For one, Toyota explicitly recommends 5W-30 for the 3.4 and my climate in particular, but beyond that it's much heavier than 5W-30 @ start up. I do agree that when heated to operating temp it's actually closer to a true 30 weight, but the Toyota engineers would have accounted for that. In fact, the 3.4 came out over a decade ago, and 5w-30 was the choice back then, modern oils actually stay closer to 30 weight at operating temps than the old ones, in fact, I'd venture to say that a modern 0w-30 would have the same operating temp weight as a 5w-30 oil produced 10 years ago. I've heard that German Castrol 0W-30 actually comes in closer to a 40 weight @ operating temp.

 

in that texas summer heat i wouldnt shy from 10w30 at all. its been shown to be more stable from shearing than 5w30. yes its the same weight per se' BUT the additives used in 10w30 and 5w30 are different.. besides in that heat it wont take but a few minutes for that 10w to get to operating temp.. now if you lived in a colder climate that would be different..

-- if you use syn then i would deff choose the 10w30 over the 5w30 bc i have seen countless UOA's between the two in synthetic that shows that the 10w is more stable also..

--btw toyota calls for 5w AND 10w30 in their motors, it all depends on the climate you live in

 

Yep, Abbotsford, BC is basically Vancouver.......ie some snow, but not that cold in general.

Out east we definately can see temps of -30 or -40 so you need the lower weight oil just to get the truck started.

 

So question

I live in salt lake city and regularly hit the ski resorts and it can get cold here and I have a 3.0. Should be running 5w-30 in the winter?

 

it wouldnt hurt if you use dino but if you use synthetic you can use from 5w30 up to a 40 weight with no issues at all.

most people who are picky about oil do this-- run a synthetic in the winter and dino in the summer. mainly bc a synthetic protects better than dino in cold weather. that i mean anything lets say under 20 degrees F.. syns have a better flow property by far... but lucky for us these yota motors in general are easy on oil. again of course if you offroad like heck, lots of idling, lots of city driving and heavy on the pedel will scure that and i would highly recommend a synthetic under those circumstances... other than that enjoy your dino oil.
.

 

yeah in your temps Synthetics are the way to go hands down. i am surprised you just recently switched to a syn jamie under those circumstances

 

Me too, Mike.

 

" Engine oil: What does everyone like?"

Personally I don't care for oil at all.

The 4Runner seems to like Mobil 1 synthetic 10W30 though.

 

Havoline 10w-30 or 10w-40 and ALWAYS Toyota Filter
Will be switching to Synthetic after I get my engine back from the machine shop.
I've always heard how good the topends of engines look when using Valvaline and Havaline oils. Maybe BS bull it seems to have worked well for me.

 

i guess to really to answer the question at hand "what oil do you prefer?"

1. any syn thats on sale
2. penzoil platinum
3. penzoil
4. castrol gtx
5. havoline
6. valvoline durablend

 

Yep, BC is British Columbia. I live about 1hr away from Vancouver. We get very rare of cold winter. Probably several days in a year. I wouldn't be bother using 5w-30 at all, anyway. If I lived out east, then I would be using lower weight oil cause east gets freaky cold winters.

 

Mobil 1 5w30

 

Just like Montreal is basically Toronto

 

Valvoline 10-30 since the day I drove my '89 truck off the dealer's lot some 358 k miles ago and Valvoline 5-30 in my wife's '99 Taco w/ 130 k. I'm not saying it's the best, it's just what I've always used and change w/ filter every 3 to 3.5 k miles.

 

I run Shell Rotella Synthetic in all of my cars and trucks, including my 2 landcruisers, my 4Runner 22RE as well my MBZ 240D.

It's available at Wallmart and it's same price as many dino High Mileage Blends (i.e Penzoil High mileage, Castrol high mileage, Valvoline HM).
and although technically Shell Rotella Synthetic is not a Synthetic oil, it out-performs any of those over priced dino High Mileage oils.
and it costs nearly half of what Mobil 1 and Castrol Synthec cost and those two are not "true" synthetics either-prob more like mix of group III and II.

 

+1000

Amsoil Rocks!!

 

And by the way...

I run 10w40 in winter and 20w50 in summer. My 99 taco with 150K loves it!

The original toyota recommendations for oil weight are for newer vehicles. One you start getting higher in the mileage (even though it's not really high mileage for a yota) it's better to have a thicker oil as it covers the engine parts faster due to the pump being able to get it to the top of the engine quicker.

Just my $.02

 

I run castrol gtx 10W40 all the time. I have a 3.0 in my runner. I also use Napa Gold filters. Anything wrong with what I'm using. I like to no........

 

Amsoil in everything. Check here www.lubedealer.com/dbcox

 

Currently, I'm using Napa's Premium 10W40 oil... I got 2 cases (24 quarts) for $35.76

Beat that!