switch to synthetic oil? bad idea?

SWITCH

 

how many exact quarts does the 2003 tacoma with a 3.4 liter v6 hold? i know its 5 but whats the decimal

 

5.5 with a filter change.

 

Mobile 1 Full Synthetic is what I use and the trucks thanks me everyday

 

6.0 exactly if you want to fill it to exactly the full mark at the very top of the "acceptable range". Might as well. Beats saving that half quart.

 

I have been doing 5qts of 10-30 mobil1 and 1qt of lucas synthetic oil additive since 90k, I now have 122k. I have had no problems and everytime I change the oil, it looks like new...

 

Use whatever your truck has always used, or what it comes off the lot with. That's what its designed for. If your truck has always had conventional oil, then just leave it. If its always ran synthetic, then leave it.

My brother is a mechanic and that's what he says. The benefits of synthetic are over-stated, especially when running it in older engines.

 

Mechanics are not engineers.

Cars from the early 90's were also designed to run on far inferior outdated oil specs. Does that mean you should still run that old shitty oil? No. There's a reason it's not sold anymore.

 

There's also a reason that for decades, cars have been able to run for hundreds of thousands of miles on conventional oil if properly maintained.

If you want to buy into the marketing scheme and waste your money on expensive synthetic oil, then be my guest.

 

Here is an article to back up my statement...

http://autos.aol.com/article/synthetic-motor-oil/

 

Not trying to insult you but why should I believe some guy from AOL auto? Does he have any other credentials? It just doesn't make sense to me when he claims synthetics are 'thinner' than conventional. A 10w30 oil is just that, a synthetic 10w30 isn't going to be any thinner than a synthetic 10w30.

 

It's a universally accepted fact. It works better. Period. In every quantifiable test a motor oil can possibly be put through, synthetic does it better.

Did you even read the article you quoted?

"Does it make my engine last longer?
Yes, because its so slippery, synthetic makes for less engine wear and thus greater engine longevity."

The only negative thing he had to say was that he claims his piece of shit neon burned more oil when on synthetic than when on conventional. That is concrete scientific evidence

also "Follow your owner's manual for motor oil recommendations." This is completely irrelevant for many people as synthetic oil either basically did not exist or was not affordable when their car rolled off of the assembly line. Like I said, if your owners manual says to use a completely inferior API rating oil that is now extremely outdated, would you use it if you could? Well first of all, you have no choice, they don't sell it any more it's soo shitty, and just like how modern conventional is much better than conventional from 15 years ago, today's synthetics are better than todays conventional oils.

Engineers use scientific methods, empirical evidence, peer review, controlled environments, etc. etc. etc. Jo mechanic, does not.

 

I am doing it at my first change.

 

ROFLMAO! (I had the same thought when I read such an "authoritative" review...)

 

My point was that in that article he stated that synthetic oil has had negative effects on older, high mileage engines. Multiple people have stated on this forum that it has caused leaking problems. The guy that started this thread is asking if he should put it in his older, higher mileage engine. I'm just saying if there's been documented problems with doing that, why risk it?

 

If he has oil leaks that were covered up by sludge, maybe it's time to get the leaks fixed.

 

X a big number, I've been thinking this the whole thread haha

 

Definitely switch to synthetic. I bought my truck at 97k miles and had no knowledge of what oil was used in it previously. I switched to synthetic on my first oil change and have never looked back. I now have 228k miles on my truck and it doesn't burn or leak a drop, I have stuck with 5w-30 Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 filters that I change around every 8k miles. I get mine at autozone they have it on sale every few months for $29.99 for the 5L jug and filter which is perfect for my 2.7L.

I also have mobil 1 75w=90 in my trans and t-case and both diffs. Yes it is expensive, but I think it is well worth the extra cost.

 

This is exactly what I've done with mine. I've got 160,000 on it right now and have been using synth. for the past 5 years. Never had an oil leak.