Dealership decided to put in synthetic oil

what viscosity did they use? if they used 0-20w I would drain the sh!t out. if they used the correct viscosity then you are good.

the main reason for the oil change interval is dirt, excess heat and a lack of heat.

so depends on what you do with your taco. if you are mainly driving highway trips then i can see maybe 7,500 - 8,000 miles with the synthetic. if you are mainly driving short (city) trips or dusty off road then i would stick to the 5,000 interval even with the synthetic.

The synthetic is not going to break down from heat as quickly as conventional oil but it still gets dirty..

 

He's right.

It is a myth from the early days of synthetics. The problems were with the engines, not the oil.

 

I know we've had this conversation in another thread. I have personally experienced this first hand and am not just guessing or reacting based off of feeling.

Wife's Nissan ran conventional for 100k miles. I got the bright idea to switch her to a high mileage synthetic. Ran that for about 1-1/2 years. Then I said screw it and went back to conventional. Gaskets started leaking within a couple of month. I felt like a bonehead and did a lot research online which supports this theory.

My experience, maybe others have had different ones, but that was mine.

 

^You really need to read Motor oil 101.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

 

Yeah I went to the page right after I saw your first link. I'll give it read, but I can't make through that right now after working 68 hours this week.

I did bookmark your link for a later read though. Thanks.

 

Bingo.

The oil leaks were going to develop one way or another.

If the synthetic had anything to do with it, it was because the detergents cleaned the sludge from the seals and gaskets that were "preventing" the leaks. Any good quality oil would have done the same.

Switched my '93 Blazer to synthetic at 95k... no issues with leaks.
I switched my '95 Suburban to synthetic... and that engine was a MAJOR piece of shit with coolant leaks where I didn't know the 5.7 had coolant... at 195k... and it did not leak oil.
Bought the Taco with 53k on it and first change went to synthetic. No problems at all.

 

Let me add a little bit of real life experience...I will typically use synthetic motor oil on a new vehicle until oil usage gets excessive, oh about 200k to 300k, then I will shift to a non-synthetic. By that time, some of the seals have start to fail ANYHOW.

But the only issue is that you were upcharged for synthetic oil and did not request it...and I wouldn't worry about it.

Howard

 

There is some truth in the statement early on syn did cause issues with switching but the formulas were changed and it's no longer an issue with seals and hasn't been for many years.

 

This ^

 

I'd be unhappy too, his gaskets will dry out and crack soon.

 

No his motor will seize and blow up because he got better oil!



But really OP, you should be ok with the synthetic oil, if you're still worried, DIY. You'll grow hair in funny places when you actually do some work on the taco and learn how it works.

 

I don't think I'm making myself clear. There is nothing wrong with switching from Conventional to Synthetic.

What I'm saying the issue is - is switching back to Conventional after you've switched to Synthetic.

Maybe I read some old websites or something, but my experience supports this theory, but then again you may be right about the oil leaks happening anyway.

 

I have switched back and forth between dino and synth on many vehicles for many years without adverse effects...I would NOT lose sleep over this.

Howard

 

Well that does make me feel better. At least I can feel like my wife's gaskets leaking wasn't my fault!

 

Synthetic FTW. Run AMSoil in every single one of my vehicles. I run it for AT LEAST 15k miles. Not a single problem to this day. Even with almost 100k miles I've put on my 2nd gen when it see's tons of hwy, city, and towing at MAX CAPACITY. I run it for 15k miles. Oil samples come back good too. Well the only 2 I've done have been great.

 

It wasn't.

Even Amsoil's literature says you can go back and forth... and they were one of the groups (perhaps not corporate, but their salesmen) were among those claiming that you had to stick with synthetic in the 70s.
Amsoil also says that you can mix, but that the resulting mix should be treated as conventional for OCI purposes.

Not that Amsoil is the bible of oil... their corporate information is fairly solid, if not slated in their favor. The biggest problem with Amsoil is the same as the gun cleaner/lubricant "Frog Lube"... their salesmen throw out a lot of misinformation and corporate does little to counter it because it sells products.

 

What's your favorite oil Rich?

I was using Amsoil Syn in my 2011 then switched to Mobile One Syn. Plan on sticking with the Mobil One in my 2014.

 

Yeah I shouldn't have said that. Apologies to all.

 

For the Tacoma, Mobil-1 is all it gets.

My Vulcan gets either Mobil-1 V-Twin or Amsoil MCV 20w50... what ever I can get a better deal on. They both test out comparably (and surprisingly, both hold viscosity much better than the non-motorcycle Mobil-1).
Dirtbike gets Mobil-1 Racing-4T or Amsoil MCF 10w40.

When I had the Duramax, I used Rotella 5w40 or Amsoil 5w40.

 

I have my moments. . .