Synthetic Vrs. Conventional in older 4runner

[Captsolo]

I have a 2005 V6 4runner with the 4.0 and 150,000 miles. I switched oil two years ago to semisynthetic (from 12 years of conventional), but immediately developed oil leaks.

BUT... because I got oil leaks with synthetic... I drained the synthetic and switched back to dino / conventional and the oil leak slowed downed but did not entirely stop.

Now, two years later the oil leaks have totally stopped. I lay new cardboard down in the garage, and the new cardboard shows not a (new) drop in over a week.

No more synthetic oil for me.

Scotty Kilmer says the same on older cars. Synthetic oil causes oil leaks in older cars.
See Scotty right here talk about changing to synthetic. scotty kilmer oil leak - Bing video

Anyone else experience this issue? :hatsoff:

 

[firebirdguy]

i run FULL synthetic in my 4runner with the same miles... zero leaks anywhere! & by the way, semi synthetic is barely 15-20% actual synthetic oil.

majority of toyota 4runner & tacoma owners with this engine run synthetic & dont have leaks. sounds like you have a failing gasket or loose bolts causing or contributing to leaks.

 

[y=mx+b]

I switched to Shell Rotella Gas Truck synthetic about 8 months ago at 209k miles from synthetic blend and haven't noticed any leaks because of the switch. I have a slow valve cover leak, but that was there before the switch.

IMO, Scotty Kilmer is mostly just clickbait and doesn't offer much value. I find ChrisFix, EricTheCarGuy, HumbleMechanic, DirtLifestyle, and Timmy The Toolman to be good youtube channels for learning DIY mechanics

edit: I looked back and it was at 209k, not 210k

 

[Ventil8]

I have used conventional oil on my 4R for the last 14 years. This year, after deciding to do my own oil changes, I decided to switch to synthetic oil. I have down 2 oil changes now and have no leaks. I have 174,600 miles. I am the original owner and plan to stick with Mobil 1 advanced synthetic for the life of my vehicle.

 

[Captsolo]

i run FULL synthetic in my 4runner with the same miles... zero leaks anywhere! & by the way, semi synthetic is barely 15-20% actual synthetic oil.

majority of toyota 4runner & tacoma owners with this engine run synthetic & dont have leaks. sounds like you have a failing gasket or loose bolts causing or contributing to leaks.

You didn't read my post correctly. I said when I switched back to dino the oil leak stopped. Before the try-out of the synthetic, the 2005 4runner had not a single drop of oil for 12 years.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of auto experience and got 1 billion youtube link views - and made himself a small millionaire with his knowledge of old cars.
scotty kilmer oil leak - Bing video

You trying for that many "views" and reputation by posting to my posts?

Many older 2005 4runner develop an oil leak when they switch to synthetic.
Scotty says he sees it all the time in the video.

 

[firebirdguy]

You didn't read my post correctly. I said when I switched back to dino the oil leak stopped. Before the try-out of the synthetic, the 2005 4runner had not a single drop of oil for 12 years.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of auto experience and got 1 billion youtube link views - and made himself a small millionaire with his knowledge of old cars.
scotty kilmer oil leak - Bing video

You trying for that many "views" and reputation by posting to my posts?

Many older 2005 4runner develop an oil leak when they switch to synthetic.
Scotty says he sees it all the time in the video.

i did read your post correctly & replied with my experience with FULL synthetic & no leaks, just like the majority of 4runners with that many miles or more running full synthetic & NO LEAKS. synthetic is thinner than conventional & can find its way through leak prone gaskets easier than conventional oil... but it doesnt cause leaks, if you had a leak with 15-20% SEMI synthetic, the oil is not why there was a leak. but carry on with your delusional "logic" :blabla:

what in the world are you talking about with me commenting on your posts for reputation or views?? this isnt youtube! you made a thread & i provided accurate info based on FACTS. at least i didnt post unrelated jibberish like you do... i should have posted "my 4runner is silver & doesnt have any rust & never throws any codes... what more could you ask for?" :wacko:

 

[y=mx+b]

You didn't read my post correctly. I said when I switched back to dino the oil leak stopped. Before the try-out of the synthetic, the 2005 4runner had not a single drop of oil for 12 years.

