Oil Type....opening a can of worms....

[02SE]

If you read the thread I posted at the very beginning, making the claim that "oil is oil" isn't really logical. The research the individual did indicates there is quite a difference between different types of oil.

Most daily driver gas powered cars (the 4Runner included) are not very demanding of the oil that is put in them. Run the Rotella T6 5w40 if you want to.

There are some more demanding and/or specific street legal car applications, where oil choice and viscosity is more important.

Then there are Motorcycle applications, the recommendations for which can vary, depending on the design of the powertrain.

Then there are racing applications where oil choice can be critical.

So saying that oil is oil, depends on the application.

 

[jeremyc74]

The rotating assemblies in these engines are know for going 300k miles and up. Why would second guess the engineers that designed, tested, and manufactured an engine that's known world wide as being bullet proof?

No one knows better what oil to put in these engines than Toyota's engineers.

 

[3bears]

The rotating assemblies in these engines are know for going 300k miles and up. Why would second guess the engineers that designed, tested, and manufactured an engine that's known world wide as being bullet proof?

No one knows better what oil to put in these engines than Toyota's engineers.

true, and yota now recommends our old T4R's and any old yota to now run synthetic
so yota branded or what brand in general ...is the question
and of course a yota employee is gonna say only use Toyota oil....but does Toyota make it, is it a patent specific formula....doubt it.

 

[T4R2014]

The rotating assemblies in these engines are know for going 300k miles and up. Why would second guess the engineers that designed, tested, and manufactured an engine that's known world wide as being bullet proof?

No one knows better what oil to put in these engines than Toyota's engineers.

Toyota's engineers deemed xW40 oils to be suitable in other countries where 5VZ powered vehicles were sold. I wouldn't say that we are trying to outsmart the engineers. With that said, I'm pretty sure I saw a Toyota document that said 5W20 was okay to use. No way in hell I'm doing that, though.

 

[98WhiteT4R]

true, and yota now recommends our old T4R's and any old yota to now run synthetic
so yota branded or what brand in general ...is the question
and of course a yota employee is gonna say only use Toyota oil....but does Toyota make it, is it a patent specific formula....doubt it.

A yota master tech I became pretty good friends with always reccomended Mobil 1, I want to say he said thats what the Toyota brand actually was but I can't remember.

 

[jeremyc74]

so yota branded or what brand in general ...is the question

As long as it's one of the quality brands out there, it really isn't going to make much difference. They're required to meet the SAE standards, and at that point even if it's not the best oil on the market it's plenty good enough.

It's the law of diminishing returns. The engines in these things outlive the chassis in most cases anyway, so you can spend a lot of money and not really gain a measurable amount of difference in wear and tear.

I use whatever synthetic is on sale personally.

 

[cashmoney]

$20 you could run the cheapest 5w-30 or 10w-30 you can find and your engine will still outlive your ownership and the rest of the vehicle as long as it's changed at regular intervals with good filters.

 

[Myrunr2010]

In the article he talks about different detergents and whatnot that different brands use. You think those actually make a difference

 

[TheDurk]

I run SuperTech FullSyn 5w-30 from Walmart at 6500-7000 mi. OCI. The money I save on oil I spend on oversized premium NAPA Platinum all synthetic filters (PFL 41516). Every 18 months-2 years I do a used oil analysis with Blackstone. The results are always very satisfactory and they always say I could run it longer. I'm fully confident in my lubrication scheme. As said above, any decent synthetic that meets spec will do the job in this engine with reasonable OCI and good filters.

But please, never suggest an oil without specifying an OCI. Otherwise, it's not worth even reading the post.

 

[Myrunr2010]

I run SuperTech FullSyn 5w-30 from Walmart at 6500-7000 mi. OCI. The money I save on oil I spend on oversized premium NAPA Platinum all synthetic filters (PFL 41516). Every 18 months-2 years I do a used oil analysis with Blackstone. The results are always very satisfactory and they always say I could run it longer. I'm fully confident in my lubrication scheme. As said above, any decent synthetic that meets spec will do the job in this engine with reasonable OCI and good filters.

But please, never suggest an oil without specifying an OCI. Otherwise, it's not worth even reading the post.

What's it run to have your oil analyzed?

 

[cashmoney]

Last time blackstone did one for me it was around $20.

 

[jeremyc74]

In the article he talks about different detergents and whatnot that different brands use. You think those actually make a difference

As long as they're meeting the SAE specs, not a significant one.

 

[TheDurk]

What's it run to have your oil analyzed?

Oil analysis - $28 per sample Add TBN - $10

Blackstone Labs

The TBN test tells you how much life is left in your additive package. Important if you want to confirm or change your OCI instead of just evaluate the health of your engine.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/do-i-need-a-tbn.php

This is a recent price bump.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Blackstone Labs

The TBN test tells you how much life is left in your additive package. Important if you want to confirm or change your OCI instead of just evaluate the health of your engine.

Do I Need a TBN?

This is a recent price bump.

I guess this would require you to use the same oil each time or you would kind of be wasting the analysis.

 

[TheDurk]

I guess this would require you to use the same oil each time or you would kind of be wasting the analysis.

The primary motivation for UOA is to gauge the health of your engine by looking at metals content and presence of contaminants like gasoline and coolant. This is independent of oil type.

But for looking at oil performance and OCI, yes, obviously.

 

[99problems]

The primary motivation for UOA is to gauge the health of your engine by looking at metals content and presence of contaminants like gasoline and coolant. This is independent of oil type.

But for looking at oil performance and OCI, yes, obviously.

Thanks for the link; I'm interested to see if my engine is really as healthy as it feels for having nearly 250,000 miles. The price seems cheap all things considered (plus you gotta' like the FAQ's section; they've got a sense of humor at least).

 

[willbgood]

Mobile 1 and filter on my Harleys, Rotella in my dodge, Mobile 1 and filter on my toys. Royal purple in the diffs, transfers, and on the in Harley's trans and primary. I have run red line as well, but settle in on the royal purple.

The mobile 1 coming out of my Harley at 7500 can be dumped back in, (of course I don't) and the visible condition of the inside engines when I work on them, is all I need...

Amsoil would be my second choice, but I hate the company and the difficulty locating the shit on the road.

I had a 1983 with 500,000 + on it and in those days Toyota filter, and 3000 mile oil changes...thank God filter and oil technology has progressed to where 7500-10,000 is the norm. I still do 3000 miles if I am doing a lot of off road in the dusty desert southwest...old habits die hard.

 

[Top Shelf Synthetics]

Here is a recent post from a member that ran oil analysis so you can see what they look at. There are many different companies that can perform this. I use Oil Analyzers Inc through Amsoil. Cost is $29 w/TBN, prepaid shipping included.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2145166-post810.html

 

[Myrunr2010]

The primary motivation for UOA is to gauge the health of your engine by looking at metals content and presence of contaminants like gasoline and coolant. This is independent of oil type.

But for looking at oil performance and OCI, yes, obviously.

So do they provide a control so you can get an idea of what your motor is supposed to be, or do you just need to compared year after year?

 

[jeremyc74]

So do they provide a control so you can get an idea of what your motor is supposed to be, or do you just need to compared year after year?

They'll let you know if anything is above the levels they typically see.

There were a bunch of guys on one of the BMW boards that were getting these done to judge the effectiveness of the long recommended oil change intervals (15k miles) the company went to after offering free maintenance during the warranty period. It was pretty interesting to see but it's of limited usefulness to judge the health of an individual engine.

For example, if it comes back with high aluminum content, are you going to tear the engine apart looking for the source? I know I'm not.