oil

[stlbluebmw325ci]

I know this probably been covered before, i searched and found nothing. but i was at the local toyota dealership and asked the parts people what oil my 06 4runner sr5 v6 uses and they pointed to the 5w-30 bottle im guessing none synthetic motor oil, they had both regular and synthetic out. so im guessing does the 4runner use synthetic or regular. i drive a bmw and work on them so i pretty much know then ins and out of bmw's and i use mobil 1 0w-40 in the bmw.

 

[Acidmeld]

Stick with 5w30. You can use nonsynthetic if you change it regularly. I use Mobil 1 because I have cheap access and really hate sludge.

 

[Nuke]

You can use whatever you want, as long as it's 5W30. Dino oil should be changed at 3k-4k intervals, synthetic blend at 5k-7.5k intervals and full synthetic at 10k or longer. Adjust that slightly to suit hard driving and crappy environmental conditions.

I tow frequently and I change my synthetic at 8k-10k intervals. This is my 3rd T4R. My previous 2nd gen was sold to a friend with 205,000 miles on it and my 3rd gen to another friend with 152,000 miles; both in tip-top shape and had oil changes at 10k miles from almost day one.

 

[CookieRoe]

another oil thread............... nice

According to Toyota, the 1GR-FE V6 in our 4Runner can take the following:

5W-20 or 5W-30. I've seen some people run 0W-20, which is probably not a bad idea (for cool start...........READ: cold as in no oil in the engine at start up NOT cold temperature wise).

For more oil education: Motor Oil 101 - Bob is the Oil Guy Please read, you might learn something.

OP: Synthetic oil is the way to go. Period. However, NUKEs advice is 100% correct.

As far as Toyota is concerned: Toyota Oil recommendation for all models, PDF

 

[Zuke]

If you know the ins and outs of a BMW why don't you know anything about oil. I find the basic knowledge of how oil works is entry level auto mechanics theory. Right before learning about oil most people learn how to pump gas and put air in their tires.
Plus you question can be answered by reading the manual or looking on the oil cap...
/rant

 

[EDness]

I have a BMW as well...and use 0w40. But I'm about to change it to 0w30 GC with 7500 OCI.


As for the 4runner, I use Pennzoil Ultra 5w30. I change it once a year as i only drive about 1500 miles/year for that car. I drive the BMW 95% of the time.

 

[MikeInNH]

If you don't do a lot of towing...and you don't live in the extreme cold (winter months)...then non-synthetic oil is fine.

I know many people who swear by synthetic...Use it religiously...then they sell their vehicle after 4 years and under 100k miles. I also know people who have vehicles with well over 400k miles using nothing buy regular dyno oil.

Is synthetic oil better...YES...Is it necessary...NO....Will it protect your engine better...YES....Will non-synthetic oil protect your engine...YES.

MOST people use non-synthetic....Very very few manufacturers recommend full synthetic. Most are of turbo-charged engines.

 

[stlbluebmw325ci]

ok so ill use mobil 1, with factory filter. im not a fan of aftermarket oil filters. thanks for the replies. i have a westin bull/ light bar (chrome) for sale if any one is interested.

 

[Sungod]

Spending the money on Mobil1 oil, why would you use the mobil 1 filter or the puralator pure one? I don't know who makes the US market OE oil filters, but I doubt they are better than either of the two mentioned.

In reality though I doubt it really makes any difference what oil or filter you go with. The chances of seeing an oil or filter related failure is pretty slim. There are a whole host of other things that will go wrong long before your motor wears out from friction.

 

[zimdba]

I have a BMW as well...

fftopic: It seems like there are a lot of people on this forum who have both, myself included! //M3

 

[450exc115]

Spending the money on Mobil1 oil, why would you use the mobil 1 filter or the puralator pure one? I don't know who makes the US market OE oil filters, but I doubt they are better than either of the two mentioned.

In reality though I doubt it really makes any difference what oil or filter you go with. The chances of seeing an oil or filter related failure is pretty slim. There are a whole host of other things that will go wrong long before your motor wears out from friction.

Actually filters do matter. I've owned several Audi's and the Fram filters were a known No-No. The fine paper they used would cause enough back pressure after a few 1000 miles to cause the bypass valve to open and then you wouldn't be filtering anymore...

