Engine Oil

[timsrv]

Okay, California, over 100 deg, makes sense now. Might make sense to run 20-50 in the summer time, but I expect you'll be getting into the frigid 60's in a month or so, so IMO 10-40 is probably still the better choice. If however your oil pressure is low, you may be able to benefit from a thicker oil. Typically low oil pressure is caused by worn or loose bearings. Unless there were extenuating circumstances I wouldn't expect replacing the oil pump to improve this. Did replacing it improve your oil pressure?

If there's a question of oil pressure, I would install an aftermarket oil pressure gauge with numbers & get actual readings before switching oils and/or doing major work. Tim

[XxCisnerosxX]

I actually haven't driven it. My heater core was also leaking and I managed to get the last one in the west coast for my van and the mechanic stated it was "too big" and the tubes that are straight needed to be curved. He opted to but some blue devil into it and yesterday I was with him when he did and the van started dripping water under the driver seat. I'm gonna pick it up later today and hopefully nothing is dripping

[NewVanOwner]

Is a 10w-30 appropriate, or too thin for warmer weather?

[originalkwyjibo]

Personally I stick with 10w30.

[AD2101]

10w 30 here as well. I use it year around too and haven't noticed any negatives running it in the 100 degree plus heat. I don't see why moving up to 10w 40 would hurt in the summer months if you're concerned, but I don't see any need to.

[timsrv]

I know there's more, but here's what a quick search revealed for me:

http://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/s...for-new-owners

[NewVanOwner]

Thank you Tim, much appreciated.

[craftech]

1984 Van bought new.

20W50 summer

10W40 winter

500,000 miles

John

[timsrv]

Here's a quote from one of the threads I linked to above:

Personally I think 20w50 is too thick for the van. I might make an exception in a warm or hot climate IF the engine was worn and couldn't maintain enough pressure otherwise. If you have any doubts about oil pressure, rig up an oil pressure gauge and take the guess work out of it.

Having too thick of oil can actually starve your engine for oil. If this oil is too thick you may not get enough volume through to the bearings and other small passages. Another potential problem is the pressure relief valve on the oil pump. If pressure gets too high, the relief opens and spills the excess oil back into the pan (instead the pump pushing it to the places it's needed). Tim

[kcg795]

I tried 15W-40 and the camshaft bearings started whistling at about 2800 miles. I changed it to 10W-30 Full Synthetic and it's been fine ever since. Just follow the user manual. If your engine is pretty worn, 10W-40 should be fine.

[NewVanOwner]

This has been a bit of a hot topic on some forums. What are your thoughts on using oils with higher ZDDP in our beloved vans?

Most off-the-shelf oils are now in the 800 PPM range, down significantly from the past. Is our engine design one which would benefit from seeking something higher? Or, is it really a non-issue here?

What oil do you use?

[timsrv]

Oil is quite frequently a hotly debated subject on forums. I don't know anything about the argument on ZDDP & due to hype & misinformation I doubt anybody really does. Based on the arguments I've followed in the past, it's my belief that most of these "magic potions" are just marketing techniques. Rather than admit they got duped, most people will exaggerate their experiences and swear by said products.

Bottom line? Make sure it's got oil in it. Unless there are special circumstances, stick with the type and weight recommended by the manufacturer. Brand probably doesn't matter much. As for me? I prefer to run synthetic (currently using Royal Purple 10w40). Synthetic is expensive though and due to that I will only use it in vehicles that do not burn or leak excessive amounts of oil. For those rigs I get gallon jugs of the cheapest stuff I can find. Thankfully I no longer own any vehicles that burn oil. As a result all my rigs are now running on synthetic. Tim

[NewVanOwner]

I just picked up a new van. Miles are around 150k.

There's a sticker on the windshield indicating the last oil change was with 20w-50. Is this an acceptable weight? Or, should I drain it?

Thanks.

[ratatouille]

Congrats on the van. The manual states that's OK to use. But personally I only use that if it's on sale and the hot months of the year. Normally I grab 10w-40. I'm not an expert but with my van I just find it sounds a bit better when I run 10w-40.

[NewVanOwner]

Congrats on the van. The manual states that's OK to use. But personally I only use that if it's on sale and the hot months of the year. Normally I grab 10w-40. I'm not an expert but with my van I just find it sounds a bit better when I run 10w-40.

Appreciate the response. And thanks. Glad to know it's at least in the manual. Once the summer has past I'll also be doing 10w-40. That's what I would have guessed.

[trestlehed]

Several years ago Timsrv postulated that 20w-50 oil might be too thick and have trouble getting thru
the oil pump screen at the bottom of your motor, thus giving you a constant oil pressure trouble light.

I actually experienced this, so I went back to using OEM spec 10w-40 oil.

[JPERL]

I have run 20-50W where temps are consistently over 80 degrees in my past Vans that had high mileage and with especially worn guide valve seals which reduced the amount of blue smoke on acceleration due to thicker viscosity

[oldvanguy]

i ran castrol syntec 20w50 for approximately 100,000 with no issues. last oil change (5k ago), i switched to 5w50 castrol full synthetic. it's a little spendy @$9.67/quart, but i am a synthetic believer.