New oil thread

[marcfj60]

I haven't seen a discussion on oil in this forum for ages so I thought I'd start one up again.

I replaced my oil and filter this weekend. I decided I would try synthetic. I went with Castrol Syntec (since I always use Castrol anyway). The general consensus on the 100-series forum is that the 2UZ-FE motor is very easy on oil. I will have to agree. It had been 6,250 miles since I'd changed the oil (just regular 5W-30 last time). The level had not dropped at all since I'd filled it and the color was only slightly more amber than when I put it in. My 4-cyl Accord makes oil go from light amber to very dark in 4,000 miles and it consumes about 1/2 quart in 1,000 miles.

I guess I could send a sample out for analysis like I've seen others around here do. But all the old oil is now in my oil catching pan so its mixed with who knows what from various vehicles, ATF, brake parts cleaner, CV grease, etc... Maybe when I get to 5K miles, I'll remove the filter and catch the ~4 oz that spills out of the oil cooler adapter and have that analyzed. It drains out onto a little spout that is below the serpentine belt at the front of the engine and can easily be caught without making much mess or dripping down the side of the block. I'll just clean off the spout to eliminate contamination from dirt or grease.

Mobil 1 seems to get the most attention on the 80 and 100 forums as 'the best'.

What are other's using in their vehicles?

If I like to use a ~5K mile interval with dino-juice, what's a good number to shoot for with full synthetic? How do I determine a good interval? I hear people make claims of 10K - 15K miles. Mobil 1 puts 15K miles on the front of their bottle. FWIW, I'm using the fancy 90915-20004 filter that you cannot normally get in the US market. We sure are lucky to have Dan to get all this fancy, non-US market stuff for us.

 

[OGBeno]

15W40 during the hot months (dino)...usually Delo or Rotella.

5w40 Rotella synthetic during the cold months.

90915-20004 filter during the cold months.

15600-41010 during the hot months.

 

[alia176]

I use what ever is on sale by the gallon, usually aim for Dino 10w-30 or 5w-30 (hard to find). The interval varies based on the color of the oil, anywhere from 7k - 15k. About the only place I'll use synthetic is in the Tcase and the diffs. All of my engines are over 100k so I didn't switch to synthetic oil. Based on what I've seen on Michele's engine after a complete tear down, these engines do very well on dino oil and a consistent oil change is the key. These are tractor engines after all. YMMV as they say!

 

[TroutRunner]

Ali,

Your running dino oil 7k-15k miles? Have you had them checked at the lab? What about your filter change frequency?

Seems like a long go for dino oil.


Beno,

What is your interval?

 

[OGBeno]

3K miles roughly.

Or, 3 months.

I'm pretty religious about my maintenance.

 

[TroutRunner]

I use 5w30 mobil one and change every 5k no matter what. Filter change at same time with napa gold. In fact all my cars are on the 5k schedule. Good enough for the toyota manual, good enough for me.

G

 

[SteveLCetc]

I'm going with Amsoil. I can tell the difference in the 40 on how smooth the engine runs with full synthetic vs. dino. I don't know why I run synthetic in the 40 (cheap synthetic, not Amsoil) because when I get the analysis done it's still perfect. Hard to justify an SBC when the engine's not wearing...

I ran the Corolla for over 15k with Amsoil in the engine and had it checked and it still had plenty of buffer in it. I just changed the transaxle oil to Amsoil and I think my mpg increased about 5%, but it's hard to tell with seasonal changes etc.

BTW, there is an analysis company in Rio Rancho now - the only local one I know of since the Komatsu dealer quit doing it here. They charge $25 - quite a bargain if you want to spot check your engine condition.

ILFC - International Lubrication and Fuel Consultants, Inc. Website

There's certainly a trade off - more cash up front vs. longer durations and better mpg.

There are only 4 true synthetics though, Amsoil, Royal Purple, Redline, and ... I think Mobil 1 but maybe Castrol. The other synthetics are basically just homogenized dino oil, still subject to breakdown under moderately high heat.

P.S. you can see the correlation even just on this list between dino users and those who have had their engines apart...

 

[OGBeno]

P.S. you can see the correlation even just on this list between dino users and those who have had their engines apart...

