switching back to natural oil?

[caineroad]

i am currently running syth oil for 6 months, and 6 months only and now I am thinking to switch it back to toyota oil because of the price. Is it ok for me to do so and if the toyota oil is really that bad?

[why?]

what type of synthetic? Was is just a mobil type that is still based off of real oil or a total synthetic? If just a normal synthetic than you can just switch whenever and it will not matter.

Toyota oil is fine, heck most oil you can buy at a Wal-Mart is fine.

[craigq]

If price is a problem Canadian Walmart's have their SuperTech branded conventional oils on sale this week for $6.

[caineroad]

it says mobil1 5w30 syth, not sure if it based of real oil? it's the one most people use

[Happy Little Pony]

You can switch back to conventional. Conventional oil is fine. If you like the Toyota brand oil, it is perfectly fine stuff.

For that matter, any 5w30 motor oil that meets the American Petroleum Institute's current standards will work. The current rating is "SN," but if you come across some "SL" or "SM" oil, they will be OK, too. Any API approved 5w30 will provide the basic lubrication that your engine requires. Some brands might be better than others, but all should be "good enough."

[fnkngrv]

What is your drain interval?

[daf62757]

Originally Posted by caineroad

i am currently running syth oil for 6 months, and 6 months only and now I am thinking to switch it back to toyota oil because of the price. Is it ok for me to do so and if the toyota oil is really that bad?

I would say WHY?

With the synthetic oil you can actually pay less for it than regular oil when you use extended drain techniques. The synthetic oil is far superior for wear and tear and if you use the 0w5, you can even get better gas mileage.

With conventional, you have to change the oil at 5k miles. With synthetic, you can go 10 to 12k safely and have better protection.

Its your car, but synthetic is just too superior an oil and saves you money. And it will help your engine get past the 200k mark with flying colors!

[fnkngrv]

^ I was gonna say a lot of the same, but thy seem to have their mind made up.

[racerb]

I run only synthetic oil in all my Toyotas, change it at around 7,500 miles each time. But as others have said you could safely go 10,000-12,000 between changes. When I used to sell Amsoil, we would recommend changing your filter at 12,500 and topping up the oil, then not totally changing oil until 25,000 miles. This was after flushing your engine of all contaminates and installing Amsoil pure synthetic oil and an Amsoil filter. I run Valvoline pure synthetic now and a Fram oil filter and most times the oil still looks like new when I replace it. To be ohnest the real key with synthetic is the quality of your filter, you could easily just change filters, top up your oil and keep right on going for twice the distance I'm currently going between changes.

Oh and by the way my 3 daily/weekly driven Toyotas have 96,000, 176,000, and 195,000 miles on them respectively. In fact I sold a '94 T-100 I owned a few years ago with 240,000 miles on it, which also ran pure synthetic and it still ran like a new engine the day I sold it!!

[bronsin]

If you are thinking you will get better gas mileage using synth think again. I drove 5200 miles to AK from NJ on regular motor oil and returned the same way using synthetic. There was no difference in gas mileage over 5200 miles.

Also you will void your warranty if you dont change your oil according to the owners manual.

Also see below.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Also you will void your warranty if you dont change your oil according to the owners manual.

Also see below.

The warranty is only 3/36 anyway. Secondly they have to prove that you changing your interval was the direct cause for engine failure which they will not be able to do. Third speaking from experience from blowing up a 4E-FTE with conventional and also 1NZ with synthetic I can tell you that there is definitely a cleaner difference between them when you tear them down. It may not an apples to apples comparison, but from what I had occur both from over boosting there was a lot more damage on the 4E with conventional than the 1NZ with the synthetic. Lastly, the 1NZ is such a cheap motor to replace it wouldn't even be worth worrying about warranty IMHO. A Toyota motor for the most part will continue to run even after the vehicle that houses it has rusted away and is dust if you leave it stock.

This is a debate that can go round and round, but there has been plenty of independent studies out there showing that synthetic has several advantages over conventional oil one of which is the ability to move away from the reliance of fossil fuels.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

This is a debate that can go round and round, but there has been plenty of independent studies out there showing that synthetic has several advantages over conventional oil one of which is the ability to move away from the reliance of fossil fuels.

I don't lose much sleep over a few quarts of fossil oil as long as I'm already putting gallons and gallons of fossil gasoline in my car.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by tooter

I don't lose much sleep over a few quarts of fossil oil as long as I'm already putting gallons and gallons of fossil gasoline in my car.

So you are saying that you only bought the Yaris for its looks/handling and not the FE that it provides you over other subcompacts out there?

[tooter]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

So you are saying that you only bought the Yaris for its looks/handling and not the FE that it provides you over other subcompacts out there?

Oh, not at all.
I'm a genuine cheapskate and take pride in buying the lowest priced new car on the lot. But not directly for the reason of trying to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. That's just a side effect of frugality.

[Happy Little Pony]

Third speaking from experience from blowing up a 4E-FTE with conventional and also 1NZ with synthetic I can tell you that there is definitely a cleaner difference between them when you tear them down. It may not an apples to apples comparison, but from what I had occur both from over boosting there was a lot more damage on the 4E with conventional than the 1NZ with the synthetic.

