Prius 2017 Engine Oil 0w-16/0w-20

In Japan, their engines stay in the car for only a few years and have to be changed out. So 0w16 wouldn't matter to them for that short period. I would stick with 0w20 if you are not in Japan

 

WHAT????????????

 

That is one many criteria used. IF you want to learn more check out the information provided by API and PQIA.

 

or is that an urban myth?

 

I have no idea (thus my post). Of course it doesn’t match any reliable sources that I have seen, so I was hoping you could provide some more information to back up the statement. Obviously, I’m having trouble believing it, but that doesn’t make it necessarily inaccurate. Waiting to be enlightened.

 

Well there is discussion about how JDM engines come so readily available with low miles. Many would say their engines get swapped out at a certain mileage and some would say the country is small and their engines just don't accumulate a whole lot of miles before they are retired.

So not sure which of the two are more accurate. But I wouldn't use 0w-16 unless my car specifically states to use it in my specific country/region.

 

I agree with not using the 0W-16 unless specifically called for, especially since it is a 6B oil and is not backward compatible to earlier models (I don’t have the specific knowledge as to why different regions and years with what “appears” to be the identical engine have different oils specified. But based on what I’ve learned regarding API standards, I do know it is not just better mpg ratings).

 

Personally i use 0w16 or 0w20. As long as it's a good brand. I'm less discriminating during winter as i change it often because of sludge issues during those months..

 

The car may need 0W-16 to get the fuel efficiency claimed in Japanese advertisements.

 

Engines in Japan are not required to be swapped out. As cars get older they pay higher registration fees.
In Australia they recommend heavier weight oil. 5-30 and 0-40 is recommended.

 

No difference in MPG using 0-40 MOBIL 1

 

I changed the oil which the dealer just changed when they put it for sale. 2020 Prime. I don’t know what oil they used, conglomerate dealer, I think it went to the Ford section. OReilly Microgard filter was on. Why? The Toyota dealer is right next door and cheaper.
Now it has Toyota 0w-16, and a Toyota 90915-yzzn1 oil filter. Went on 350 mile trip, engine very quiet. Will stick to this regime. Because the filter sits horizontal will use the N1 over the longer I think it’s F1 and F2. F2 seems replaced by N1. The filter flow stays the same regardless.

 

Has anyone inspected 0-16 and 0-20 side by side ? from what I've noticed so far there isn't a whole lotta diff between the two.
On the other hand different brands and different brand labels of Mobil 1 0-16, 0-20 and Valvoline 0-20 synthetic can have much different amber shades, so much so the lightest ones can be impossible to see on the dip stick.

 

I just bought a 2019 XLE and the manual specifically says to use synthetic 0W16, but if you have to use 0W20, make sure to use 0W16 in the next oil change. I thought it was odd how specific the wording was. I figured it must be an issue to some degree. But, that being said, they still recommend 10000 mile oil changes, which is crazy in my mind. I always change at 5000 miles. I'm not circulating dirt in my engine for 10000 miles and I don't want to sludge the engine in 60000 miles like my brother and many others have.

 

So I got to studying this a bit and looks like Toyota Genuine Motor Oil 0w-16 is based on Mobil 1 0w-16 but with additional anti friction package, especially molybdenum and boron content being very high. When they say genuine oil or equivalent for 10000 mile oil change interval, I am afraid that Mobil 1 0w-16 I have been buying from Walmart and using without much thought until now (120000 miles) is not really equivalent per se, because of its lower anti friction package content. I bought the genuine oil for my next oil change and see if I notice any difference…

So far, the car does not consume any oil, and runs smoothly. I did notice a slight loss of mpg (may be 2-3 mpg?) when I first drained the factory oil at the very first oil change when I got the car new back in 2019, and refilled with the generic Mobil 1 0w-16 so may be there was something there that I should have realized then but had no idea…

 

Yep, there's two engines in the Gen 4 and one takes 0W-20 and the other 0W-16.

My wife's 2017 (model ZVW50L-AHXEBA) takes the 0W-20 and my 2021 (model ZVW55L-AHXEBA) takes 0W-16.....very annoying when wanting to stock up on oil! (I do two oil changes yearly on all our cars....sometimes more in my car if I go over 5,000 before the 6-months hits.)

 

It's the same engine, just the U.S. specs want 0w/16 in the 20-22' models for emissions and MPG reasons.

 

Wow. I'm so confused. Been studying all of this oil business for a few years and I have a degree in chemistry and still can't really determine what the answers are to a few questions. Saw the newer 0W-16 oils and became curious if I could get even better mileage with it, and if it would possibly slip into friction gaps a bit quicker than 0W-20 on startup, since even though they're variable viscosity, with both rated at 0W, the thinner oil is likely still a bit thinner at "cold" temp on startup. I'm basically geeking out on trying to make my engine run super efficiently for 350+k miles. I've been experimenting with extremely long oil change interval (Blackstone Labs was very impressed). But I'm now over 150k miles, so I'm not going to be doing that any more, because I went down by 1 Qt this time, so there may be a bit of gunk in the rings and I don't want a scored cylinder. I know a ton of you are going to roll your eyes, so go ahead! (really! I expect it SHOULD cause a few eye-rolls) A lot of flamers for someone doing a 30k oil interval, but my analysis (@ 120k) looked better than most doing 10k mile changes. Lots of TBE left and all wear metals lower than most 10k engines. So scoffers go ahead. I won't be shocked if my analysis this time (same interval) looks a bit worse, but we shall see....oil is sent off with over 30k on it. You have to do this right to get away with it (right oil, right filter, right driving, almost religious warming up before putting in gear....lots of letting off the gas and trying to use EV mode, lots of coasting and very little heavy traffic). Anyway, I'm thinking 10k changes now. Ironically, I even have a quick-drain plug installed, so I'm obviously entertaining myself with experimentation, since I can change the oil in a snap. Still wondering: I was living in the mountains in CO (snow in winter, but car kept in garage so not started very often in freezing temps). Now living in Tucson, AZ and car has to be kept outside, so it's always started at over 80-degrees F (remote start installed to help with pre-warming). Should I be considering a bit heavier than 0W-20 (such as 0W-30)? I don't suspect it would make much difference because I use a Scanguage II and my temps run about the same regardless (I rarely can get over 200 F water temp...usually 190-195...and had to block the radiator in CO winters to keep it over 190). Since Toyota recommends (at least in the US for a 2013) 0W-20, even at 120-degree F weather, I think that's likely best. But if I went to 0W-16 would I get a couple more MPG? (getting right around 48mpg in AZ....usually 40 in CO).

Would I be causing too much wear at high temps with 0W-16? I'd really love to see any data anyone has (or significant experience with bore-scoping, oil analysis, etc). Thanks for listening to my rant, and will definitely post up my Blackstone analysis on my 30k+ oil as soon as it's back. We'll see....I could have really made a mistake, but I'll post it up regardless. (oil catch can after EGR system removal and thorough clean at 120k miles, SeaFoam cylinder soaks, and SeaFoam intake spray at 120k, occasional SeaFoam in gas, and occasional premium gas for detergent additives.) If I've gummed the rings a bit, they'll likely be put back to healthy as I'm going to do direct cylinder soaks (this time with Berryman's B12...which is better for this), and also run ATF 505 CRO in the oil, right before the change. (I sent the Blackstone sample off before adding anything to the oil). That should clean up the rings a bit, and I only "burned" 1qt of oil in 30+k miles, so not evidencing any cylinder damage yet, I don't suppose. Thanks to anyone reading all this who has any detailed information or comments or thoughts.

 

Don't feel bad.
Engineers disagree passionately about this too.