I switched oil two years ago to semisynthetic (from 12 years of conventional), but immediately developed oil leaks. Anyone else experience this issue? :hatsoff:

I was just providing my personal experience from switching to synthetic at 209k and now almost ready to change at 213k and 8 months on synthetic oil. I leaked a small amount of oil from the passenger side valve cover (level at 7/8 on stick after 4k change) before full synthetic, and still leak about the same amount after the change to synthetic.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of auto experience and got 1 billion youtube link views - and made himself a small millionaire with his knowledge of old cars.

There is no doubt that his channel is successful at attracting viewers. I'm just not a fan of clickbait and don't feel I get much value from his videos when compared to other sources. I didn't mean for it to be taken personally.

You trying for that many "views" and reputation by posting to my posts?

No, I was answering the question you asked on a public forum.

 

[Captsolo]

i did read your post correctly & replied with my experience with FULL synthetic & no leaks, just like the majority of 4runners with that many miles or more running full synthetic & NO LEAKS. synthetic is thinner than conventional & can find its way through leak prone gaskets easier than conventional oil... but it doesnt cause leaks, if you had a leak with 15-20% SEMI synthetic, the oil is not why there was a leak. but carry on with your delusional "logic" :blabla:

what in the world are you talking about with me commenting on your posts for reputation or views?? this isnt youtube! you made a thread & i provided accurate info based on FACTS. at least i didnt post unrelated jibberish like you do... i should have posted "my 4runner is silver & doesnt have any rust & never throws any codes... what more could you ask for?" :wacko:

You don't know what the majority of 4runners use. Give me break!

Wait until you have a HG issue with your super slick synthetic engineered oil, then post back.

Scotty Kilmer says he wouldn't use synthetic in an older car (and I agree - and saw first hand the oil leaks that resulted from the change from dino).

Kilmer says he has "seen too many problems"???

scotty Kilmer oil leak - Bing video

UPDATE: You really need to see Scotty's comments about changing to synthetic and surf the internet because synthetic can cause a 15 year old engine to really start to drip. Ask Scotty... 1 billion youtube views. 50 years a mechanic.

After running conventional oil in my own 2005 4runner (4.0)(140,000 miles) I decided to try synthetic oil (blend with a quart of full synthetic). Within a few days, the 4runner which had never dripped a drop of oil onto the ground was dripping some.

I switched back to conventional (Napa 10W 40) and the drips slowed down, but didn’t stop entirely. Now after a second oil change and 10 months later ALL the drips have stopped. I’ll stick with just conventional and change the oil every 5000 miles.

NOTE: I used a piece of cardboard on the garage floor to keep track of the drips. Now, after replacing the cardboard with a new piece 5 days ago I noticed there has not been even one drop SEEN in 5 days.

I have never added any additives to this Toyota engine. I do my own oil changes.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of mechanic car experience, had a TV show in Houston Texas, and claims 1 billion clicks on his Youtube site.

Scotty drives three Toyota cars.

BTW.. My 4.0 Toyota 4runner made more noise with the slick synthetic.

See Scotty's link. Grow up.

 

[KrazedJD]

I have a 2005 V6 4runner with the 4.0 and 150,000 miles. I switched oil two years ago to semisynthetic (from 12 years of conventional), but immediately developed oil leaks.

BUT... because I got oil leaks with synthetic... I drained the synthetic and switched back to dino / conventional and the oil leak slowed downed but did not entirely stop.

Now, two years later the oil leaks have totally stopped. I lay new cardboard down in the garage, and the new cardboard shows not a (new) drop in over a week.

No more synthetic oil for me.

Scotty Kilmer says the same on older cars. Synthetic oil causes oil leaks in older cars.
See Scotty right here talk about changing to synthetic. scotty kilmer oil leak - Bing video

Anyone else experience this issue? :hatsoff:

I have 220,000 miles on my 2008 V8 4Runner and have only used Synthetic Blend which is what Toyota recommends. I have had no troubles or leaks of any kind (knocks on wood)

 

[AZRoamer]

Scotty...........that you???

