Tundra oil

[cr500taco]

I have 2011 5.7L Tundra with 110K miles that I bought last October and I'm about do do my first oil change. It was done at the dealership where I bought it, just before I bought it. After reading in the Tundra forums, I'm kinda confused on what oil to run. So, I thought I'd try here. In my Tacoma I run the Mobil 1 5W-30, either the Truck/SUV blend or regular synthetic blend.
A lot of people run 5-W30 in the Tundras, but they don't say why they do. They just state that the motor runs quieter. There's a lot of debate on in the forums on whether to run the 5W-30 or not.
Both, my oil cap and manual say 0W-20 or 5W-20. Both Mobil 1 and Aimsoil recommend the same as well, online when you put in your vehicle info.
I'm just wondering if it's safe to use 5W-30 or should I just stick to either 0W-20 or 5W-20? I've read that it also depends on your climate. I live in southern California and it can get up to 110+ in the summer. So, I'm thinking of running 5W-20 in the winter and 5W-30 in the summer.

 

[skyactiv]

5W30 will work great year round where you live. Something off the shelf like Mobil1, Valvoline, Quaker State, Pennzoil, even SuperTech or Kirkland with the new API SQ is all your Tundra needs.

 

[supton]

I owned '10 Tundra, albeit with the 4.6L. I ran 0W20 for a bit, then did 5W30. Don't run 10W30 in winter with an old/bad battery, otherwise, I don't think it cared one whit. I started using 5W30 so I could sleep better at night. 0W20 has been fine in my cars (and was fine in my mostly highway driven truck that didn't tow much) but eh, I liked the extra protection and fuzzy warm feeling that it brought.

 

[6.7 CTD]

In my old 2014 Tundra 5.7 I ran 5w30 and 10w30. Yes, you are more than safe to run a 30wt oil. If I lived in your climate I’d even run a 40wt.

 

[edyvw]

Castrol Edge 0W30 in my 5.7. That is thick Euro stuff. I will do oil change on Tuesday before road trip, put Pennzoil Ultra 5W30 since I have some leftover Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W40. SO I will mix it.
Engines can run whatever you want as long as it is not thinner than recommended.
As for noise, 5.7 is a loud engine. Mine is noticeably smoother on edge 0W30 compared to 0W20 that Honda dealership put when I bought the Sequoia in November.

 

[OilUzer]

I have a 5.7L v8 and have been switching between Valvoline EP 5W-30 and M1 EP 10W-30.

Using a thicker oil than 0/5W-20 won't damage your engine.

 

[Zee09]

Off the shelf 5w30 as stated with exception of Mobil 1.

Since the vehicle is new to you,
you don't want the loud Mobil 1 drowning out other noises that may be issues yet uncovered... ( over 100k miles)

My choice would be Valvoline EP 5w30 for a few bucks over the basic synthetic brews

Yeah I know....running away now.
I'm starting to sound like @ARCOgraphite these days

 

[kschachn]

Off the shelf 5w30 as stated with exception of Mobil 1.

Since the vehicle is new to you,
you don't want the loud Mobil 1 drowning out other noises that may be issues yet uncovered... ( over 100k miles)

Why do people post this when a new user is asking the questions? They might actually believe you.

 

[brandon9715]

Do whatever makes you most comfortable. If you use a quality oil and reasonable OCI, it won’t matter whether it’s 0w20, 5w20, or 5w30. Don’t listen to anyone that says a 0w20 will cause engine failure or 5w30 will cause problems. People tend to obsess over minor details and miss the big picture often.

Edit: anyway->anyone. Was a typo.

 

[john_pifer]

Do whatever makes you most comfortable. If you use a quality oil and reasonable OCI, it won’t matter whether it’s 0w20, 5w20, or 5w30. Don’t listen to anyone that says a 0w20 will cause engine failure or 5w30 will cause problems. People tend to obsess over minor details and miss the big picture often.

Edit: anyway->anyone. Was a typo.

I mean…doesn’t proper viscosity depend on his use case for this vehicle?

After all, this is a heavy-duty truck engine.

Could possibly be subjected to heavy towing, maybe even at higher elevation.

Even Toyota includes language in the owners manual allowing for the use of higher viscosity oil when the vehicle will be subjected to heavy use.

I see your statement where you said don’t listen to anyone who says 5W-30 will cause problems. But before that, you said viscosity doesn’t matter. And I don’t think you can paint with that broad of a brush and say that someone can use a thin, economy-formulated 20 grade in a truck engine in any use case scenario.

 

[brandon9715]

I mean…doesn’t proper viscosity depend on his use case for this vehicle?

After all, this is a heavy-duty truck engine.

Could possibly be subjected to heavy towing, maybe even at higher elevation.

Even Toyota includes language in the owners manual allowing for the use of higher viscosity oil when the vehicle will be subjected to heavy use.

I see your statement where you said don’t listen to anyone who says 5W-30 will cause problems. But before that, you said viscosity doesn’t matter. And I don’t think you can paint with that broad of a brush and say that someone can use a thin, economy-formulated 20 grade in a truck engine in any use case scenario.

Many millions of miles have been put on fleet trucks running OEM recommended viscosity. Really doesn’t matter all that much.

 

[supton]

Don't forget, this truck has an engine oil cooler. Under heavy towing, yes the engine oil gets warm. But it gets warm when not towing, by design. OEM's want all the fluids at the same temp, around coolant temp. The heat exchangers help ensure this. Heat flows both ways, and while I'm sure under load the oil is hotter than not, it's not like the old days when cars did not use heat exchangers.

 

[Astro14]

You can use 5W30 in your Tundra 5.7 without worry. It is safe. There will be no negative consequences. I ran mine on 5W30 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum for about 70,000 miles. Even posted a UOA or two.

I didn’t even notice a fuel economy hit.

That said, the cooler should keep the oil at a consistent temperature, so, the specified oil should be fine unless you’re towing or otherwise using it in a way that increases coolant temperature.

Even Toyota hedges their bets a bit on that same page - read on a bit farther, and you’ll see that “an oil with a higher viscosity may be better suited if…”. The manual from my model year shown below.

 

[FreedomOne]

Ran Mobil 1 0w40 in my 2010 5.7 since the first oil change. Whenever you see energy conserving on an oil cap it's not good either.

 

[krunch2020]

The Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30 tends towards the low side of the viscosity index so you shouldn’t notice any mileage penalty. I think it will be fine year round in So Cal. I’m running it in my F150

I would run a bottle of RedLine or Techron Heavy Duty injector cleaner since dirty injectors wash oil off the cylinder walls and dilute the oil. Cheap insurance!

Kurt

 

[jtwrace]

I'd run M1 0W-40 in that thing and be done with it.

 

[Plumb Bob]

Castrol 5W-30 A3/B4 SL. Good, cheap 30 grade.

 

[OilUzer]

Castrol 5W-30 A3/B4 SL. Good, cheap 30 grade.

For $23.xx on sale, this oil has bunch of tough to beat fancy Euro approvals.

 

[YZJB]

 

[edyvw]

The Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W30 tends towards the low side of the viscosity index so you shouldn’t notice any mileage penalty. I think it will be fine year round in So Cal. I’m running it in my F150

I would run a bottle of RedLine or Techron Heavy Duty injector cleaner since dirty injectors wash oil off the cylinder walls and dilute the oil. Cheap insurance!

Kurt

It does, but has hefty HTHS for ILSAC oil. It is GTL based (plus a bit of esters) which allows Shell to produce oils with relatively low KV100 but robust HTHS. So, it won’t be any more fuel efficient or inefficient than 5W30 ILSAC oil with higher KV100.