Prius 2005_which engine oil at 119k/125k km's

I did have a look at the UK Mobil 1 site and was surprised to discover that Mobil 1 0W-20 is actually sold in the UK

Mobil 1 0W-20

I knew that the 0W-30 was sold there, as I asked in 2007 when I was over on business. When I asked at the time about 0W-20, I had been informed "there is no such oil"

Is the 0W-20 widely available, or do you have to get it special order?

I used 0W-20 in my 2004 Prius for reliable cold start lubrication in temps down to -40. Had good used oil analysis results up to 12 months or 16,000 km. No difference in summer fuel economy, a minor difference in winter fuel economy

Keeping in mind that only the Japan Domestic Market 2004-2009 Prius was approved for a 5W-20 or 0W-20. The rest of the world that year Prius was supposed to use a 5W-30

One of our forum members, Patrick Wong, did try 0W-20 in his Gen II Prius, and experienced oil consumption afterwards.

 

I have used nothing but 0-20 in my 2006 HCH2 and when I acquired my 2006 Prius I changed to 0-20 when I arrived home. No oil consumption in either car.0-20 is still not easy to find here at this time. I have had to order mine. Patrick lives in a very hot area of the world, so this may be a issue in his area. Not a problem in Great Briton or Canada for that matter! H

 

I tried Toyota 0W-20 oil on the 2004 while living in southern CA during the winter, so high temps were moderate in that season. The odometer reading was probably around 70K miles at that time. The engine started to consume a significant amount of oil at that time, over 1 US quart in 5K miles.

Oil consumption at a reduced rate has continued although I reverted to 5W-30. The odometer reading is now 110K miles and the engine probably uses 0.75 quart after 5K miles.

I think it is reasonable to use 0W-20 synthetic in 2G, if your local high temps are not hotter than in Japan.

 

In the UK 0W/20 oils are available from motorist shops but sometimes have to be ordered, we have had the gen3 hear since 2009 so the oil is available at Toyota agents as well. Our climate is normally cooler than Japan so there is know reason why 0W/20 should not be used.

 

Using 0W/20 in my Prius (60,000 MILES) shows no oil used between changes at 10,000 mile intervals. The engine runs smooth and quiet with almost undetectable starts even in cold for us weather last winter of -12C.

 

I switched my 2004 Prius over to synthetic - Mobil 1 0W-30 - at 10,000 km. At around 20,000 km I switched to Mobil 1 0W-20. Over the time I had my Prius, no noticeable oil consumption even at 12 month or 16,000km intervals. Excellent used oil analysis

The FJ Cruiser has a TSB out that approves xW-20, even though the 2007-2009 FJ has 5W-30 on the oil fill cap. When I used MObil 1 0W-20 in my FJ, I had a spike in nitration and the oil actually thickened up to a 30 range anyway. This was at only 5,000 km

With the FJ, it didn't use oil running 0W-20, but there were no benefits either. Only a used oil analysis can uncover that

Locally, the supply of 0W-20 dried up. It used to be very easy to find at Canadian Tire and Parts Source, and I'm still sitting on 20 litres that I stocked up on. For winter starts at -40, it is obviously a superior choice, but at least in my FJ that would mean very frequent oil changes

It is troubling that Patrick experienced rapid oil consumption after switching to 0W-20, and still has some oil consumption.

Also interesting how quickly 0W-20 became available in the UK. Last time I was in the UK and had significant time to kill, 2007, the dealerships I asked they claimed there was no such thing as a 0W-20

 

As an interesting aside, the US Military has the Cold Weather Arctic Oil spec MIL-L-46167 for their OEA requirements. This is a specially blended heavy duty 0W-20 intended for operation in diesel engines in Arctic conditions

 

Thats what you need for Winterpeg jayman!!! <grin>

 

Yes, I have always championed for matching an oil viscosity to expected low ambient temp. I was one of the first people in my area to use a heavy duty synthetic 0W-30 for winter, back in 1980. That was when Esso had their XD-3 Arctic 0W-30, which was a class-leading oil for its day

I had great results using 0W-20 in my Prius, iffy results in my FJ. So I use the made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30 in my FJ with great results, and it also works well at -40

Only a used oil analysis can inform you if a given viscosity and brand of oil is suitable for your motor

Yes, very possible

Which is why I suggested to continue using the oil the dealership was using

I have had exceptional results using the made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30. This oil was formulated to meet the VW LongLife II servicing regime, which means it is suitable for turbocharged motors, light duty diesels, at up to 2 years or 50,000 km use

 

Yes oil analysis tell you allot!H

 

The TBN is very important, it tells you how well the additive package held up. The viscosity test will tell you if the oil has sheared or thickend in use

Wear metals are obviously very important indicators too.

