscous when its cold, how does it fit into these small channels then?
2017 camry is used in other parts of the world that I am sure allow higher viscosities.
 
Last edited:
and that has any correlation to 0w-20 oil picked by OEM? Maybe they decides to make them smaller. 0w-20 is more viscous when its cold, how does it fit into these small channels then?
2017 camry is used in other parts of the world that I am sure allow higher viscosities.
I heard it was to do with regulations by the certain environmental agency but I don’t want to go too deep into that here.
 
So if other countries allow 5w30 in 2017 camry, toyota is using wider oil ports there? Or they dont care about their engines failing outside US? Whats the logic here?
 
20-50 is extreme, and we dont know for sure if it was the culprit of the failure, but possible because its way too high.
Also, with modern DI engines and fuel dilution, 5w-30 viscosity will look more like 0w-20 after some driving.
 
Thanks for the replies to date ... I have my pick of good 0W20 synthetic oils at WM so I'll pick one for the new suburban grocery getter and ride to work on surface roads which is the majority of action this car will see thus a 6 month / 5K mile max OCI . My main reason for running 5W30 is my other vehicle has a Hyundai 2.4L DI engine which research indicates may do better with oil film strength on the rod bearings than the 5W20 recommended . Previously I ran M1 0W20 AFE in an Elantra and it ran very smooth . I imagine even in the US Georgia summer heat the synthetic 0W20 should still be ok in the Corolla .
 
Back
Top