Synthetic or Conventional Oil?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enth...xtra-hp/ar-BBxRmMK?li=BBisPVf&ocid=spartanntp

 

My theory for about the last 30 years has been to change from conventional to synthetic oil at the first recommended oil change. I put quite a few miles on my vehicles every year and was getting tired of crawling under them every few months to change the oil. So now I use a good synthetic (currently Valvoline Full Synthetic) and a premium filter (usually a K&N) and change everything every 7,000 miles. The cost seems to be about a wash with conventional oil changes (and a regular filter) every 3,000 miles.

I have never had any kind of lubrication related failure in any vehicle using this system. Just my 2 cents.

 

I use dino-oil only and change every 3000 miles with a genuine toyota filter. I have no doubt my engine will last just as long as someone using synthetics.

 

Synthetic doesnt lube one bit better than dino.

 

Actually it does. The best evidence I have is the drop in temperature that I measured in the rear diff between dino and synthetic. I don't have the numbers at hand, but the drop was significant in a controlled test. I have also measured slight differences between different synthetics, but not nearly as great a jump as from dino to syn. This was in a differential, not an engine, but I'd imagine the difference was similar. Less heat = Less friction = better lubrication

 

I use Dino in the tacoma and the Diesel, and every car and truck I've ever owned. Haven't lost a engine yet.

The most important thing is clean oil that is changed with a reasonable schedule.

Some vehicles require synthetic, these are not one of them.

 

Penz Platinum is a very good oil and is usually cheaper than M1 at Wal-Mart. I have a couple of 5 quart jugs of M1 HM I bought on sale at WW for like 19 bucks before Christmas. Once I've gone thru those I think Ill stay with Pennzoil, I hear the Castroil synthetic is very good also.

 

I make the following statement on every oil thread:

"Just use whatever type of oil your owners manual calls for at the intervals it calls for and you will be fine. Toyota or any other manufacturer does NOT want to pay for warranty work done on an engine, especially due to something as simple as using faulty oil. If synthetic was better for your truck, they would recommend using it instead of dino in order to avoid an engine rebuild on their dime."

 

While I agree with you on just use conventional, the argument about Toyota not wanting to do an engine rebuild on their dime doesn't hold much water. Majority of rebuilds are done far after the warranty is over and it wouldn't be on their dime anyway.

 

I've been driving for 39 years and owned way more vehicles than I can remember. I average 65,000 miles annually while working in sales. Never EVER had any engine problems develop due to using dino oil.

If you want to argue that you can spread the oil change mileage intervals by using synthetic I would agree but that wasn't the OP's original question.

 

It can (and probably will) be argued forever about synthetic vs conventional oil. I think objectively synthetic and semi-synthetic blends are the better lubricant. It's just not correct to say conventional oil is as good as synthetic because it's not. Cold temperature flow, high temperature stability, these are places where synthetics are improvement.

So the question at hand that is asked would be "Is it necessary?" Probably not, most of us have very high mileage vehicles that did so on sketchy oil and filters. I've also had cars that didn't go the distance so it's somewhat luck, somewhat maintenance. I'm convinced of the value of using synthetic through out my truck but I don't think someone who just simply follows the API grade and weight recommendations by Toyota is wrong either. The fact is that the majority of the time we're not operating our Tacomas near the edges where synthetic might become a necessity.

The only extreme conditions that I can claim are leaving my truck parked for a few days at a time at trailheads in the mountains when we go skiing and camping in the winter. I've come back to 10 and 20 below temps with a weekend's worth of snow on my truck. With conventional oil the engine probably wouldn't turn over much less have any sort of oil flowing. I had a block heater on my last truck (and will eventually get around to it on my Tacoma), but that requires a place to plug it in and that's not an option getting after the goods in the backcountry. So I concluded that synthetic is worthwhile for the same reason the bush pilots in Alaska like semi-synthetics. But those guys also use heaters. One of the reasons full synthetics aren't seen in aviation is they still use leaded gasoline and petroleum-based oil is actually required to hold lead in suspension. Synthetic oil just ends up letting it fall out and clog oil passages.

I'm just making the point that there is no one right answer for all individual situations. But do think of the oils and lubricants in your truck as it's blood and give it some thought.

 

Your "conventional" oils are really synthetic blends these days. Not like in the olden days.

 

Best Oil threads are like "best tire" and "best lift" threads, mostly it's up to the individual to decide what is best for them. Its kinda like "what's your favorite color".

Fot what it's worth WM rolled back the price of Castroil Full Synthetic, I just picked up a 5 qt jug of the HM version for 22 bucks.

 

I just did my first oil change on my 2015 Prerunner (freebies ended with the dealer) and stuck with Mobil 1 for this very reason. I still have my 1998 Tacoma 4 banger with 168,000+ miles on it that I have been using Mobil 1 on since about 1999. I blew a head gasket and I was amazed at how clean it was when I took the valve cover off. My intervals are about 4K to 8K on this truck and I really didn't care about what filter I used. I have used cheap Frams to expensive K&N once, it didn't matter to me just as long as the oil is Mobil 1 and my oil changes are around 5K. OEM Toyota filters on my 2015 though.

 

How much new oil do you add (if any) when changing just the filter?

 

I agree Dave, that's why I was careful not to say a word about what anyone should use. There are some facts about these oils that can be discussed, but choice is individual. The actual reasons I use syn engine oil are in this order: better cold flow, lower sludge build, better lubrication. In my gear boxes, especially the rear diff, I am adamant about synthetics.

 

PENNZOIL also has a year long rebate going https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/pennzoil-rebates-2017.468017/#post-14314748

 

the recommended 0w20 weight for the 2.7l 4 cylinder only comes in full synthetic, as far as I know

 

as cheap as mobil 1 synthetic is on Amazon, ill use it. only a couple bucks more for the synthetic vs the conventional.