toyota owners

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i want to know what viscosity oil you are using,i.e. recommended by toyota in your part of the world/climate and what you personally use,results etc.
 
Have 02 Camry four banger and also
99 Tacoma four banger.I use dino
5-30 & 10-30 Chevron & Exxon.
I live in LA Calif.Temps are 40° to
100°.All oil is only purchase on sale.Exxon @ 0.99/qt. & Chevron
@ 0.69/qt.with coupon.or 0.99/qt.
with out.These oils seem to work well for me.
 
I run 10w/30 Syntec Blend in my 02 Tacoma 2.7L in all but the coldest part of the winter, then I run Syntec Blend 5w/30.
 
2.7 I4(95 Tacoma 4x4, 4,7V8 (2003Tundra 4x4), 2.4 I4(2003 Camry) all recomend 5W30. They all state 10W30 is fine too but recomend 5W30 primarily. The 2.7 and 4.7 get M1 15W50 in the warm months and M1 10W30 dureing the winter.

The 2.4 so far has been run on 10W30 and 5W40. I am getting ready to run 15W40 in it soon!
 
2003 Tundra 4.7 V8 4x4 Access Cab, 4,300 mi. Company recommends 5W30, using M1 5W30 since 1st change at 1,000 mi. Using the hated 3,000 mile OCI.
 
If you run into warranty issues and you use oil outside of what is specified for the 2003 you better have a good explanation why you did not use the spec'd oil. It explicit says in the manual to use 5-30 or 10-30 if 5-30 is not available. The 5-30 covers to 100 degrees. You could go with 10-30 and still be within their "rules". The heavier weights will not hurt the motor its just that you will be at a disadvantage if something fails and they want documented proof of oil changes.

Direct from Toyota:

All Toyota vehicles come from the factory with natural petroleum-based engine oil. Toyota is currently recommending API1 grade SJ or SL, or ILSAC2 multigrade petroleum-based engine oil3 for our current model year vehicles. In moderate climates, this oil should have a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) viscosity rating of 5W-30. In our high mileage tests with preventative maintenance performed at the recommended intervals, the recommended natural petroleum-based oil has provided excellent service.
If you decide to use synthetic oil for the engine, it is best not to switch until the first scheduled oil change. Synthetic oil should meet or exceed the specifications provided in your Owner's Manual. Even if synthetic oil is used, we do not recommend a longer oil change interval. Also, once synthetic oil is used, you should keep using it and not switch back and forth with natural petroleum-based oil.

The Toyota New Vehicle Limited Warranty does not cover any damage to the engine resulting from the use of engine oil that is defective, or that does not meet the specifications provided in your Owner's Manual, regardless of whether the oil is natural or synthetic. You can protect yourself against this possibility by having your maintenance performed by a factory-authorized Toyota dealership.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil1 Synthetic SS 5W-30.
ODO 7200 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30.
ODO 83300 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer
 
Amkeer,

You're probably right. But, I only drive 11 miles each way to work during the week and usually even less on the weekend- likely to be border line "severe". I should do a UOA to know for sure. Dealer's been doing my changes. Does anyone give the UOA kit to the dealer tech for them to collect the sample?
 
2004 echo hatchback.
canada.
toyota canada calls for 5000mile 5-30 oci
in europe, it's 10000 mile 10-30 or 5-40 oci

going to use 0 or 5-40 synthetic and do 10000mile/OCI.
 
First I was Tech. for 12 years mostly European products but Japaneese now and again. The only time a dealer or OEM will require a UOA is if their is sludge present in the engine or an odd smell to the oil like a solvent under warranty.

Second the dealer or OEM must prove that the oil used was the casue of the failure. It would be hard to justify oil causeing a water pump to fail etc.

Third I would never volanteer any information that they could use against me. I document every oil change with the Toyota oil filter box UPC code cut from the box.

Fourth it is too easy to demonstrate that multiple oil recomendations exsist for the same vechile and engine configuration based soley on geography.

Fith if need be I can always get expert witness's both from work and from this site to demonstrate weather or not failure was lubrication related!

