Oil interval???

[piecesparts]

Mmmmm, everyone swears by the oem filter for our engines.

I just change mine for the first time and put an OEM filter on, until I had a chance to look into the NAPA gold for the 3400 engine. I have run the NAPA Gold filters for years and am a believer in their quality. I buy mine during the NAPA filter sales push each year and save serious cash on them.

 

[MtnChick]

[MENTION=77104]hec983[/MENTION] Since you asked, the Scheduled Maintenance Guide that came with my '00 says to use 5000 mile intervals "if you primarily operate your vehicle under any of the following conditions:

Driving on unpaved or dusty roads.
Towing a trailer or using a camper or car-top carrier.
Repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below freezing.

Use 7500 mile intervals if you primarily operate your vehicle under conditions other than those listed above."

I have read that because of the trouble Toyota had with sludge in some of their '90s era engines (not the 3.4) they lowered the general recommendation to 5000 miles. Presumably the problem was that some owners exceeded the 7500 interval, combined with a tendency for sludging in some engines.

I think the trick is to find a balance between the known increased metal wear up front when you change the oil, and the risk of sludging if you leave it in there too long. You probably can't figure this out perfectly unless you have your oil analyzed. FWIW, I'm not convinced there would be a risk using dino oil at the recommended 5000 mile interval unless you have really unusual driving conditions. I personally solve the dilemma by using synthetics at a fairly long interval (with regular filter changes).

 

[wrpsuite]

Amsoil and Ams filter every 7k everytime and always comes out clean . My experience.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Thanks for all the input guys!!! I do most city driving so I'll be changing the oil every 3000 miles conventional.

I think that is a good idea, don't fall for the let her go for 7000 mile on petroleum oil manure. That is even slightly stretching it a bit for quality 100% synthetic in my book, unless you drive a lot of highway miles in a short period of time. But that is largely because of the size of a stock oil filter that can only trap but so much.
There are A LOT of things that can lessen your oils capability to trap particulates and sludge up.
Its not "just" the type of oil used.
The Rotella T6 while a very good oil, it is 5W40 and is really designed for diesel application, is designed to trap a lot of soot which is required/desired for diesels, also has a lot of ZDDP (basically zinc) which is good for your engine to a degree however is bad for your Catalytic converter so it could lessen the life of your Cat. But then again most of the best 100% Synthetic oils are the same in that respect.
It wont harm your 4runner, in fact if you live in a very hot area of the country and or have more than 200K miles on your engine its probably one of the best oils you could run, and being synthetic even though it is Group III so not a "True Synthetic" but still better than regular petroleum and will do well for running past 7000 miles because of the substantial additive package. But still need to change the oil filter, so really why not just change both at same time?

If you really want to have the very best for your engine, then what you do is put in a By Pass Oil Filter which is gigantic compared to a standard filter and filters far smaller particulates for a whole lot longer, keeps your oil way cleaner way longer. But even then I wouldn't let my oil go past 10,000 for 100% real Group IV or V synthetic OR 1 year which ever comes first and frankly still wouldn't let petroleum go much past 3000 even with the By Pass Filter.

Here is a pretty good read about oil sludging.
He covers all the basics.

Engine Oil Sludge |

 

[BTO]

The interval for conventional is 5000 miles as recommended by Toyota. Any less and you are wasting money. Synthetic is the way to go without a doubt. Don't believe any of the hillbilly myths about synthetic. Chances are you were noticing another problem. If synthetic was damaging engines then these big companies would be in some big trouble.

Hillbilly myths aside, ours began a valve cover leak shortly after switching to M1 synthetic. The bright side it that proves that M1 does get into the tiny crevasses. The valve cover gasket was probably marginal any way. The bad side is now I have a big job pulling the intake to replace the valve cover gasket.

 

[T4R2014]

Hillbilly myths aside, ours began a valve cover leak shortly after switching to M1 synthetic. The bright side it that proves that M1 does get into the tiny crevasses. The valve cover gasket was probably marginal any way. The bad side is now I have a big job pulling the intake to replace the valve cover gasket.

I've seen 4Runner's that used conventional oil with some pretty bad VCG leaks. It's a common problem on these so it happens one way or another. If anything that is good because it cleaned up sludge that was hiding your failing VCG's.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I have been using either Mobil One High Mileage or Maxlife Full Synthetic and Puro PO20195 filters in the seven years I have owned mine. Not too bad under the valve covers::rockon:

This poor idiot, however, did not:

 

[wc11]

Oil every 5000 km since new.
Engine is all original.
472,000 km and all dealer service.

 

[Robb235]

Honestly, I've never found a reason not to run synthetic, especially class IV oils (Mobil 1 Extended Life for me). Synthetic is superior to conventional oil in just about every conceivable way. Pair that with running the oversized oil filter, and it's a win/win situation.

 

[T4R2014]

Honestly, I've never found a reason not to run synthetic, especially class IV oils (Mobil 1 Extended Life for me). Synthetic is superior to conventional oil in just about every conceivable way. Pair that with running the oversized oil filter, and it's a win/win situation.

This. And with rebates that come around often it is even cheaper than conventional.

 

[bsling]

Oils

Chances are if you go with syn oil it will find every leak you got.

 

[TheDurk]

Chances are if you go with syn oil it will find every leak you got.

...as opposed to that nice dino sludge that will keep you in blissful ignorance of your engine's problems until it plugs your valves.

 

[Canuckrz]

Chances are if you go with syn oil it will find every leak you got.

Assuming your seals were all being held together by sludge yes. There are also high milage synthetics/semi-synthetics with seal swellers and conditioners however that will somewhat counteract this such as the Mobil One High Mileage or Maxlife Full Synthetic LittleCaesar mentioned.

Besides that the only seal you wont run into being able to easily change during routine maintenance (timing belt job) Is the rear main. Which honestly yes, is a real pita.

 

[TheDurk]

Assuming your seals were all being held together by sludge yes. There are also high milage synthetics/semi-synthetics with seal swellers and conditioners however that will somewhat counteract this such as the Mobil One High Mileage or Maxlife Full Synthetic LittleCaesar mentioned.

Besides that the only seal you wont run into being able to easily change during routine maintenance (timing belt job) Is the rear main. Which honestly yes, is a real pita.

Changing it isn't bad--it's getting to it. (Just did mine for PM when I did my clutch at 165k.)

 

[sakoluvr]

My '97 is about to hit 272,000 miles. I bought it used with 260,000 miles. I buy Mobil I High Mileage synthetic and Bosch extended range filters at Wal Mart. I change the oil every 5000 miles. Changed to synthetic right after I got it. Just did my 3rd oil change. Never have to add oil between changes.