Most people don't realize that nearly all US made filters use paper from one or two sources (one is local to the town I grew up in) and really it just the houseing that is different between manufactures.

Two thoughts on oil.. One is buy the cheapest dyno oil you can find and change it often (3000 miles) or run better dyno oils and change it less often (5000 miles).

Personally I run rotella 5W-40 synthetic in everything I own; Acura TL, 4runner, lawn mower, 4wheeler, pressure washer, generator, but not my race bike (wet clutch). And change it often. Wally mart has it around 20 bucks for a gallon and it works well in the cold and warm weather. I'm not a fan of the energy conservation oils that have less of the good stuff for dry lubrication.

 

[MikeInNH]

So all you people who think Mobil-1 is such a superior filter..and that synthetic is so much better then regular dyno.....Then I suspect you all plan on keeping your vehicles to well past 600k miles. Since the oil is doing such a better job then regular dyno oil...and since dyno oil has been PROVEN to keep a vehicle running to 400k miles....why would you possibly use synthetic if you don't plan on keeping your vehicles 600k+ miles???

 

[Atlanta_man]

less degradation of performance due to cylinder, ring, and valve wear ? makes sense to me

no one is afraid of catastrophic oil related failure due to oil choice in a street legal road vehicle, maybe lack of oil but not type of oil

 

[450exc115]

So all you people who think Mobil-1 is such a superior filter..and that synthetic is so much better then regular dyno.....Then I suspect you all plan on keeping your vehicles to well past 600k miles. Since the oil is doing such a better job then regular dyno oil...and since dyno oil has been PROVEN to keep a vehicle running to 400k miles....why would you possibly use synthetic if you don't plan on keeping your vehicles 600k+ miles???

I use it because of the lower variation in viscosty at temperature (cold weather starting) and the better resistance to thermal break down (I tow a trailer close to 30 weekends a year with the 4runner).

For all my other equipement I just change the oil once a year and it makes for easier starts in the colder weather. But that is just me.

Mike I also don't know any vehicle in NH that last more than 10 years (about 150K miles).... When living in NH as a kid our 73 suburban was a rust bucket by 1978! LOL

My father religously buys the cheapest oil he can find and changes it every 3000 miles. We had numerous vehicle with 250K miles or more.. All of them were retired for rust and not engine issues.

 

[sonerick]

I use OEM filters because they're actually pretty good for the price.

So all you people who think Mobil-1 is such a superior filter..and that synthetic is so much better then regular dyno.....Then I suspect you all plan on keeping your vehicles to well past 600k miles. Since the oil is doing such a better job then regular dyno oil...and since dyno oil has been PROVEN to keep a vehicle running to 400k miles....why would you possibly use synthetic if you don't plan on keeping your vehicles 600k+ miles???

I use synthetic oil so I can double my OCI. I drive a lot (35k+ miles per year) and using a synthetic allows me to change my oil approximately once every other month as opposed to once a month. Many people use synthetic for this reason. I plan on keeping my 4Runner until at least 300k miles, but not for 600k+ miles. What's wrong with that?

This isn't your first post about this. Why the rant about how everyone is stupid for using synthetic oil every time the issue is brought up? **** off.

 

[MikeInNH]

Mike I also don't know any vehicle in NH that last more than 10 years (about 150K miles).... When living in NH as a kid our 73 suburban was a rust bucket by 1978! LOL

Cars these days don't rust like they use to. My wifes 80 Datsun was a rust bucket by 84. But her 87 Accord had little to no rust when she bought her 96 Accord. It had about 340k miles on it. We gave our 96 Accord to our niece when my wife bought her 07 Lexus. The Accord had 0 rust....but 250k miles. Niece sold it when she graduated from college with well over 300k miles. Our 87 Accord....last we knew it had well over 400k miles and still going strong.

I'm NOT bashing synthetic oil....I use synthetic oil myself...Mainly for the winter where synthetic still flows well at -30...and also because I tow our camper almost every weekend. But some people live in far less harsh climate...and never tow...and then they sell their vehicle at 90k miles. For those people...kinda a waste if you ask me. I have just over 200k on my 05 4runner...I'll reevaluate at 300k miles.

 

[DC runner]

I moved to Synthetic for many reasons, but a strong one is the anti-sludge factor. I hate the sludge monster, and Toyota's had some issues with sludge. Synthetic oil is much, much better about preventing sludge than most conventional oils.