With massive GM engine recall and Tundra issues, is the 0W-20 a good oil?

[oxi]

After reading what GM and Ford are doing, changing thickness of their oil to combat failures, etc... the Tacoma engine is smaller, but do we need to think about this a bit?

Some notes:

" As for what the automaker is telling technicians to do, the first step will be to inspect 6.2-liter V8 engines for manufacturing defects. If it passes that inspection, then dealer technicians will install a new oil filter and change the engine oil to a thicker viscosity. Instead of 0W-20 that the owner’s manual originally recommended, engines fixed under this recall will get 8 quarts 0W-40 full synthetic oil instead. The underlying difference is that, at higher temperatures, the new oil will maintain a thicker consistency over the thinner 20-weight oil, hopefully providing adequate lubrication and better protection for the crankshaft and connecting rods. A new owner’s manual insert will also be included in the inspected and serviced vehicles indicating vehicles should use the thicker-weight 0W-40 oil."

" Ram did the same thing with the Ecodiesel when it was having bottom end issues. Ford ran 5W-20 in the 3.5 Ecoboost for 1 or 2 years before they were switched to 5W-30. I've seriously questioned Toyota's choice to use 0W-20 in the V35A in the Tundra/Sequoia/LX/GX. "

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[Peg Leg]

After reading what GM and Ford are doing, changing thickness of their oil to combat failures, etc... the Tacoma engine is smaller, but do we need to think about this a bit?

Some notes:

" As for what the automaker is telling technicians to do, the first step will be to inspect 6.2-liter V8 engines for manufacturing defects. If it passes that inspection, then dealer technicians will install a new oil filter and change the engine oil to a thicker viscosity. Instead of 0W-20 that the owner’s manual originally recommended, engines fixed under this recall will get 8 quarts 0W-40 full synthetic oil instead. The underlying difference is that, at higher temperatures, the new oil will maintain a thicker consistency over the thinner 20-weight oil, hopefully providing adequate lubrication and better protection for the crankshaft and connecting rods. A new owner’s manual insert will also be included in the inspected and serviced vehicles indicating vehicles should use the thicker-weight 0W-40 oil."

" Ram did the same thing with the Ecodiesel when it was having bottom end issues. Ford ran 5W-20 in the 3.5 Ecoboost for 1 or 2 years before they were switched to 5W-30. I've seriously questioned Toyota's choice to use 0W-20 in the V35A in the Tundra/Sequoia/LX/GX. "

I'm seriously considering using 5W-30 in the summer in my '25 Taco. My only concern is VVTI and/or tight tolerances. 0W-20 seems to be driven by CAFE standards, but I'm not sure how these engines are specially designed to handle this light weight thin oil, and if running the thicker oil is going be accommodated well. If engine passages are small, oil used as a hydraulic fluid like with VVTI, oil pump designed specifically for 0W, could be a problem. My gut says no problem in the summer. In the dead of the winter I'll keep using 0W, but in the spring and fall run 5W-20.

 

[BoboForShort]

I'm no petroleum engineer but it sounds like the thicker oil is to compensate for possible manufacturing or machining errors.

If they're confident in the machining and manufacturing on the Tacoma engines, a thicker oil wouldn't be helpful or optimal.

Or the cynical take is they're sticking with the thinner oil to meet eco and power numbers for as long as possible until they're forced to go with something thicker for longevity reasons.

But to be fair, this isn't a new engine design so I have some confidence that any issues would be showing themselves already.

 

[crepr12]

idk...I have always used the OEM recommended oil with zero issues

 

[TacoFreak]

idk...I have always used the OEM recommended oil with zero issues

Same here. I know the 5.7 L V8 in my Tundra was a totally different beast than our engines, but I only ever used 0W-20 during my 14 years with that truck. I never had any lubrication or oil pressure issues and the engine ran as well the day I traded it in as the day I bought it.

 

[LincolnSixAlpha]

In my humble opinion, consider the following:

0W-20 is MORE than sufficient to protect your engine, and in fact if it will provide better protection than a heaver weight oil. I recommend you watch the following:



There are other videos on the subject, if you decide you want to watch more.

