Prius Gen 2 Oil

[Carltona123]

Hi everyone

Still loving my new baby!

Was thinking I'd better have some oil in for topping up purposes.

Am I right in thinking I need 5w30? Brand?

Ta

M

[dwilson]

Hi everyone

Still loving my new baby!

Was thinking I'd better have some oil in for topping up purposes.

Am I right in thinking I need 5w30? Brand?

Ta

M

I checked my oil level a couple of days ago and it has not used any in nearly 3000 miles. Has anyone needed to add oil in between services on a Prius?

[Ancient Nerd]

I checked my oil level a couple of days ago and it has not used any in nearly 3000 miles. Has anyone needed to add oil in between services on a Prius?

No. Not yet. This goes for my current Gen III, and the previous Gen II, now at 80,000 miles

[Jan&tone]

Hi everyone

Still loving my new baby!

Was thinking I'd better have some oil in for topping up purposes.

Am I right in thinking I need 5w30? Brand?

Ta

M

5w-30 - correct

Brand - go for Mr T's own, no argument then is there

As to whether I've ever used any?? No. Check it once a month but never had to put any in.

[kithmo]

Hi everyone

Still loving my new baby!

Was thinking I'd better have some oil in for topping up purposes.

Am I right in thinking I need 5w30? Brand?

Ta

M

5w-30 - correct

Brand - go for Mr T's own, no argument then is there

As to whether I've ever used any?? No. Check it once a month but never had to put any in.

As a matter of interest, would using the 0W-20 in a Gen 2 improve fuel efficiency and would it have any detrimental effect?

[Jan&tone]

0w-20 is for gen3's (and I believe the hsd Auris?) I suspect it's too thin for a gen2 but no doubt those of a more technical nature will respond...

[timberwolf]

There is conflicting information about 0W-20 for the Gen 2. My 2008 Owner's Manual indicates that 0W-20 is the preferred oil, but most online sources including Toyota's blog favour 5W-30.

When I looked into this recently, just going by the SAE viscosity (e.g. 5W-30) is not enough. There are a couple of additional things to check, the oil must be suitable for a petrol engine, and it should be fuel efficient either to the American standards API SL (or the later SM), or the stricter European standards ACEA A1/B1 (or the later A5/B5).

Being cautious, I'm not looking at the 0W-20 because there are some doubts, but I'm unable to find an authoritative reason why. But a suitable oil only has to match or exceed Toyota's specification so there are choices of both 5W-30 and 0W-30 oils.

[rodi]

I went to local dealer to book a service and they recomended 0W-30, shall I stick with this or push for 5W-30?

[timberwolf]

Well, I am not an expert, not even close. In theory, 0W-30 should be better as it will maintain low viscosity at even lower temperatures than 5W-30, but if I understand correctly we don't see temperatures down to -40C in the UK. If your dealer has made sure the oil exceeds Toyota's spec then it can't hurt (except your wallet - the dealer sourced oil will be more expensive - I think I was charged 50 quid for 3.7 litres of Castrol SLX 0W-30.

My local dealer (Kings) said they used Castrol SLX 0W-30 last year on my first service, but it comes from a storage tank, so you have to take their word for it.

When my car was brand new, I can remember the odd lurching start of the petrol engine when cold, I'm assuming the car was delivered from the factory with 5W-30?, but I can't recall the last time the car lurched on a cold start, and the engine oil was 0W-30 on the service a year ago. In other forums, some owners have said they can see no difference in MPG between 5W-30 and 0W-30, but that could depend on the length of the journey.

The only problem I had was the customer care and service were poor and they overfilled the oil because the oil comes from a storage tank and they instruct the pump to deliver 3.7 litres (as per Toyota spec) but they don't seem to be capable of putting in less and taking measurements with a dipstick.

[timberwolf]

I wanted to see if 5W-30 makes any difference compared with the 0W-30, so in preparation for the next service I've bought a 4l plastic can of Castrol Magnatec A1 5W-30 (says it meets ACEA A1/B1, A5/B5 on the label). I could've also bought Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 or Mobil 3000 FE 5W-30 but I think I mis-read the label of the Mobil 1 ESP whilst in the shop because I couldn't see the low friction ACEA standard listed and both the Mobil oils came in 5l capacity, where as the little Gen 2 Prius engine only requires <3.7 litres.

