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0w-20 or 0w-16 oil? manual conflicts

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by TheClassic, Sep 20, 2018.

  1. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    I am so looking forward to have an EV and never have to worry about this oil crap anymore. I am annoyed by what Toyota does and writes in the manual, trying to make you feel guilty if their own dealers cannot follow what Toyota says it must be done.
    And all this "kerfuffle", on a car where, at least according to my MFD stats, 60+% of the time the ICE is not even turned on. Yet they insist that you change the oil every year. By using the ICE half the time. Even on the regular Prius, where 40-50% of the time you drive without using the ICE, they still want oil changes every year or sooner.

    My old Polo back in 2002 (!!) had programmed oil changes every TWO years and it worked just fine.

    This whole thing between 0W-20 or 0W-16 I think it has more to do with fuel efficiency standards for certifications, than with real life fuel consumption, ICE longevity, etc. Yet we are all still wasting time on this forum talking about something that, seemingly, has no effect in real life.

    Talking of which: where is the 700mi-range solid-state battery EV Prius? What is Toyota expecting Prius buyer to buy when they change their Prius? A bZ4x with wheels falling off and 250mi range? or yet another CO2 spewing vehicle? Because I don't see any hydrogen station network anywhere on the planet (and not even in Japan) and several versions of Mirai to choose from.... ;)
     
  2. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    I haven’t checked the actual pressures, but the Repair Manual (more info) has a procedure to check the oil pressure by installing a gauge in place of the engine oil pressure switch assembly. It says the “Standard Oil Pressure” is 60 kPa (8.7 psi) or higher when idling, and 142 kPa (21 psi) or higher at 2500 rpm.
     
    alanclarkeau and CR94 like this.
  3. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    I just checked my warranty and maintenance guide and it says on page 58 "Maintenance Log" that if that 0W-20 is used, after either 5k miles or 6 months. I had seen a Valvoline sticker placed by the dealer on the windshield that said "change oil in August", but I thought that was a mistake on their end. And guess what, when I did the 18 months' check this past August they changed jack sh1t.

    So now I am in "violation" of Toyota's own guideline about oil, by going to a Toyota dealer to do the forced nonsense "every six months" check for "free".

    If my engine melts down (I doubt) I guess the dealer and Toyota are in for a treat. They cannot even get oil change right.
    My next check/oil change is in Feb. 2023, or 24 months after purchase. Let's see if they f4ck that up too.
    I am pretty upset. I wonder if I should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (800-331-4331) as per page 5 of above mentioned booklet. Or call the service manager/customer relations manager, as also mentioned in the same booklet...

    It is not and shouldn't be this complicated....
     
  4. ColoradoBoo

    ColoradoBoo Senior Member

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    Yep Toyota recently announced their EV plans aren't going to be as robust as they had originally planned. I suspect they are looking at the availability and costs with the lithium projected to be in short-supply soon due to so many manufacturers jumping into the EV/Hybrid arena. Toyota is pretty smart....I think a lot of this EV/Hybrid popularity will subside when the costs are outrageous and folks then start saying, "Can I just buy a small 4-cylinder gas burner again?"

    This is an interesting video...

     
  5. Shoeb

    Shoeb Junior Member

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    Japanese manual recommends 0w-16 in several places of the manual.

    I have Prius 2017 ZVW50