Sixth The line between synthetic and mineral oil is blurred so much that the consumer can not be expected to tell a group II+ from a group III from a group IV/V when they are all labled as synthetic or a blend of all of the above. The term synthetic has very little meaning outside of marketing lingo now to most!!!!

Seventh We will see! I am am running synthetic in the car now and will be useing mineral oil in it soon! We we see what we see! Even the experts on this site have done a run with mineral one time and synthetic the next to no ill effect!

If it makes you feel any better 40Wt like 15W40 and 5W40 is the most common weight used and recomended in most asian countrys. We have several UOA from Ken4 of this very engine with a variety of 40-50Wt oils.


The 95 Tacoma is well outside of warranty with 150,000 miles on it This has been it's diet since new!

I had a sample of the Tundra on 15W50 last summer. When we moved the sample got lost outside in the garrage for 2-3 months. So I will have to resamble this summer.

P.S. Has anyone here on this board ever been turned away from warranty repair because the dealer discovered on his own that you had used an oil that was heavyer or lighter then recomended? IF so what lead them to this conclusion?
 
02 Sienna, M1 5W30
99 Corolla M1 5W30

Both are very nice vehicles IMO.
 
John,

I agree! I used 20-50 for years. The thing is has anyone seen engine failures from lubrication with 5-30 or 10-30? You could buy all the witnesses you want to fight Toyota in court but in the end you will lose since they specify clearly what is to be used on the top of the fill cap and manual. When its outside the warranty pick your flavor.
grin.gif
 
2004 Camry 2.4L. Rotella 5W-40 synthetic. Southern CA. Trip lengths average 40+ miles.
 
Amkeer, If their is no sludge how are going to know? Last I checked the oils viscosity cannot be determined by watching it flow out of the pan! Amkeer we will simply have to disagree on this one. I can tell you that vechiles get bought back all the time for silly stuff! Many do fight OEM's and most that decide to go after OEM's end up wining. THe problemis that most people choose not to fight OEM's or even their local dealer! THey just give up bend over and take it!

I can repalce the cap with an OEM Toyota cap that does not say 5W30 on it. If I put a cap from Japan that says 5W40 on it or does not list a weight of oil does that change what is best for the engine? The fact that multiple caps exsist for a given engine is just another indicator of cafes influnce.

If it worries you that much that the viscosity police are going to get you then keep some 5W30 on hand to change out if a warranty issue comes up!

Again I have to ask how many people on this board have been denied warranty because their engine failed and the dealer found out on his own you used a thicker or thiner oil then recomended . I want to preclude anyone that had a sludge issue! TTo date no one has chimed in. Engine failures are not common under warranty for anyone these days especialy Toyota.

Trust me when I say that most people that have issues under warranty that get denied are the people that bable to much. The all but ask the dealer to denie them warranty buy telling them all the stupid stuff they have droped into the oil like motor up, duralube, 25W70 oil etc........... Even if these did not cause the failure they dealer will use this as a scape goat. Then when faced with haveing to take the dealer to court they back down and ust take it.

Often times a well typed letter from an atorney is all that is needed to get the work performed. Dealers are undr a lot of pressure from OEM's to reduce the Warranty cost. Most OEM's now require dealers to call and get authorization to replace power trains unless an exsisting TSB directs them to do so for a known problem!

The authorizeing body usualy requires some measurements. In order to get the pan off you have to drain the fluids. The fluids are normaly drained into a common drain pan on wheels unless they suspect sludge or see sludge in the engine. In order to get around HAZ MAT fees the engine and power train have to be shipped drained of as many fluids as possable.

I am sure that someone that is has no dealership experince might buy the "it will voided your warranty" thing but I am not!That is right up their with not useing an API certified oil like Amsoil. It is almost impossable to prove that an oil caused the issues unless you have sludge or starvation issues!
 
99 camry v6 using m1 5w-30 in winter and 10w-30 in summer.

My brother has a new Camry with the 2.4 engine. Anybody have any experience as to anything other than 5w30 or 10w30?
 
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