In all seriousness Steve, I'd be interested in hearing your theory about this correlation.

 

[TroutRunner]

Ali has had both of his apart and he goes 15k without a oil change.

I beat the crap out of mine, leave it outside year round, don't even air up the tires anymore unless its gonna drive out of town. I just put gas in it and change the oil at 5k intervals. Sweet purring from the engine except for my exhaust rattle that reaches siesmic clattering at times.

G

 

[SteveLCetc]

Onur -

It's an old school vs. new school thing in my opinion. I think going with a full synthetic is kind of poo-poo'ed by the old school guys, but in my opinion, going with full synthetic offers greatly enhanced protection, especially in high stress situations. Dino oil *will* fry in a high stress situation, and the small quantity that fries in one surge is not necessarily evident in a post-mortem oil test, although it could be critical during that moment in one microcosm of the engine.

That said, I have an anecdote that belies the dogma surrounding K&N air filters. The story (typically associated with Amsoil air filters) is that K&N filters are too coarse and let in sand. I bought a second gen 4runner from an old friend of mine, and it had a K&N air filter. Before I changed the oil (which was fairly dirty) I took a sample in - it had zero silicon in it. That just goes to show you that everything you read (especially on a multi-level marketing site) is not necessarily true...

 

[OGBeno]

That just goes to show you that everything you read (especially on a multi-level marketing site) is not necessarily true...

Very true Steve.

That being said, the dino oils of today are significantly different than the old school days.

I mainly dino because it is cheap, it works well with an older/worn in engine, and availability of quality dino oils in bulk....

 

[marcfj60]

If I still had my 60, I'd still be putting in dino juice every 3K. Now that I have a modern engine that is recommended to run on 91+ octane, I figured maybe I should go with fancier oil. Since it took me a year and a half to go 7K miles, I'm not too concerned about the $60 oil changes with synthetic vs $40 with conventional. The Castrol Syntec says it's full synthetic. Maybe I'll keep the ~5K interval but go with the synthetics, since it's a nominal price difference with the # of miles it gets.

 

[1911]

I use Castrol GTX 20W-50 year-round in the 40, because it uses a little (about a quart every 1000 miles). In everything else, I use Amsoil full-synthetic 5W-30. The only reason I use Amsoil instead of Mobil 1 (which I used to use with excellent results) is that I can get all my synthetic lube products for all my cars, trucks, and tractors in one place and in bulk.

Personally I'm sold on synthetic oil and lube products. I used to make a living as a mechanic, and still do a lot of mechanic work - all of my own vehicles, and some for friends. When I started using synthetic oil in air-cooled motorcycle engines and in Toyota 22R/RE engines, I noticed a large reduction in wear between tear-downs/rebuilds. In the air-cooled engines, I immediately noticed a 15-20-degree reduction in operating oil temperatures. Those two things were enough to sell me.

As far as drain intervals, I use extended drain intervals on everything - 6 - 7,000 miles on the wife's Lexus, and I've been as long as 12,000 miles on the FJ Cruiser with no ill effects. It has over 112,000 miles and doesn't use a drop between changes. The Sequoia has more miles than that and the same story. The FJ80 (son has it now, still uses synthetic) has over 250,000 miles and leaks a little but does not burn any.

 

[alia176]

All of our runs are minimum 10 miles so the engines are well warmed up and all of our trips are hwy trips. The engines are warmed up well and no condensation is left inside. So, my logic is that my oil is hardly abused and the color shows it. Both engines show an amber color oil even after 6k miles. I'll change the filter with a Pure Gold filter at around 6k and continue to use the same oil until the color changes to a darker color.

If we did lots of local runs where the engine didn't warm up all the way, my interval would me much shorter. Keith's engine showed signs of cylinder scarring when the engine was disassembled by Robbie - his guess was that was due to a short commute with poor oil changing habits.

This is all highly subjective and we all have our own way of doing things!

Regarding the K&N air filter letting in more dirt into the intake manifold - this has been substantiated by Robbie when he took apart an engine long time ago that ran this filter. A search in the 80 section will reveal more info.

Two things that I've done to the 80's that help keep the engine clean - PCV oil catch can and no EGR. Both of these items contributed significantly to a dirty combustion chamber and a filthy intake manifold. I'm hoping that my engines will stay clean forever now!!! For more info on this, do a search in the 80 section.

