Toyota Highlander 3MZ-FE V6 Oil Recommendation

[wemis]

Originally Posted By: weebl
My 2006 Toyota Sienna has the 3MZ-FE as well. I've always used a synthetic 5W-30: SynPower, Syntec, Quaker State Q-Horsepower, QSUD and PP. Also used a Syntec 5W-20 once. Really, any xW-30 or xW-20 will serve you well in this engine. My personal preference is for an xW-30 weight. Consider a UOA for extending the OCI if going synthetic. I got a copy of someone's UOA on their '04 Sienna with the 3MZ-FE run under similar conditions to mine, and he's doing 15,000 mile OCIs on M1 with no problems. Too long for my comfort, but I also know I can exceed the 5,000 mile OCI specified by Toyota.


Yea, I would definitely get a UOA if I went any farther than 5K really. I'd like to get one the first time I try to run 5K since they've used conventional and changed it every 3K. I definitely couldn't go 15K in any of my vehicles. I'm a worry wart and it would drive me insane. Haha. What's your oil of choice after running all of those? Have you had any issues with your's using oil?

 

[wemis]

Thanks again to everyone for the info! I really appreciate it! I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can go with this Highlander. I have a 99 Eclipse with a 420A and am at 154K and still going strong. I just put a new valve cover gasket on it and everything looked great! I'd almost like to pull the valve cover on the Highlander just to take a peak. LOL.

 

[wemis]

I'm not going to lie, I was freaked out/scared when I took off the oil cap for the first time. I thought that thing was so sludged up. Haha. I went online and found out about them having a baffle in there. I've never seen any vehicle have one, but then again, I've never owned a Toyota until now.

 

[wemis]

What is the advantage of running a 0W-20 oil? I know it's a lot lighter. Would that improve fuel efficiency? I'm assuming so. I've never went lighter than a 5W-20 in a Ford Focus that called for it.

 

[DutchBrad]

Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: DutchBrad
Your truck was backspec'd - you can run 5W30, 5w20 or 0W20. I run 5W20 Pennzoil Platinum in my '03 Sienna, but saw 0W20 Quaker State Ultimate Durability at Walmart, so that is going in my stash soon.

Here is the official toyota oil recommendations:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2143463


I've never heard of a vehicle being backspec'd. That's crazy. How many miles are on your Sienna? What made you want to use 5W20 vs 30?


I moved to the lighter oil due to the many short trips our Sienna has. I have owned the Sienna 3 years, it currently has 82k miles on it. I run 5w20 in my Chevy Astro for the same reason - mostly short trips of 5-10 miles. Most of my stash for the Astro has been 5w30 weight, so I will be going back to that weight over time. The Astro gets pretty much whatever I can get a really good deal on, and my Sienna gets either PP or QSUD. If I can find a deal on M1, I would consider running that too.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20, runs great in mine.


How long have you run that in yours? What do you have?



About 3,000 miles now. 2005 RX330.Just took a 7 hour trip this weekend. 3.5 each way, ran superb, and didnt have to down shift one time pulling those hills in Western PA on Rt.76. Only the lock up converter kicked out a few times, that was it. In the past when ever we went to Bedford,PA it always had to downshift pulling those same hills on 5W-30 Synthetic. Plus I got 24.3mpg`s going out there, and 26.3 mpg`s coming home. I never got past 25mpg`s at best on 5W-30.

 

[wiswind]

There is a lot of confusion regarding 0W-xx oil.
In the case of your question.... 0W-20 vs 5W-20, the 0W-20 is almost ALWAYS going to be better.
At operating temperature, they are BOTH still a 20 oil.
The difference is when the oil is COLD.
Even at room temperature, the oil is COLD as far as your engine is concerned.
A 0W will give you better cold flow than a 5W.
Of course, there are a LOT of other specifications that a motor oil has, and I'm not going to make a big long post about that.
1 other specification that folks look at is HTHS (High Temperature High Shear)

In general, it requires better base stocks to make a 0W-20 than a 5W-20 oil.
The 0W-20 should have a higher Viscosity Index...(VI).
A higher VI number, the less the oil will THICKEN as it cools from operating temperature.

