Is 0W20 in a '05 Prius 1.5 Liter OK?

Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Oldwolf

Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Messages
1,119
Location
Durham, NC
I need to change the oil in my FIL’s 2005 Prius with about 16,000 miles on the odometer.

Last change was sometime in 2008. The current change has about 3500 miles on it. I do not know the make and weight. It has been sitting unused in the garage for the last 3 months.

I’d like to run Mobil 1 synthetic in it.

Mobil recommends 5W30 or 0W30 energy conserving oil. That’s fine and dandy.

But, I noticed the newer Prius’ with the 1.8L engine specify 0w20 oils, at least for the 2010 that I checked.

Can I run a 0w20 in his 2005, or is it advisable to stick with the 0W30/5W30 as specified?

Thanks for the help.
 
Originally Posted By: Benoit
Short answer is that You should stick with 5w30 or 0w30.


+1

a nice "lighter" 0W-30 for you, anything but GC in fact for 0W-30
thumbsup2.gif


M1 AFE 0W-30 id say.
 
Unfortunately my wife's '05 xB, with the 1.5 liter 1NZZFE, is in the same boat-Toyota only recommends the 20 weights in the newer motors. I'm running the M1 0W30 AFE in hers myself.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
...
Can I run a 0w20 in his 2005, or is it advisable to stick with the 0W30/5W30 as specified ...
I would think that there would be no advantage to running a 0w-XX in Cackalacky - that "zero-winter" is only helpful or noticable at -20F and below. OTOH, specing a 0-dubbya may help you get an oil with lots of ester ppd and group IV - if you like that sauce. As a great compromise, I'd run the older SM Havoline 5w30 which is on the border of falling into 20 grade. Havoline uses moly in the add pack and these toyota engines with DO direct acting cam could take aadvantage of the moly.
 
Last edited:
If the engine calls for a 30wt oil then you might want to try M1 0-30AFE. Should work well.
 
Thanks for all the comments.

I was a bit surprised to find out that synthetic oil is not mandatory for the Prius. I just figured it would have been specified for some reason.
21.gif
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
If the engine calls for a 30wt oil then you might want to try M1 0-30AFE. Should work well.

+1
M1 AFE 0W-30 is the lightest 30wt oil you can buy at all start-up temp's.
In fact it's lighter than all dino 5W-20's and many synthetic 20wt oils at freezing (32F) and below.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
I need to change the oil in my FIL’s 2005 Prius with about 16,000 miles on the odometer.

Last change was sometime in 2008. The current change has about 3500 miles on it. I do not know the make and weight. It has been sitting unused in the garage for the last 3 months.

I’d like to run Mobil 1 synthetic in it.

Mobil recommends 5W30 or 0W30 energy conserving oil. That’s fine and dandy.

But, I noticed the newer Prius’ with the 1.8L engine specify 0w20 oils, at least for the 2010 that I checked.

Can I run a 0w20 in his 2005, or is it advisable to stick with the 0W30/5W30 as specified?

Thanks for the help.


Your 1.5 is also in the current Yaris and they have now speced it for 0w20,5w20,5w30. They are basically telling you use whatever you want. They still do 5w30 for bulk dino but they will give you 0w20 if you want synthetic in bulk. If that helps. Oh and keep in mind that this engine has been in service around the world since 1999 without any major changes to the design. Except gas mileage sucking more on it...
 
Last edited:
Im sorry but i cant see gas mileage "sucking" on a 5W-30 "Energy conserving" m,
Originally Posted By: yaris0128
Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
I need to change the oil in my FIL’s 2005 Prius with about 16,000 miles on the odometer.

Last change was sometime in 2008. The current change has about 3500 miles on it. I do not know the make and weight. It has been sitting unused in the garage for the last 3 months.

I’d like to run Mobil 1 synthetic in it.

Mobil recommends 5W30 or 0W30 energy conserving oil. That’s fine and dandy.

But, I noticed the newer Prius’ with the 1.8L engine specify 0w20 oils, at least for the 2010 that I checked.

Can I run a 0w20 in his 2005, or is it advisable to stick with the 0W30/5W30 as specified?

Thanks for the help.


Your 1.5 is also in the current Yaris and they have now speced it for 0w20,5w20,5w30. They are basically telling you use whatever you want. They still do 5w30 for bulk dino but they will give you 0w20 if you want synthetic in bulk. If that helps. Oh and keep in mind that this engine has been in service around the world since 1999 without any major changes to the design. Except gas mileage sucking more on it...


Im sorry but i cant see gas mileage "sucking" on a 5W-30 "energy conserving" potentially moly-laden (as per SN spec) SN-sec oil. PYB, for instance.

i just dont see it. Even the "10W-30" grade is energy conservign except in hi-mi oils.
 
It depends on your application but you're right it won't typically "suck".

