2012 v6 synthetic or not?

Someone posted this a while back, and I captured it to the computer. As far as I know, all 2012s come full synthetic from the factory. It helps Toyota meet their fuel economy targets.

 

At the end of september I found a '06 4.0 4x4, w/63k on it. Castrol Edge 5w30 in a 5qt jug and one qt bottle cost me $33.00 at Walmart. Ebay had OEM filters that shipped a box of 5 for $28.00. The Ranger I got rid of used a blend that got real dark at 3k but my Taco has almost 5k on the oil and looks pretty good. We'll see what happens.

 

Any issues going from Synthetic to Dino oil? I know that there are no issues going Dino to Synthetic.

Reason I ask - I did an oil change myself @ 3K miles to flush out the break in oil. The manual specifically states dino oil is in the truck. 3,000 miles later I am getting ready for my next oil change and want to go synthetic.

Assuming I HAD synthetic from the factory already and then went to dino oil - have I done anything negative to the engine?

I imagine no but figured I would ask this fine & knowledgeable group.

Thx
Ron

 

No problem going back and forth.
You can even mix them... just treat the resulting blend as if it were dino.
You'll get some of the benefits of the synthetic.

 

I took my truck in to the dealer which i bought the truck from and he said the truck definitely had conventional oil from the factory. He had information that he showed me. Very nice folks to deal with and ill have them do my 2 year service then ill switch to synthetics and do them myself. Sad that the dealer by my house was clueless......

 

Doing my 10K service today - @ the stealer right now - according to the Toyota computer my 2012 O/R has Conventional.

I am paying the upcharge today to go synthetic. Going forward I am probably just going to do it myself. Needed to have a few things looked @ which is why I brought it in - only 8500 miles but figured I would just get the 10K done while I am here.

 

they change mine every 5k. regular oil.

 

Synthetic oil has it's place and it may save you a dollar or two in a years driving in fuel mileage but there is nothing wrong with dino oil either and in less you change it at 10K it never gains you any thing. My 97 had 285K when I sold it and I even used the "orange can of doom" for filters every 5K so if you think an engine can feel "pain" dump it at 5K.

 

TRD Sport 2008 4.0V6. I switched over to Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 filter at 1500 miles. I do the same (change it myself) every 5K miles. No problems to date. Now have 50K miles.

 

Not true.

Extended drain intervals are the primary marketing tactic because they offset the increased cost, but it is not the primary benefit, and some of the benefits are lost on extended drain intervals.

The primary benefits are:
Better film retention = More oil remaining on the bearings during cold starts (where most of your engine wear occurs)
Better cold-flow performance = Gets the oil where it is needed more quickly and with less stress on the oil pump
Better resistance to coking = Resistant to sludge formation and will not leave carbon deposits under the extreme high end of acceptable operating temperatures

Resistance to coking is critical in turbocharged engines where the engine is shut down and oil flow stops completely while the turbo is still spinning and hot.

 

I never beat 21 mpg on summer gas until I switched to synthetic so I figure with the minimum 200 miles per week I drive I do better than break even. It's twelve bucks more up front at walmart for mobil 1 vs conventional valvoline, about the cost of 3.4 gallons of gasoline, about $12. Let's assume $3.50/gal gas. That means at my current 21.7 mpg avg I spend $806.45 in fuel per 5000 mile oil change. Add that $12 to find the break even total ($818.45). Divide it out ($818.45/$3.50gal=233.84gal, divide 5000 by that) and the break even average mileage for dino is 21.4 mpg.

I guarantee I make all that $12 back and then some. After all EPA mileage for my truck is supposed to be 14/19.

Nothing wrong with modern conventional oils though. The SN standard is supposed to require a very good oil to meet its stringent requirements and if that's your pick of fancy, more power to you. It's a far better oil than it was just ten years ago by a huge magnitude.

It's hard to beat the cold flow of syn though. That's where it wins on the 4.0L because this doggone engine wants to drown itself in fuel when cold. According to the ultragauge, a winter's stone cold engine start with conventional took 1.6-1.7 gph at the first high idle; mobil1 5w30 is closer to 1.3-1.4 gph. After that first 10 minutes though any mileage advantage for synth is pretty well nothing, but it's that first 10 minutes where the mpg meter just drops like a stone that really determines how good or bad that tank will be.