 

[Piggity]

Scotty...........that you???

Scotty Klickbait lives in the Bahamas?

 

[firebirdguy]

You don't know what the majority of 4runners use. Give me break!

Wait until you have a HG issue with your super slick synthetic engineered oil, then post back.

Scotty Kilmer says he wouldn't use synthetic in an older car (and I agree - and saw first hand the oil leaks that resulted from the change from dino).

Kilmer says he has "seen too many problems"???

scotty kilmer oil leak - Bing video

based on replies here & from tacoma owners over 10+ years, i would wager that most or at least a whole bunch of 4runner owners do use FULL synthetic oil & do NOT have leaks caused by the oil. but just the same, you dont know what people use either so why try & argue about it? start a poll for what kind of oil members here use in their 4runners & see what you get. there are also 2 or 3 examples on this new thread saying they use FULL synthetic at higher miles & have no leaks... how is that possible???

you still avoid the FACT that semi synthetic oil is barely 15-20% synthetic, its a marketing gimmick to charge more for oil because some people think its like half & half.

& now of all things, you think or imply that synthetic oil will cause a head gasket issue??? LMAO!!! please explain how that is even remotely possible??? or did you hear that from scotty kilmer??? you really need to step away from from the keyboard & stop spewing nonsense like this...

 

[y=mx+b]

UPDATE: You really need to see Scotty's comments about changing to synthetic and surf the internet because synthetic can cause a 15 year old engine to really start to drip. Ask Scotty... 1 billion youtube views. 50 years a mechanic.

After running conventional oil in my own 2005 4runner (4.0)(140,000 miles) I decided to try synthetic oil (blend with a quart of full synthetic). Within a few days, the 4runner which had never dripped a drop of oil onto the ground was dripping some.

I switched back to conventional (Napa 10W 40) and the drips slowed down, but didn’t stop entirely. Now after a second oil change and 10 months later ALL the drips have stopped. I’ll stick with just conventional and change the oil every 5000 miles.

NOTE: I used a piece of cardboard on the garage floor to keep track of the drips. Now, after replacing the cardboard with a new piece 5 days ago I noticed there has not been even one drop SEEN in 5 days.

I have never added any additives to this Toyota engine. I do my own oil changes.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of mechanic car experience, had a TV show in Houston Texas, and claims 1 billion clicks on his Youtube site.

Scotty drives three Toyota cars.

BTW.. My 4.0 Toyota 4runner made more noise with the slick synthetic.

See Scotty's link. Grow up.

You asked for community input on if changing to synthetic oil caused leaks. A few people responded that we've used synthetic without issue, and now you're telling us that we're wrong. I check the level on my dipstick every time I fill up with fuel and have provided a metric for how much mine leaks (stick reads about 7/8 full after 4k miles both before and after the switch to synthetic 5w-30). That is my first hand experience with a 2005 1GR-FE with 213k miles, and this is what your original question had asked. Its fine for me to run synthetic oil, and its perfectly fine for you run conventional as well.

Our comments on Scotty Kilmer are our opinions, we don't have to agree on watching his content and thats okay. My personal preference is to not watch his videos, but you are free to watch and enjoy them. Its nothing personal against you.

 

[triethylborane]

I run synthetic in my 03 Limited V6 with 103k miles, typically Castrol Edge, though the reality is any synthetic offered for retail sale in the US that meets API specs or Toyota oil specs is probably going to work just fine. I tend to go 5-6k drain intervals, though Blackstone oil analyses come back that longer oil drain intervals on the 1GR-FE can be extended to 8k with the oil I am using. 5k is a bit of a force of habit, I have some other cars with very tight crank bearing clearances and tend to dump a bit more fuel into the oil which has led to such a disposition.

