Synthetic Oil Switch?

2001 Tacoma 2.7 with 250,000 miles. Have had it for 10,000 miles and ive used conventional. Dont know what was used before i got it and I was wondering if I should switch to synthetic. Main thing I am worried about is it causing leaks. Thanks for any input

 

I switched my 2004 2.7l @ 104k miles and my oil pain is seeping a bit. Not sure if it's from synthetic oil or not. It wasn't seeping before but who knows.

 

IMHO synthetic is a waste of money for your truck. But hey, it's your money. Today I wasted money on buying non-ethanol gas. But that's stuff for another thread/pissing match.

 

do it, wont be any difference, i used synthetic and lucause oil in my old 87 hardbody v6 it liked that so much more than regular oil, you can let your oil go longer with synthetic but i think its good to still change regularly personally i love oil and dont believe it should be ran past 3k..... i cn smell burnt oil when i run it past 3k in every engine ive ever owned....

 

I used it specifically for the -30 to -40 morning we get where I live in the morning. Ever try and pour conventional oil at these temps?

 

When i had my 2001, i switched to synthetic oil, and noticed valve cover gasket leak. Replaced it and ta da

 

fucken wish i could find non-ethanol gas near me

 

Need to buy supreme here. Regular has 10%

 

Made a difference up here in AK, we have straight gas and I regularly get 25.5mpg versus in California getting 19.8.

 

Beliefs and tested data can be far different things. Everybody, do your own research or go ahead and trust a bunch yahoos on here, or what your nose tells you, lol. It's your truck, not mine. Fortunately, Toyotas can be used and abused and keep on ticking.
Edit: Dammit, why do I let myself get sucked into these things.

 

Disagree. I change my Rotella 6 every year, or every 15K miles. No conventional oil could last that long, and offer as much cold weather protection as full synthetic. And since I always buy the gallon jug on sale, it comes to $33 for oil a year (I save the other half gallon for the Miata oil change). If cold weather is part of the equation (or extreme heat) synthetic offers a very well documented advantage.

OP, I bought my rig with 74K miles, and replaced the oil to Rotella as soon as I left the dealer I bought the truck from. That was 58K miles ago, and no leaks anywhere.

 

Speaking of rotella, is there anything i need to do if id want to convert to that? or is it the same basically as putting regular synthetic oil for gas vehicles? Thanks again for the input guys

 

Nope. Just remove old oil and refill with Rotella. After your second change, whatever dino oil you had would be gone. Remember, for quite some time now, fully synthetic oils are compatible with dino oil. I mean, unless it's racing oil, and that is not what we are talking in here.

Rotella has some serious detergents, so that is why you don't have to do the old "add auto tranny fluid after old oil has been removed, and flush".

 

It was on sale at napa for 12 dollars for a 5 quart jug. When checking out the counter guy asked me if I had a disel engine and of course I said no. I told him if he was sure he said yes. He made a couple of phone calls and it was confirmed diesel only. Wait maybe it was conventional oil. Either way I would double check.

 

It does say it's for diesel engines, yet I've been using it since 2009 in all the vehicles I've owned since. That would be Two XJ Cherokees, Two Miatas (still own one of them) and the Taco.

 

Please don't trust those counter guys. Diesel engine oil has extra additives and detergents. You can absolutely run it in gasoline engines.

 

I really like the Rotella synthetic, what is it the T6 I think? It's price is right up close with Mobil 1, so at that point I just go with Mobil 1. But even the conventional Rotella is a very high quality oil. Oh I remember, I liked the T6 because of the ambient temp rating, 5w. The conventional, 15w, just scares me and I think I'm starving my engine it's oil those first couple cranks. Lol

 

Mobil 1 full synthetic - 146k 02' 6cyl and have no issues. The 6cyl always has been been prone to leaky valve cover gaskets. I change my oil typically every 5k. Make sure to pair with a good filter. OEM if you want to drop extra coin if not go with Mobil 1

Everyone has an opinion, do what you will.

 

My old car had 350k on it when I sold it and it got anything from Walmart brand to mobile 1. Whatever was on sale. Never had an issue, ran perfect.

Bottom line is any oil is fine for everyday use, some are likely better than others in a lab, but in the real world any oil today is fine.

 

I was thinking of making the switch, I have about 80k miles on mine. Is there a reason I shouldn't switch?