The Toyota brand 0W-20 has a very high VI.
However.....folks who know more than I do have indicated that the Mobil 1 0W-20 will be less thick at super cold temperatures.
This would be indicated by looking at the viscosity specification at -35 degrees F.
So, the Toyota 0W-20 would give the best viscosity performance (in theory) until you got down to some cold temperature, where the Mobil 1 0W-20 would be better.
However, there are other things to consider in choosing a motor oil.

In short.....it is almost always better to use the 0W-20 over the 5W-20.
But there are the other specifications that one needs to look at in choosing a motor oil (HTHS, VI, durability over the time the oil will be in the engine).

 

[wemis]

Originally Posted By: DutchBrad
Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: DutchBrad
Your truck was backspec'd - you can run 5W30, 5w20 or 0W20. I run 5W20 Pennzoil Platinum in my '03 Sienna, but saw 0W20 Quaker State Ultimate Durability at Walmart, so that is going in my stash soon.

Here is the official toyota oil recommendations:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2143463


I've never heard of a vehicle being backspec'd. That's crazy. How many miles are on your Sienna? What made you want to use 5W20 vs 30?


I moved to the lighter oil due to the many short trips our Sienna has. I have owned the Sienna 3 years, it currently has 82k miles on it. I run 5w20 in my Chevy Astro for the same reason - mostly short trips of 5-10 miles. Most of my stash for the Astro has been 5w30 weight, so I will be going back to that weight over time. The Astro gets pretty much whatever I can get a really good deal on, and my Sienna gets either PP or QSUD. If I can find a deal on M1, I would consider running that too.


Yea for shorter trips I can see that. Most of our trips are about 30 miles each. We will go on some longer trips this summer for sure. I am thinking about going with whatever I can get a good deal on for my Eclipse. It has 154K on it. It still runs great and the internals look very good. I've used a LOT of different oils in it. I used to be scared of changing oils all the time. I thought it would mess it up. Haha.

 

[wemis]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20, runs great in mine.


How long have you run that in yours? What do you have?



About 3,000 miles now. 2005 RX330.Just took a 7 hour trip this weekend. 3.5 each way, ran superb, and didnt have to down shift one time pulling those hills in Western PA on Rt.76. Only the lock up converter kicked out a few times, that was it. In the past when ever we went to Bedford,PA it always had to downshift pulling those same hills on 5W-30 Synthetic. Plus I got 24.3mpg`s going out there, and 26.3 mpg`s coming home. I never got past 25mpg`s at best on 5W-30.


Thanks for the great info! I am surprised to hear that the lighter oil made that much of a difference with downshifting. I guess the engine works a lot harder with a heavier oil. Will you ever switch back to 5W-30 based on your recent findings?

 

[wemis]

Originally Posted By: wiswind
There is a lot of confusion regarding 0W-xx oil.
In the case of your question.... 0W-20 vs 5W-20, the 0W-20 is almost ALWAYS going to be better.
At operating temperature, they are BOTH still a 20 oil.
The difference is when the oil is COLD.
Even at room temperature, the oil is COLD as far as your engine is concerned.
A 0W will give you better cold flow than a 5W.
Of course, there are a LOT of other specifications that a motor oil has, and I'm not going to make a big long post about that.
1 other specification that folks look at is HTHS (High Temperature High Shear)

In general, it requires better base stocks to make a 0W-20 than a 5W-20 oil.
The 0W-20 should have a higher Viscosity Index...(VI).
A higher VI number, the less the oil will THICKEN as it cools from operating temperature.

