5w30 in a car spec for 0w16

[ARCOgraphite]

Having driven and owned a few engines with cam phasers, I am of the opinion that the wrong viscosity KILLS torque.

Too thin and no upper range torque, too thick and no lower range torque. With an automatic transmission,
programmed to lug the engine - as most are - that can set off a snowball effect of sluggish and improper operation and loss of fuel mileage. I used to commute hard with a stick shift so I would tailor the viscosity to give me good
upper range torque (read horsepower) without too much sacrifice of low end torque. These systems have oil feed solenoids which will lock the phaser in a retard or advance position at idle or warm-up, then go open /unlock when coolant and intake temp is has allowed the oil to warm up to a desired viscosity. This makes moot the Cold weather argument.
Many of the systems - especially the earlier ones - were overly sensitive to oil grade(KV100) . Hopefully now they have dialed that out with advanced engine control, and having driven a Honda engined car with VTEC controls only ( Honda FIT) I can tell you those engines were very forgiving of oil viscosity compared to Toyota/Yamaha 4 potters.
HTH - Ken

 

[Hall]

Why in the world would you want to jeopardize your warranty by using an oil which is not recommended??

Using the OP's wording and presuming it's accurate from the manual, Toyota allows higher viscosity oil so they can't turn around and say it's not allowed or there will be warranty concerns. They also "recommend" 0W-16, not "require" it. There is a difference, a big difference.

 

[supton]

The highway seems to travel at about 75-80, the engine is turning pretty quickly.

How fast is pretty quickly? I don't recall there being a tach.

There's a number of low displacement I4's that did high miles at high rpm. Heck my Camry's will spin 3k at those speeds.

 

[Crash Bandicoot]

Two questions I’d think about when looking at increasing the grade is 1.) what is the goal of upping grade? (Towing, fully loaded trips? Excessive Short tripping?) And 2.) what is this engine spec’d for in other markets. I’ve been bitten by the bug to go up grades for no reason than being a contrarian, found it not worth the stress.

My very minimal google research shows a few Toyota forums with guys in Europe running 5w30 on that engine sans issue.

 

[blufeb95]

Using the OP's wording and presuming it's accurate from the manual, Toyota allows higher viscosity oil so they can't turn around and say it's not allowed or there will be warranty concerns. They also "recommend" 0W-16, not "require" it. There is a difference, a big difference.

Unless you use a non-resource conserving oil, Xw30 Resource Conserving oil is the thickest oil within their specified "Oil Grade"

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Another thick vs thin

We haven't had a thick VS thin debate in awhile.
0W16 VS 5W20 VS 5W30.
Decisions, decisions!

 

[Hall]

Unless you use a non-resource conserving oil, Xw30 Resource Conserving oil is the thickest oil within their specified "Oil Grade"

I was going solely on the OP's re-wording of the owner's manual. He/she seemed to pick the last bullet point and run with it too but based on what you're showing and how Toyota says you can use 0W-20 but it must be replaced with 0W-16 at the next oil change, they're really, really confident that -16 is 100% suitable.

 

[Dennywires]

I just got a 21 Prius prime. It has the 2zrfxe engine.
Owners manual recommends 0w16, my question is would 5w30 Pennzoil synthetic be a better choice for longevity?
In the manual it states " an oil with a higher viscosity ( one with a higher value) may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load conditions."

I'm not concerned about losing a few miles to a tank of fuel. I just don't want to put oil that is too thick if it may hurt the engine. I have read other countries allow thicker oils for the same engine, I don't know if the US model prime has a different oil pump that only will work with thin oil.

It's not neccessary.. 0w20 for easy availability or stick with manufacturers spec'd recommendation.

 

[BMW Dom]

We haven't had a thick VS thin debate in awhile.
0W16 VS 5W20 VS 5W30.
Decisions, decisions!

BUT WHAT ABOUT 0W-20 AND 0W-20, CLEARANCES TOLERANCES CAFE

 

[Kuato]

I just got a 21 Prius prime. It has the 2zrfxe engine.
Owners manual recommends 0w16, my question is would 5w30 Pennzoil synthetic be a better choice for longevity?
In the manual it states " an oil with a higher viscosity ( one with a higher value) may be better suited if the vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load conditions."