If you spend most of your time with the engine up to normal operating temperature; that is oil temp's of 90C plus, you'll realize a fuel economy improvement of up to 4% max'. That's comparing a typical 5W-30 dino and the Toyota Brand 0W-20.
On the other hand, if you operate with ambient temp's around the freezing point all the time and make mostly short trips whereby the engine rarely gets the oil up to temperature your could easily see an improvement in fuel economy approaching 10%. The reason in part is at 0C the Toyota 0W-20 is a whopping 60% lighter which represents a major reduction fuel robbing oil drag.

Of course there are other benefits in running the lighter oil, my favorite simply is more power and engine responsiveness.
 
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Originally Posted By: tig1
If the engine calls for a 30wt oil then you might want to try M1 0-30AFE. Should work well.

+1
M1 AFE 0W-30 is the lightest 30wt oil you can buy at all start-up temp's.
In fact it's lighter than all dino 5W-20's and many synthetic 20wt oils at freezing (32F) and below.
CAT: Could you run a wideman calc on the M1AFE v. Say MCSS 5w20SM? I recall I ran that same calc (last Winter) and all popular 5w20grades were thinner than any 0w30 grade above -10c. Are you speaking to the newest TDS and VI of M1afe which is considerably thinner?
 
Update. I just did the calc and indeed the NEW thinner M1AFE formula with an astounding 180vi does indeed outperform Dino MobilClean 5000(API-SM) at -10C; Here are the results:

New M1afe - 843.5 (ALL centi-Stokes at -10 celcius)
Prev M1afe - 1083.5
MC5k - 862.4
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SuperFast


Im sorry but i cant see gas mileage "sucking" on a 5W-30 "Energy conserving" m,
Originally Posted By: yaris0128
Originally Posted By: Oldwolf
I need to change the oil in my FIL’s 2005 Prius with about 16,000 miles on the odometer.

Last change was sometime in 2008. The current change has about 3500 miles on it. I do not know the make and weight. It has been sitting unused in the garage for the last 3 months.

I’d like to run Mobil 1 synthetic in it.

Mobil recommends 5W30 or 0W30 energy conserving oil. That’s fine and dandy.

But, I noticed the newer Prius’ with the 1.8L engine specify 0w20 oils, at least for the 2010 that I checked.

Can I run a 0w20 in his 2005, or is it advisable to stick with the 0W30/5W30 as specified?

Thanks for the help.


Your 1.5 is also in the current Yaris and they have now speced it for 0w20,5w20,5w30. They are basically telling you use whatever you want. They still do 5w30 for bulk dino but they will give you 0w20 if you want synthetic in bulk. If that helps. Oh and keep in mind that this engine has been in service around the world since 1999 without any major changes to the design. Except gas mileage sucking more on it...


Im sorry but i cant see gas mileage "sucking" on a 5W-30 "energy conserving" potentially moly-laden (as per SN spec) SN-sec oil. PYB, for instance.

i just dont see it. Even the "10W-30" grade is energy conservign except in hi-mi oils.


Sorry let me word that differently. The oil has nothing to do with that sentence. That engine went from getting 45mpg to now being rated at 36mpg. I am lucky to get 33 all highway! My friends echo gets 47 and we have the same car with a different body on it!! Not anything to do with oil.
 
Yaris- Possibly oil and filter? The vvti is sensitive and REALLY affects fuel mileage. I had similar issue, but winter gas w/ E10 and winter kill the MPG on this thing. Try a Delco 1233 with metal core and PYB or ?? to basline things. Dont over fill 3.5-3.8 qts in after a GOOD drain. I am trying a bit of 5w-20 mixed in with the MC-SS GF5. The 5w30 GF 5 is thick stuff. Car does not exhibit too much "thin oil syndrome" with this semi-Frankenmixture. Recall the HW miles rating is 36 on this correct?
 
I changed the oil this weekend in this '05 Prius.

Getting to the filter and the drain plug is a piece of cake and I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Went with Mobil 1 5W30 and a PureOne filter.

The old oil had somewhere around 4000 miles on it, almost three years old. The oil smelled like gasoline but I guess that would be normal for a Hybrid that makes mostly short trips.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

V
0w20 in my Ford Fusions, should I switch to 5w30 and run all my others vehicles on one oil? Expert advice needed please
Replies
11
Views
4K
Hermann
W
Camaro 2018 2 ss 5w30 esp European formula vs 0w40
Replies
17
Views
2K
Bullwinkle007
A
Would you use 0W-16 in a 2 Liter Ford Ecoboost?
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
earlyre
M
Which oil for breaking in 2024 F250 7.3?
3 4 5
Replies
80
Views
3K
Randy_R
I
Time to switch oils in 2007 Subaru EJ25 turbo with 150k?
2 3
Replies
44
Views
4K
Impatient
Back
Top