The Toyota brand 0W-20 has a very high VI.
However.....folks who know more than I do have indicated that the Mobil 1 0W-20 will be less thick at super cold temperatures.
This would be indicated by looking at the viscosity specification at -35 degrees F.
So, the Toyota 0W-20 would give the best viscosity performance (in theory) until you got down to some cold temperature, where the Mobil 1 0W-20 would be better.
However, there are other things to consider in choosing a motor oil.

In short.....it is almost always better to use the 0W-20 over the 5W-20.
But there are the other specifications that one needs to look at in choosing a motor oil (HTHS, VI, durability over the time the oil will be in the engine).


Thank you so much for the information! I worry about going with a really light oil. I worry about oil consumption and how well it works with high heat. I'd like to see some side by side results on the same oil with the different weights. It sounds like the Toyota oil is very good. I've never used anything besides the main brands you can buy at the stores. What is your oil/weight of choice?

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20, runs great in mine.


How long have you run that in yours? What do you have?



About 3,000 miles now. 2005 RX330.Just took a 7 hour trip this weekend. 3.5 each way, ran superb, and didnt have to down shift one time pulling those hills in Western PA on Rt.76. Only the lock up converter kicked out a few times, that was it. In the past when ever we went to Bedford,PA it always had to downshift pulling those same hills on 5W-30 Synthetic. Plus I got 24.3mpg`s going out there, and 26.3 mpg`s coming home. I never got past 25mpg`s at best on 5W-30.


Thanks for the great info! I am surprised to hear that the lighter oil made that much of a difference with downshifting. I guess the engine works a lot harder with a heavier oil. Will you ever switch back to 5W-30 based on your recent findings?



Only if it starts using it, or starts to leak. But I am totally serious about pulling the hills, its awsome! And definitelty NOT a placebo affect either.

 

[wiswind]

I've been on that road.....if you are not going downhill, you're going uphill......AND if you're not going through a curve to the left.....it's because you're going through a curve to the right.
That road has been greatly improved over the years since I was first on it over 35 years ago....though it is still a bad idea to stop on a pulloff for a nap.......stop at the service plazas for that.

As for what I have in my 2003 1MZFE V6?.....I have Redline 0W-20, which is closer to a light 30.
However, if your vehicle/motor/year is on the Toyota list for the Toyota 0W-20, then you are safe with most any name brand 0W-20 oil.

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
If you are using conventional, don't go more than 3,000 miles between oil changes. Toyota MZ series engines get destroyed by sludge in the conventional stuff is taken to 5,000 miles.


Wrong. The 1MZ had sludge issues. The 3MZ did not.

 

[live_to_hunt]

I have a 2006 Sequoia totally different engine but its a Toyota. I run PYB or Quacker State dino 5w30. I am am stuck in old Habits I still do 3 months or 3000 miles the truck runs great..

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: wemis
Originally Posted By: DutchBrad
Your truck was backspec'd - you can run 5W30, 5w20 or 0W20. I run 5W20 Pennzoil Platinum in my '03 Sienna, but saw 0W20 Quaker State Ultimate Durability at Walmart, so that is going in my stash soon.

Here is the official toyota oil recommendations:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2143463


I've never heard of a vehicle being backspec'd. That's crazy. How many miles are on your Sienna? What made you want to use 5W20 vs 30?


Dont get out much do you. Ford backspeced 90+ % of their models when they introduced Motorcraft 5W20.

 

[JustinC25]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
If you are using conventional, don't go more than 3,000 miles between oil changes. Toyota MZ series engines get destroyed by sludge in the conventional stuff is taken to 5,000 miles.
+1
I said it before and will say it again.
5k on dino in a MZ engine = Major sludge. Bad news bears.

Run a good syn like PP, PU, M1, or QSUD 5w30 for a 5k (max) interval, and you will guarantee a clean engine.

