The Shake Test

[The Critic]

This it completely unscientific, and is just an observation.

I took a bottle of Toyota 0W20 SN from my collection and shook the bottle. Its contents sounded extremely watery compared to any oil bottle I have ever shaken. The recent VOA showing a 40C viscosity of about 37cST proves that it is the thinnest 0W20 at that temperature.

As a comparison, I have a new bottle of Castrol Edge w/Titanium (Gold Bottle) 5W20, SN. The 40C viscosity of this oil is 49.9, which is about average (or slightly thicker) than the average 5W20 at 40C. In comparison, when this bottle of oil was shaken, it did not nearly as watery. After looking at the numbers, the Toyota 0W20 is 20% thinner at 40C.

Clearly this is not scientific and is just an observation on my part. However, it leads me to believe that the Toyota 0W20 must have a significant advantage in short trip conditions because the oil should have a noticeable reduction in pumping losses compared to many 5W20s, or even some 0W20s. There are some people on a different forum who have observed a 1-2mpg loss from switching to Mobil 1 0W20 from Toyota 0W20 (about 3% in their case), which is quite believable if the car was a short tripper where oil temperatures stayed well below 212F.

 

[rjacket]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
This it completely unscientific, and is just an observation.

I took a bottle of Toyota 0W20 SN from my collection and shook the bottle. Its contents sounded extremely watery compared to any oil bottle I have ever shaken. The recent VOA showing a 40C viscosity of about 37cST proves that it is the thinnest 0W20 at that temperature.

As a comparison, I have a new bottle of Castrol Edge w/Titanium (Gold Bottle) 5W20, SN. The 40C viscosity of this oil is 49.9, which is about average (or slightly thicker) than the average 5W20 at 40C. In comparison, when this bottle of oil was shaken, it did not nearly as watery. After looking at the numbers, the Toyota 0W20 is 20% thinner at 40C.

Clearly this is not scientific and is just an observation on my part. However, it leads me to believe that the Toyota 0W20 must have a significant advantage in short trip conditions because the oil should have a noticeable reduction in pumping losses compared to many 5W20s, or even some 0W20s. There are some people on a different forum who have observed a 1-2mpg loss from switching to Mobil 1 0W20 from Toyota 0W20 (about 3% in their case), which is quite believable if the car was a short tripper where oil temperatures stayed well below 212F.


What's the maximum ambient temperature allowable for the Toyota 0w20?

 

[Donald]

I would say the exact same amount needs to be in the exact same container before you try the unscientific test.

 

[charbaby]

Although yes, I would beleive you[Critic] that the Toyota 0W20 is a thinner oil. But too, I don't know how thick the Toyota bottles are and, you have to admit that the Castrol Synthetic bottles are quite a thick/sturdy type plastic.

I have some straggler bottles of Castrol SynTec(Black) and Castrol Edge(Gold/Champagne) colored bottles and they both are quite thick/sturdy plastic. From shaking them, the sound and feel of the oil inside would be muted some compared to others(maybe?)

Are the new Toyota bottles as heavy of a plastic compared to the Castrol Syn's ?

 

[chad8]

Critic, I think you are right. I put toyota red bottle 0w20 in my aerio . Its the thinnest oil I have ever used. pours like mmo. Close second was the old 1980's 10-30 valvoline I had lying around. went in the junker. Motorcraft 5w20 semi is pretty thin too. castrol used to be my thick racing oil when I street raced my mustangs and nova's in the 70's. It still seems thick when I pour it. I would never use valvoline because i thought thicker was better and it used to burn out.
40 years of tinkering with cars and you get a feel for it.

 

[45ACP]

I think there is some sort of super general correlation between the way the oil feels in a bottle/bucket (thin or thick) vs its number-rates viscosities, and how it ACTUALLY flows (before its at engine operating temp, of course.) Think about it.. that oil sits in the pan and when the key is turned that SAME OIL AS WHAT YOU SHOOK IN THE CONTAINER goes up after a few seconds (lets assume 0W and 5W thanks)

and a few "dry" rotations of the crankshaft and pistons going up/down via your starter before *voila* science! RUNNING!

How it does at 240 degrees and 8000 RPMs is a diff story but it starts off the same, thick or thin

And yeah, Syntec is thick stuff, the 5W-50 "remains thick at all times" even coming out of a hot engine, it is still somewhat thick. And thats a good thing, according to those i talked to (it didnt "thin out" and not protect.)

 

[A_Harman]

When I go to shop for race car parts at Lane Automotive, I always go down the lube aisle and give the bottles of Royal Purple a shake. They have them lined up from 50-weight to 10-weight. When I shake the 10-weight, I shake my head and mutter something about "hair-clipper oil".

But you really can see and hear a difference, and since all the bottles are the same, that variable is eliminated. However, I don't think you could get calibrated well enough to tell a 10-weight from a 20-weight just by shaking the bottle.

 

[chubbs1]

Toyota 0w20 is the thinnest of the thin when comparing most 0w20's OEM/OTC that are from the majors anyway. Just ask CATERHAM and he will tell you, he loves that stuff. I have tried the shake test and I can't tell between 5w20's and 5w30's. I think the bottle shape and thickness is too much of a variable. Toyota is thin for sure though.

 

[Rand]

The toyota oil also has large amounts of certain additives and may produce more deposits than some other oils. Its certainly a great oil.. then again most ATF have a VI of over 200 and that certainly does not make them bad or good.

VI isnt a good indicator of how much the oil is protecting your engine. Its more of an indicator of fuel economy while warming up.

That being said if it was -30 out a very high VI oil does provide better cold startup.

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: Rand
The toyota oil also has large amounts of certain additives and may produce more deposits than some other oils.


What? Care to expand on this? What certain additives and which deposits?