12,000 mile oil changes?

I've been a conventional dino 3K guy my whole life. I've let my 4runner go to 5K and not seen a difference in oil or performance. Now I'm looking at synthetic and longer change intervals. I drive 15-20K a year.

O'Reillys has a deal on their house brand Full Synthetic oil and filter for like $27 right now - notwithstanding their filter, is this a decent oil to consider?
 
octanejunkie said:
I've been a conventional dino 3K guy my whole life. I've let my 4runner go to 5K and not seen a difference in oil or performance. Now I'm looking at synthetic and longer change intervals. I drive 15-20K a year.

O'Reillys has a deal on their house brand Full Synthetic oil and filter for like $27 right now - notwithstanding their filter, is this a decent oil to consider?
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I go 10k between oil & filter changes with a 15k rated oil. I also pair it with a long-life filter though, both from AMSOIL. Comes out to (when I buy bulk) to $38 an oil change, once per year.

I've used other products from O'Reilly's like their ATF fluid, etc. since there's one by my house. I would assume their oil would be of similar quality. But if you want to try and go over 5k miles on oil you need a good filter. Oil won't make one lick of difference if your filter's media is full to capacity and just passing contaminants back into your engine.
 
gamefreakgc said:
... if you want to try and go over 5k miles on oil you need a good filter. Oil won't make one lick of difference if your filter's media is full to capacity and just passing contaminants back into your engine.
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Cost isn't a huge concern as I'm protecting an investment in my paid off, dependable vehicle. What filter should I buy that will last a year?

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When I was a kid and just finished high school and Vo-Tech school for auto mechanics, my first job was at a local delivery company in the fleet maintenance dept. They had 25 1 ton step vans, all Chevy 5.7 powered, ( Q-jets.. TBI was still about 3 years away for new trucks, and these trucks were all at least 10 years old.)

My job was to catch a certain truck when it came back from deliveries and to pull an oil sample and ATF sample and take it to the test lab, then log the data when it came back. These trucks were averaging 10-12K between oil changes back then. A filter changed happened every 5K. Nothing special about the oil, just 50 gallon drums of fleet service 10W40 in the winter and a straight 40W for spring summer and fall.

I remember asking one of the lab engineers what exactly they were looking for in the tests and got an explanation that was over my head in terms of comprehension but suffice it to say, when I finally did an oil change it was hard to believe ( at first) that the oil was doing any good based on how it looked.

30 years later, I still don't care what the oil looks like. When I had a MKIV TDi Jetta, the brand new proper spec oil went in looking great, within 10 minutes of it running you would think that the oil came from the crank case of a diesel locomotive. On the WJ's that I owned over the past 5 years, the 4.0 would go 10K between oil changes after a few Blackstone reports told me that I was doing fine at 10K and could go to 12K without worry.

Once I finally get my newest PIA caught up on maintenance, I'll do an oil change at 180K and pull a sample for testing at 5K interval so that I can judge what kind of overall condition this thing is in. I plan on using high mileage Castrol and a OE filter, or maybe a Wix if I can find one locally.

Oil filter brand debates are as much fun to watch as these oil change interval threads. You could almost hear keyboards being smashed at the jeep forum site, lol
 
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octanejunkie said:
Cost isn't a huge concern as I'm protecting an investment in my paid off, dependable vehicle. What filter should I buy that will last a year?

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Click to expand...

I've only used AMSOIL and Toyota filters.... so that's all I have experience with.
 
Speaking of sludge...

I recently got a 2001 4Runner (4wd 3.4 v6)
Oil change history unknown, except that he did use conventional dino oil sometimes.

I'm thinking about slowly going to full synthetic.
But just in case there's some sludge deep in the engine, I'm thinking about doing it slowly. For example, 10% synthetic for a while, then 25%, then 50/50. Change the filter an extra time or two, then go 100% after the 2nd or 3rd change.

Any thoughts? (newbie here, can't start a new Sludge thread, had to reply and hijack this one)

Note: the valve cover gaskets were leaking a tiny bit. The bolts were barely hand-tight (very loose) -- I re-torqued them to spec and they seem to have stopped leaking.
 
If the old engine does have sludge use conventional oil with about 6 OZ of Marvel Mystery Oil.. walmart has it for about $4....

run the vehicle a few hundred miles, and check oil condition.. if it gets dark then change the oil again and repeat the MMO with conventional .. after about 3 of these early oil changes , the engine should be clean enough so you can go full synthetic and change the oil in the 5-10K mile range.

