finally found the 5w-20 TSB...

[Hershey]

glad I've always changed the factory fill at 1,000 > 1,500 miles and then again at around 2,000 > 3,000 miles later , and the rest go for about the 5,000 mile interval using a 5w-30 synthetic for each . Did try Pennzoil PLATINUM 5w-20 for '08 sedan after seeing the approval and the engine seemed a bit noisy . So , dumped it about 2,000 later miles and went back to 5w-30 .

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by Hershey

Did try Pennzoil PLATINUM 5w-20 for '08 sedan and the engine seemed a bit noisy . So , dumped it about 2,000 later miles and went back to 5w-30 .

BTW, I did run the Castrol 0w30 European Formula, AKA "German Castrol" for 4,000 miles. (I drive a lot, so that was less than 2 weeks, I think.) But... I got to looking into things like its lack of SM certification. It's still on SL. (SM was released in 2004.) It more than meets the engine protection requirements of SM. But not the low SAPS requirement. So it may not be so good for the catalytic converter. Fantastic oil for protecting the engine, it seems. But with a possible trade-off.

I also looked into M1 ESP Formula, a nice A3 5w30 oil which looks great. But... it's unclear as to whether it might have issues with US fuels. The story is that there is a possible problem with its completely different additive formula (replacing ZDDP with something else, etc.) and E10 gasoline. Nothing definite. Just rumor. And I'm always *very* suspicious of rumors about E10 because there is so very much absolute *crap* word-of-mouth disinformation floating around about ethanol. (Don't get me started!) And a fellow on BITOG, who happened to be an engineer, made the very reasonable point that Mobile 1 ESP (Emission System Protection) formula was a product designed under additional constraints, beyond those constraints under which other oils are designed. And that additional restraints usually mean additional compromises. These are things that make you go "Hmmmm...." :-/

M1 0w40 European Formula looks great with its A3 *and* SM certifications... but there are those nebulous rumors floating around about our vvt-i systems being affected by out of spec viscosity oils.

And after much gnashing of brain and teeth, I decided that I'm really not smart enough to second guess the recommendations of the experienced and knowledgeable engineers at Toyota who designed this engine. Am I focusing too much upon one thing and forgetting something else? Am I completely ignorant of some critically important thing? I could check out any of these things that I've mentioned. But what about the things I *don't even know about* yet?

Oh... I'm still suspicious of the whole Xw20 bit. And note that we haven't gotten a "Hear ye! Hear ye!" regarding its use in these engines.

But I'm back to an M1 Xw30 oil with ILSAC GF4 and SM certifications, like a good little boy. And I suspect that's probably the prudent thing to do.

Is dreaming about oil threads a sign of deteriorating mental health, I wonder?

-Steve