oil pressure light on at Idle when motor warm

[trex300]

Dealership changed oil to 5W20 saying it was all they used and 5W20/ 5W30 are the same. Says 5w30 right on the oil fill cap.

Dealership saying it's probably a bad oil pressure switch.

Should I be concerned here or just keep running my 3rd gen as is? Should I change oil to a heavier weight...say 10W30?


Motor (3.4l) has 293,000 kms and runs fine except for poor fuel mileage ...getting 250-270 kms per tank city driving, haven't check hwy mileage.
no codes present either.

Any suggestions are welcome :tea:

 

[shootmymime]

yeah i would say 5-20 is pretty thin oil for your kind of miles.

also kinda depends what kind of weather you have and how cold it gets. you should be putting in 10-30 or even 15-40

the dealer ship could be right to that its an oil pressure switch, its pretty easy to replace yourself and pretty inexpensive.

but with that kind of miles you should be putting some thinker oil in.

 

[TheDurk]

^^Î agree. I have cars that are spec'ed for 5w20 that I switch to 5w-30 as they get to 100k miles. Newer Toyotas have probably been 5w-20 for a few years now, so they probably don't want to keep a second grade around just to service older cars. Typical. I would never run my rig on 5w20. (I would not go with a 10w, however.)

Manufacturers started switching to lighter oils as they fought to squeeze every last mpg out of their fuel efficiency tests. I fear that sometimes they sacrifice longevity for fuel efficiency on the newer cars.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Have you checked level on the dipstick?

20w can sheer down much quicker than a 30w depending on the manufacturer (Ashland, ex.). But I would not worry too much, but keep an eye out for leaks.

I run 10w-30 here in the Southern US and have for 7 years. No problems as of yet.

 

[541joseph]

I would change oils either to 5-30 or 10-30. 5-20 is not what the 3.4 was designed to use and doesn't give the barrier that 5-30 or 10-30 gives.

 

[Riceye]

I call bullsh!t. I believe the dealership owes you an oil change.

The oil pressure sender switch may still be wonk, but the spec oil for your engine is 5w-30 or 10w-30.

 

[trex300]

This is Toyota #14 for me but first one with the 3.4, all the rest were 22R or 22RE. Ran 15W40 in my last 22RE.

I'm changing the oil to 10W30 and will then run the truck well up into operating temp and post what I find here.

First time I've been to a Toyota dealer (to get the rear axle seal changed because it's too damn cold) had them do an oil change while it was there.

Now I know to never go back there and to just do the work myself.

Thank you for the timely replies,
Rick

 

[trex300]

Drained the 5W20 and refilled with 10W30 and no more oil light at idle in gear. :canada:.

Going to replace the upstream O2 sensor next to see if that helps my mileage. No codes but I read here that you can have a bad sensor without throwing a code.

 

[rideexileex]

Drained the 5W20 and refilled with 10W30 and no more oil light at idle in gear. :canada:.

Going to replace the upstream O2 sensor next to see if that helps my mileage. No codes but I read here that you can have a bad sensor without throwing a code.

I definitely agree with the comment that the dealership owes you... I would ask/demand for a refund if you've already had to drain it yourself.