Synthetic oil

Been using Valvoline conventional in a Tahoe I traded for the Tacoma for 100 K and never had any issues and never had to add any oil between changes. Using Valvoline Syn Power 5-30 in the 4.0 V6 Taco. Reading the Amsoil test comparison results, Valvoline Syn Power came out pretty good in most categories. A 5 qt jug of that is only about $2 more than M1 at Wally World and local auto parts stores.

 

Just called Toyota US and CAN because I bought a US truck to drive up here in BC. Toyota CAN said I have to talk to the US. Toyota US said wif I run synthetic my warranty is good for 10k. I call bs anyways and will have done after 5k/. I only asked because I wasnt sure if they wanted my in for 5k in miles or km's. What I have not found out yet is when or if I should change my diff and tranny to synthetic. I only have 4500 miles on it but on average I drive 30k/year...

 

If you've an LSD diffy do not use synthetic. Search on TW...it seems like everyone who has developed noisy diff's even with the friction modifier. I've read this on a lot of forums, not just TW.

 

OH? I do have the LSD but was thinking about throwing in an ARB locker. I did have a look though other posts but after only 100 pages I had no clear answer. I certainly do not want issues like that...

 

That's not entirely true: this has been argued to death on BITOG and even they conclude it's IMPOSSIBLE to know with any certainty what's in an oil. Mobil1 is advertised in other markets as PAO (Grp IV) or 'true synthetic', and I've read some claims even Amsoil could have some Group III in their mix.

Mobil1 5w30 (of particular interest to us 4 litre owners) is labeled as 'true synthetic', which is how Group IV is referred to.

 

I have filled up 4 X-runners with the LSD with Amsoil Severe gear 75w90 and none of them have a noisy diff. I also used it in my 4x4 front and rear with no issues Also used it in the transfer case

I have Amsoil universal synthetic in the auto trans. Amsoil grease in the zerks, and Amsoil 0w30 in the motor

My truck runs very very well...

 

I've been doing some research on oil filters and curious as to what I should use. I'm thinking about using either Mobile1's or a WIX. Any suggestions?

 

Those are both fine filters. If you have a Napa store near you, the Napa Gold is the same as a Wix. The Toyota filters from the dealer are very good also.

Here's some more info.

http://knizefamily.net/minimopar/oilfilters/index.html

 

What can I say...Amsoil's also been know to prolong orgasm in clinical trials conducted with Nascar camp followers.

That's serious s**t your messing with, I do hope you're careful with that much dripping from your....uh...truck.

 

I think I have posted this before, but, I have had a number of friends who have long haul trucks and 10 wheel dump trucks and trailer dumps, all have the necessary huge engines, they have used Wix filters, (oil, water separators, air etc) from our local guys who stock Wix filters. They put hundreds of thousands of tough miles on there equipement.
Wix filters are very good, IMHO..

Jeff, 06, V6, SR5, 6spd.

 

You are right. Since the oil manufacturers and blenders regard their recipes at proprietary information, as such the oil base stock information is hard to come by. There are some 'known' true synthetics out there sporting Group IV/PAO base stocks. Mobil 1 0w-40 and German Castrol come to mind. I haven't seen any 5w-30 true synthetics in quite a while.

 

Correct, there is next to no good way to ensure if your US-based "synthetic" is Group III or IV. In the US, the "Synthetic" term is a marketing term that can refer to any GIII or IV oil. In other words, the terms Sythetic or True Synthetic do not mean Group IV, only that it's not dino.

Thank Castrol for that as they began selling a Group III oil originally as Synthetic and Mobil called them out on it to the FTC, or whatever gov't org that defines how certain terms can be used in marketing. The FTC, in it's infinite wisdom, decided that a Group III oil is sufficiently different from dino oil (which it is) and that they can use Synthetic to refer to Group III oils. Why they couldn't have decided to make another term to refer the Group III oil I don't know. Rest of the world, for the most part, uses semi-synth, or something like that.

Too bad, as we're left trying to figure it out for ourselves with no requirement that the oil companies provide that info.

 

Consumer Reports, with one of the most widely respected product testing laboratories in the world has released the results of an extensive test on oil brands and oil changes, as well as other issues regarding car care. In the process, the test demolished much of the conventional wisdom regarding car lubrication. The two most surprising results: the frequency with which oil is changed doesn't matter after the first few oil changes on a new engine, and the type or brand of oil used can not be shown to make any difference.


The testers placed freshly rebuilt engines in 75 New York taxis and then ran them for nearly two years, with each cab racking up 60,000 miles, placing different brands and weights in different cars and changing the oil at 3,000 miles in half the cars and 6,000 in the other half. At the conclusion of the test period, the engines were torn down, measured and inspected. The conclusions: Regardless of brand of oil or weight, no measurable differences could be observed in engine wear. Furthermore, there was no difference among cars which had oil changed at the shorter or longer interval.

Source: British Car Magazine, October-November 1996

 

Yeah, I have read that over in England/Europe, they have a different thought process than the conventional 3,000K recommend oil change interval by Manufactures here in the US, and people.

They go a lot longer on miles or kilometers in Europe using "dino" oil, than what we usually recommend or have had instilled into our brains.

I read that it is not uncommon for drivers over there to go up to 10,000 or even 15,000 before changing.
That sounds crazy to me, and I would never do that no matter what the oil analysis produced. I would feel uncomfortable about that, the only way I would go that high is if I used synthetic.
Sorry to get a little off topic, to talk about Dino oil.

 

Bako Truck,
Did you read the report?
That report was done by Consumers Report (a USA firm) on New York City taxi cabs.

No auto manufacturer recommends 3k miles oil changes now days. You are listening to the dealers and quick change oil places for you information?

And you would ignore an oil analysis and go with your gut feel?

Another victory for Madison Avenue.

 

I have used Mobil 1 in my last 4 vehicles. I changed the oil in my current taco about a week or so after I got it home. So nothing to compare to other than the last few vehicles I have owned were traded in or sold with over 200k miles on them and they still ran great.

 

lol, relax. I saw the source was from British Car Magazine and it reminded me of an article that I have read and that I wanted to share.

I'm not sure why you are so argumentative? And I never said anything about listening to dealers and oil change places for my information. WTF are you talking about? Never said anything about that.
I said that some manufacturers recommend a 3k-4k oil change.

I just wanted to share an article I had read, relax.
Damn, I share one article, and someone has to get defensive for no reason.

 

With regards to manufacturers using the 3K mileage, our new Subaru, the dealer scheduled it for a 3K oil change, I went along with this as I wanted to get Mobil 1 in there , which they had no problem with and we had a discount sheet for the oil change.
I had already told the dealer that we would use them for the first change but after that we would continue to use our "Subie only " mechanics, since we had been with them for 12yrs and they are far more honest than any dealer.
We have been getting notices every couple of months about service scheduling.
Jeff, 06, V6 , SR5, 6spd

 

So anyone ever added lucas in their oil ever?

 

Can someone tell me why Royal Purple is so expensive and is the extra cost worth it. Went to Pep Boys and they wanted 8.27 a quart.