Wally World =walmart nickname

Try it out. Its good stuff.

 

0W-40 is a standard from Mobil 1, used in our ML as recommended from MB
Available Amazon, Walmart etc

 

**** I did a quick Google and Walmart does indeed sell it . And then my brain clicked in- that is the grade oil that General Motors is switching to in their big 6.2 L engine the had problems with the zero w20.... I'm still not so sure about the Zero part I'm probably going to go with 10W-40 in the summer and 5W30 in the winter...JUST LIKE WE GREW UP USING

 

I grew up, although some might question that statement LOL, with 10W in the winter and 30W in the summer. Have an old wooden box in the garage that I carried in my 77 FJ55 Iron Pig with tools that are no longer used like timing light, feeler gauges, ring compressor, and metal oil spouts that you punctured oil cans with.



My Grandfather owned a Texaco station but couldn't find a picture of Havoline oil and spouts so Texaco will have to do.

We didn't trust multi viscosity oil when it first came out. IIRC it was sometime in the early 80's when 10-40W first came out and not long after that I switched to it and Castrol. Because all the cool kids were.

Now living in the coldest State in CONUS I need winter protection. Used to be "rich" towns had electrical outlets to plug your block heater into at the parking meters. It was to help keep the 10W oil thinned in the cold for easier starting.

If the pumps in your area have these type of signs



then I think 0W is still a good idea. I do change oil every 6 months or 5K and it works out to Fall and Spring. But I don't like mixing oil weights even when changing it. I also often tow in the summer, only 2500 pounds but still it adds heat to the work the engine does. Did put a tranny cooler in. Toyota in their wisdom does not monitor oil temps directly instead it is calculated based on engine coolant and ATF temps, WTH?? Otherwise I would monitor it with OBD Fusion so I monitor ATF and engine coolant temps. Personally I feel 20W is too low even here for summer especially towing. Still using it but may bump up to 0-30W, maybe.

I did flush and change engine coolant at 51K miles a few months ago it is cheap insurance especially with the number of valley plate leaks. And brake fluid, the pumpkins and transfer case fluid. And drain and fill on the ATF.

 

***** I am curious, before changing the antifreeze and brake fluid did you test them? Because as I stated my antifreeze acidity nor freeze boil over was not any different than the brand new fluid. And my brake fluid test is beautiful as well so I didn't bother with the brake fluid.---- I got my first personal vehicle in 1974 when I was a junior in high school. I'm not 100% sure but maybe it was 30 weight for a short duration. That was a long time ago I am pretty sure it was 5W30 for us. As far as diesel fuel we just have summer and winter diesel here in New York there are no signs pertaining to diesel octain/cetain? versus temperature

 

[QUOTE=Framestead;11922923]True I guess.

However, in fairness Toyota has listed 0w20 as preferred for the majority of ambients in the global manual and removed the heavier weights such as 20w50 and 0w40 in earlier UR manuals.

I know some GXers run Full Saps 0w40 or M1 FS 0w40 available with the most stringent certifications like Porsche A40, BMW ll01, mb229.5 and best part available at the local wally world. Its the best of those who want all climate protection without much thought.[certain?
**** I know I am not comparing Apples to Apples exactly and this is slightly off topic but you will note that small lawn mower engines as well as pressure washer engines still list straight 30 weight oil. Matter of fact that's what they come with. So that's worth noting

 

... engines do not equal engines ... relatively speaking, you could drive a truck thru the tolerances of a lawn mower or power equipment engine ...

 

I'm old, and so can't remember if I've posted this before, but it's a terrific discussion of the benefits, reasons and risks associated with running thicker or thinner oils than spec'd. FWIW, I run 5w-30 in jeep Pentastar motors, since they have similar issues to the GM 6.2. So far I've not switched my GX to thicker.


Mark

 

If you want to optimize your oil use, i would run a couple of used oil analysis to trend wear data annually. Data driven results always a plus.

The engine oil temp does not care about whether its summer or winter, once it reaches operating temperature it remains there, so the second hot range usually you want to keep consistent whether its icey or hot outside.

The cold range number is what you should modify depending on ambient. If you expect freezing keep it at 0w, but if not bump up. The other thing is with most off the shelf oils, try to keep the cold number as close to the hot number as possible, less viscosity modifiers to shear at high temp (protection is lost).

Fo example in WNY

I'd be happy to run 0w30 in the winters and then any other time 10w30

 

No need to test them, they get changed at 50K. Lucky to get to 100K before needing a new radiator or water pump on many of these. My goal is to make it to 100K without issue then do a full water side replacement+
Water pump
Valley plate check (inspection)
Radiator and hoses & clamps
Oil filter housing gasket
Timing cover gasket
TStat
Belt
idler pulley
pulley tensioner
Alternator

Care Care Nut recommends changing at 50K and he owns a GX (or at least his wife does) and I agree with much of what he says. Then again I was a propulsion engineer in the Navy for 20 years. Retired from there 30 years ago this year.

The reason you don't see those signs in WNY is that it averages 30 degrees colder here every day in the month of January compared to WNY. I talk to one if my sisters in Buffalo often and during the winter she says she doesn't know how I do it. Then I remind her how much snow she has although it does warm up there and melts it sometimes even in the winter. Here not so much.



One of these years the Bills and Vikes will play each other and one of them will finally get a ring. And it better be the Bills and they better hurry the hell up, I'm not getting any younger!

 

So how many of the folks here are running something other then WS in the transmissions, like maxlife or redline atf?

 

I did a full fluid change with Valvoline Maxlife at 120k. Now at 138k, no issues so far.

 

I would never run WS in a transmission past the initial fill, nor will long-time Lexus/Toyota owners with heavy trucks or high-horse engines who experienced the early failures of it in the late 00s and early teens. It’s weak sauce that sheers quickly. MaxLife has rescued a lot of Aisin transmission that WS failed.

The key issue is the base oil blend did not have the shear stability to take heat, or horsepower. For example: I’ve seen 4Runners from the 2012 era slipping badly in 60k miles form driving up moderately steep hills daily, and IS, GS and other owner says the same from spirited driving. If you search this forum skillfully, you can find these issues widely discussed starting c. 2008 and for years later. The JWS3324 spec from ExxonMobil (who developed WS for Aisin and blends it; “WS” is a Mobil ATF product) allowed too much leeway in the base oils. I think it may have been fixed later, mid-teens, - but as they say, once burned, twice shy.

Fortunately back then we had MaxLife as a perfect substitute that had a more rigorous and shear-resistant full synthetic base oil. Thank god. It bought Valvoline incredible respect, reputation enhancement, and did a lot of good for the automotive enthusiast community. Valvoline has been a research and quality leader in the oil industry since inception, and they still are.

Redline ATF would be a great alternative, the fact they use largely ester oil base in their ATF is fantastic - it greatly preserves seals and keeps the trans cleaner and functioning well vs. WS. I am a penny-pincher so instead of running Redling, I supplement my MaxLife with a quart or additive bottle of Lubegard ATF or Red supplement, which is also ester-based and gets some of the same effect, though not as thoroughly.

 

 

*** will red line or any other transmission fluid mix okay with WS that is already in your transmission when doing a partial drain and fill?