I've searched high and low for answers, and nothing so far. I've drove cars before my 2007 Sport T4R V6 that require me to use synthetic oil every 7500-8k intervals, so I never had this dilemma. I know the T4R intervals are every 5k, but it does not state in the manual that synthetic is needed. I just bought the car earlier this year, and an oil change is coming up. I am not sure what they used before. But I've been hearing that if the car has been using conventional oil all its life, and you decide to switch late (I have about 84K on the clock) it could lead to oil leaks in the future. Has anyone ever switched this late with no problem? or just stick with the conventional oil and change it every 5k and call it a day? Thanks in advance.
Will switching to synthetic in high mileage cause oil leaks in the future?
- Thread starter jdotlim
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
RUN-4-LIFE
New member
No, synthetic will not cause oil leaks.. You can switch between conventional and synthetic regularly, oil is oil. But my take on it is the engineers designed the engine for 5k intervals and I keep my 5k interval even with synthetic oil, though I run conventional changed at the dealer. 109k miles on my 07. Changed every 5-6 k miles, just depended on what's going on when I need to take it in
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
so you're running conventional right now? a lot are saying if you're changing oil every 5k, using synthetic would be a waste, and just stick with conventional.
that is the problem I am trying to avoid. I might just stick with conventional and call it a day. changing my oil every 5k is my plan and would be a waste if I use synthetic and switch it every 5k since they tend to last up 7.5k.
RUN-4-LIFE
New member
I'd stick with it, my though process is Toyota Engineers designed it that way and the engineers know more than me. So, I stick with it. That's my 2 cents though you are right, you can go longer with synthetic than conventional.
its only about $10 more, price isn't whats stopping me. I want to switch to synthetic, but I did not want to run into leak issues in the future. Maybe I will switch.
i wasn't going to mix it really, but i guess you can call it mixing if i am on the edge of switching. seeing as everyone switches way later than 85k, i do not see a problem now. thanks for the help.
are you saying you haven't changed your oil in about 10k? or do you still change every 5k?
MrEMan
New member
I'm saying that I recently switched to synthetic oil in a high mileage 4Runner with no leakage issues, which is what I thought was your original question. I made the switch for what I understand to be better life and lubrication, so yes I'm now using a 10K interval.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
