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Engine oil: What does everyone like?

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Old 02-07-2008, 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by pattycakes77
i've been using Amsoil Synthetic for over a year now. even though it says it will last for 1 year or 12K miles, i've changed it 4 times in the last year with only 8K miles total in that year. i heard that it would clean out some of the gunk in the engine, so to be safe i still changed it regularly. seems to stay pretty clean and gold looking, but a little darker at change time. i think after a year of changing at 3 month intervals, i'll go 4 or 5 now and see what it looks like. i have to change my valve cover gaskets in the next couple weeks so i'll take a look and see if it really cleaned anything out.
you dont have to do all that. just change the oil at 5-7k miles IF you keep a clean air filter (15k miles or less on the air filter).. amsoil is very stable and top notch. dont go by the color of oil. trust me..

btw no oil "cleans" per se'.. if you have changed the oil like you are supposed to since new then you never have to worry about it getting gunked up

amsoil gear oils and ATF or other tranny oils are GREAT

Last edited by mkgarrison5; 02-07-2008 at 09:54 AM.
Old 02-07-2008, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by pattycakes77
i've been using Amsoil Synthetic for over a year now. even though it says it will last for 1 year or 12K miles, i've changed it 4 times in the last year with only 8K miles total in that year. i heard that it would clean out some of the gunk in the engine, so to be safe i still changed it regularly. seems to stay pretty clean and gold looking, but a little darker at change time. i think after a year of changing at 3 month intervals, i'll go 4 or 5 now and see what it looks like. i have to change my valve cover gaskets in the next couple weeks so i'll take a look and see if it really cleaned anything out.

Pattycakes,
next oil change when you drain your oil, please save your used Synthethic oil for me as i will take it and put it strait into my truck and use it for my truck and run it another 5K miles.... I'm serious.


Seriously, you are wasting your money changing synthethic oil that soon.... actually Totally wasting your money...
its proven that syn oil actually protects better after 2 to 3K of use, and YOU ARE missing out on the "good use" of your oil...
Pattycakes, I blame you for the USA's dependance on Arab oil and for the $3 a gallon we all pay at the pump....................... I'm J/k.


Last edited by icerunner; 02-07-2008 at 10:00 AM.
Old 02-07-2008, 10:44 AM
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I'm running synthetic and change mine every 3k, sometimes a little over, but thats because my motor has 192k miles and a leaky rear main. So I elect to just change it rather than keep toping it off since I am consuming the oil slowly. I also replace one quart every other oil change with the Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer, so thick and full of goodness (at least IMO and the opinion of my two engineer cousins). I wish I could run all Lucas everywhere to be honest, just don't think they make fluids you can run 100% of and I don't know if my wallet could keep up either.
Old 02-07-2008, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by icerunner
Pattycakes,
next oil change when you drain your oil, please save your used Synthethic oil for me as i will take it and put it strait into my truck and use it for my truck and run it another 5K miles.... I'm serious.


Seriously, you are wasting your money changing synthethic oil that soon.... actually Totally wasting your money...
its proven that syn oil actually protects better after 2 to 3K of use, and YOU ARE missing out on the "good use" of your oil...
Pattycakes, I blame you for the USA's dependance on Arab oil and for the $3 a gallon we all pay at the pump....................... I'm J/k.

glad to be the whipping boy today i will be going longer intervals now between changes. i used the amsoil flush before the first addition of synthetic, then i thought maybe some other gunk would be loosened up and that is why the short intervals between changes up until now. i'm confident i've got it where i can go longer between changes. i know it was a lot of money to start off, but now is where the savings start. kind of like kids, first you have to change diapers several times a day to get the gunk out, as time goes by their stomachs adjust to real food until you only have to give them a clean pair of underwear once a day.
and i didn't use any arab oil, i bought it down the street
Old 02-07-2008, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by pattycakes77
glad to be the whipping boy today i will be going longer intervals now between changes. i used the amsoil flush before the first addition of synthetic, then i thought maybe some other gunk would be loosened up and that is why the short intervals between changes up until now. i'm confident i've got it where i can go longer between changes. i know it was a lot of money to start off, but now is where the savings start. kind of like kids, first you have to change diapers several times a day to get the gunk out, as time goes by their stomachs adjust to real food until you only have to give them a clean pair of underwear once a day.
and i didn't use any arab oil, i bought it down the street
Good to hear you're extending your OCI, you were doing it far too often. You should really think about doing some used oil analysis, sure it costs $20, but it will help you determine what OCI works best specifically for your truck. No one can tell you how many miles to go on an OCI, they don't know your ambient temps, your driving style, how your commute is, and just about everything else imaginable. An OCI will tell you how much break down (shearing) there is in the oil and how much contamination you're getting from the outside. Try an OCI at 3k miles, if all looks good try 6k miles, you might surprised that when running Amsoil a 9k OCI is possible. Again, do yourself a favor and get your oil checked. These oil threads crack me up because everyone posts what they think is the best oil and the best OCI without having any facts whatsoever. The one who posts UOA's is on the right track.

Again, I use Amsoil because it meets my needs the best for all my cars, from my Honda Prelude I use as a night/weekend car, to my Saturn SL which is the daily beater, to my g/f's car, and lastly my 4,000 mile/year 4Runner.