I'm not concerned about losing a few miles to a tank of fuel. I just don't want to put oil that is too thick if it may hurt the engine. I have read other countries allow thicker oils for the same engine, I don't know if the US model prime has a different oil pump that only will work with thin oil.

No concerns using 5w-30. Might reduce wear, same as the million mile van that used Schaeffer 15w-40 rather than 5w-20.

 

[Luftmasse]

FWIW, I have used 0W16 in two PriusC's and my current Lexus UX 250h, to the tune of almost 400k miles.

I recommend that you use only 0W16, with an OCI of ~ 5k miles.

Nice. Which vehicle has the highest mileage on 0W16?

 

[CKN]

One of these days someone is going to realize that the manufacturers don't make too many mistakes when recommending oil and these threads will be gone forever-as nonsense as they already are.

I tow a 5,000 pound travel trailer up 9,000 foot mountain passes at 90plus degrees with 0/20w oil and my Silverado (5.3) has 40,000 miles on it and hasn't blown up yet. I have done this DOZENS OF TIMES. The OP's vehicle WILL NEVER SEE these kind of conditions.

Use the 0/16W.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I was going solely on the OP's re-wording of the owner's manual. He/she seemed to pick the last bullet point and run with it too but based on what you're showing and how Toyota says you can use 0W-20 but it must be replaced with 0W-16 at the next oil change, they're really, really confident that -16 is 100% suitable.

Yeah, seems like Toyota is speaking out both sides of the mouth. "Recommended" viscosity is 0W-16. Then it says that a higher viscosity is acceptable (only 0W-20 from the wording) for high speeds and higher loads, but then says if a higher viscosity is used then it MUST be put back to 0W-16 at the next oil change. Talk about confusing wording. If 0W-20 is OK to use for a whole OCI, then why wouldn't it be OK to use all the time - ?.

 

[blufeb95]

Yeah, seems like Toyota is speaking out both sides of the mouth. "Recommended" viscosity is 0W-16. Then it says that a higher viscosity is acceptable (only 0W-20 from the wording) for high speeds and higher loads, but then says if a higher viscosity is used then it MUST be put back to 0W-16 at the next oil change. Talk about confusing wording. If 0W-20 is OK to use for a whole OCI, then why wouldn't it be OK to use all the time - ?.

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I think for the purpose of protecting the engine for warranty purposes any SN Resource Conserving oil will work, but due to CAFE they can only recommend you use 0W-16, so it's worded confusingly to make big brother happy is my guess.

 

[TiGeo]

It's a Prius....

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

If 0W16 doesn’t get more available I plan to switch to 0W20 when warranty is up on ours. Engine runs half the time, and rarely sees flogging, let alone high rpm—changing at 5k is like a 2.5k oci on anything else.

It's readily available at Walmart, and can be ordered if not at a specific location. All with a $10 rebate until the end of September....

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

Yeah, seems like Toyota is speaking out both sides of the mouth. "Recommended" viscosity is 0W-16. Then it says that a higher viscosity is acceptable (only 0W-20 from the wording) for high speeds and higher loads, but then says if a higher viscosity is used then it MUST be put back to 0W-16 at the next oil change. Talk about confusing wording. If 0W-20 is OK to use for a whole OCI, then why wouldn't it be OK to use all the time - ?.

View attachment 65421

Where are you getting that quote from (my bold)?

 

[supton]

It's readily available at Walmart, and can be ordered if not at a specific location. All with a $10 rebate until the end of September....

Wasn't at the two that I usually shop at, had to go to a third. Made sure to grab two and use the rebate, but at 25k per year I need 5 per year.

 

[supton]

I tow a 5,000 pound travel trailer up 9,000 foot mountain passes at 90plus degrees with 0/20w oil and my Silverado (5.3) has 40,000 miles on it and hasn't blown up yet. I have done this DOZENS OF TIMES. The OP's vehicle WILL NEVER SEE these kind of conditions.

Don't you trade out of your vehicles before you get problems? 40k isn't that many miles.

 

[simple_gifts]

I have no issues using 5w-30 in my prius...