Viscosity Grade recommendation for Death Valley

[mitsuman47]

People come from Germany to feel hot in death valley.

Spicy.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Driving thru Death Valley in the summer, I like to see the thin CAFE crowd going uphill and keeping up with the speed limit and NOT having their windows down (i.e. with A/C on) since you gotta keep the dog cool ...

You've ever watched Scarface?
Death Valley will "Say Hello To Your Little MOFT".

I drove thru Death Valley in a Mustang with a 2.3 EB at 85-90 (when there weren’t really tight curves) and the oil temperature never exceeded 215*F. The AC was on min temp and max fan because the ambient was almost 120* at Stovepipe Wells.

Say hello to modern temperature controls properly executed

 

[Bill7]

Death Valley is about 130F.

For my 0/5W-20 passenger cars, I prefer using a good 40 weight synthetic or at a minimum a very stout 30 unless I'm driving downhill.

Last 2 trips to Nevada, I used 40 and iirc, it wasn't even hotter than 95F.

What do you use or recommend?

I would use a Euro oil:
Castrol Euro 5W-30 A3/B4 for $24.72 for 5 quart jug at Walmart:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castrol-...5-Quarts/5265004984?athbdg=L1600&from=/search

Quaker State Euro 5W-40 A3/B4 for $22.97 for 5 quart jug at Walmart:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Quaker-S...W-40-Motor-Oil-5-Quart/737859365?from=/search

 

[Revving2Redline]

Nulon 40w70 on the cheap, M1EP 10W30HM w LM Ceratec or a boutique oil from Redline, HPL or Amsoil etc

 

[burbguy82]

And yet, here we are..... With TONS of Toyota Tundra V6 bearing failures.
Quote LSJ: "The number one cause of high wear is low viscosity"

Is that the "new and improve" turbo V6?

 

[burbguy82]

It's not so much the oil as the radiator.

So the hotter the surrounding the less effective the radiator is at cooling the engine. Then the oil temperature goes along for the ride.

I certainly agree that higher ambient makes it harder to reject additional heat.

That is what I was getting at.

@SR5 said it adequately

And in an ATF, 30 degrees can be a big deal, for instance.

 

[I<3oil]

Im not in Kiwi land either. Although to be fair, it an easy mistake to make - its essentially you guys, Myanmar, and Liberia versus everyone else. I'm in the "everyone else" category

Anywhere near the region around Australia is Kiwi-land

 

[I<3oil]

I believe Toyota already adressed the problem, saying the cause was a cleanliness problem at the factory and has recalled a given number of vehicles... https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota...022-2023-toyota-tundra-and-lexus-lx-vehicles/

Correkt, not thin viscosity oil.

 

[I<3oil]

Neither is the Australian guy...
.

Incorrekt

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Incorrekt

A kiwi bird is endemic to New Zealand... Hence where the nickname comes from.

 

[burbguy82]

I believe Toyota already adressed the problem, saying the cause was a cleanliness problem at the factory and has recalled a given number of vehicles... https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota...022-2023-toyota-tundra-and-lexus-lx-vehicles/

gotta give it to them though............no matter the cause, they have owned up to fix the issue, and not just hid behind "neglect" or "out of warranty".

 

[I<3oil]

A kiwi bird is endemic to New Zealand... Hence where the nickname comes from.

Yes, we're aware of what it is and we don't care. Anything around the Australia region is Kiwiland.

 

[Revving2Redline]

That is what I was getting at.

@SR5 said it adequately

And in an ATF, 30 degrees can be a big deal, for instance.

superbly stated.

 

[Fahrvergnügen]

The engine temperature is 200 F, 70 degrees more than the air temperature in Death Valley. It’s rpm that heats up the oil temperature. GM trucks run 0w20 in west Texas.

RPM does not heat up oil, load heats up oil. RPM increase will cool things, trans fluid, oil, coolant.

 

[Fahrvergnügen]

I do not agree with this.

Yeah BC it’s not correct

 

[edyvw]

gotta give it to them though............no matter the cause, they have owned up to fix the issue, and not just hid behind "neglect" or "out of warranty".

They were pushed by NHTSA. If NHTSA is not involved, Toyota fixes it quietly and if people complain. Last time that happened involved 2017 8-speed transmissions on Highlander and Sienna AWD. It was not safety issue, therefore Toyota did not issue recall. They just did software reprogramming on 2018, and on 2017, well, if you complained hard enough, they did.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

Its hot here too. 10w30 in our cars at the moment.

0w20 in the MIL sentra.

The thermometer in the FJ stops @122.

View attachment 229121

View attachment 229122

Did your AC still work well/at all?

 

[CheezWhiz]

i would use gear oil in the crankcase and peanut butter in the differential.

 

[wpod]

Then torque converter generated most of the heat in an auto trans, the lock up helps .

 

[burbguy82]

They were pushed by NHTSA. If NHTSA is not involved, Toyota fixes it quietly and if people complain. Last time that happened involved 2017 8-speed transmissions on Highlander and Sienna AWD. It was not safety issue, therefore Toyota did not issue recall. They just did software reprogramming on 2018, and on 2017, well, if you complained hard enough, they did.

i guess i am wrong then.