Probably will be though a stupid question but...

Herd72

New member
but I am not a gear head at all. I have a 2003 runner with 23,000 miles on it. I used the dealer to change the oil at 5 and 15 K. I changed to Mobil One at 20 K. Now at 23 K should I change it again since I am using the synthetic or wait until 25,000? What interaval do you guys think is OK with Mobil One. I do not off-road just use the runner as my daily driver.
Thanks
 
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I think most will agree, mileage driven alone (3,000 non-abusive miles-normal conditions) that you can safely go to 5,000- miles +. It also depends on climate/idle time (if you sit in traffic an hour a day)/and overall time between oil changes.
Personally, I'm a bit obsessive (and wasteful in this matter) and change mine regardless every 3,000 miles. I know the dealer and Mobil 1 love suckers like me. My justification is that I am a bit more of a leadfoot than the Average Joe, but even so I'm sure those who are a part of my maintenance schedule are laughing their way to the bank. :o
 
If you're worried about it, just go by the recommended service intervals in the manual (regardless of the synthetic oil) and you absolutely can't go wrong for your type of driving.....this would mean changing the oil every 5,000 miles.
 
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Still don't have enough miles 3300 to switch to M1 yet but have changed oil at dealer at 2000 mi which by the way was part synthetic. I am an old shool guy and will change at 3000 mi inteval....yes its wasteful but oil is the lifeblood of an engine and you can't go wrong changing frequently. Think about doing it yourself and you can do a synthetic change for what it costs to go to dealer for a regular change. You can't go wrong with frequent changes .
 
The only reason to change at 3000 miles vs. 5000 miles is Jiffy lube or whoever wants you to come in more often.

If the factory says 5000 miles and they are paying for the warranty work that's good enough for me. If we all went back to 5000 mile intervals gasoline might not be $3 per gallon this summer.
 
After break-in 1K miles you can change to synthetic. After changing to synthetic you can safely extend your change interval to approx double the OEM recommendations. From oil analysis it has been proven that 4Runners engines are not hard on oil. You can safely run synthetic oil and a quality filter for 10K miles or one year, which ever comes first. DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME.

Koz
 
Herd72 said:
but I am not a gear head at all. I have a 2003 runner with 23,000 miles on it. I used the dealer to change the oil at 5 and 15 K. I changed to Mobil One at 20 K. Now at 23 K should I change it again since I am using the synthetic or wait until 25,000? What interaval do you guys think is OK with Mobil One. I do not off-road just use the runner as my daily driver.
Thanks

You really don't know what the dealer used.

When switching to a full synthetic, I'd change out the 1st synthetic fill & filter at 3k. The different/new additives may of cleaned things up. Then follow the schedule you are comfortable with. 7500 with synthetic and a quality filter is fine. Changing filters at 3750 is a good idea.
 
I did not mean this to be

an exploration of oil change preferences. My runner keeps making that dam@ noise when I start it up. I went back to an OEM filter with the Mobil One yesterday and this morning it still sounded like a threshing machine for about the first 1/4 mile then ran smooth as a babies behind. The dealer says they can't reproduce it. I was just asking for suggestions. PS Buckeye Lover - my hometown team (Marsall almost had you guys last year except for that last second field goal by the Nuge. But we did just swipe one of your good young coaches, Mark Snyder to be our new head coach! Good luck in football season.

72
 
Re: I did not mean this to be

Herd72 said:
an exploration of oil change preferences. My runner keeps making that dam@ noise when I start it up. I went back to an OEM filter with the Mobil One yesterday and this morning it still sounded like a threshing machine for about the first 1/4 mile then ran smooth as a babies behind. The dealer says they can't reproduce it. I was just asking for suggestions. PS Buckeye Lover - my hometown team (Marsall almost had you guys last year except for that last second field goal by the Nuge. But we did just swipe one of your good young coaches, Mark Snyder to be our new head coach! Good luck in football season.

72

Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and wet farts. Watch the film. You played a superbowl and we went through the motions. 10 years from now the record will still show 0-2 :D

PS...I went to undergrad at Ohio University and I can't stand the thundering turds. Good luck in non-Conference USA.

CV
 
Re: I did not mean this to be

Herd72 said:
My runner keeps making that dam@ noise when I start it up. I went back to an OEM filter with the Mobil One yesterday and this morning it still sounded like a threshing machine for about the first 1/4 mile then ran smooth as a babies behind.

Did the noise start when you switched to synthetic? Or did you switch to synthetic because of the noise?

What grade of Mobil 1? I would try 10W-30 if you are using the 5W-30.


What grade gas do you use? Do you use only one brand of gas? I don't think gas affects cold starts. Just something else to try.
 
If it's just the first quarter mile good it be something to do with the auto choke? Or could the lube in the transmission be low, resulting in noise until what there is has circulated around a bit?
 
Here's the details

When I start it up - especially in the AM i get a noise very much like the valve clatter that you get if you are low on oil. I let the dealer do the first couple of changes then switched to Mobil One 10-W-30 and Bosch filter. It was not right after a change that it started this. Actually it was back when the weather was cold and I thought that perhaps it was the different oil filter so I went back to Toyota filters with no help. This morning it made the noise and I drove about 2 blocks and all was well. This afternoon it was back after it sat while I was at work all day but not as bad as in the mornings. Someone told me that the Toyota filter maintained some extra oil to keep lubrication going until the pump pulls it up from the pan - so that's why I went back to the OEM filter. I had only had one non OEM filter on it and that was because I needed a change and could not get to a dealer where I was on a trip. I think I will have to park it at the dealers then take a day off work and go down and start it for them! Our local dealer only makes Saturday Appts if you bought your vehicle from them. I purchased it about 70 miles away at another dealer. I have a year left on the warranty but don't want to let this go on and on. Another person said it might be a tiny crack in the mainifold and after it heats up it expands and seals the crack? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It runs great after the first 1/4 to 1/2 mile. I just took it to Fla. (about 16 hours each way) over spring break and it ran fine on the highway. Just letting it idle it will go away but it takes several minutes - longer than the 1/4 mile drive. I gotta admit I'm puzzled!

Jim
 
Flat as a board!

I just went out and started it. I am gonna let it run for about 10 mins and then see if it makes the noise when I drive off. If it's the oil it should be well flowing by then I would think.

Thanks for the help!
Jim
 
A lot of us that use synthetic oil use the Mobil 1 oil filter or the Amsoil oil filter. There are two numbers, one is the exact model and the other one is a larger model that fits (I'm talking V8), same with Amsoil. The long Mobil 1 is M1-209 and the long Amsoil is SDF34. The reason I bring this up is that the Bosch filter 'aint what is used to be, it is now just another cheap filter. We've cut some of these filters up and I would not put a Bosch on my 4Runner. Some with the same part number don't have an ADV. These two filters, Mobil 1 and Amsoil cost more so you have to step up a bit. But if it's not worth it then why bother with synthetic oil, either. My 4Runner gets Red Line 5w-30 and either a Mobil 1 or Amsoil filter, nothing else. I've just received an excellent UOA and plan to drive this 4Runner a long time, not just through the payment book.

Anyhow a simple oil filter swith is worth trying.
 
I run a combo of M1 syn and Puralator PureOne filter and change them every 7000 miles and I ran the same combo on my Eclipse through 8 seasons of racing but even though I was using the synthetic I changed the oil every 3k since it was quite abused during 3000 miles.:bash: Both vehices have zero lubrication issues.
 

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