Brand of engine oil?

[Ryan_289]

I recently bought my first Toyota vehicle and it didnt come with a manual. From my research I have found the 5W-30/5000 miles oil change interval. Are you guys using full synthetic or regular dino oil? My 97 has the 3.5 engine with 112000 miles on it. The dealership changed it when we bought it so I have a few more miles to go. Are yall going the full 5000 or are you doing it at 3000 miles? I usually use Castrol in my other vehicles, is there another that would be better? What about filters, OEM all the way or Napa/Wix?

 

[satek]

For my 4runner, I use the cheapest dino 5w/10w-30 oil I can find and use it for 5000 mile intervals, and it has ~241k miles. So for example, I used that Valvoline Nextgen recycled oil before, Walmart's Supertech, and Mobil 1 5k High Mileage with no discernable differences that I could see.

I think any oil nowadays should be able to last that long quite easily.

 

[thebrandon]

3000 or 5000 it wont matter if you use synthetic or not as long as you are changing it.

Me personally, I use synthetic and try to change it every 3000, but sometimes stretch it to 5000 which is no problem for these motors, and most vehicles in general. I Usually use Mobile 1 because it is usually on sale where I'm at .

 

[Justin727]

I run Mobil 1 synthetic. Changed it between 4-5k miles. Before that was Mobil Super for the majority of its life changing it @ 3k. I have almost 200k miles on my rig and its ran synthetic for the last 3 oil changes.

Best way to gauge how long you can go before changing oil is to run a particular oil for a few changes then send out for an oil analysis. Black stone labs if my memory serves me correctly does it.

Did this with my Tundra back in 04 while running Mobil 1 synthetic and could go 13k between oil changes according to them. But the 2uz is a low wearing engine as well.

Haven't done one since then so probably should do one on my 4runner soon.

 

[bpowa]

3000 or 5000 it wont matter if you use synthetic or not as long as you are changing it.

Me personally, I use synthetic and try to change it every 3000, but sometimes stretch it to 5000 which is no problem for these motors, and most vehicles in general. I Usually use Mobile 1 because it is usually on sale where I'm at .

3k on full synthetic is a waste for normal driving conditions.
With non high performance engines i see oil analysis indicating the oil is still good up to 15k miles. It be safe to change it at 8k. And still have its normal oil wear. Tundra v8 oil analysis. Shows regular oil is still good at 10k intervals.

For my runner i change at 5k. Using mobile 5000. So its regular oil. I would normally use rotella but they went up in price. My acura tl. I use mobile 1. It has a inboard oil analysis using crank time and heat to indicate oil wear. It normally tell me to change at 7k. With 20% life left. And the engine. Is high performance for a v6.

 

[mistersnowman97]

I do pennzoil high mileage.

 

[TheDurk]

I run SuperTech Full Synthetic from Wal-Mart and change at 6500-7k. The $ I save on oil I spend on filters. I use an oversized premium filter from NAPA with synthetic media, the NAPA Platinum PL 41516. I do Blackstone every other change and the oil always has more miles left in it, according to Blackstone. It's always a good report. Once I ran it to a little over 9k, and the report still came back fine, but I feel better at 7k.

Yeah, synthetic at 3K is a real waste.

 

[supermike]

as long as it got correct oil, 5w-30 or 40, and you change it. it's good to go. come on, it is a toyota 5vz....

 

[PNW yota]

I read this years ago and go by the author's advice (http://www.ecoadvanced.net/pdf/motor-oil-bible.pdf), and put my money into the filter I use instead of the oil. So I use conventional oil with a mobil1 filter and change every 3k.

 

[TheDurk]

I read this years ago and go by the author's advice (http://www.ecoadvanced.net/pdf/motor-oil-bible.pdf), and put my money into the filter I use instead of the oil. So I use conventional oil with a mobil1 filter and change every 3k.

I like this advice better, from Page 107 of same document:

Use synthetic AND a high
efficiency oil filter, and you're probably ok for about 7,500 to 9,000 miles.

He's really a fan of synthetic and longer OCI. How did you miss that?

 

[wc11]

Been changing every 5k since new so what evers on sale.

 

[LittleCaesar]

The motor oil bible: some lucid points, but when written for Amsoil, there is bias, even though Amsoil is good stuff, no doubt IMHO.

Flush the engine before switching from dino to synthetic? Pressure drop after switching to synthetic? Hmmm.....

 

[PNW yota]

I like this advice better, from Page 107 of same document:



He's really a fan of synthetic and longer OCI. How did you miss that?

