Should I use synthetic oil ?

Just bought a new 2012 Tacoma 4cylinder. I have always run synthetic oil in my full size V8s. Should I run it in my Tacoma ? If so at how many miles should I start it at ....I have 500 miles on the original oil now.

 

Let your motor break in and after maybe the second oil change just switch to synthetic

 

I did my first oil change at ~2k miles with full synthetic. Engine runs as it should and it still looks brand new inside the inside the engine (from what I can see through the oil filler tube)

 

I thought all the '12 4cyl came with synthetic from factory? Keep putting synthetic in it.

 

yes. Choose your poisen. Look at the "what type of oil are you using thread"

 

For 4 cyl, it is synthetic oil. I just had my 1 st oil change and paperwork says synthetic.

 

Yah it shouldnt matter when you start using syn at the beginning couple thousand miles, Now if you had a ton of miles id be cautious but at under 2K on the clock theres going to be nothing to worry about when choosing regular over Syn motor oil.

 

Might i ask why? I bought my truck used a couple months ago, and on the safe side, am assuming they put in regular. However, i have always run my vehicles with synth (Mobile 1 specifically), and was planning on doing that this time around (as i am approaching the pathetic 3 month/3k mile limit that regular has)...

 

Some people say that if you've been running regular oil, and switch to synthetic after a high number of miles, you may experience leaks. The though is that the better cleaning additives in the synthetic will start to loosen and remove deposits that may be helping to seal various parts of the engine, lol. I say switch.

 

Actually, that's about seal swelling/shrinking. Not dirt.

 

Book calls for 0w20 fully synthetic for that engine.

 

Im inclined to believe my dad who has been working on cars and trucks for 40 years of his life, So when he tells me the Regular/Synthetic high milage switch and why it shouldn't be done, I believe him because he has seen more then enough occurrences to be able to vouch for the creditability of the theory. Nobody can tell you what to put in your truck but id stay on the safe side and say if your over 100k and you've been running regular, its probably best you stay running regular.

 

Again, I can help but ask..what actually happened?

In my case, I am at 60k, and as part of the purchase agreement, the dealer is doing two years of oil changes; synthetic included. I have always run auth, since it is much better, and don't like the idea of putting the regular junk in unless I really have to...

 

Not to discount the opinion of your dad, but when a vehicle is getting close to its end or problems start to become apparent, people will start to try things, like changing oils, adding slick50, fuel additives, etc., in the hope that it will "fix" something that it can't possibly fix. The underlying problem is usually already there and in many cases, a ticking timebomb. It ends up being coincidental that some major catastrophe happens in conjunction with these wacky experiments. In cases of weird additives, these often do cause or contribute to the failure, rather than work to prevent it as the owner would usually hope.

 

Well i remember he told me they had a guy in there that always brought his i believe just basic cookie cutter corolla in for oil changes i believe he started bringing it around 25K and he never cared what he used, He would pretty much say, Change the oil, Nothing fancy, just do the bare minimum pretty much so i can get on with my life. Anyways he kept bringing it to my dad for about 2 years in which the guy racked up almost 80k!! i know crazy right? So i think he was right at 110,000 and he had my dad do his 100K maintenance and once again it was the bare minimum and i think he ended up needing a couple hoses replaced and his belt at that time along with all the required flushes and fluid changes.

Well at 110,000 the guy comes in with his son and apparently while this guy and my dad are going over what was going to be done to the vehicle (Oil change and inspection) His son butted in and demanded that Synthetic be put in the vehicle, At that time my dad went over why he didn't think that was a good idea, But the son wouldn't have it, So the kids dad agrees even though my father advised against it, Well guess who ends up coming back in not even less then a thousand miles after the synthetic oil change with a complaint of a loud ticking noise.

Yep, Sure enough the motor developed a tick which ended up being a valve tick, My dad explained what it was and what was thought to of caused it and the man i guess got pretty irate saying my dad was blaming his son for the mishap and that the shop should fix it no charge and all that and from there on the dude stopped coming into the shop.

I remember that one cause it was pretty recent im sure my dad has a heap of stories though.

 

1) I don't see anything that establishes a connection between the oil and the ticking.
2) I don't see anything that establishes that there was even anything wrong with the vehicle.

 

The 2012 I just bought came with Synthetic already in it. I have toyota care so When I called to get an oil change at 1000 miles they told me that is an old school train of thought. At 5000 they told me to bring it in to get checked out and the tires rotated. They also said they wont even change the oil until it hits 10,000 Miles.

 

Why not just use half synthetic?

 

I have a 1998 4Runner that had regular dino oil put in it until I recently switched it to full synthetic. It had about 70k on the odo and you gotta consider that the thing is 14 years old. About 3k miles later and no leaks whatsoever and the engine sounds exactly the same as before. I even had a oil analysis done by Blackstone after the switch and the sample had excellent readings.

Maybe it's a hit or miss kind of a thing but that's my experience.

 

Isn't that what oil companies label as "high mileage" oil?