Here's where you can order some UOA kits.. they're free, but the test is $20.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html
Old 02-07-2008, 01:03 PM
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thanks for the link, that was about to be my next question sounds like i'll be doing my own "mythbusting", without all the explosives and ballistics gel!
Old 02-07-2008, 02:14 PM
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hi I'm new at this forum , but i have a 99' 4runner and it has 123k on it I use Castrol 10w30 and I ad lucas oil staibalizer to it also with a fram fiter. I live in Las vegas and I was told to use this oil . Am I using the right oil on my 4runner?? I would like some suggestions thank you .
Old 02-07-2008, 02:17 PM
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Originally Posted by kareoca
hi I'm new at this forum , but i have a 99' 4runner and it has 123k on it I use Castrol 10w30 and I ad lucas oil staibalizer to it also with a fram fiter. I live in Las vegas and I was told to use this oil . Am I using the right oil on my 4runner?? I would like some suggestions thank you .
I'm not going to get into a long winded response. But my research and experience tells me not to use Fram filters OR 10W-30. Buy OEM filters, you can buy a case of them for $34, that's only $3.40 per filter.

About the oil weight.. read this.. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq...=haas_articles
Old 02-07-2008, 02:31 PM
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I got kind of confuse with the oil report you send me , so should use iether 0w30 or 5w30 with toyota filters?? and how about the lucas should I still use it ??
Old 02-07-2008, 05:16 PM
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I like 10w-30. I've been using 10w-30 for 5 years. It works just fine from -15C to 35C (5F to 95F). I use random good brands of oil. Lately I use castrol.
Old 02-07-2008, 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by 4rx
I like 10w-30. I've been using 10w-30 for 5 years. It works just fine from -15C to 35C (5F to 95F). I use random good brands of oil. Lately I use castrol.
Toyota recommends 5W-30 in that environment, why would you go with a heavier oil especially in colder temps. If I lived in a place that had a real winter I'd run 0W-20 or 0W-30.

Did you read this by chance? http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq...=haas_articles
Old 02-07-2008, 11:37 PM
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Originally Posted by rearviewmirror
Toyota recommends 5W-30 in that environment, why would you go with a heavier oil especially in colder temps. If I lived in a place that had a real winter I'd run 0W-20 or 0W-30.

Did you read this by chance? http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq...=haas_articles
Yes, I did read. It is to much infomation. I'll just stick with it.
Old 02-07-2008, 11:47 PM
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At this point, I just run what ever's on sale. Castrol GTX is preferred, but when I can save $10 an oil change, I'll take the Proline(pepboys brand) oil. It's gonna work just about the same anyway.
Old 02-08-2008, 12:15 AM
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Cant beat castrol GTX and OEM filters. I dont know why u would run a fram when a factory filter designed specifically for toyotas is the same price. I do run aftermarket filters(bosch,stp) some times if there free and Im running a cleaner or restore in my oil.
Old 02-08-2008, 03:30 AM
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Originally Posted by rearviewmirror
Toyota recommends 5W-30 in that environment, why would you go with a heavier oil especially in colder temps. If I lived in a place that had a real winter I'd run 0W-20 or 0W-30.
BC isn't a place that even gets real winter so he's probably fine with 10W-30.
Out east I run 5W-30 or 0W-30 synthetic or you need to cross your fingers it will start on the -40 days.
Old 02-08-2008, 03:55 AM
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Originally Posted by rearviewmirror
I'm not going to get into a long winded response. But my research and experience tells me not to use Fram filters OR 10W-30. Buy OEM filters, you can buy a case of them for $34, that's only $3.40 per filter.

About the oil weight.. read this.. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/faq...=haas_articles
10w30 is fine in warm climates and is very under rated. its actually more stable than most 5w30 as far as oil shearing goes. i wont hesitate to use 10w30.. esp if its synthetic bc of the great flow properties.. i would ditch the lucas though. do the research, a lot of that is just crap. just use oil in your motor....x2 on the frams...
Old 02-08-2008, 03:58 AM
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Originally Posted by deserttoy84
Cant beat castrol GTX and OEM filters. I dont know why u would run a fram when a factory filter designed specifically for toyotas is the same price. I do run aftermarket filters(bosch,stp) some times if there free and Im running a cleaner or restore in my oil.

be careful with those "cleaners" and do a rinse phase after you drain that cleaner. fill it back up with clean cheap oil and run it for a few hundred miles and then drain and fill up with whatever you want..

you have to take into account that a lot of what you read about cleaners and how "good" it is for your motor is just marketing (aka hogwash).. do the research, tons of good info about harmful stuff like that..
Old 02-08-2008, 04:01 AM
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Originally Posted by MTL_4runner
BC isn't a place that even gets real winter so he's probably fine with 10W-30.
Out east I run 5W-30 or 0W-30 synthetic or you need to cross your fingers it will start on the -40 days.
I won't run 10W-30 in Texas!
Old 02-08-2008, 04:04 AM
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Originally Posted by MTL_4runner
BC isn't a place that even gets real winter so he's probably fine with 10W-30.
Out east I run 5W-30 or 0W-30 synthetic or you need to cross your fingers it will start on the -40 days.

X2.. is this BC british columbia? if so a 10w30 in syn would fine but the dino i would go down to a 5w30 just in the winter and go back up to the 10w30 in the summer imo.. its personal preference really

10w30's protect best from 0- over 100 degrees F (rough estimates)
5w30's is usualy around -20 up to over 100
Old 02-08-2008, 04:07 AM
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Originally Posted by rearviewmirror
I won't run 10W-30 in Texas!
why not? and yes i read what HAAS wrote


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