Unless you are working on an old Chambliss farm tractor or Ford Flathead or some other vintage engine, synthetic oil use is probably not the cause of the leaks. Even with a small leak, the chemical and physical/mechanical benefits of synthetic would still cause me to use if the leak were not likely to cause a hazard, such as a fire on the exhaust manifold. Id just drop some cardboard and monitor the oil level. No big deal.

 

[Whiskey & Wrenches]

My 4runner has 220K on it, I bought it used with 175K on the odometer and immediately changed the oil and differentials to synthetic. No leaks and was happy to see that I gained a mile per gallon after changing the differential fluids. Most of the time I run Mobil 1 and do all the changes and most maintenance myself.

I'm a big believer in synthetic oil, my previous car was a Honda Accord that had 474,000 miles on it with only wear and tear items changed and would have hit half a million if some asshat didn't rear end me and total the car. The only good thing about that was getting a 4runner.

I also agree about Scotty, I quit listening to his videos because they were long on hype and short on information. I want to see someone working on cars, not listen to a lot of talk.

 

[ElDuck]

This Scotty shill is almost as annoying as Scotty McClickbait's videos. I wish youtube would let you block Channels.

I switch all my vehicles to synthetic oil, including my old Jeep's with those leaky 4.0's, and never got a leak that I didn't already have. It's a well discussed topic across the web.

 

[Gatafly]

You don't know what the majority of 4runners use. Give me break!

Wait until you have a HG issue with your super slick synthetic engineered oil, then post back.

Scotty Kilmer says he wouldn't use synthetic in an older car (and I agree - and saw first hand the oil leaks that resulted from the change from dino).

Kilmer says he has "seen too many problems"???

scotty Kilmer oil leak - Bing video

UPDATE: You really need to see Scotty's comments about changing to synthetic and surf the internet because synthetic can cause a 15 year old engine to really start to drip. Ask Scotty... 1 billion youtube views. 50 years a mechanic.

After running conventional oil in my own 2005 4runner (4.0)(140,000 miles) I decided to try synthetic oil (blend with a quart of full synthetic). Within a few days, the 4runner which had never dripped a drop of oil onto the ground was dripping some.

I switched back to conventional (Napa 10W 40) and the drips slowed down, but didn’t stop entirely. Now after a second oil change and 10 months later ALL the drips have stopped. I’ll stick with just conventional and change the oil every 5000 miles.

NOTE: I used a piece of cardboard on the garage floor to keep track of the drips. Now, after replacing the cardboard with a new piece 5 days ago I noticed there has not been even one drop SEEN in 5 days.

I have never added any additives to this Toyota engine. I do my own oil changes.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of mechanic car experience, had a TV show in Houston Texas, and claims 1 billion clicks on his Youtube site.

Scotty drives three Toyota cars.

BTW.. My 4.0 Toyota 4runner made more noise with the slick synthetic.

See Scotty's link. Grow up.

I think you might need to grow up. After many years on this forum you will find that a very large portion of us use synthetic oil in our 4runner. Also, synthetic oil DOES NOT cause oil leaks, it finds failing or dried up gaskets and shows you where they are by leaking past them. The seals in older cars, pre 1990's used to deteriorate from synthetic in the earlier days, but seals have changed and are not affected by the synthetic oil. If you don't want to fix your failing seal/s, take Scotty's advice and use AT 205 in your engine or just keep using conventional oil.

 

[firebirdguy]

You don't know what the majority of 4runners use. Give me break!

Wait until you have a HG issue with your super slick synthetic engineered oil, then post back.

Scotty Kilmer says he wouldn't use synthetic in an older car (and I agree - and saw first hand the oil leaks that resulted from the change from dino).

Kilmer says he has "seen too many problems"???

scotty Kilmer oil leak - Bing video

UPDATE: You really need to see Scotty's comments about changing to synthetic and surf the internet because synthetic can cause a 15 year old engine to really start to drip. Ask Scotty... 1 billion youtube views. 50 years a mechanic.

After running conventional oil in my own 2005 4runner (4.0)(140,000 miles) I decided to try synthetic oil (blend with a quart of full synthetic). Within a few days, the 4runner which had never dripped a drop of oil onto the ground was dripping some.

