I'm not going to take it do the dealer this time around. I haven't used 5W30 in my other cars so I wasn't sure what to buy. I ended up getting this Valvoline "DuraBlend" 5W30. See : Valvoline.com > Products > Motor Oil > Synthetic Blend Motor Oil > DuraBlend® Synthetic Blend Motor Oil Just wondering if this stuff is any good or not. Does anyone else here use it?
As long as the oil specs meet the requirements listed in the owner's manual you're ok. I doubt the service stations or dealers previously used anything as good since they would not routinely use a blend. I use the same weight (5w30) Mobil I all year for my cars and have always gotten good service.
It meets the American Petroleum Institute's SL/SM grading, and ACEA A1, which is pretty tough. It looks like a good one.
All depends on what Toyota Australia uses, which can be different from what we use here in North America I haven't been to Oz in over 7 years, last time there I stopped in at a Toyota dealership in Sydney to look at models not sold here, such as the diesel Landcruiser I casually asked the service fellow what sort of oil they used, he replied "15W-40" Given your hot temps, especially in the interior, that makes a lot of sense
Synthetic BLEND is a waste of money. Most blends are only 30% synthetic... Either go full syn or regular dino.
Thanks Mike. Actually I was surprised that there wasn't really much range to choose from in the 5W30 category at the autoparts store. I don't think I saw anything "dino" that was 5W30 (this might just be an Australian thing where the climate is warm and thicker oils are more popular). Anyway it seemed like everthing except the synthetics were 10W40 or thicker. Initially I wasn't even going to use synthetic but in the end I had to go to at least semi-synth just to get the corrrect viscosity.
Gotcha.. that's bizarre. Most of the Pep Boys/Kragen/O'reillys/Family stores here carry the full line of dino (from Penzoil to Mobil1 regular), very few blends (mostly Valvolines) and tons of full synthetic (from Mobil1 Extended to Royal Purple, some stores even have Amsoil, Redline, and other JDM oils).
Perhaps you should continue using what most others use in your country. The last thing you probably have to worry about is a "cold" start in temps < 0 C If even the dealership refills with a 10W-40, 15W-40, etc, there is probably a good reason why they do so Uart lives in Australia. I have been to Oz a few times on business (Petrochemical consulting), in addition to the Mid East, and some African and South American nations The tendency is to use either a 10W-40, 15W-40 (Same oil used in a diesel motor, which is much more commonly used in those countries), and even a 20W-50 grade A 5W-30 would be either impossible to find, a very expensive special order, and/or perhaps unwise to use due to the extreme heat in those countries
Hard to imagine its much worse than Death Valley in southern CA, the NV desert, or even here in southern AZ during the summer months...
Yeah that's right Patrick. Where I'm located (east coast) it's no hotter than plenty of places in continental US. Probably a similar climate to Houston or even a bit milder, say New Orleans or something like that. Anyway there might have been more range if I'd gone to a larger autoparts store, but it does seem that most regular oils here are targeted to older cars and are generally 20W50 or 15W40 at the lightest. It might be just a marketing decision (for a smaller market) with the rational that anyone with a newer or higher tech engine that wants a lower viscosity should go with synthetic. Take for example the Castrol range. In my old car I was using Castrol "Magnatec". See for example the Australian Castrol site where they only offer 10W40 and 15W40, Castrol Australia - Castrol Magnatec 10W-40 Now compare with Castrols UK site where they offer this product in 5W30 and 10W40 and 15W40. Motor Oil and Lubricants Castrol UK - Castrol Magnatec
Yes, I recall my 1976 VW Dasher and 1988 BMW 325i convertible used 20W-50 oil; it's pretty amazing that 20 years later, 0W-20 is the standard in the latest Toyota engines.
Different locales have different standards. If I lived in a locale that used 15W-40, I would probably do so too. Even when other markets specify a "light" oil, like a 0W-30, it tends to be "heavier" than the oils sold here. For example, the 0W-30 used in the EU market to satisfy VW's oil change interval of up to 2 years or 30,000 miles It will test around 12.1 cSt at +100 C, compared to a regular 5W-30 sold here that tests around 10 cSt at +100 C. Obviously, to meet the extended drain interval, VW and Castrol felt a heavier oil was necessary. Especially driving conditions that may include autoroute speeds near redline The only way to know for sure if a given oil and viscosity will work for you is to perform used oil analysis. My Prius had good results with either Mobil 1 0W-30 or Mobil 1 0W-20, so I chose to run the 0W-20 year round. My FJ had quite dramatic differences with oil, having quite poor results with 0W-20, but excellent results with either Mobil 1 0W-40 or the made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30.
Good stuff, BMW recommended oils. Had both on my 330, liked the Castrol 0w30 from Germany because of smoother engine and came out pretty clean every 7500 miles.
It's just comming into winter here now, so I'm quite happy about sticking with the 5W30 spec. Maybe come summer I'll consider a full synthetic 5W40 for the next oil change.
I'm currently running a 5W-40 synthetic in the 4 litre V6 of my FJ Cruiser - same motor as the Prado sold in your country No difference in fuel economy, motor is very quiet. Running a 0W-20, my FJ motor sounded like a bunch of marbles in a coffee can. I'm running Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck, and the only way I will know for sure if this oil works well is in October, when I do a used oil analysis If your temps rarely dip to 0 C, you can pretty much run whatever you want. When the temps dip to -40, you have to use a lot more care in choosing a proper viscosity
