Synthetic vs Reg Oil in a low milage Tacoma

What are your opinions on putting in synthetic oil in a truck (I have an 2011 X-Runner w/ 8700 miles on it) with low millage? I have heard that running synthetic with some other mods will help with fuel millage. Was also told that it could make the front and rear seals leak. For me my main concern is the life of my truck. I haven't talked to the dealership to see if it would void my warranty. because that could be a factor too. What are your thought?

 

I wish I still had the emails, but I emailed a few oil companies about this when I first got my ford ranger. Penzoil, Mobil 1, Castrol and a couple others... and they said that with their lab testing, it was perfectly fine to run their synthetics on brand new engines. They did however state that not to swap out the factory oil for theirs. But as long as its after that first service interval, to enjoy their synthetics.

 

Been using mobil 1 since first oil change...now at 72k and still good.

 

Ok, here's my experience with synthetic oils(been using them for 15 years,,,, been driving for 25 years)

Back in the olden days,,,,, there were a lot less choices for synthetic oils. Mobile 1 was the most popular and widely used. Back in the day,,,,, it was always suggested that for break in purposes to use conventional oil. It would allow the rings to seat more quickly. The down side to synthetics back then was that if you had ANY seals or gaskets that leaked or seeped, it would cause the leakage to get worse.

If your motor is broken in, switching to synthetic oil will help in the following situations.

In very cold weather, the synthetic oil will not thicken up nearly as much. This will allow for easier starting, and better cold start lubrication. For racing, the synthetic oils do not break down as easily under extreme conditions such as heat and many racing folks use a lighter weight oil than street driven vehicles because of less parasitic loss.

MPG with synthetics is supposed to be slightly better but I never did a comparison to tell you about. Some synthetics also have better thermal conductivity and help engines run a little cooler. I use Repsol brand full synthetic oil in my motorcycle(s) and although its really expensive, Repsol DOES make my bike run a bit cooler. In my X-Runner, I run mobile 1 5-30 and have since its had 1100 miles on the clock.

I hope this sheds a little light on the issue for you.

 

I changed over to Amsoil at 6200 miles(engine, tranny and diff)

 

I had an 86 4Runner with the 2.4L engine. I used nothing but synthetic oil in it since the first oil change. I got 485,000 mile without a single repair to the engine.

I put synthetic in my new Tacoma at the first oil change, and will only use synthetic oil in it.

 

I use mobile 1 in everything. Old or new.
My 2007 has had mobile 1 in it since 2700 miles -it currently has 61,000.

I used mobile 1 in my 96 Tacoma when I bought it at 60,000 miles and had the truck for 5 years and sold it with 110,000 miles.

Synthetic oils tend to seep further into engine components and cleanse better than regular oils. This can be beneficial in many ways. In older vehicles, when you start using synthetics.... the results can vary by the vehicle.

With my 96... I developed a very minor seep at the oil pan. Nothing actually dripped - very minor.

 

Like anything else maintence is key. With synthetic it will give you a little more room for extended drains. I've always used synthetic and started using Mobil 5w30 HM.

 

Go synthetic if you want, no harm will come to your motor because of it. I run it it most of my stuff.

 

I switched to Amsoil xtended life oil because (1) it was on sale at a former retailer (GI Joe's) and (2) for lower rpm on cold starting. With Dino (traditional oil) the engine went to 2200 rms, with the synthetic-it DROPPED to 1800 rpm. It's common info that most of the wear is on cold start, so Less rpm=Less wear! i'M very HAPPY WITH THE AMSOIL Extended Life and had oil anaylsis done after my 1st & 2nd changes after switching. Everything was fine so I xtended the change intervals to 10 and than 15k. No problems and the engine runs great and smooth. The oil stays much cleaner also, with the dino, it was dirty at 1500 miles. On the Amsoil, the color when I change it is slightly darker than what I put in. You can't go wrong with any ester base oil. I'm told Royal Purple and RedLine are also very good, Use what you want-But get the used synthetic anaylized so you know whats happening in your engine. You'll know if the bearings or other metal is deteriorating and if any fuel or coolant is in your oil. Also use a QUALITY oil filter. There's a site where a guy bought numerous brands, opened them up and shared the info (w/some pic's) Lots of good info and his observations there. Good Luck!

 

The synthetics have cleaners and detergents in them to protect against sludge and can wash away gunk which can make a slow leak worse, other than that there is nothing to worry about as long as the engine is broke in. You can even swap back and forth if you like. Only pros with todays synthetics. I switched to Mobil 1 at 165,000 miles and no issues of anykind.

 

The idle speed, whether hot or cold, is computer controlled and it doesn't know you have Amsoil in it so if it really changed I'd be highly concerned. Most of the color change of an oil comes from the contaminates it collects from the engine. An oil that stays clean could be doing so because it's leaving contaminates in the engine instead of carrying them, I've seen this. I'm not trying to say Amsoil is bad, just pointing out that your only two points for it are highly debatable. I had two customers that started using the extended drain amsoil (25K intervals) and one developed a serious engine problem about 50K miles into it. I don't have any evidence to show it was because of the oil as he had the repair done by someone else, but they told him the engine was really dirty and he should change his oil more often. I do believe Amsoil to be excellent, but their suggested drain intervals may be a little to long in some cases. It probably lubricates fine at the long drain, but may not be able to control and carry the contaminants as well as a cheaper oil at short intervals.

