Synthetic or conventional oil

I work at a car dealer. You are so right.

 

Yes Sir see it myself in the HD Forum all the time. The big oil debate...Didn't think I'd see it here too!

 

wonder what their using in Cuba to keep all those old ass cars still running? Hmm... just sayin and don't know either lol... I like dino but always can't get past the rhetoric of which one to use

 

Check this out for my Tacoma. Get a TBN check on your oil, it tells you how much additive package is left in the old oil. Mine was at 3.6 after 7239 miles, ill be going 9000k on my next change.
An oil's function is to lubricate, clean, and cool the engine. Additives are added to the oil to enhance those functions. The TBN will start out reading in the 6.0 to 14.0 range (depending on whether the oil is for gas or diesel engines). When you first start using the oil the TBN tends to drop sharply. Then it levels out and drops more slowly after that. A low TBN test result, meaning very little additive is left, is down around 1.0 or lower.

 

I switched to Mobile one because I got tired of changing my oil every 3K miles. Seems like all I did was change the oil.

 

There's a thread here I came across before this one. The title is something like "350,000 miles". Go ask that guy what he has used. He's avg'd about 39K a yr.

 

Here's the thread. I believe he said he uses Mobil 1 and he goes beyond 5,000 mile intervals
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/350-000-miles.314957/page-17#post-10296242

 

Negative ghost rider.

The V6 comes with conventional oil can't speak for the 2.4L but the V6 comes factory with conventional oil.

 

My 2010 has "synthetic oil only" printed under the hood on the cover. So its safe to assume that it came like that from the factory?

 

I always run the factory fill oil until the 1st oil change, at 5,000 mi. Whether this is a special "break-in" oil or not I don't know, but at least I didn't change it out to early before break-in was complete. After that, it is Redline ester synthetic at 5,000 mi interval, for the life of the vehicle.

Between my family and work trucks (and cars), there are more Toyotas than I can even begin to count. This has worked great for all of them, and a few are now VERY high mileage.

http://www.redlineoil.com/

(My educated guess is that Toyota branded oil is some form of Group III base, and intended to meet some particular price point. Not the best IMO and certainly never my first choice, but at least better than dino oil....)

 

dealers still confused on this subject? 4.0s are conventional 5k changes and 2.7s are synthetic 10k changes. What is so hard about that? Even one of the service writers at my dealer did not know. When the sales guy had it wrong I was not surprised. Service writers should know.

 

Mine has the "synthetic oil only" printed under the hood as well....I bought my 2011 New 0 miles and I've run Red line Full Synthetic 0w20 the whole time...I now have about 30,000 on it

 

That is exactly correct. When I went back, the head service guy told me they are slowly switching everything over to synthetic and then basically told me everything you just stated. So props to you

 

When I bought my new Taco last year, my dealer gave me a lube guide for all Toyotas. Our 4.0 is the last engine that still calls for conventional oil. Since this engine debuted in the 2003 4Runner, it makes sense.

 

So why do some of us have "synthetic oil only" printed under the hood? Is it a climate thing for colder temp regions?

I'm confused why a 2010 model would have that printed but the new Tacomas come with conventional oil???

I'll stick to synthetic, I use either Mobil 1 or Royal Purple with Toyota filters. Nearly 200,000km so far with 10,000km intervals and she runs great!

 

Religion, politics, and now oil; three subjects never to bring up at a party.

 

Look in your maintenance guide for the current 2.7's. It states to change to oil every 5K and use 0W20 which is synthetic. That is what I did on my 2012 2.7. The 2.7 Tacoma is currently the only Toyota that has 5k oil changes with synthetic. The current 2.7's have synthetic only on the oil cap.

 

2.7 liter is why

 

Oil Viscosity Applicability and Change Interval Guide

 

Got my last free oil change at dealership. they do use conventional, unless you request synthetic. spoke to a mechanic and said you could use synthetic. just do mix the both and once you go synthetic do not use conventional. 2015 4.0 Trd