oil in the 80 (1 Viewer)

[fj40crusher]

Topic has probably been beat to death but I saw something in another post that made me wonder. I currently run 5-30 in my 97. Someone mentioned that they swapped to 10-40 because they want their rig to run forever.

What should I be running? I currently run 10-40 100% synthetic in my 40 and 60, should I swap the 80 to that too? Manual recommends 5-30. I live in WA, we get all kinds of temps up here, from 20-80's. What should I be running. Doing the oil this weekend, so might as well swap now.

Thanks for the insight
Scott

 

[UpNorth]

What brand of synthetic are you running?

It seems like a lot of people running Mobil in their 80's prefer the 0W-40. IIRC its because the Mobil synthetics seem to run a little "thin" for their label weight, so people run a little heavier oil.

 

[cary]

A xW-40 synthetic is fine to use, the 40 weight gives a little more protection to the motor under load and high temps than the 30 weights. As someone said, Mobil 1 xW-30 is a great oil but with a CST of 9.8 at 100c, is very close to being a 20 weight oil. For the type of engine that the Crusier is, it is better to go a little heavier, hence the recommendation for the Mobil 1 0w-40 (High torque, low rpm motors put more load on the bearings and require an oil with a higher film strength than high rpm, low torque engines). Since the 0w-40 is rated as a 0w, it is also suited for extremely cold climates, starts down to -40 F (or C since they are the same at that temp).

I would not have a problem with running a 10w-40 in Washington State. If tempuratures are regularly getting below 10F, I would suggest you consider a 5w-40 or 0w-40, as they will flow much better during cold starts at low tempuratures.

For those that live in cold climates, and want to stick with mineral oil, there is no problem with switching from a 10w-40 in the summer to a 5w-30 in the winter. It is an old wives tale that switching weights is bad.

Cary, the psyco oil guy.

 

[GXO]

Been running 20w50 in the summer and 10w40 in the winter in my 80 (3FE POWA!!!)

I must be doing something right, been getting 13 city and almost 16 highway with a 3FE!

 

[Brentbba]

Cary,

Anything to the dino oils with the additives for 'higher mileage' engines or is it just snake oil/marketing to get another $.25-$.50 per quart? I've seen Penzoil and Quaker State out with it for awhile now.

 

[cary]

Actually, there is something with the Higher miliage oils. They tend to have some ester stock in them (A Group V synthetic) because it swells rubber seals to stop them from leaking. Also they tend to be formulated a bit on the heavier side so they don't blow by rings as easily. If you are considering a Semi-synthetic, these are a true semi-synthetic and have more synth compenents than the oils advertiesed as semi (usually about 20-30% instead of about 10%)


Cary

 

[Brentbba]

Thx Cary,

Have decided against going the M1 route and I don't know if dealer either has or will allow me to supply my own oil when I do my next service.

Dan - will most Toy dealers allow customer oil?

 

[cary]

I know that the local Toyota Dealer here had no problem when I brought my oil in leiu of their 49 cent quart coast oil. The guy in the bay even comented, "you bought the good stuff." Given the local dealer chages $27.99 (versus $18 if I take my oil and filter elsewhere) and also checks over everything, and greases the U joints, it is well worth the money.

I didn't notice when I posted that the hi milage oil was only 25-50 cents more. I would absolutely go that route if you don't want to use a full synthetic and use the 5w-30 year around. I checked on Pennzoils web site and found that the 30 weight high milage has CST at 100c of 12, which is almost a 40 weight oil (30 weight is 9.3-12.5, for comparision Mobil 1 xw-30 is 9.8, 0w-40 is 14.3). Also, Quaker State is owned by Pennzoil and the two hi milage oils are supposed to be identical, so you can use either one.

Cary

 

[Brentbba]

Cary,

Yu da man! Dealer has always used 10w30. SoCal I could reasonably go 10w40 year round and be better off(?) from everything I've learned here about oil viscocity. Man, you can teach old dogs new stuff.

BTW, I've never leaked and have rarely had to add oil between 7500 mile changes. As beast is now in it's midlife (117K, nine years), I really need to change oil more frequently. Economics and time (read kids and golf) just don't allow me the time to do it myself. Being politically correct about used oil disposal is also a PITA as well. Just can't put in an old milk container and put in the trash. Arnold would send the trash police to get me. They even pull out paint cans from your trash and tag them if they are not bone empty!

 

[cary]

If you live in So Cal, 10w-30 High Milage or 10w-40 are fine. If you are pushing your oil changes beyond 4000-5000 miles, you should really go to a full synthetic. Using that you can go to 7500 comfortably, and if you driving on the freeway a lot (and by that I don't mean the 405 or 101 during rush hour) you could feasibly push it to 10,000, but I would not generally recommend that long of an interval without analysis. If the cost of Mobil 1 ($5 a quart) bother you, you may want to check your local walmart for Shell Rotella Synthetic 5w-40 at about $12-15 for 5 quarts. Another alternative is to buy BMW Synthetic 5w-30 from your BMW dealer at about $3.84 quart. This a repackaged Europeon Castrol Group III synthetic that is formulated for longer change intervals. The BMW oil also runs on the heavy side of 30 weight so it would be suited for Southern California.

Don't forget that changing your oil at 7500 with synthetic when paying the dealer for the change, is about the same cost as changing every 4000 with mineral, not to mention the time saved. Figuring $5 quart for synthetic x 8 quarts a change= $40 plus oil change cost of $30= $70. Figuring $2 quart for Mineral x8= $16 plus change price of $30= $36. If you figure over 15000 miles you will change the synthetic twice ($140) and the mineral 4 times (approx) for a cost of $144 it is worth going synthetic. This is of course not to mention, less oil wasted.

It is funny you mention putting the oil in the trash. When I was a kid, I remember we used to dump the used oil down the hole that red ants had built a nest in order to kill them. (We won't even talk about dumping it in storm drains). Times change. Frankly now days, it is worth paying the price to have the oil changed to not have to make a second trip to recycle it.

Cary