2001 LX470, do I have to put premium in it? (1 Viewer)

[ELLTEE]

Wear and tear on your leather seats has nothing at all to do with milage, and everything to do with 1) how may times the PO slid his butt in and out of the truck, 2) whether he cleaned or conditioned the leather at all and 3) whether the truck was parked in a heated garage, unheated but under cover or in the open in winter and direct summer sun.

Your seats are wrinkled and maybe thinly cracked, but don't look torn, yet, so there may be hope. Lexus has a great leather cleaner and a really good leather conditioner. Use the cleaner once, thoroughly, and the conditioner every month for at least six months to get some oil back in that skin. After that, you'll want to clean as needed and condition once every season, four so times a year.

If they're already cracked pretty deep, you can try the leatherique tricks -- but that's really labor intensive stuff designed for keeping the original interior in collectible antiques -- and I doubt it's going to bring your seats back to really useful condition for a working truck.

LT
8)

 

[CDN_Cruiser]

Based on the figures above, it seems that you would pay an extra $189 per year to run premium gas ($3.60/week = 1 Latte ).

So, if the truck was designed for this fuel, and you already dumped a big load of $$ on the truck, why wouldn't you run premium?

 

[mish]

Thank you all for all the help!

I went to the local Lexus dealership and they promised to try and help me replace this seat skin as grace from mighty Toyota Considering that I just had to arbitrate and return brand new 4Runner, it is not too much, to make yours truly happy
If not I will take my truck to some local upholstery shop and have this section replaced, since this is the only one damaged section on the entire interior.

I bought 89 twice and now filled up with 92, so hopefully I will manage to continue with premium. At least I am not pissing it down the exhaust pipe like domestic truck seem to do lately (H2).

 

[Scamper]

Mish,

There is a difference in composition between regular and premium gas. Toyota engineers wrote up a tech paper a while back (it was for the engine in my Spyder, not the LC engine, but the same principal would apply) that explored these differences.

They found that the higher sulpher content in the regular gas resulted in significantly increased wear to the valves and rings/cylinders IIRC. Most of the wear occured during the short time it took to warm up the engine, after which there was not much difference between regular and premium. The conclusion was something to the effect that on engines with close tolerences, it was better to run the premium.

All that being said, they recommended regular for the Spyder...go figure.

Tom

 

[mish]

I just filled up with 92, resurfaced all brake rotors (suicidal thing to do on the front), replaced all pads, changed oil to 10w30 Mobil1 Synthetic, so 500K miles on the same engine, here I come

 

[makulaf]

uzj100 from the standpoint of a lexus engineer,
Yes you should run the higest grade avail, all the bit maps in the ecm were created on the foundation that eng is run whithin wear limits,environment is stable, fuel provided is of sound quality and meets reqirements of design application for proper and complete combustin
many Quirks can develop in the learned memory of the ecm when it learns to adjust for poor fuel < knocks , trans shifts, misfires,all normally ocur but are lessened by the ecm in its set map>
over a long period of time this will run the base setting off its projected map and lead to shortened lifespan of drivetrain.

ok i will put the geek back in his box now!!!

fj55-100 or anyone else, can you help me understand why/how lower octane gas will shorten the life span of the drive train? is anyone running the lower octane regularly?

i know this is a really old thread, but i stumbled across it and rather than start a new thread to ask about the drive train and octane with gas prices, i figured id bring this to the top.

 

[lexi4darin]

good bump

 

[Kigiin]

bad bump

 

[makulaf]

i'll take any bump. anyone know how it effects the drive train?

i am guessing the ECM retards the timing with the lower octane then has to increase the idle when the car is in neutral, so the LX goes into gear at a higher RPMS. I am wondering this since i have always run 87 octane in my 2000 lx and i called the previous owner and he said he did the same. since i bought it at 80k miles, it has clunked into gear from neutral, but shifts smoothly when the rpms are lower when going from reverse to forward or vice versa. just a guess and could be totally wrong, hoping someone with a little more knowledge can help. thanks.

 

[OregonLC]

i'll take any bump. anyone know how it effects the drive train?

i am guessing the ECM retards the timing with the lower octane then has to increase the idle when the car is in neutral, so the LX goes into gear at a higher RPMS. I am wondering this since i have always run 87 octane in my 2000 lx and i called the previous owner and he said he did the same. since i bought it at 80k miles, it has clunked into gear from neutral, but shifts smoothly when the rpms are lower when going from reverse to forward or vice versa. just a guess and could be totally wrong, hoping someone with a little more knowledge can help. thanks.

You're fine with either grade. Some get slightly better mileage with the higher octane is all. This depends upon driving style, elevation, and temperature. Way more important (IMO) is to use quality fuel (i.e. Chevron, Shell, etc). Don't believe the hype about potential damage.

