Hi,

Oil change time for my Aygo 1.0 vvti. Wondering which oil to use as there are loads of conflicting recommendations on the web.

The car is a 2008 petrol 1.0 vvti engine on 53000 miles although the short engine was replaced last year so it has really only done about 10000 engine miles. Living in central Scotland so ambient temperature range of, say, -15C to (cough) 30C on a very very good day! Mostly motorway mileage at the legal speed limit or thereabouts.

Most seem to recommend 5w30 but I have some Mobil 1 0w40 in the garage left over from a previous vehicle and wondered if this would be better? I'd rather use what I've got rather than buy something new, especially if the Mobil 1 is actually a better oil. If I understand correctly, the 0w40 will be slightly thicker at running temp and slightly thinner when cold, both of which will offer better protection perhaps at the expense of slightly lower MPG due to thicker oil at running temp. Is that about right?

Thanks,
Craig.

What the does the owners manual say? Follow the manufacturers recommendations.

They are very very reliable engines. Pretty much any semi-synth oil around 5w30-0w40 will work fine in them. I'd recommend following the type listed in the owners manual, but I wouldn't hesitate to put any of the above into mine.

With regular oil changes, these engines will go on easily to 200k miles even if revved all the time.

Yaris is on 160k miles now with oil changes every 6-10k depending on time. Using standard motor factors oil/mobil/shell whatever is on offer to be honest. Usually used 10w40 as it's readily available.

5w/30 synthetic because Toyotas (especially the Aygo) now have a history piston slap issues at higher mileages it MUST REPEAT MUST be Fully Synthetic

You can buy the official Toyota branded oil at a great price off ebay do an eBay search on "Toyota 5w/30."



[Edited on 19/2/12 by britishtrident]

Hi,

Thanks guys, I read your posts earlier while outside doing the oil change but didn't want to reply due to having oily fingers.

@Mike, the owners manual specifies several grades but that was written years ago and I am aware that the Aygo engine has had a few issues which have resulted in some changes of recommended oil. I just wasn't sure exactly what the latest thinking was.

@PSpirine, I'm afraid I'd have to disagree about these being very reliable engines. My car is 4 years old in May and is on its second engine already, replaced after 45k miles due to piston slap and worn engine bearings. It also had a new water pump earlier in its life and has had to have the clutch adjusted at every service due to other known issues with premature clutch failure. I've also got an illuminated engine check light (amber light) due to a lambda sensor failure. I can easily fix that but I'll need to get a fault code reader to work out which sensor is faulty as there two. To make matters worse, the engine is starting to exhibit piston slap again after only 10k miles. Note that this is the first service I've done myself, all the others were done by Toyota or large independent garage according to the service schedule. We've also owned the car since new. Most damningly, I know someone who works for Peugeot/Citroen/Toyota and they have told me that a regular supply of replacement short engines flows through inventory due to early engine failures. I'm pleased to hear that you got a good one though.

@bt, Yes I'm aware it must be FULLY synthetic and Mobil 1 0w40 is fully synthetic so should be fine. It's a little bit thicker when hot than 5w30 which might help to protect slightly better but might reduce economy slightly. The 0w compared to 5w should mean better protection when cold due to the oil being thinner and easier to pump. That might help to protect when cold and reduce piston slap or at least stop it getting any worse.

Thanks to all once again,
Craig.

ps. I had a horrible time trying to remove the oil filter with a traditional chain wrench but I bought a metal band type wrench from Halfords (£14.99) and it was a doddle to remove with it. I'd highly recommend this type of wrench rather than a chain wrench as the latter just tends to burst the filter in my experience and then you end up in a real mess and still the filter won't budge. £14.99 well spent I think.