Toyota now approves 0W20 in the Gen II Prius

That's interesting to see. Toyota in Japan had approved 0W-20 for 2G Prius all along. Since Canada's climate is probably no hotter than in Japan during the summer, it makes sense for 0W-20 to be approved for use there.

 

It's always nice when someone posts these usefull bits of info! Thanks!

 

Doesn't look like it is temperature dependent either. I may use 0W20 for my next change here in North Carolina.

 

Now they approve it when oil is almost at an all time high!

 

:spy: The chart includes 2012 models.

 

I used Mobil 1 0W-20 very early on with my '04 Prius. No oil consumption. No difference in fuel economy either, at least compared to the thick made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30

Compared to the problem Patrick had with his trial of 0W-20, I believe the key is not to wait until the motor has a lot of miles on it. I switched to synthetic (Mobil 1 0W-30) at 5,000 miles. At 20,000 miles, I switched to Mobil 1 0W-20

Used oil analysis was always good, even at 16,000 km oil changes using the dealership oil filter. There may have been a minor improvement in very cold weather operation using the 0W-20, or it may have been the winter front blocking the grille

I do know with the 4 litre V6 in my FJ, no difference in fuel economy running 5W-40, 0W-40, 0W-30 or 0W-20. With the FJ motor, I had weird nitration spikes on the used oil analysis running 0W-20

 

I see in the chart I can use 0W20 in my '05. I have Mobil 1 5W30 in it now. The car has 17k miles on it now, still makes me nervous to run 0W20 for some reason though. I may try it at my next change...

 

had my 80K service done last month. would it be okay to switch to 0w20 on my next oil change? Or should i give it a miss since the engine has done so many miles already on 5w30?

I live in the uk so high temps are most certainly not an issue lol!

 

1) It only applies in Canada

2) there is no hint that oil change I intervals change

 

It is good enough for Japanese and Canadians. Its up to you to decide whether it is good enough for your Prius since TMS USA is silent on this question.

 

Since they like to recommend one oil per country, they might have decided that it's too thin for SW US temperatures and long mountain grades.

Or maybe it's just the Canadian vs USian Toyota bureaucracies

Since you are in Chicagoland, you are almost in Canada, so it shouldn't be an issue for you unless you decide to take a high speed run across the SW US. I'm not even sure that would be a problem, just speculating on Toyota's logic.

 

So... For my 2004 prius with 230K miles on it, would it be okay to switch to 0w20 does it really make that much of a mpg difference? Using 5w30 which is what the manual says

 

If you've been using 5w30 without issues, I wouldn't go to a thinner oil - especially with so many miles already on that engine. You'll probably run into oil burn issues, knocking, and probably valve chatter. Probably only gain a mile or two per a gallon but hasten the death of that high mileage engine.

It's your car - good luck with it...

 

it is temperature dependent, although size of engine is also a factor.

you would never want to switch to that thin of an oil if you live in mexico...

 

Only if you still have adequate oil pressure under "worst case" (fully hot) conditions. I wouldn't do it unless I tested pressure with a mechanical test gauge and still had 15+ psi at hot idle.

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