[rodi]

Few days ago I've done the main service at my Toyota's local dealer and they've used fully synthetic Castrol SLX 0W-30 oil which according to dealer is trade equivalent of Castrol Edge. The car doesn't lurch on a cold start as it happened with 5W-30.

[rodi]

I wanted to see if 5W-30 makes any difference compared with the 0W-30, so in preparation for the next service I've bought a 4l plastic can of Castrol Magnatec A1 5W-30 (says it meets ACEA A1/B1, A5/B5 on the label). I could've also bought Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 or Mobil 3000 FE 5W-30 but I think I mis-read the label of the Mobil 1 ESP whilst in the shop because I couldn't see the low friction ACEA standard listed and both the Mobil oils came in 5l capacity, where as the little Gen 2 Prius engine only requires <3.7 litres.

I would stick to fully synthetic Castrol Edge as recommended by Mr T. … is it Magnatec fully synthetic?

[timberwolf]

I would stick to fully synthetic Castrol Edge as recommended by Mr T. … is it Magnatec fully synthetic?

Yes, it says fully synthetic on the label, although as I've been reading, it isn't a useful thing to look for on the label. Fully synthetic appears to be a marketing term, the oil still came out of the ground, and supposedly only a few percent has to be processed to the extent that they can then stick fully synthetic on the label. Think of the misleading labels on our food that give the impression that our meal came from a sunlight farm house kitchen instead of a fluorescent strip lite factory.

How far can you trust the recommendation from your franchised dealer?

[Ancient Nerd]

I would stick to fully synthetic Castrol Edge as recommended by Mr T. … is it Magnatec fully synthetic?

Yes, it says fully synthetic on the label, although as I've been reading, it isn't a useful thing to look for on the label. Fully synthetic appears to be a marketing term, the oil still came out of the ground, and supposedly only a few percent has to be processed to the extent that they can then stick fully synthetic on the label. Think of the misleading labels on our food that give the impression that our meal came from a sunlight farm house kitchen instead of a fluorescent strip lite factory.

Yes, it's all a bit dodgy in the advertising department.

As I understand it, there are two types of synthetic oil:

• Type 1 uses mineral oil (the stuff that comes out of oil wells) as its base. This has to be quite thick when cold, as it thins a lot when it gets hot. It's described as synthetic when it has things added that get thicker when heated (think custard).
  So as the oil gets hotter, the base oil gets thinner, but the additives get thicker. Overall it doesn't thin as much when it gets hot. So you can start with a thinner base oil.
  It is cheap to manufacture. It goes out of grade relatively quickly. The difference between this and old fashioned multigrade is in the mind of the marketing team. I believe that Castrol Magnatec is in this category
  
• Type 2 uses a base oil that is manufactured (synthesised) from the original black stuff. Hence the description, synthetic. This base product thins much less when hot. It keeps it's performance much longer. It costs more to produce. I think Castrol Edge is in this category.
  

If you must use the first type, change the oil at 5,000 mile intervals. 10,000 is stretching it.

I had a Renault Laguna diesel a few years back. Renault UK specified an 18,000 mile service interval and "semi-synthetic" oil (Type 1). The current Renault service intervals are now much shorter and they specify fully synthetic oils. But it is interesting to look at the Renault section of the forum on the Parker's web site and count the number of complaints about blown engines and turbos.

FWIW, as soon as I realised, I supplied synthetic oil myself and changed it midway between services.

How far can you trust the recommendation from your franchised dealer?

Some you can, some you can't. If they tell you anything different from what the manual says, then no you can't.

The one exception is that I would use 0W-30 for a Gen II, rather than the recommended 5W-30. It should improve cold fuel consumption, and improve start-up lubrication. I don't understand why Toyota don't include it as an option. However, if the car is under warranty, don't use it unless you have got confirmation from Toyota or a dealer that it is OK.

BTW If you want a proper explanation, look on the Opie Oils website or Bob is the Oil guy.

[timberwolf]

A different Toyota dealer says they use Mobil 1 0W-20 in both the Gen 2 and Gen 3. Back to the start

Thanks Ancient Nerd, I've been searching for a while, and have come across those sites before, but in the case of the American sites I came to the conclusion that the Oil supplied to America and Europe was different, possibly because of the service interval? Exactly the same 1.5l engine, made in Japan, has radically different service intervals between countries.