mdh

I have been doing some research an I am thinking of changing to amsoil TSO 0w-30. I have a 97 with 130k mostly short suburbian driving (about 10-20mi trips) and about 8 800mi long trips per year. Am I picking the right oil?

Are there any specific things I need to do when I make the switch? I will pick up some amsoil motor flush and follow the reccomendations, but is that enough?

Thanks,
Matt

bob200587

I know the weight ratings on Oil is about the temperature range and that 0w-30 seems VERY light weight, but I'm not familiar with sythetic so it's proabably better or something, I'm sure someone else knows. I would recommend doing the seafoam treatment before you change you're oil tho, might as well if it hasn't been done in a long time.

Rick F.

There's a lot of debate regarding the pro's and con's of changing to synthetic on high mileage engines. Use the forum's search engine to research this. From personal experience, I don't recommend it unless your oil change frequency is so high that sticking with dino doesn't work for you. I've used dino oil in numerous vehicles with over 200,000 miles on the odometer. My choice to use synthetic in my latest vehicle was solely based on not having to do oil changes every 6 weeks. Synthetic oil is fantastic stuff but it doesn't pay for everyone to swap over.

ebelen1

I have a '99 and swapped over to synthetic hoping to prolong the truck's life. I also switched so that I only change the oil once a year. I know that many think this may be foolish but after reading the thread on oil change intervals, there were enough individuals that have done this for a prolonged period of time, I thought I would try it. BTW, I've also PM'ed a few of them asking how they use their trucks and they're much more abusive than I.

0w-30 seems light as I'm using 5w-30. I guess it depends on where you live and the environmental conditions but I went with what the truck always had, which was 5w-30. I'm going to swap over to the Amsoil filter at six months since I used the OEM this last oil change. If my experiment goes awry, I'll be sure to post up.

BTW, I switched over at 97k miles.

4Runner4Christ

I am similar to Edwin...I switched my '99 over when I purchased it in Dec 2002 with 55K miles on it (although I use the 0w-30 that you are considering and I use the Amsoil filters). It has been working great for me, and I now have 104,000 miles on the clock. In my opinion your situation is a little different due to the mileage. All I can suggest is what I would do in your situation. Assuming your engine is mechanically sound and has been properly maintained, I would start with the Amsoil engine flush, then switch over to a six month/7500 mile oil/filter change using Amsoil's XL 10W-30 or XL 10W-40 synthetic product and the Amsoil filter. If your engine is not mechanically sound (burns or leaks oil) it would not be advisable switching to Amsoil...I would stick with a good quality dino.

mdh

My engine has been properly maintained and to my knowledge mechanically sound, without any burning or leaking. To satisfy my curiosity is there any reason you suggest a "heavier" oil than the 0w-30?

I would like to make the synthetic switch + amsoil filter I am just waiting for some input and reccomendations before I place my order. It seemed that the 0w-30 was the way to go.

ebelen1

This was the same recommendation I received when contemplating the change. I did a BG Flush at the time I did all the maintenance and my mechanic said that the engine and tranny were in really good shape. If you are leery, just do the six-month interval and see where it goes. I plan on checking at three and six months just to see if my engine burns oil. Good luck.

JackMhigh

After a certain amount of miles using conventional oil, doesn't your seals develop a film over them from the oil? And if you switch to sythetic at high miles, I've heard that the synthetic oil will break away that film causing your seals to leak. Than again, I've had people tell me they've switched over just fine...so I don't know. If I were to switch over, i think i would start with a sythetic blend and work into a full sythetic. Just my own 2 pennies.

vegaskurt

I switched my civic at 95k to synthetic and last week my accord at 65k to synthetic, both Mobil1. No leaks or issues. Gonna do the 4runner next month.

flying skunk dog

I just bought a 4Runner and am a noob here, but I thought I might offer some of my experiences on the subject. I previously had a 97 Blazer that I switched over to synthetic at 140K and the engine ran better. The synthetic oil cleaned alot of the deposits from the dino oil out of that engine. I didn't have any leaking problems that many people talk about. Supposedly, many of those problems occured in the early 70's due to interactions between the oil and the gaskets when synthetics first came out, but this doesn't happen any more. Some have said that the synthetics now may actually recondition your gaskets (once the dino sludge is cleaned away).
On the amsoil, I've heard that it is good stuff but expensive. I use mobile1 and cannot imagine that the performance difference between it and amsoil (if any) warants the increase in price. I run the oil for 8-9K miles and change the filter halfway through. At first (after switching from regular oil) your oil will get dark quickly (that is normal), as long as you use a good filter (mobile1 makes a good one of those too) you are fine.
By the way Walmart has the best price for Mobile1 at around $20 a gallon.
Hope that helps.

Glenn

The leak rumor that never dies....

Nic

My truck is a 97 and I put synthetic (Amsoil) in the diffs, transfer case, and transmission and haven't had any problems, and it had 110,000 miles on it when I bought it. I did take the Amsoil out of the transmission and switched over to Redline MT-90 because the shifting wasn't so great. Its a manual BTW.

I can't justify putting synthetic in the motor though as I don't drive very many miles and actually have to change my engine oil on time intervals instead of miles.

I have used Dino oil in my 84 Camry for years with no leaks and it uses no oil and it has 260,000 miles on it.

Boaz

0w-30 is the same viscosity range as 5W-30 and 10W30 at operating temperature.

The first number (0,5,10) is the oil viscosity at "start up" temps. So a 0w-30 oil is only "thinner" at start up... and guess what? You want thinner oil at start up so that it pumps throughout the engine quicker. Some people run 0W30 in the winter only and others run it year round. I run it year round in my 4 Runner. No problems here... just my 2 cents.

Head over to www.bobistheoilguy.com forums for more info..

mdh

I have been reading over at bobs forum.... my head hurts. Too much to digest.

Now I am nervous about running an engine flush. What if all of the sludge clogs something up? Eeeh, more reading I guess.

daveyboy

Hey , I used synthethic oil a couple oil canges ago, and didnt know you had to flush it, then I went back to normal oil again,,,lol did i do a no no?

CynicX

I switch to mobil 1 in my s-10 i used to own and it leaked around the oil cooler lines. Since it was in the middle of the winter to fix the problem until summer I put dino oil back in. hehe

New cooler lines fixed the problem...its actually quite common on s-10's switching to synthetic...

CynicX

true you do want the oil to be thin at start up. but the reason toyota recommend 5w is because 0w doesnt coat thick enough, it runs back to quickly to offer the required protection.

this is why on mild taps a thicker oil can cure them. the oil is to thin to coat the internals thus you hear tapping....