MMO is a detergent oil conditioner NOT solvent safe for oil and added to fuel . I use MMO in all my engines small and large ... more is not better !!! only use small amounts so the sludge loosens up slowly.
 
catrains said:
MMO is a detergent oil conditioner NOT solvent safe for oil and added to fuel . I use MMO in all my engines small and large ... more is not better !!! only use small amounts so the sludge loosens up slowly.
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I'm a little confused by your post. MMO website says you can add it to the gas tank or the oil cap IIRC.
 
amalik said:
I'm a little confused by your post. MMO website says you can add it to the gas tank or the oil cap IIRC.
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the MMO is a detergent . this is a product that cleans up any carbon/sludge and other materials created in the engine oil and the fuel tank.

many years ago the MMO was used mostly by Diesel owners. NOW with alcohol fuels many use MMO in the gas.. this protects from alcohol damage due to the gas now absorbing moisture from the air.

if you live like in Florida and keep the tank down low on fuel the gas will create lots of growing particles and create damage to the fuel system.

using conventional oils in the engine MMO does work to breakdown the sludge as conventional oils do absorb moisture and then the sludge.

with the use of synthetic pure oil no sludge but sometimes MMO on old engines that oil change shops on performing the oil changes they do not allow all the oil to drain out so MMO may be needed to clean up the engine due to old oil left in the engine ..

I change my oil and engine is hot.. takes a full 45 min to get all the oil out .. oil change shops will never wait that long .. time is $$$..

MMO use more is not better only a few ounces is required in the oil or gas.
 
catrains said:
the MMO is a detergent . this is a product that cleans up any carbon/sludge and other materials created in the engine oil and the fuel tank..

...MMO use more is not better only a few ounces is required in the oil or gas.
Click to expand...
I do the same but with seafoam

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Last I checked the major cleaning ingredient in MMO was Mineral Spirits. And I can't bring myself to go that long without sending a oil sample and at the minimum changing the oil filter at the change interval and a oil sample sent out.


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I drove a 4Runner who’s owner just pays for oil changes and lives. It had a sludgy valvetrain and damn did it drive good anyway.

Change your oil and move on with your lives.
 
catrains said:
If the old engine does have sludge use conventional oil with about 6 OZ of Marvel Mystery Oil...only use small amounts so the sludge loosens up slowly.
Click to expand...

I agree about trying to loosen up sludge slowly. Unfortunately I'm leaving for a 2,000 mile road trip very soon, and the conventional/dino oil is still new (500 miles). Dipstick says there's room for 1/2 quart, so I was thinking about topping off with synthetic, along the lines of loosening up slowly. Thoughts anyone?

Previous owner was very sporadic with oil changes, mostly at Firestone, one of which went 9,000 miles on conventional/dino oil, and had no records for the first 10 years.
 
Randall44 said:
I agree about trying to loosen up sludge slowly. Unfortunately I'm leaving for a 2,000 mile road trip very soon, and the conventional/dino oil is still new (500 miles). Dipstick says there's room for 1/2 quart, so I was thinking about topping off with synthetic, along the lines of loosening up slowly. Thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...

You could top off with ATF.

Similar to using MMO, but probably not for 2K miles, usually 100 or so miles before an oil and filter change

I'd just top it off with what's already in there and treat it after your trip.

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Randall44 said:
I agree about trying to loosen up sludge slowly. Unfortunately I'm leaving for a 2,000 mile road trip very soon, and the conventional/dino oil is still new (500 miles). Dipstick says there's room for 1/2 quart, so I was thinking about topping off with synthetic, along the lines of loosening up slowly. Thoughts anyone?

Previous owner was very sporadic with oil changes, mostly at Firestone, one of which went 9,000 miles on conventional/dino oil, and had no records for the first 10 years.
Click to expand...

I would just go on your trip and bring some oil / check oil when you fill up fuel .

500 miles and down 1/2 qt this all means a worn engine . synthetic oil will work better on a worn engine as the oil temps run higher in the oil due to ring wear .. ATF is not for engines reason is it is no designed for the high temps .. some put a qt of ATF in the engine oil ,idle the engine for 15 min then change the oil .. I do not do this because it is a possible problem if the engine has sludge and then the particles messing up the new oil/filter. loosens up the mess too quickly ..

as I mentioned 5 OZ of MMO to your oil is not a problem .. this will work fine on your trip but only 5 OZ.. when you return and change the oil it should run better but 1/2qt in 500 miles the engine is very worn due to going too long on conventional oil .. I used to use conventional decades ago 3500-4K miles on oil changes ..

NOw using synthetics pure , 10K mile oil changes .. fuel management now , does cause this to work good. decades ago fuel management was very poor so the oil got damaged much faster ..
 
catrains said:
NOw using synthetics pure , 10K mile oil changes .. fuel management now , does cause this to work good. decades ago fuel management was very poor so the oil got damaged much faster ..
Click to expand...


I agree on the newer fuel management. My tail pipe is still light brown inside and it's 5 years old and has at least 10,000. Heck it isn't really rusting yet either.
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