 

[1911]

Two things that I've done to the 80's that help keep the engine clean - PCV oil catch can and no EGR. Both of these items contributed significantly to a dirty combustion chamber and a filthy intake manifold.

+1

My 3FE-powered 80 had the intake manifold significantly carboned-up, to the point of restricting some flow, at a little over 100,000 miles. s***-canned the EGR; when I tore the intake apart again to rebuild and balance the injectors in another 80,000 miles, the intake had hardly any carbon at all.

 

[Cruisergreg]

There are only 4 true synthetics though, Amsoil, Royal Purple, Redline, and ... I think Mobil 1 but maybe Castrol.

Mobil 1 is full synthentic and Castrol Syntech. There's also Eneos.

 

[TroutRunner]

I'm not convinced that looking at the color of the oil is indicative of whether or not is retains its optimum lube capabilities.

Like most things on the internet...an n of 1, even by the best mechanic in the Toyota world, does not equal a substantial review of a particular product.

G

 

[evanz80]

I'll jump in here with my two cents. Like Marc, I was a Castrol user (dino oil) from way back, and started using Castrol Syntec (synthetic) when it became available. I experimented a bit with the 80 and tried Mobil 1 (syn) 10W30, but then heard that it was a bit thin on the viscosity (and I was burning a bit). So I switched to Rotella syn 5W40, and was not burning as much. After Robbie did the head gasket in the 80, he found a bit of carbon in the engine, so I used Auto-Rx to help clean the engine. Auto-Rx recommends NOT using synthetic whn running the cleaning cycle, so as not to have competing chemistries. So I'm back to Castrol GTX (dino oil) in the 80. I will probably go back to Rotella synthetic in the 80 once the cleaning process is done.

For the other engines (Celica, Highlander, Tacoma), I use Castrol Syntec 5W30. Mr. Toyota says the Hybrid Camry wants 0W20, and there are only two options there that I'm aware of - Mobil 1 (syn) or Toyota brand (syn).

I stick to a 5,000 mile cycle for engine oil changes, with a new Toyota filter, unless it's been a year and I haven't hit the miles, then I will go ahead and change it. Probably overkill, but...

For diffs, I've been using Amsoil 80W90 gear oil (syn). Where Toyota specifies 75W90 for trannies and transfer cases, I use Mobil 1 (syn) 75W90 gear oil. For auto trannies, I use Mobil 1 syn ATF.

 

[SteveLCetc]

Regarding the K&N air filter letting in more dirt into the intake manifold - this has been substantiated by Robbie when he took apart an engine long time ago that ran this filter. A search in the 80 section will reveal more info.

Two things that I've done to the 80's that help keep the engine clean - PCV oil catch can and no EGR. Both of these items contributed significantly to a dirty combustion chamber and a filthy intake manifold. I'm hoping that my engines will stay clean forever now!!! For more info on this, do a search in the 80 section.

I searched the 80 section for K&N and came up empty.

Got a good link to this PCV oil catch can setup?

 

[lurch]

I use 5w30 mobil one and change every 5k no matter what.

I do the same but use D3 Yota filters in the 4Runners. I changed both vehicles over to Syn after 170+ and no problems. Holly's has 235K and mine 185k...mine leaks a little oil every once in a while but not consistently.

Hard to justify an SBC when the engine's not wearing...

Steve it's not hard to justify a SBC...do you need to take the smurf for a spin

That said, I have an anecdote that belies the dogma surrounding K&N air filters. The story (typically associated with Amsoil air filters) is that K&N filters are too coarse and let in sand. I bought a second gen 4runner from an old friend of mine, and it had a K&N air filter. Before I changed the oil (which was fairly dirty) I took a sample in - it had zero silicon in it. That just goes to show you that everything you read (especially on a multi-level marketing site) is not necessarily true...

I ran a K&N on my 2nd gen 4Runner and noticed a film of really, i mean really fine dust coating the intake tube. But on my 3rd gen I'm running an Amsoil oiled filter and have never seen a dust coating in the intake tube.
But my Amsoil filter is coming apart (after 7 years) and I have a K&N I'm thinking about using in it's place but not sure about the fine dust...