I personally will NOT run dino in a newer (97+) MZ series engine, after all the sludge monsters I saw when working at the Toyota dealer. Granted that the one's I saw were mostly 1MZ's.
I did see one 3MZ while I was there, though it was customer pay from lack of maintanence. The issue comes from the heads running very hot, and this cooks the oil. Since the 1MZ, and the 3MZ are in the same family, I would err on the side of caution.

I personally run PP 5w30 for 5k intervals in my friends '05 Highlander with the 3MZ, and it loves it.
Same case with my friends '05 RX330.
(Can you tell I'm a SOPUS fan??)

Butt dino shows it's nice and smooth. I love these engines.

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted By: JustinC25
Originally Posted By: artificialist
If you are using conventional, don't go more than 3,000 miles between oil changes. Toyota MZ series engines get destroyed by sludge in the conventional stuff is taken to 5,000 miles.
+1
I said it before and will say it again.
5k on dino in a MZ engine = Major sludge. Bad news bears.

Run a good syn like PP, PU, M1, or QSUD 5w30 for a 5k (max) interval, and you will guarantee a clean engine.

I personally will NOT run dino in a newer (97+) MZ series engine, after all the sludge monsters I saw when working at the Toyota dealer. Granted that the one's I saw were mostly 1MZ's.
I did see one 3MZ while I was there, though it was customer pay from lack of maintanence. The issue comes from the heads running very hot, and this cooks the oil. Since the 1MZ, and the 3MZ are in the same family, I would err on the side of caution.

I personally run PP 5w30 for 5k intervals in my friends '05 Highlander with the 3MZ, and it loves it.
Same case with my friends '05 RX330.
(Can you tell I'm a SOPUS fan??)

Butt dino shows it's nice and smooth. I love these engines.


The 1MZ and 3MZ engines have different heads, look up the part numbers, they are different. The heads were redesigned on the 3MZ to correct the sludge problem.
My buddy has a 2004 AWD Sienna with the 3MZ, it is the heaviest vehicle that Toyota used that engine in, and he has frequently pulled a trailer with it. He has used M1 5W30 since 1k miles and has done roughly 7.5k mile OCIs since then. We recently did some major maintenance on it (plugs, timing belt, water pump, etc) at 115k miles and while we had it apart we pulled the valve covers. Guess what? NO sludge!
Personally, I would not go over 5k miles on dino in the 3MZ, but 7.5k miles on a quality synthetic appears to be no problem at all.
The 1MZ is a different story. I would not go more than 3k miles on dino or 5k miles on a quality synthetic.

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: JustinC25
+1
I said it before and will say it again.
5k on dino in a MZ engine = Major sludge. Bad news bears.

Run a good syn like PP, PU, M1, or QSUD 5w30 for a 5k (max) interval, and you will guarantee a clean engine.

I personally will NOT run dino in a newer (97+) MZ series engine, after all the sludge monsters I saw when working at the Toyota dealer. Granted that the one's I saw were mostly 1MZ's.
I did see one 3MZ while I was there, though it was customer pay from lack of maintanence. The issue comes from the heads running very hot, and this cooks the oil. Since the 1MZ, and the 3MZ are in the same family, I would err on the side of caution.



Utter nonsense. The 1MZ and the 3MZ are different. The 1MZ suffered from sludge. The 3MZ did not.

 

[moto94536]

Originally Posted By: JustinC25

5k on dino in a MZ engine = Major sludge. Bad news bears.


I run 5k oci with dino all the time. mostly highway miles. My camry v6 have 255,000 miles and still going.

 

[weebl]

Originally Posted By: rcy


Utter nonsense. The 1MZ and the 3MZ are different. The 1MZ suffered from sludge. The 3MZ did not.



+1 I have a UOA from an owner of another 3MZ-FE Sienna. He runs 15k miles OCIs just fine using M1. For dino, I can see not exceeding 5k miles OCIs but with syn, going longer unde the right conditions backed by an OCI is no problem. These are not the sludge monster engines.