Synthetic oil

Just bought a 1 owner07 dbl cab trd sport with 202 k on it
Truck runs like a top
However don't know if previous owner used synthetic oil . Any recommendations weather or not to run synthetic with 202 k on it ?

 

I'm using Valvoline Maxlife synthetic blend...seems to work OK.

 

Don’t do it, your engine will explode!

 

It matters more that you use the correct viscosity and rating.

If going with syn I'd do a Blackstone lab test at 5k to determine the health of the engine and recommended OCIs

 

Just run regular oil with that vehicle. At 200,000 miles I would not recommend going from regular to synthetic. If the vehicle ran synthetic for the duration of the 200000 miles you would have no problem continuing with the synthetic.

 

Seconded. Never had an issue of quality with Valvoline.

Also seconded. Words of wisdom here. 5k, although an industry norm, is not always the best for high-mileage/high use engines.

 

What about a high mileage synthetic blend ?

 

In my personal experience, it doesn't matter if you switched. I bought an '05 with 168k miles and switched to syn. Have done 2-3 oil changes since then with no issues.

 

And the reason why not?

And please, don't offer up the 'seals will leak' myth.

 

The switching to synthetic after dino problems are complete hokem. Bobstheoilguy.com

 

That's not a bad idea at all.

 

You may end up with more oil consumption and weeping of the seals depending on the condition of the motor. At 200,000 miles stick with a blend or regular oil. I run synthetic in everything including my lawn mower, however, I start in the beginning with synthetic.

My 1995 4-Runner was purchased with about 65,000 miles. I ran synthetic and the main seal leaked as well as the valve cover gaskets after running synthetics. It took almost 10000-15000 miles before it started. There were no visible leaks prior to that. That motor had the 3.0 in it which was notorious for head gasket failure. My 1985 Toyota pickup with the 2lt developed leaks after running Castrol full synthetics. That motor had about 60,000 before I ran synthetic in it. My Mercury outboard has full synthetics in it no leaks. I didn't buy it new and it had a couple hundred hours before changing to synthetics. So 2 of the 3 motors that changed to synthetic leaked after the change. All of the motors that started with synthetic after the first interval no leaks.

 

I am a member of Bob is the Oil Guy and have been since 2003.

 

Thanks for all the input guys , we'll with 202 k think I will just use toyota oil & filter. Hopefully I can get another 100 k out of it

 

Toyota filters are fine, and you can get good buys on them on Amazon and eBay.

Toyota oil is made by someone else of course, and you pay a premium for their label at the dealer. Just buy whatever is on sale. Even SuperTech from Walmart is a fine product, especially for the price.

But the oil test I suggested earlier is a valuable tool that gives internal wear indicators. Combine with a compression and leakdown test, it's like having a physical with bloodwork and a stress test.

Betting your 100k out of the core engine will be easy peasy.

 

Synthetic all the way,I dont know of anyone who still uses cheap regular oil in their Trucks anymore.

 

Get the blackstone lab analysis and go with their oci recommendations. I'm running synthetic oil and 12,500 mi intervals. Brand doesn't matter.

 

Take a look under the oil cap. You’ll see part of the timing chain and what not. Shiny silver is good. Stained but no deposits is ok. Sludgy black stuff no good.

 

Try high mileage full syn for 8K miles, and a syn oil filter (I like Purolator One and Boss, both made in US). If it leaks you can go back to dino oil. No damage will have been done to the seals.

 

You're just trading longer oil change intervals for more expensive oil.
Pick whichever suits you best. If you put a lot of miles on the vehicle, there may be some advantage in using synthetic and stretching those intervals as far as you can.
If you have an engine that burns or leaks a little oil, I would go with the cheaper dino oil just so that I didn't cry so much when I had to add oil.

As for filters, the trade off there is: more restrictive filters trap smaller particles, less restrictive filters let bigger particles by. And if the filter plugs up, the bypass opens and the dirty oil flows through anyway.
Don't get hung up on brand names. The filter is a disposable part, it does its job and then you THROW IT AWAY!. If you change your oil when you should, the filter isn't that critical; you're going to throw it away at the next oil change anyway. It only needs to work until the next oil change.

Back in my hot rod days if you had an old motor with questionable oil pressure at a hot idle, the quick solution was 15W-40 oil and a STP filter. The STP filters were the least restrictive filters and you could gain a few pounds of oil pressure when the engine was hot and idling.