18 yrs. old, too late to switch to Synthetic?

[Arv]

So my 2000 Sports Ed has 127K miles, is it too late to switch to Synthetic? I know about the possibility of leaking seals on high mileage vehicles, but some had good luck and had no problems. Though some people switched to synth at over 100K and had no problems, their vehicles were not almost 18 yrs old when they switched.

I'm thinking of switching over since synth oil is really cheap nowadays and I can run 5K instead of sub 3K change intervals to keep my engine clean.

Like I said I've read a lot about the pros and cons but I don't really see a lot of posts regarding 4Runners/Toyotas pushing close to 20 yrs switching to synth.
I can deal with a valve cover gasket leak but not a rear main seal.

Thanks!

 

[99problems]

So my 2000 Sports Ed has 127K miles, is it too late to switch to Synthetic? I know about the possibility of leaking seals on high mileage vehicles, but some had good luck and had no problems. Though some people switched to synth at over 100K and had no problems, their vehicles were not almost 18 yrs old when they switched.

I'm thinking of switching over since synth oil is really cheap nowadays and I can run 5K instead of sub 3K change intervals to keep my engine clean.

Like I said I've read a lot about the pros and cons but I don't really see a lot of posts regarding 4Runners/Toyotas pushing close to 20 yrs switching to synth.
I can deal with a valve cover gasket leak but not a rear main seal.

Thanks!

I made the switch to full synthetic from conventional at nearly 200,000 miles and ~ 16 years old at the time of changeover. No issues at all with the switch or since; twice even I made the mistake of taking it to Toyota for an oil change and they put conventional back in it. Now I do all my own changes to limit her contact to one idiot mechanic. I use Mobil 1 synthetic for high mileage vehicles and a Toyota branded oil filter every ~5k miles.

 

[<<<<]

Nothing will happen to seals, just use same viscosity and switch away. Mobil 1 is one the best values. GL

 

[Arv]

I made the switch to full synthetic from conventional at nearly 200,000 miles and ~ 16 years old at the time of changeover. No issues at all with the switch or since; twice even I made the mistake of taking it to Toyota for an oil change and they put conventional back in it. Now I do all my own changes to limit her contact to one idiot mechanic. I use Mobil 1 synthetic for high mileage vehicles and a Toyota branded oil filter every ~5k miles.

Funny, same reason why I've decided to do oil changes myself from now on. idiot mechanics. I've always had it serviced at the stealership til 100K then I took it to Iffylube to get the drivetrain fluids drained and filled and heck might as well an oil change. Bad mistake, first they put my K&N air filter backwards then the oil filter came loose and made a mess in the undercarriage. Note that I have a 94 Nisan 4WD PU 128K miles that I use when there's a chance of rain/snow so this 4Runner hasn't seen wet conditions for a long long time so it is extra clean!

Going back to the oil, I already have Mobil 1 advanced full synth at home that I use on my 02 RX300 82K miles, can I use that? I know the high mileage formulations have those extra seal conditioners but it wouldn't hurt for one oil change right? I will definitely buy the high mileage formulation later on.

Thanks for the replies guys!