synthetic oil vs convetional oil, and how often do you change your oil?

Pretty sure I get mine at my local dealer for around $6

I should pick up some spark plugs too soon.

 

For the second gen guys in here, I wouldn't dick around with the heavier weight oils. VVT depends on a constant oil velocity. If you go up to a 40 or 45 weight oil you will mess with your engines VVT. That's not a good thing.

Engines without VVT, or engines like the 5.4L Ford with VVT that had cam bearing issues, can benefit from heavier weight oils. Guys with properly functioning VVT shouldn't increase the hot oil weight of the oil they run.

From this site, and there are thousands of sites from thousands of different places that have this advice so you know I'm not just saying this to blow hot air:

"Engine oil viscosity as well as oil filter flow *capacity can definitely affect the ability of the cam phaser to control valve timing, as can the service life ratings of the oil." - See more at: http://www.knowyourparts.com/technical-articles/vvt-diagnostic-tips/#sthash.s5SOx6L6.dpuf

BTW did you guys know that a 0w30 will have a heavier weight at 220F than 5w30. Mind blown.

There's a lot of BS in this thread lol. As usual mostly from the Amsoil sheep. "Hey, quick, let's send our oil back to the company to see if they want us to run it more behind there never honored warranties"... I'm not here to say anyone is making oil that much better than Amsoil, and I do use some of there stuff when the price is low, but a lot of the stuff out of that company is just there own BS.

 

My truck is old school a 3.4 V6 24 valve gas guzzler.

No VVT or electronic throttle here.

 

Well you 4.0 guys better stick to mobile 1 then.

 

1GF-RE owners can run whatever they want . If they want the VVT to work, producing maximum power, minimum wear, and a properly running engine, then they'd better stick with "X"w30.

Personally the difference between 0, 5 , 10 winter weight isn't enough to lose sleep about if you match the oil to your environmental conditions.

 

I think mine was $5.25 last time.

 

Chances are extremely high the only oil in your truck that really is a true synthetic is in your A/C system it is polyallylene glycol (PAG oil a common jet engine lube) Then there is the "First in Synthetic" claim by a company that was founded in the 70's strangely enough the first syn. oil was produced 100 years before. There is a great deal of smoke and mirrors in all the claims of semi synthetic oil producers and the industry, (SAE, APi and NAD) allows them to get away with it.

 

Pennzoil Platinum claims right on the bottle to take all of there base from the synthesis of heavier hydrocarbons from natural gas. Everyone else, like Mobil and Amsoil, is cracking base oils. That leaves Pennzoil alone as the last major manufacturer using "true synthetic" as there base.

What basically happened is Castrol was using cracked base oils as there base for years while Mobil was using more expensive "truly synthesized" base oil to make there synthetic products. It obviously costs more to synthesize oil from lighter ingredients rather than crack it from heavier ones. Mobil tried to sue Castrol for "lying" and selling there oil as true synthetic. Mobil lost, because all of the governing bodies don't define a difference between a cracked synthetic or a "true synthetic." After that court case was lost Mobil, and everyone else, stopped using base from natural gas and started using cracked base oil so they could stay price competitive with Castrol.

Just recently Pennzoil is trying to grab market share by making there synthetics with "true" synthetic base oil again.

Whether or not it makes a difference , but I do run Pennzoil Platinum because of it.

 

To the guys(s) who think "synthetic" means you can magically run it for 10k miles without examination or worry, be careful and you better check that it is "high mileage" at least, and you better have a drain sample tested. I ran Mobile 1 non-high mileage, and Blackstone testing showed the viscosity nearing the lower limit at about 5100 miles.

Chris 4x4 and I were discussing this, and he ran Blackstone testing on the "new" Pennzoil Platinum to compare against Mobile 1, and found all parameters faring better than Mobile 1, most notably viscosity. I switched to Pennzoil Plat after this to provide more safety margin if an OCI goes a little long.

 

Could you go into this in more detail?

 

I'll see if I can dig it up tonight.

 

well at around 7k my oil is dark and stinky and the truck seems to run less smooth.. longest I have gone was 11k miles when I was doing a 65 mile daily all highway commute.

I am overdue to replace and it will get done this weekend.

 

Here you go:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/of...87-40-old-timers-thread-1877.html#post8901699

 

You know the bottom line most people do not keep their trucks long enough to ever see a difference. Until I have an engine failure I guess I'll stick with what ever is on sale at WalMart so far I have been apparently lucky because I all ways get at least 200K out of mine before I sell them.

 

You can’t find conventional anywhere outside of one off quarts of weird weights here. I had to let a place do mine bc it’s the only place I could find it. Online actual confirmed conventional quarts go for like 24 bucks, and when you read the comments often it end up being semi synthetic. I’m sure it’s different where you live, but it’s not for sale here.

 

When I break in engines.....I just call local o'reilys and have them get VR1 5w-30,
next day I'd go pick up in store...
Stores stop stocking old, but most of conventional is kept in their distribution centers.,,
most days I can have same day....if i call in the morning......

You can go online and see what's in warehouse, it'll tell u couple hours wait, or next day or so .....or forget about it..........
I call em, give em my phone#, and part# and then they always have it waiting.
And can get most any oil, however some now only come in qts......

After broke in, I switch to syn blend, dont think brand matters as much as changing often, I'll grab the Napa syn blend when they have it on ad for $12.99/ 5qt...........and I use the napa platinum oil filters...they're as good as the K & Ns ....

 

On older trucks leak is probably coming from cam seal(s)

 

99 Prerunner with 287K. Castrol synthetic for 250K. Oil changes at 7K. Motor is like new inside. Changing it today, so fun reading this. The guy who says you cant go back needs to be reprimanded for misinformation. How about a four day ban. I think it's a little worse than talking politics on Tacomaworld

 

I change mine at least every 5k (normally a bit early like 4.5K). I use only synthetic and a good filter. I typically use oem Toyota filters.

 

Always syn 5-30 in October

Over the last 12 years I've owned the truck, I normally put less than 4k miles a year on it.
Conventional oil in April

Use Wix 51348, occasionally Fram Ultra