Is 0W-20 only available in synthetic

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From my understanding, only a synthetic can do a 0w-XX. You are going to have to go with synthetic. Pennzoil and Mobil 1 offer good options.
 
0W-20 is required for the 10,000 mile OCIs. If you study the owner's manual closely, it usually states that 5W-20 can be substituted, but then the OCI is reduced to 5,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
No, 76 makes a normal synthetic blend 0W20.


Also, Phillips 66 TropArtic synthetic blend (same manufacturer as 76 lubricants) comes in a 0w-20.
 
Stick weith the Toyota/Lexus 0w20. In this case the dealer oil is better than most the other 0w20's you can get off the shelf.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
0W-20 is required for the 10,000 mile OCIs. If you study the owner's manual closely, it usually states that 5W-20 can be substituted, but then the OCI is reduced to 5,000 miles.


The manual states 8000km (5000 miles) OCI. It does state than 5W-20 may be used, but 0W-20 MUST be used at the next OCI. I sure wish it asked for 5W-20 exclusively as I have 20 jugs sitting on my shelf right now. It will take me forever to get rid of it all.

I've been looking around for the 0W-20 oil. The only place I can find it at is Canadian Tire, and they have it priced at $10 for a 1qt bottle.
 
Originally Posted By: sir1900
The manual states 8000km (5000 miles) OCI. It does state than 5W-20 may be used, but 0W-20 MUST be used at the next OCI.


You are correct, it does say that. I believe (my opinion only) that this is to "reset" you back to a 10,000 mile OCI. I can't see a reason why it would be okay to run 5W-20 for one 5,000 mile interval, but not for two 5,000 mile intervals in a row (with an oil change in the middle obviously). The manual also does give you a little bit of room for interpretation, as it does tell you that if used under certain high-load or high-speed conditions, a heavier "weight" oil may be appropriate. In other words, although the graphic shows only 0W-20 across all temperatures, the text does seem to allow you room for other grades.
 
Originally Posted By: Bryanccfshr
Stick weith the Toyota/Lexus 0w20. In this case the dealer oil is better than most the other 0w20's you can get off the shelf.


That's an interesting statement, but can it be proven?
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: Bryanccfshr
Stick weith the Toyota/Lexus 0w20. In this case the dealer oil is better than most the other 0w20's you can get off the shelf.


That's an interesting statement, but can it be proven?


Does Toyota have it's own brand of oil, or is it just bulk oil from whatever supplier that meets the minimum requirements?

I can appreciate advocating the use of Toyota/Lexus brand oil, but an oil change can get expensive every time it is taken to the dealership.
 
I've used dino 5W-20 in my 0W-20 only '10 Camry 4 cylinder since new.

I have 45,000 miles on it now with "0" problems.

The Toyota 0W-20 does appear to be robust with loads of moly.

It's available for $5/qt. at my dealership.
 
Don't quote me on this as I'm going on memory, but I believe that the Toyota 0W-20 is a full synthetic, supplied by XOM, made to Toyota specs. I may have the supplier wrong, in which case, it is another quality supplier. But it is available in Canada at approximately $5 per litre at dealerships (at least according to recent BITOG posts). So really not significantly different than another quality synthetic of 5W-xx on sale at Walmart or Canadian Tire. Call a dealership or two and find out for yourself what current pricing is.
 
It's impossible to satisfy the 15% upper limit for NOACK volatility (which corresponds to how fast an oil cooks under use) for a pure Group I, II, or II+ basestock (also known as conventional oil basestocks) for the 0W-xx viscosity grades, as it's very thin and boils very fast. You would need either Group III, Group IV (PAO), or GTL basestocks (also known as synthetic basestocks) in the mix in order to lower the NOACK volatility.

It's possible for the conventional basestocks to satisfy the 15% NOACK limit of ILSAC GF-5 but not the 13% NOACK limit of GM dexos1 or API CJ-4 for the 5W-xx viscosity grades. For those applications, you need a synthetic basestock in the mix again.

Synthetic vs. conventional is basically all about NOACK volatility (how fast an oil cooks under use). As a rule of thumb, thinner the oil, there is a greater need for synthetic basestocks, as it boils and cooks faster in the engine. Alternately, thinner the oil, the shorter the needed oil-change interval is, as the oil cooks faster, unless the NOACK is still low thanks to use of quality synthetic basestocks (such as PAO).

I hope this sheds light on synthetic vs. conventional and the viscosity grade.
 
Originally Posted By: Stelth
Originally Posted By: The Critic
No, 76 makes a normal synthetic blend 0W20.


Also, Phillips 66 TropArtic synthetic blend (same manufacturer as 76 lubricants) comes in a 0w-20.


