[kbilly0718]

Hi. I have 2004 Camry LE w/ 6200 miles on it. I went to toyota dealer to buy motor oils and they give me SAE 10W-30. I change my oils and yesterday I was reading my camry manual, and found out I have to use SAE 5W-30. Today I went to the dealer and told them my manual says I have to use SAE 5W-30, and they said they use SAE10W-30 in southern california. Can anybody confirm that? Thanks

 

[sonyminidiscman]

I use 5W30 here in toronto cause in winter it goes down to -30 degree C

so, if u are in South Cal... and use 10W30, it will be no problem..

if its always hot, it is to your benefit

 

[humanoid]

Don't sweat it, fellow SoCal Bro! I've been using 10w-30 in my rig since I got it. 10w is a little thicker than 5w and with the weather the way it is here it's probably better that you use 10w instead of 5w.

 

[Kensuke]

Toyota's recomendations in regards to oil are stupid. They make no account for weather, driving habits, or engine age. You can't hurt you car be putting in a different weight. Just make sure you change it regularly.

10w-30 is pretty much the "catch all" oil that is put in if you don't specify a certain weight to the guys that do it (almost anywhere in CA). I live in California too, and it seems to be fine for me (I use Mobil 1 fully synthetic 10w-30).

5w-30 is probably a bit too light. Espcially if you do hard driving. I doubt you'd notice any difference (except maybe a VERY minute improvement in gas mileage). Some people I know drive with even thicker oils (particularly when the piston rings really start to deteriorate). In fact, a former Toyota engineer I know says he gets the best performance out of 20w-50. YMMV.

- John

 

[SamMan23]

10w30 is probably better in SoCal. Unless you are in really cold climate, you're better off with 10w30.

The numbers tell you how thick the oil is. The 10w30 is a 10w oil that becomes a 30w oil as the engine reaches normal operating temperature. You will wonder how a oil becomes thicker as it gets hotter, but there are viscosity index modifiers that are added to the 10w oil to make it thicker as it reaches optimum temperature.

The 5w30 starts with a 5w and have more of a spread. I personally would go with the 10w30 out there because of the smaller spread. But if you are changing every 3000 miles, then it really doesn't matter.

But both oils are the same thickness when the engine is running at normal operating temperature. If it's real warm out there during the summers, you could possibly even run a SAE30 which has no viscosity modifiers.