I didn't miss that. A) I've always had higher mileage vehicles and been leery of switching and causing new leaks. And B) I've also been under a budget so conventional is the cheaper (in the short term) way to go. So I followed his rational

"The fact is, if I was relegated to choosing EITHER high efficiency filtration OR synthetic oil for my vehicle, I would choose high efficiency filtration, hands down. For the money, you get more benefit from improved filtration than you do from improved lubrication with a synthetic oil." On page 82

And yes I realize the next paragraph says

"However, I would also say, synthetic oils do still provide a significant increase in engine protection. So, since we don't have to choose between them, I would highly recommend the combination of a good synthetic oil and a high efficiency oil filter for maximum protection of your engine."

So no I didn't miss that he prefers synthetic.

 

[Ryan_289]

Well with not knowing what was run in mine before I got it im afraid I would have problems switching to synthetic. I dont suppose it would hurt to try it once to see if I get any leaks. Its a third vehicle so the extended mile intervals dont really interest me as much, Probably have to change it at 6 months regardless.

What about the OEM filter? I hear of some that swear by the toyota brand and others that say to use different.

 

[Canuckrz]

I'd argue its generally less about brand and more about which specific line of oil you use. Brands generally aren't entirely good or entirely bad, it comes out to what each individual product line has to offer. Sometimes even within the same line of oil certain weights of oil have an entirely different composition than the rest.

0W30 Castrol Syntec (Commonly refered to as German Castrol or GC) is the perfect example of this, in this case its actually a lot better than the rest of the Syntec line. In a lot of stores it will generally sell for .30->.50 cents more than the other Syntec weights. Its the most popular oil in the mk3 supra community as a result.

There's very few oil brands that I generally dislike overall, Royal Purple because of their ridiculous pricing combined with the fact they have a reputation for rapid viscosity breakdown over the life of the oil. And Lucas, partially because they're one of those companies that decided that if its slippery they're going to make a "miracle" product for it, and partially because you pay for the branding and it very rarely lives up to what it claims.

Right now I'm running 5w30 Mobil 1 Syn High Milage with an extended "taurus" Wix filter in the 4runner.

Bought mine at 130,000, no idea what oil it took before then.

I switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 full synthetic, but this made my 1 drop oil leak per 2 days into an approx 5 tablespoons oil leak everyday. After 2 cycles of synthetic, I switched to Supertech dino oil. I'm back to only about 1 drop every 2 days. (I know there's a lot of debate over dino vs. synthetic, switching to synth at high mileage, etc. I'm not trying to stir the pot here, just stating my experience)

For filter I use Purolator PureOne.

Was the mobil 1 the high mileage or standard stuff? You might have a lot better luck using a high mileage oil which will have seal swellers and other additives. Valvoline Maxlife is another good high mileage oil.

 

[T4R2014]

Bought mine at 130,000, no idea what oil it took before then.

I switched to Mobil 1 5W-30 full synthetic, but this made my 1 drop oil leak per 2 days into an approx 5 tablespoons oil leak everyday. After 2 cycles of synthetic, I switched to Supertech dino oil. I'm back to only about 1 drop every 2 days. (I know there's a lot of debate over dino vs. synthetic, switching to synth at high mileage, etc. I'm not trying to stir the pot here, just stating my experience)

For filter I use Purolator PureOne.

Have you determined where the leak is coming from?

I use Pennzoil synthetic with the OEM filter.

 

[FROGrunner]

I use liquimoly full synthetic 5W30 in my truck every 6k.

 

[audiness]

Mobil 1 5w-30, 5k miles, OEM filter in both my 4runners

 

[Robb235]

I use Mobil 1 Extended Life (the gold cap one), and whatever high quality oversized (the one for the Ford Taurus) oil filter I can find. I go 10k miles between changes.

I don't think it matters which brand of synthetic you go with (Mobil 1, Castrol, Valvoline, etc.) but rather which group of synthetic you go with. For example, your cheaper synthetics are Group III oils, which is a hydrocracked oil. A lot of people don't consider these to be "true" synthetic oils, even though legally they can be labeled as a synthetic. Group III oil provides longer protection than conventional oil (Group I & II). Group IV oils are your more expensive synthetics, and most of your oil gurus refer to these as "true synthetic" oils. These provide better protection than the hydrocracked Group III oils.

 

[thebrandon]

3k on full synthetic is a waste for normal driving conditions.
With non high performance engines i see oil analysis indicating the oil is still good up to 15k miles. It be safe to change it at 8k. And still have its normal oil wear. Tundra v8 oil analysis. Shows regular oil is still good at 10k intervals.

For my runner i change at 5k. Using mobile 5000. So its regular oil. I would normally use rotella but they went up in price. My acura tl. I use mobile 1. It has a inboard oil analysis using crank time and heat to indicate oil wear. It normally tell me to change at 7k. With 20% life left. And the engine. Is high performance for a v6.

I'm aware, and I agree with your research. I however don't mind throwing away money every 3-5k miles for fresh oil and filters. It's something to keep me busy since I change it myself. Peace of mind I guess .