Ever seen any of these anywhere? I have tried to find them, but no luck.
 
Originally Posted By: sir1900
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


The manual states 8000km (5000 miles) OCI. It does state than 5W-20 may be used, but 0W-20 MUST be used at the next OCI. I sure wish it asked for 5W-20 exclusively as I have 20 jugs sitting on my shelf right now. It will take me forever to get rid of it all.

I've been looking around for the 0W-20 oil. The only place I can find it at is Canadian Tire, and they have it priced at $10 for a 1qt bottle.

Wow 20 jugs of 5W-20, that's too bad.
If you can return them for credit that's what I'd do, if not then of course you can use it but I'd try to restrict it summer use.

The XOM made Toyota 0W-20 is a unique oil in a class of it's own due to it's ultra high VI. It's a bargain in Canada going for about 5 bucks/L on a case of 12 or purchased in 5L jugs. It's available at any Toyota/Lexus dealer. The following is a VOA on the oil:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2409059#Post2409059
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: sir1900
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


The manual states 8000km (5000 miles) OCI. It does state than 5W-20 may be used, but 0W-20 MUST be used at the next OCI. I sure wish it asked for 5W-20 exclusively as I have 20 jugs sitting on my shelf right now. It will take me forever to get rid of it all.

I've been looking around for the 0W-20 oil. The only place I can find it at is Canadian Tire, and they have it priced at $10 for a 1qt bottle.

Wow 20 jugs of 5W-20, that's too bad.
If you can return them for credit that's what I'd do, if not then of course you can use it but I'd try to restrict it summer use.

The XOM made Toyota 0W-20 is a unique oil in a class of it's own due to it's ultra high VI. It's a bargain in Canada going for about 5 bucks/L on a case of 12 or purchased in 5L jugs. It's available at any Toyota/Lexus dealer. The following is a VOA on the oil:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2409059#Post2409059

A Group III syntactic 0W-20 has a NOACK of about 14% vs. the slightly less than 15% NOACK of a conventional 5W-20. Therefore, in terms of the quality of the basestock, there is not much difference. Group IV formulations will have less NOACK and higher quality. For 5,000-mile OCIs, there shouldn't be any problem.

If the 5W-20 is synthetic and under the same oil line (such as Mobil 1), it will have a lower NOACK than 0W-20, which means that it's made of a higher quality basestock that will allow you longer OCIs and more protection against wear and sludge. That (lower NOACK, hence shorter OCI because of faster oil cooking) is exactly the reason why Mobil 1 Extended Protection isn't offered for 0W-20. Unless the temperature is very, very cold (well-below freezing), chances are that you may even be better off with a 5W-20 synthetic than a 0W-20 synthetic.
 
Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: sir1900
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


A Group III syntactic 0W-20 has a NOACK of about 14% vs. the slightly less than 15% NOACK of a conventional 5W-20. Therefore, in terms of the quality of the basestock, there is not much difference. Group IV formulations will have less NOACK and higher quality. For 5,000-mile OCIs, there shouldn't be any problem.
If the 5W-20 is synthetic and under the same oil line (such as Mobil 1), it will have a lower NOACK than 0W-20, which means that it's made of a higher quality basestock that will allow you longer OCIs and more protection against wear and sludge. That (lower NOACK, hence shorter OCI because of faster oil cooking) is exactly the reason why Mobil 1 Extended Protection isn't offered for 0W-20. Unless the temperature is very, very cold (well-below freezing), chances are that you may even be better off with a 5W-20 synthetic than a 0W-20 synthetic.

First you don't exactly know the NOACK of most 0W-20 oils or what their base oil composition is.
Anyway for the sake of argument lets assume the NOACK is indeed higher for a 0W-20 synthetic vs a 5W-20 synthetic (a product btw that is unique to NA only) that doesn't mean that lower quality base oils are used but rather lighter base oils. So you really are comparing apples and oranges.
And the lightest oil readily available on the market; the Toyota 0W-20 has a recommended 10,000 OCI in the States and we've seen plenty of decent UOA at that interval which is plenty long enough for most of us.

And the main purpose of the high VI 0W-20 oils like the Toyota 0W-20 is all about a low start-up viscosity as possible even at temp's as high as 100F which is still a cold start as far as an engine is concerned. The fact that these oils also work well at extremely cold temp's is actually incidental to their main purpose. It's all about a high VI which primarily is to save fuel but having as oil as light as possible has many advantages.

The following video is about Sustina 0W-20 with it's 229 VI and demonstrates the advantage of a high VI oil quite nicely:
http://www.sustina.us/product-line.php
If you can, fast foreward through the first 1/3rd of it.
 
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