Which Petro Can synth for this winter in a hybrid

[rcy]

I'm totally lost here. My hybrid spec'd 5w30 when it first came out, but there is a TSB from Lexus saying I can use 5w20. This winter I'll be doing a mix of short and long trips. The long trips will be about 60km highway, the short trips about 6km at city speeds. I was thinking of 0w30, but from this chart it looks like 5w20 has a better cold cranking vis (or am I reading this thing all wrong - should I be more concerned with kinematic viscosity?), and what the [censored] is borderline pumping viscosity?

On the highway, the engine runs constantly - in the city, there's a lot of stops and starts.

Thanks.

 

[addyguy]

In general, in winter you want the thinnest oil at start-up to reduce wear. Especially with the winters we have.

If you can use a 20-weight oil in your car, there is no reason why you can't use the 0W-20 PC offers. It will be a great oil!

 

[lewdwig]

I'd use the 0W-30...when you're reading the tables watch the temperatures for the Cold Cranking and Borderline Pumping, they're not the same from one viscosity to the next.

 

[addyguy]

Thinner is better. The 0W-20's numbers are lower that the 0W-30's, so it is thinner. It will also automatically be thinner thant he 5W's. Not rocket science.......

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

But what about when we get that indian summer in the middle of the winter like last yr. Would I kill the engine in this freak scenario. My service manual says 5W-30 is the best all around, but it doesn't say necessarily how LOW it will go for cold. It just shows -20C.

Don't forget in Canada now, the winters are all over the place. I remember riding a skateboard in the middle of the winter last yr at one point.

 

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: 1993_VG30E_GXE
I remember riding a skateboard in the middle of the winter last yr at one point.


You are either very young or young at heart!

 

[va3ux]

The winters in southern Ontario ( Burlington, where the OP is) are MILD compared to the rest of the country. No real need to look at the low temp extremes like they would in most of the rest of Canada. Typically, we only get a handful of nights per year where the overnight temp drops down below 0 Deg F. So the 0W30 is just fine for southern Ontario. And there doesn't appear to be any harm with 0W20 either as long as Lexus says it's OK to use.

Comparing the 0W20 to the 0W30, you'll notice that there's very little difference in the cold crank viscosity. And they're both rated at the same temp.

 

[Rand]

apparently they arent smart enough to convert celcius to F correctly so who knows how accurate some of those numbers are if they typed them that sloppily?

looking at pour point on 0w20 vs 0w30.. does anyone see their goof?

 

[21Rouge]

Originally Posted By: Rand
apparently they arent smart enough to convert celcius to F correctly so who knows how accurate some of those numbers are if they typed them that sloppily?

looking at pour point on 0w20 vs 0w30.. does anyone see their goof?


I don't think it is their conversion that is in error but that they have reversed the two #s for the PP of the 0W30?

 

[rcy]

Well I spoke to someone in the tech department at Petro Canada today. Really friendly and chock full of knowledge. He spoke quite highly of Petro Can's oil refining technologies. I don't think he was just boasting, because even 'Johnny' speaks highly of their oils.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/petro-canada-lubricants-handbook-2009.117937/

After reviewing a Toyota TSB, I've decided I''m going to run the 0w20 this winter.

I'll be using this oil during an Auto-RX rinse phase. Anyone see any problems with that? While talking to the tech, he couldn't tell me if there was any Group IV or V in this oil (proprietary reasons), but the impression that I got is there isn't and I would be fine to use it for the rinse phase.

 

[CATERHAM]

rcy, good choice.

FYI, the PC 0W-20 has a HTHS vis of 2.7 cP and a NOACK of 10.1% which is better than most of the 20wt oils available including PC's own 5W-20 which is 2.6 cP and 11.5% repectively.

 

[Bruce T]

I agree with the Petro 0W20 for winter use, even in Southern Canada. I noticed it has a high flash point, another good sign.

The Petro 0W30 only makes sense if you are suicidal, and plan on driving long distances at high speeds in freezing temperatures. Of course, no true car guy would intentionally crash a beautifully-engineered vehicle like your Lexus.

 

[rcy]

Just glad I don't have a beautifully engineered push button start on mine.


Mine's a 2006, but I checked the owner's manual for 2007 and 2008 and 0w20 is the recommended oil.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Bruce T
I agree with the Petro 0W20 for winter use, even in Southern Canada. I noticed it has a high flash point, another good sign.

The Petro 0W30 only makes sense if you are suicidal, and plan on driving long distances at high speeds in freezing temperatures. Of course, no true car guy would intentionally crash a beautifully-engineered vehicle like your Lexus.


Actually if you want the cheapest PC syn it's their 0W-30 grade at $5.17/L when bought by the 12L case. All the other syn grades are in the $7 range.

 

[rcy]

Yeah, I'm buying a case from John Ebos fuels in Burlington. Was going to use the 0w30 (and like you said, it's cheaper), but I will be doing some short trips this winter (like 6km one way) to the GO station (commuter train for non Ontarians) so I was leaning to the 0w20. Then I saw the Lexus/Toyota TSB regarding 20 weights being OK for a certain number of engines (back spec'd) and had a look at the owner's manual for a 2008 RX400h (mine's a 2006) and noticed that they are spec'ing 0w20 only. So even though it's gonna cost a bit more, that's what I'm going with.

 

[CATERHAM]

rcy, I agree 100% with your reasons for going with the 0W-20 grade.
It's unfortunate that most cars don't come with oil temperature gauges. If they did I think more Canadian BITOG members would be comfortable using a 20 wt oil, particularly in the winter, when they realize how cool the oil usual stays.

I mentioned the price of the 0W-30 as an example of the 'weird pricing' on the part of Petro-Canada; why is it over 2 bucks per litre cheaper than all their other syn oils?

Just wondering, did you give any thought to using Toyota's own OW-20 which is pretty cheap, only 4 bucks per litre if you buy a case of 12L?

 

[rcy]

Hadn't thought of it. Do you know who makes it? Synthetic? Semi-synthetic?

 

[CATERHAM]

rcy, I don't know much about it other than it's their "house brand" oil.
byez ran a post last Friday about it. He's been running it in his Tundra for the past 50,000 kms apparently and suggested he might do a UOA on it as it's due for an oil change.
I don't know if you get the Toyota newsletter/magazine but he said their was a right up on the stuff in the last issue.

 

[addyguy]

The Toyota oil in Canada, I'm pretty sure, would be PC oil, so their 0W-20 is a 'version' of PC 0W-20. I'm saying that b/c I've read that in Canada, GM and Toyota 'branded' oil is supplied by PC.

 

[JohnBrowning]

In this case I would go with the 0W30.The price is good and the performance is better then what the car origanaly speciified! I am not going to pay $2 more per liter for a 0W20 when I can get just as good of an oil in the 0W30 for $2 less per-liter. The 0W30 has borderline pumping numbers on par with the 0W20. It has a good flash point and it has slightly less ash then the 0W20.