A very slow coolant seep, say a head gasket, can be uncovered long before you have a problem. No matter conventional or synthetic, if you have a slow coolant seep, you will have massive sludge in the motor

 

In the US, mineral oil is deemed acceptable for Classic and 2G Prius, so I would not be concerned about the prior use of semi-synthetic oil.

However I would say that the car does not benefit from use of 10W40 viscosity engine oil. If you move to 5W30 your car should show slightly improved mpg.

<The quoted price of the oil change is extremely high, but I suppose that is normal in Europe.>

 

Agape, does it not tell you to use 5-20 wt. oil in your manual? Hal

 

Don't stress agape. Your Prius will do just fine on any good brand of semi-synthetic. I've been doing 12000 km OCI's with semi-synthetic and it's doing it easy,

As Patrick says you don't need 10W40, but given the info you gave before about your mild winters it wont have hurt it one little bit either. Some of the guy's from North America have to start at -20C and even colder in winter, so thin oils are important to them. But a 10W40 at 0C is still thinner than even a 0W20 is at -20C. So it's not the slightest thing to worry about in a mild climate. As has been pointed out you'll get slightly better fuel economy with 5W30, but the 10W40 certainly hasn't hurt it.

Assuming that the last OC was at 110k km and it's had about 8 changes that makes it about 13000 to 14000 km for the average OCI. Sounds about right for Europe and is actually pretty similar to what I've been running with here. I checked some online oil guides and 15000 km intervals are what they are all specifying for the Gen II Prius in IRE.

BTW. There's actually very little difference between how well a synthetic oil protects against wear compared with a good quality conventional oil. A synthetic oil will generally breakdown much slower with heat etc over time so is better for longer drain intervals. But if you keep the drain interval reasonable then there's not really as much difference in terms of protection as many people think. The biggest advantage of sysnthetics really is that they allow a better viscosity range (eg 0W40 instead of 15W40 for example) which allows people in very cold climates to still use a heavier oil (if they need it for hard driving) without sacrificing much in cold starts. As I mentioned before this is not all that much of an issue for you anyway.

 

No it probably doesn't Hal.

For reference here is the relevant page of the Australian manual for the 2005 Prius. The image on the left is from the manual of my 2005 Mazda 2 and the one on the right is for my 2005 Prius. Agape's manual is probably similar to this.

BTW. Agape. Since you'll probably be doing 15000 km drain intervals and I hear Castrol is a popular brand in IRE/UK, then Castrol Edge 5W30 is probably a pretty good choice to go with.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about that, as the ACEA rated 10W-40 was and probably still is a very common service fill at your Dealership.

Most of the ACEA-rated 10W-40 motor oils I quickly checked into that are sold in the UK meet ACEA A3 service standards, which are for "severe service, extended oil drain intervals."

The full synthetic oils sold in the EU are actually different than the "synthetic" oils sold here, which can be a blend but still be allowed the label "synthetic." You can thank the API and the courts for that!

Yes, very normal price for servicing a car almost anywhere in the EU

I had a 2004 Prius and the manual had a rather simple recommendation: 5W-30. Nowhere in the manual did it suggest using a 5W-20 so I really have no idea where you are getting that from

As Uart kindly provided, and we have had UK members do similar scans of their owner manuals for 2004-2009 Prius, there is no mention whatsoever of a 5W-20 grade oil.

For the 2004-2009 Prius, only the Japan Domestic Market suggested a 5W-20 or 0W-20 could be used. A Japanese forum member provided the scan to verify this

Could you please provide a scan or some other proof, such as TSB number, to verify

Rather, for markets outside of North America, there is a wide range of viscosity to cover different ambient conditions, with 5W-30 being the lightest ever suggested

Or colder in which case -20 feels like a Spring day

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_and_climate_of_Winnipeg]Geography and climate of Winnipeg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Feb 7 2007, we had a low of -41 C recorded at the airport. That was without the windchill!

Thank you for providing a scan of your manual. Its very useful to compare different countries to determine if perhaps local conditions influence such decisions as recommended viscosity

 

I guess I'm getting confused with the difference with my Honda! It uses 0-20 and can be substituted with 5-20 . I was sure I read that in my Prius manual, but I guess not. Uart also corrected me!Better do some more reading! My Dealer told me to go with their Synthetic 0-20 however. H