 

I get 20-22 MPG with my 6 spd. do you think I'll gain another 2MPG not likely. The cold fuel usage is all the more reason to use the cheaper oil and dump it at 5K gasoline will thin syn. also. I ran syn in my VW diesel because that is what was required more so then any thing else the 5W to feed the cold turbo and to pickup the carbon etc from the combustion. Also they said 10K no less to allow the oil to trap the soot other wise it would be reasonably useless to drain it sooner. Syn oils are fine they do flow better but is it really needed, I prefer the 5K change because it allows me to check other things as I change the oil and I feel that the benefits to the syn oil is only realized at 10K changes all oils do what they were designed to and in 50 years of driving I have never lost an engine from oiling or filter issues.

 

I think you missed my point, maineah, that all the mileage gain I would need is 0.3 mpg (not 2 mpg, where the blazes did you pull that number from???) to break even at $3.50 gas, and since when has premium been that cheap. Point being, cost is a moot point between synth and conventional in the grand scheme of things.

I forgot to make another comment that is in agreement with yours. My little analysis was also based on a 5k interval for synthetic. Regardless of what 'protection' it purportedly offers on extended intervals, I don't really care; every single time with this truck the mileage starts to tank after 4k miles on the oil. As far as I'm concerned this engine is hard on oil (supported by Toyota sticking with the shorter interval vs their other vehicles) and nothing that oil analysis says will change the fact that on the Ultra-gauge the engine load % steadily rises above normal under every condition once I pass 4k miles, and it's ALWAYS changed out before 5k ticks around.

 

I will be pulling a trailer in high heat, hilly country. What is a good oil for my toyota?? And the best filter..

 

Mobil-1, weight is on your oil filler cap... 5w30 for the 4.0 V6.
Filter:

$55 Toyota 90915-YZZD3 Oil Filter 1 Case (QTY 10)

Toyota 90915-YZZD3
About $4-5 in quantity online.

 

toyota care card in the mail said 'conventional' and 5000 miles/6months for 4L warranty maintenance. 10000 on synthetic is good but wouldn't chance getting into a warranty hassle from breaking the 5k/6mo. warranty rules. After the warranty's up, anything goes. synthetic is a waste if warranty sez dump it at 6 months.
obtw, the 2.7 four REQUIRES synthetic AND a 6months change interval... go figure...

 

Do you have the tow package? If so, you should have no issues pulling a trailer of appropriate weight in high heat. Synthetic oil won't hurt anything but your pocketbook. I second the keep it in 4th as well. If you're on flat then 5th should be ok if it's not constantly hunting between 4th and 5th. I have yet to read the owners manual on towing though. That would be a good place to start.

Edit: And to add, the Toyota OEM filter is best.

 

Tranny cooler being more important than an oil cooler. Which is a nice addition in the towing package. Usually it's a hitch, tranny cooler, bigger alternator and battery, and a pigtail for the brake controller. None of my prior trucks w/ tow packages came with an oil cooler that I can recall. How much oil does the 4.0 hold? Usually trucks built for towing hold a lot of oil. My diesels needed 5+ GALLONS.

 

No, it's not.

Extended drain intervals are pushed by Amsoil salesmen as a way to make the higher price of their products more acceptable.
Extended drain intervals is NOT the primary benefit of synthetic oil, and some of the benefits are lost when moving to extended drain intervals.

I've always run synthetic and have never gone over 7500 unless I rolled past 7500 on a road trip (FYI, 7500 was the standard service interval for my '03 Tundra).

Better cold flow performance
Better film retention
Better viscosity retention at high temperatures
Better viscosity retention over time (this is one benefit that is lost on extended drain intervals)
Better resistance to coking - Coking leads to sludge formation. I would never run ANY turbocharged engine without synthetic because of this issue.

 

I run Mobil 1 full synthetic in all my vehicles and have for years. Change the oil and filter every 5000. I use the OEM filters for my tacoma, there is a thread here that shows they are pretty much the best and only cost me $4 at my dealer. Mobil 1 is only 26ish at Walmart. 35 something at autozone or advance.

For $30, why wouldn't you do it every 5k?