Your clunk is unrelated: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/401590-official-clunk-thunk-driveshaft-thread.html

 

[makulaf]

thank you oregonLC, i really appreciate the reply.

 

[agomez]

premium gas could extend the life of the cats and the o2 sensors.....

 

[jOnathN]

It will not shorten the lifespan of anything.

Higher octane fuel allows a little more timing advance and gives a little more torque. If timing is advanced too far for the octane level then you might get some knock (bad for the motor). The LC and LX use knock sensors though so the ECU adjusts the timing automatically to eliminate knock if lower octane fuel is used. So, no motor damage at the cost of slightly worse gas mileage. The difference is not big enough to affect the drivetrain.

I find i get ~2 mpg better on the highway with super (mid-90s octane) than with regular (mid 80's octane). Ie a little more than 10% so if the price difference is less than 10% i use super.

Btw timing advance is usually not something that is long term tracked by the ecu (since getting it wrong is damaging it is based on a factory map value plus the knock sensors) so you don't have to worry about it 'learning' any behavior. Fuel trim (how much fuel to add at any given point) *is* tracked but that is driven from the o2 sensors.

 

[marshotel]

Has anyone experienced a catalytic converter failure?

premium gas could extend the life of the cats and the o2 sensors.....

I am not sure that the life of the cats is a consideration here. Residue from unburned fuel should not hurt the cats (that's what they're made for), so I'm not convinced that regular vs. premium fuel would make a difference.

Moisture build-up, freezing, and oxidation of the internals are what kills cats. I think short trips in subzero temperatures are tough on the catalytic converters.

Has anyone ever had to replace the cats on a 100-series due to failure?

I am extra cautious w catalytic converters, since I had the cat clog and catch fire on a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero w 210 k miles on it.

I am just wondering if the cats on the LC have been known to fail...

Has anyone experienced a catalytic converter failure? And if so, what were the symptoms?

 

[arbetrader]

You're fine with either grade. Some get slightly better mileage with the higher octane is all. This depends upon driving style, elevation, and temperature. Way more important (IMO) is to use quality fuel (i.e. Chevron, Shell, etc). Don't believe the hype about potential damage.

Your clunk is unrelated: https://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/401590-official-clunk-thunk-driveshaft-thread.html

I think even MORE important than quality fuel (brand), as many independent gas stations use fuel from the big companies anyway, is to purchase from a gas station that goes through TON of gas. What I mean is if you go to a gas station that is the discount station (in a larger city) in that area, likely it's the one that people line up for 20 mins just to get the cheap gas. In our area (I fill up in Bellingham, WA) the station I go to is usually cheaper if not the cheapest station around, and as such, you would not believe the long lines. They must fill their holding tanks every day/or every other day at that pace. I often see the fuel truck there every other time I pass by...

This ensures the fuel is fresh, and fresh fuel is the like fresh oil; you fresher it is, the better it performs!

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

No you don't have to use Premium gas. It's more a marketing thing to make you feel like you're in a high performance car.

The Land Cruiser and LX470's engine compression is too low to require premium. The owners manual says you can use regular temporarily and some years say recommend premium while other years recommend regular. Just use regular and don't worry about it.

 

[Yukon LX]

i have 187,000 mile on mine with 87 octane. I am no expert, but my truck has been meticulously checked by experts and the 4.7 is still flawless. Thats about all i can add.

 

[boarderjab]

I would suggest trying both for a short time to see if you notice a difference. Different areas have different mixtures and at different altitudes regular might be better for some and premium for others.

After running my LX with Premium for the first year I read a similar thread and thought I would try Regular and see. After a month and a few tanks I noticed my Gas millage down a little. More City than Highway. I lost only about 1-1.5mpg highway but easily 4+mpg city lost. I could also tell the engine was working harder to keep speed on steeper inclines and I had some sleeping pony's when I needed more speed going uphill or just needed to pass someone. I want those pony's waiting for my order and not have to wait a few moments for them to start waking up. The loss in city mpg and the performance differences made me change back to Premium.

This is what I get with my driving style in So Cal. Everyone should run their own test to see what best for them and their driving style. I will gladly pay a few extra dollars is I even am with the slight mpg difference for the performance and responsiveness I noticed. Mine is a happy LX with Premium.

Also can I add that my CO trip last year I found that I got a good 3-4mpg more with a full load of people and ski gear for a week. This is my example of how the same truck same load getting more MPG in a different location.

 

[61Redfish]

I have run my '98 on 87 octane fuel since new. I have never had any issues with the truck in the 203K miles I have on it. The only higher octane gas was the first tank the dealer put in it. The truck is 4WD, heavy and not aerodynamic, I never thought I would get good gas mileage....