Regarding the GM 6.2 nonsense. My previous vehicle, before this Tacoma, was a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado High Country with the 6.2 While this is a great motor, GM, like a lot of manufactoers are cutting corners in a big way. Beyond the AFM, now called DFM in the more recent vehicles nonsense, which is a subject of contention unto itself, the other issue that plages these vehicles, which I personally believe, is what's causing these issues with the blown motors, is the variable speed oil pump.

I've not done any subjective research, but these latter motors use the variable speed oil pumps to lessen engine load, and thus save milage which overall gives GM a better score with the EPA. Same thing with that "start/stop" engine nonsense (personally hate this gimmick). None the less, my previous truck was a 2021 Silverado RST with GM's new 3.0 Baby Duramax I-6 diesel. Unfortunately, I only had that truck for 5 months as the AC system in it was faulty, and GM/local dealer was unable to source, nor rectify my A/C issues. Living in Phoenix, I'm sure you could understand. So I regretibally traded that in for the '21 High Country with the 6.2.

For the record, GM recommended 0W-20 for that engine as well, however here's where I noticed issues. Because my previous truck was a diesel, I purchased the Banks iDash so that I could monitor DPF regens as there was no light, or display in the truck to tell you when it was in regen mode. When I traded that truck in I migrated the Banks iDash to the new Silverado and monitored a bunch of things, but most importantly was the oil pressure.

During normal driving under load the Oil pressure in the truck was typically from 42 up to about 65, and when idling I'd see it drop into the low 20's. If you read up on oil minimum oil pressures for a typical v8 engine, or just engine's in general you'll see that PSI readings in the low 20's is the bare minimum. I can tell you that on a few occasions, idling at lights in the summer, I saw the pressure drop to the 15-16 PSI range, which I feel is way too low.

I was religious with my oil changes at every 5K using Amsoil's best engine oil with OEM filters and my engine was fine during the whole 65K miles I owned it. However I feared that if this engine ended up destroying itself, I sure didn't want to pay 12k for a new crate motor that wasn't in stock, plus another 3-4K for installation was something I sure didn't want to foot the bill for.

That said, vehicles are mostly crap in today's world because of all EPA nonsense. My 2 cents, but for sure 0W-20 has no issues providing protection for todays cars, I wish these manufacturers would just eliminate direct fuel injection, and go back to full port injection, get rid of the variable speed oil pumps and low tension rings, and ditch any/all wet belts used in engines.

Again, my 2 cents worth.

 

[Airborne]

Some good perspectives ,however im just going to stick with the OEM Recomendations, the owners manual, the dealership as well as toyota engineer states what they recommend……so ill stick with that plan , truck is under warrenty, and as long as i play by the rules im fine, im not a certified toyota tech or engineer, so ill do as the pros say, pretty simple
David

 

[Peg Leg]

This is why people don't trust the lighter weight oils. They may or may not work fine, but many don't trust the environmental zealots and their mandates. The auto manufacturers will seemingly do anything to appease them, including poorly designed components like oil pumps that squeeze 1/10 extra mile to gallon out.

 

[LincolnSixAlpha]

Unfortunately, our world today. Everyone trying to squeeze an extra 10th of a penny out of everything. Said another way everything is controlled by the accounts these days. Long gone are the days of good engineering practices. That said, over the past 30 years, massive changes have occurred in our quality tires, and engine oil. I'd encourage you to watch that Oil Geek videos with a grain of salt and judge for yourself.

You think we have it bad here, I've been recently watching a video series out of the UK where vehicles are coming in left and right (a lot of gas and diesel 3 cylinder garbage) where the engine timing is run by a wet belt, if you can believe that nonsense. These timing belts seem to barely last just under 50k miles. Just for a bit of perspective.

 

[JoeMongo]

Wait a moment, are you really comparing GM engines to Toyota truck engines?

Seriously, they shouldn't be discussed on the same web forum.

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