Oil recommendation for high mileage Yaris/Vitz

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 20, 2015
Messages
66
Location
London ENGLAND
Greetings from England!

I bought a 2000 Yaris with 163k miles exactly one year ago this week. It has service history from Toyota and other local garages. I changed the oil using semi synthetic 5w30 last year and 5,000 miles/1 year later I think I should've used a 10w30 being that it is a high mileage engine and given the climate in the UK. I don't think it "burns" much oil because there is no smoke from the exhaust and it passed UK emissions testing however I check my oil very often and usually top up just a little bit each time to keep it close to the max mark.


I have always used the whatever viscosity the manufacturer suggests and bought whatever brand semi synthetic oil in the past but I'm interested to know what you think is suitable?

Edit:
Some more detail:
I drive the car quite hard sometimes but I usually let it warm up before driving. It has a stainless performance exhaust. No known problems. The handbook suggests 5W30 in cold climates but also says "preferred" next to it. In climates above -18C it suggests 10W30. It also states "use API grade SJ, Energy Conserving or ILSAC multigrade engine oil. I do a mixture of highway and city driving.
 
Last edited:
It depends because I travel about 80 miles on the highway to university where I stay during most weeks but whilst I'm there or back at home I only drive around 5 - 20 miles in a single trip. Sometimes the car sits for up to 2 weeks.
 
Its the 1.3

The 1.5 is the 1NZ-FE, mine is the 2NZ-FE. Same engines just different displacement/stroke I think. Parts/oils are mostly interchangable.

I've just noticed that the places I buy car parts from don't have 10w30! It seems to be quite rare even online.
 
Last edited:
From a practical perspective there is no reason to use or "hunt for" a 10w-30 when a 5w-30 is available.

Some people on here will float minor technical advantages or theoretical scenarios that a 10w-30 should be sought, be in a reasonable scheme of things, and the improvements in oil over the last 15 years, they aren't even worth considering IMHO.

Respectfully, do you know to what the 5w and 10w ratings refer?

My 2003 Echo/Varis/Vitz specs 5w-30 SL rated oil in all temps; that should be enough info for you to safely discard 10w-30 as a 'goto necessity'
 
Last edited:
It is my understanding that in xxWyy ratings, the xx refers to the viscosity when cold and yy at operating temperature. The larger the numbers the more viscose the oil is at a given temperature. I believe that is measured by measuring the rate of flow. (I remember calculating the rate of flow of shampoo during a college experiment lol, I had to time how long it took for a given volume of shampoo to flow through an aperture of controlled diameter).

Anyway, the reason I want to get it right is cos these VVTi engines have all sorts of small channels that the oil has to flow through, my reasoning against using a "thicker" oil. However, I've also been told that high mileage engines should use "thicker" oil to prevent it from sliding past the piston rings or lose compression. I've also been told that using fully synthetic can cause problems in high mileage engines that have used mineral oil in the past.

I'm an engineering student so I try to find real reasoning for the stuff I can't measure myself so I think I will continue using 5w30 and let the car warm up during winter. I will be doing more daily miles on the highway starting from autumn (fall).

Is it possible to achieve a particular oil viscosity by mixing two oils of different viscosity? The reason I ask is because I bulk bought oil in the past for another vehicle which takes 10W40 and I have gallons of the stuff left over and have no use for it.
 
Last edited:
The larger the first number, the thicker the oil is at cold start up temps. Thats why you want to use 5w30 instead of 10w30.
 
The Camry I 4 of the same era has the same specification: " 5w- 30 preferred". I have used T6 5w-40 for about 250 thousand miles in one of mine. Perhaps in another hundred thousand I'll find out if I did any damage.
 
Last edited:
Keep doing what you're doing. A 5w-30 is perfect for you and your vehicle. A 10w-30 is only going to be thicker at start up, which is when most engine wear occurs, and when most people try to have a thinner oil (hence people using 5w and 0w oils). I think you should stick with the 5w-30.

It sounds like you take an 80 mile highway trip (160 miles round trip) every couple weeks, right? 80 miles on the highway be plenty of time to get the oil up to full operating temperature to help burn off any water that has gotten into the oil.

The use of thicker oils for older vehicles is when oil is getting past rings or seals, and you're trying to get the oil thicker to make it harder for it to creep past them. However, if you're not experiencing that, then I don't think it's needed. If you wanted to do something now, you could try using a 5w-30 high mileage oil. HM oils are usually on the thicker side for their weight scale, and they contain more seal conditioners than regular oil does. All motor oils have seal conditioners, but HM oils put more in to help keep older seals conditioned/pliable to prevent oil from creeping past them.

If it were my vehicle and I was driving 5k miles a year. I would use any quality 5w-30 conventional or semi-synthetic oil with a good filter, and would change the oil once a year. If I felt the need, I might move up to a HM oil, but that's it.
 
geetar, you should be fine blending your 10W-40 with a 5W-20. At 50/50, you'll end up with something of an XW-30. Although any oil should work, it maybe be marginally better to use the 5W-20 of the same brand, the argument being the additive packages will be similar and better work together.
 
Similar motor in my lady's car actually. 98' Camry that calls for 5w-30.. I would just use a good brand of either HM or conventional oil. I am not brand specific but Valvoline, Castrol GTX and Havoline are very strong. Currently running the Havoline in my lady's car and my Altima has well. The lab tests on those oils I mentioned are all really good on their TBN and wear protection. Got my ladys car from her grandmother with only 67k miles on it. A perfect barn find really. Very well maintained and near mint condition. Heck your car can last another ten years. Just like my girls car will with good care. Add
 
geetar; don't confuse the 5 or 10W with the 30.

A 5W-30 when cold (5W) is going to be WAY thicker than the 30 weight at operating temps. Oil always thins as it gets hotter.

The two # designations are for different tests.
 
geetar,

Originally Posted By: geetar
Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered some Shell Helix HX7 Professional AF 5w30.


Since you are in UK anything from this list should be fine:

https://www.123spareparts.co.uk/engine-oils/Engine-oil/c-Oil-1?q=%3Aprice-desc%3AoilViscosity%3A5W-30%3AoilRelease%3AACEA+A3&page=0&pageSize=20

Personally, I would recomend you to avoid low SAPS oils (ACEA C3, C2, C1) and stick with ACEA A3. Among the list of oils the best seems indeed Shell Helix 5W-30 and Liqui Moly
LEICHTLAUF SPECIAL LL 5W-30 https://www.123spareparts.co.uk/engine-oils/Liqui-Moly/LEICHTLAUF-SPECIAL-LL-5W-30/p-OIL-159
 
5W-30 A1/B1 or A5/B5 is ideal for that engine.

You don't need 3.5 HTHS is a Toyota engine - they like thin oils.

The shell hx7 pro looks ok. It's only SJ GF-2 and ford 913b though - there are higher specification alternatives out there
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: geetar

Is it possible to achieve a particular oil viscosity by mixing two oils of different viscosity? The reason I ask is because I bulk bought oil in the past for another vehicle which takes 10W40 and I have gallons of the stuff left over and have no use for it.


http://www.widman.biz/English/Calculators/Mixtures.html

This is a calculator for mixing two oils assuming you know the viscosities at 40C and 100C.
The concentrations and effects of the additives is a whole another issue.

Charlie
 
100k miles should not call for high mileage oil. I use regular syn oil for my 170k car with the same engine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top