I switched back to conventional (Napa 10W 40) and the drips slowed down, but didn’t stop entirely. Now after a second oil change and 10 months later ALL the drips have stopped. I’ll stick with just conventional and change the oil every 5000 miles.

NOTE: I used a piece of cardboard on the garage floor to keep track of the drips. Now, after replacing the cardboard with a new piece 5 days ago I noticed there has not been even one drop SEEN in 5 days.

I have never added any additives to this Toyota engine. I do my own oil changes.

Scotty Kilmer has 50 years of mechanic car experience, had a TV show in Houston Texas, and claims 1 billion clicks on his Youtube site.

Scotty drives three Toyota cars.

BTW.. My 4.0 Toyota 4runner made more noise with the slick synthetic.

See Scotty's link. Grow up.

still waiting for your explanation on how "super slick" synthetic oil will cause a head gasket issue??? come on, please back up this ridiculous statement for us...

funny how you edit your post to now say you used 1 qt of full synthetic with the semi synthetic after i told you blends are 10-20% synthetic. why didnt you state that up front?? even with that, you had at best ~30-35% synthetic. as many others have mentioned & any reputable mechanic will tell you, the oil didnt cause the leak, it found a compromised gasket or part.

& now you say you change your oil with 10/40??? where'd you come up with that weight? the owners manual clearly states to use 5/30 for all temps... even in the bahamas, mon! what you did to stop the leak was called putting a band aid on it... you used oil that is twice as thick as toyota calls for!! LOL! but then again, you just told everyone a month or 2 ago to use T-IV trans fluid in their sealed WS transmissions so im not surprised you use 10/40 oil.

& as mentioned, this is not personal, you might be a nice guy, but some of the things you post on here are downright comical if not verging on possible damage to your vehicle or others that might read your comments! if you dont know what youre talking about, please refrain from posting.

 

[Captsolo]

still waiting for your explanation on how "super slick" synthetic oil will cause a head gasket issue??? come on, please back up this ridiculous statement for us...

funny how you edit your post to now say you used 1 qt of full synthetic with the semi synthetic after i told you blends are 10-20% synthetic. why didnt you state that up front?? even with that, you had at best ~30-35% synthetic. as many others have mentioned & any reputable mechanic will tell you, the oil didnt cause the leak, it found a compromised gasket or part.

& now you say you change your oil with 10/40??? where'd you come up with that weight? the owners manual clearly states to use 5/30 for all temps... even in the bahamas, mon! what you did to stop the leak was called putting a band aid on it... you used oil that is twice as thick as toyota calls for!! LOL! but then again, you just told everyone a month or 2 ago to use T-IV trans fluid in their sealed WS transmissions so im not surprised you use 10/40 oil.

& as mentioned, this is not personal, you might be a nice guy, but some of the things you post on here are downright comical if not verging on possible damage to your vehicle or others that might read your comments! if you dont know what youre talking about, please refrain from posting.

The Toyota dealer used the -IV trans fluid when they did a D/F at 105,000. You need to learn to read or go back to school to make more money.

 

[firebirdguy]

The Toyota dealer used the -IV trans fluid when they did a D/F at 105,000. You need to learn to read or go back to school to make more money.

yeah & you supported them using T-IV in a WS trans! & you think a D/F takes 5 qts! LOL! your dealer & you both dont have a clue! i posted in that thread with some FACTS & you choose to avoid them as usual. i called 2 of my local dealers & they said they absolutely do not use T-IV fluid in a WS trans & one actually laughed out loud when i told him your story!

is that all you can do is make childish comments about going back to school?? you still havent told us how "super slippery" synthetic oil will cause a head gasket issue! please back up that delusional statement... not even your buddy scotty kilmer would say that!!

& i take back saying this isnt personal, you made it personal with your lame attempts at insults that are as comical as your mechanical advice! YOU are the one that clearly needs to go back to school & learn the basics of automotive mechanics! myself & many others on here have tried to provide accurate info & you just keep spewing nonsense... but thanks for the laughs! :crazy: