2012 Tacoma - what oil weight for max durability?

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cocoapuffs1000

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I have a 2012 Tacoma V6, just purchased. I'm curious about oil reccomendations if my interest is maximum durability - fuel economy and warranty are secondary. I like in Ohio - temps average around 30 in the winter but can dip below zero at times (it is nine degrees outside right now). Summers are typical 80-90 degrees. Driving is a mix of hard stop and go and highway.

I am running synthetic (Mobil 1). The specified oil is 5w30 but I threw in 10w30 at my last oil change - now I am questioning that decision. Am I putting myself at risk for extra wear when starting in low temps? Or am I worrying too much about it?
 
As a long time Mobil 1 user, I have to say that if you use the right weight of M-1, the body of your truck will rust away long before there is ever an oil related issue with your truck. Just make sure to use a quality filter and, while under warranty, use the correct OCI and oil weight.
 
I'm not deliberately going against the warranty - however if going to a different weight will improve durability while going against the letter of the law as far as warranty, I'm probably okay with that. Honestly, I haven't even bothered to find out if changing oil weight voids the warranty.
 
There will be almost no difference in cold start wear factors between a 5/30 and a 10/30, although the thicker oil will give your starter motor and battery a harder time. The quality of the additives in the oil (Zinc in particular) will make more difference than the 5 difference between the two oils and some 10/30 grades last longer than 5/30's.
 
You've just voided your engine warranty. If it spits a rod out, it's on your dime.

The engine will live a long life on the recommended 0/5W-20.
 
Anything other than 5w-30 could cause you warranty issues down the road. If you like Mobil 1, you'll be in good shape using that.
 
Use what they tell you. Ignore sunkship. His comment makes no sense. Of course there will be more wear in the winter with a 10w because of those extra seconds the oil takes to get moving,multiplied by how many cold starts in a lifetime. Please.
Use the 5w-30 or 5w-20 or whatever they tell you to use. My hemi spec's a 20 grade. It will still shred the tires,it consumes no oil and has 250k on the odo.
Don't over think this.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
You've just voided your engine warranty. If it spits a rod out, it's on your dime.

The engine will live a long life on the recommended 0/5W-20.


You need to check the exact terms on the lubrication page of the warranty, because it often covers oil grades that are not the recommended ones. I was looking at the warranty for a 2.0 2012 Ford Focus last week and it listed 0 or 5/20 AND 0 or 5/30, but the associated manual just said 5/20.
 
Originally Posted By: cocoapuffs1000
...Or am I worrying too much about it?


Yes...

Originally Posted By: cocoapuffs1000
I'm not deliberately going against the warranty - however if going to a different weight will improve durability while going against the letter of the law as far as warranty, I'm probably okay with that. Honestly, I haven't even bothered to find out if changing oil weight voids the warranty.


You're not improving anything with a thicker oil, you're probably not hurting anything either. But why not just use M1 5W-30 if you like Mobil 1? It meets the rigid HTO-06 turbo and DEXOS-1 spec's and is ACEA A5 rated...
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Use what they tell you. Ignore sunkship. His comment makes no sense. Of course there will be more wear in the winter with a 10w because of those extra seconds the oil takes to get moving,multiplied by how many cold starts in a lifetime. Please.
Use the 5w-30 or 5w-20 or whatever they tell you to use. My hemi spec's a 20 grade. It will still shred the tires,it consumes no oil and has 250k on the odo.
Don't over think this.


You should ask a UOA expert like D.Newton as there is almost no difference between cold start wear factors between an 0W and 15W, although the advertising all says otherwise. There is only a minimal difference between a full synthetic and a conventional oil, assuming you can get the engine to turn fast enough to start. What is more important is the add pack in terms of Zinc and anti corrosive additives, so a cheap oil is bad news.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: cocoapuffs1000
I'm not deliberately going against the warranty - however if going to a different weight will improve durability while going against the letter of the law as far as warranty, I'm probably okay with that. Honestly, I haven't even bothered to find out if changing oil weight voids the warranty.
Ok. I checked and you have one of the last Toyota engines that has not shifted to the ultra thin TGMO 0w20. If that were the case, a 10w30 would be substantially thicker. So your 5w30 and went for a thicker startup weight. IMO don't think it will do much harm in the short term, but to answer your durability question - there are reasons for Toyotas decision to go thin beyond CAFE. One is Toyota's vvt-i system which relies on hydraulic oil pressure coming from tiny oil channels to advance and retard the cams with a controller/actuator gear. Thick(er) oil at startup will mean slower oil flow/longer time for oil to reach the actuator after the engine starts. Many complain of a 1-2 second startup ticking. Is it the filter? Nope, its the vvt actuator locked until there's enough oil pressure to unlock. Over time that will wear out the controller which is very expensive to replace and will impact the engines operation as a whole with the cams out of phase. Just one example of why late model Toyotas are sensitive to oil weight.

The short answer is suggest you go back to 5w30 after this OCI.

Here is an online DIY manual for future reference.
http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM35A48U/pdf/sec_6-1.pdf
 
I will go out on a limb here and bet anyone on the board using this 10-30 weight will have no negative impact on the vehicle. I will say there will be no oiling/oil related issues for the life of this vehicle due to using 10-30 over 5-30, or even 5-20.

This seems to be such a repetitive conversation here. I don't every post, but I am still waiting to stumble on one saying a wrong weight in oil within reason ruined a car.
 
Sorry if this is repetetive. Most of the posts I saw for similar vehicles were largely concerned with fuel economy - which, based on my simple understanding, is the main drive behind lighter weight oil. The vvt cam performance is interesting - any references for that?

Anyway I made kind of an impulse decision to run 10w30 based on some very dated knowledge I had. As usual, I don't deeply ponder my decisions until after I make them...

And as far as the engine outliving the frame and body, I'm working on that one too
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: skyship
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Use what they tell you. Ignore sunkship. His comment makes no sense. Of course there will be more wear in the winter with a 10w because of those extra seconds the oil takes to get moving,multiplied by how many cold starts in a lifetime. Please.
Use the 5w-30 or 5w-20 or whatever they tell you to use. My hemi spec's a 20 grade. It will still shred the tires,it consumes no oil and has 250k on the odo.
Don't over think this.


You should ask a UOA expert like D.Newton as there is almost no difference between cold start wear factors between an 0W and 15W, although the advertising all says otherwise. There is only a minimal difference between a full synthetic and a conventional oil, assuming you can get the engine to turn fast enough to start. What is more important is the add pack in terms of Zinc and anti corrosive additives, so a cheap oil is bad news.


I should point out that the lack of difference in cold start wear factors is only true within the recommended temperature range of the associated oils, so if you used a 15/40 and compared it with an 0/40 at 0C there would not be any difference in wear factors from cold starts.
 
Originally Posted By: cocoapuffs1000
Sorry if this is repetetive. Most of the posts I saw for similar vehicles were largely concerned with fuel economy - which, based on my simple understanding, is the main drive behind lighter weight oil. The vvt cam performance is interesting - any references for that?

Anyway I made kind of an impulse decision to run 10w30 based on some very dated knowledge I had. As usual, I don't deeply ponder my decisions until after I make them...

And as far as the engine outliving the frame and body, I'm working on that one too
wink.gif




Mobil1, Pennzoil Platinum or Quaker State Ultimate in 5w30 is all you will ever need for that engine. The 3.5L Toyota V6 seems to like the Pennzoil Platinum.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
You've just voided your engine warranty. If it spits a rod out, it's on your dime.

The engine will live a long life on the recommended 0/5W-20.
Warranty "enforcement" ain't so simple. When a rod fails because of defective material or construction, according to expert testimony, you have to drag in some schlub to "prove' the oil used had something to do with the failure. It ain't "automatic".
 
If your engine is designed to run on 30 grade oil, I highly doubt it will ever be able to tell the difference between a 5w30 and a 10w30, unless you get radical and jump up to a HDEO or something.

But a good 5w30 would be a better choice IMO.
 
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