Back around '93 I bought a '89 Nissan pickup that had 42K on the factory oil and it was still running, even tho it was down to under 2 qts. left, but it was making noise. The drain plug and oil filter were still sealed in engine paint and I had to break the filler cap loose with a big pair of channel locks so there's no doubt it hadn't been serviced. I refilled it and the engine ran fine. It took several oil changes before it stopped turning the oil black quickly, but then seemed to be back to normal. I drove it for over two years and never had an issue. At my last job one of the employes was driving a '98 mustang with 40k on the factory oil, again no signs of a problem. All it proves is that any oil can go a long time without showing obvious signs of a problem, but I can't imagine there was no damage caused by it.

 

I understand the engine speed is computer controlled, when I mentioned your reply to a co-worker with car repair experience, he thought a minute and replied that the rpm should go up (w/less resistance/drag) However my observation of lower rpm on cold start (by 400 rpm) is a favorable condition as far as I'm concerned. I's say it's a combination of the computer adjusting to the syntethic's superior luberication characteristics. Does anyone else have a similar experience in changing from Dino to syntethic? I am not a Amsoil rep/reseller/stock holder. I'm just sharing my experience with you. If you've used synthetic and can verify results (as I did with 2 oil analyaises after the 1st & 2nd change) I say share it with us.

 

The 25k intervals are for vehicles that don't meet the severe service guidelines, and it doesn't change the annual requirement. If he changed every 25k / 18 months and was doing truck stuff with it, that could be a problem.

I switched from dino to 0w30 synthetic at ~270k on my truck.

 

I have been using Amsoil since 1981. Amsoil invented the first API/SAE approved synthetic oil in 1974 and is the proven leader in motor oil ever since. If there was a better oil out there Amsoil would make it. Amsoil costs more than the store brands and shipping hurts a bit but I wouldn't use anything else. Amsoil also provides its own warranty that states if you use Amsoil to Amsoil's specification they will warrant their oil regardless of the manufacturer. Do your Tacoma a favor.

 

It was a VW GTI commuter car, mostly highway cruising. He was tracking the interval, not me, so I can't guarantee he was sticking to it. I assume the oil still had good lubrication qualities at the interval and that it was probably being overwhelmed by contamination. Different engines and driving styles will change how much contamination the oil gets. He planned on, but never did an oil analysis.

 

If the friction lowered with the new oil the computer would open the throttle less to maintain the same RPM. You would only know this if you had a vacuum gage or a throttle position indicator and the difference may not be noticeable. It doesn't know what oil you have and the RPM isn't raised or lowered because of lubrication or friction, it's controlled in response to engine temperature. The only reasons I see for it suddenly have a lower cold idle is the ambient temp. was higher or a minute chance that the computer looks at load to further alter the idle which I've never experienced on any system. If I park my truck where the sun hits it in the morning and don't start it 'till later in the day it's idle is noticeably lower than a cold day in the shade. I switched from 5-30 dino to 0-20 syn and got no change in idle hot or cold and no noticeable changes in how the engine starts or runs. My driving conditions don't let me do useful MPG tracking so I have no idea what it did for efficiency, but I averaged about the same with both.

An engine without intelligent idle control would idle higher if the friction were reduced.

 

Nice to see someone using science and engineering (oil analysis, vs. hearsay) to analyze how oil actually works. My buddy with a massive-mileage turbodiesel GMC pickup won't use anything but Amsoil.

To OP, not terribly differently from what others mention: oil threads never change much. You should see what the 911 Turbo guys, and motorcycle guys, say about all this. Often it de-volves into shouting matches fairly quickly. Actually analyzing the used oil, and publishing the results, hardly seems to slow down the naysayers.

The story's been basically the same since I started driving in the late 1980s. Mobil 1 appeared at some point after that, I used it in three race motorcycles, two BMW cars, one 911 Turbo, and eleven street bikes. Oh, and one really enjoyable 2007 Tacoma X-Runner that as of this morning has a bit over 93K miles and a brand new TRD supercharger. Bought brand new November 2006.

Not one of the above vehicles, at any time or under any conditions, ever suffered demonstrable engine, transmission wear that could be definitely pinned on bad oil. Note the world "demonstrable." My test conditions are normal use, and do not involve control groups, thus the previous is strictly my opinion and observation.

I've shifted through various synthetic oils on my X-Runner, since post first service (break-in). I have a 52 page PDF file that is the entirety of my records, oil changes and otherwise. Looking through my own records, I see Castrol Syntec (several changes), Mobil 1, Amsoil, Union 76 synthetic, Penzoil synthetic. Something must be going right for me, the truck hasn't exploded yet.

Only several times have I noticed a change in the vehicle's behavior using different "flavors" of synthetic, in all the above-mentioned vehicles, mostly warm climates:

1. A synthetic blend, back in the early days (c. 1988) kept an air cooled motorcycle demonstrably cooler, and the transmission subjectively shifted better (1983 Suzuki GS750E). I became a believer shortly thereafter.
2. 911 Turbo seems to like Motul 8100 X-cess 5W40 "better" than Mobil 1 0W-40. Turbo seals leak a bit less on the slightly-heavier oil, based on consistent usage across several tens of thousands of miles.

 

Go full synthetic. I own both my Tacoma and my ford escape SUV, can't complain at all about switching to full synthetic in either car.