No once during my thirty years of driving have I "blown up" an engine during my daily commute. The Yaris I drive is the tame little economy car with the decidedly non-high performance engine. If you've turbocharged your Yaris and are using it as a race car, then I'll agree that synthetic is a good idea in a hot rod engine. I just drive mine slowly around town.

Lastly, the 1NZ is such a cheap motor to replace it wouldn't even be worth worrying about warranty IMHO.

Hey, Mr. Moneybags, maybe in your world an engine is cheap, but in my world just the labor to install a new engine would be crippling. The original poster in this thread was worried about the few dollars difference between a synthetic and a conventional oil change. I won't speak for him, but I bought the Yaris because I can't afford to throw cash around.

This is a debate that can go round and round, but there has been plenty of independent studies out there showing that synthetic has several advantages over conventional oil one of which is the ability to move away from the reliance of fossil fuels.

I think what you mean here is that if we double our oil change interval with synthetics, we would use half as much motor oil, thus reducing our consumption of fossil fuels. True enough. I just bought a jug of Valvoline NextGen oil, free after rebate at Advance Auto Parts. And I've used G-Oil in the past and would consider doing it again in the future.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Happy Little Pony

I just bought a jug of Valvoline NextGen oil, free after rebate at Advance Auto Parts. And I've used G-Oil in the past and would consider doing it again in the future.

FREE really? That recycled motor oil is FREE? That is hysterical! When I saw recycled Valvoline motor oil I knew they were nuts. Who would buy that with all the play synthetic oil gets?

Its like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. They were crazy to bring those cars to market at, what, $50,000.

I hope they crash and burn.

But if I see recycled oil for FREE Im there!

Hey maybe there'll be Volts for free!

[Happy Little Pony]

Originally Posted by bronsin

FREE really? That recycled motor oil is FREE? That is hysterical! When I saw recycled Valvoline motor oil I knew they were nuts. Who would buy that with all the play synthetic oil gets?

Your comparison to electric cars is about right. Why would I spend more to get an electric or hybrid when I'll most likely never make up the price difference with my fuel savings? These "green" oils are in the same boat. First, most people have already picked a kind of oil they like and don't really want to switch; and, second, why would they want to switch and pay more?

Why do we have these crazy rebates on G-Oil and the half-recycled Valvoline? Because they have to almost give it away to get people to even think about trying it.

Oh well, I guess it's the best of both worlds. I get a major rebate and I get to feel warm and fuzzy about my environmental friendliness.

[fnkngrv]

Originally Posted by Happy Little Pony

No once during my thirty years of driving have I "blown up" an engine during my daily commute. The Yaris I drive is the tame little economy car with the decidedly non-high performance engine. If you've turbocharged your Yaris and are using it as a race car, then I'll agree that synthetic is a good idea in a hot rod engine. I just drive mine slowly around town.



Hey, Mr. Moneybags, maybe in your world an engine is cheap, but in my world just the labor to install a new engine would be crippling. The original poster in this thread was worried about the few dollars difference between a synthetic and a conventional oil change. I won't speak for him, but I bought the Yaris because I can't afford to throw cash around.



I think what you mean here is that if we double our oil change interval with synthetics, we would use half as much motor oil, thus reducing our consumption of fossil fuels. True enough. I just bought a jug of Valvoline NextGen oil, free after rebate at Advance Auto Parts. And I've used G-Oil in the past and would consider doing it again in the future.

The 4E-FTE was a factory boosted engine from the GT Starlet which was being operated at what Toyota had designed it to in my car. The wastegate stuck closed and boost spikes caused the failure. A very similar case of overboosting happened to my 1NZ. Both motors have been torn down and I can see more scarring on the 4E with much less boost being put to it and all I and I am pretty confident the original owner used in it was conventional oil.

As for being a "Mr. Moneybags" sure on my replacement motor that is going on right now I am throwing a guy some cash for assisting me, but all in all the bulk of the shops that I had talked to were quoting me between 400-600 for the installation and you can get a solid 1NZ from car-parts.com for as low as 300. If you do the work yourself or have someone you know pitch in that install can get a lot cheaper and you would learn much more about your car. The Yaris, Echo, and Tercel are some of the most simple modern era vehicles to learn about with exception to the intricacies that have become commonplace in the ECM/ECU. Thanks BTW for making it personal...that is outstanding. I agree a lot with racerb's statements actually.


My opinion when it comes to operating anything is that I don't believe in people just being "users" of something. If you are on a computer you had best be able to use the thing without having to constantly pay someone else to fix the problems that you create on it. I take the same approach with vehicles. Take control of the thing. It is an investment. If all you do is short driving jaunts or low speed driving then that is great because it serves the purpose that you have, but personally if you have a vehicle for sale and tried to tell me that "hey, I only drove it slow and short trips so what I dump in it for lubricants shouldn't matter" then I would walk away and purchase elsewhere. The main reason for this is that short trips are actually the most taxing on an internal combustion engine regardless of whether or not you baby it or drive it like you stole it. Folks traditionally like to ask a premium for their trade-ins or private sales because they babied it or didn't run it hard. You want to get a premium return then treat it like racerb said...like an investment. In the long run synthetics can save you money, time, and grief, but that is just my perspective I guess.

And oh yeah...I have been driving cars, trucks, motorcycles, and ATVs for 22 years so I am not too far behind you in the rearview.