Synthetic OCIs (1991 Toyota Camry)

[cycosurfer]

I'm running a very trustworthy 1991 Toyota Camry 2.0L I4 and I'm very satisfied with it's performance. I've heard many different things about the oils to use and what type or whatever, but I'm skeptical simply because of my car type and the driving I do. The fact that it was used before me doesn't help either. It has 204,000 miles and still runs great. But I have my paranoid moments where I'm not sure about some things.

I used synthetic oils for a while and then switched back to dino, but now I'm back to synthetic and I plan to keep it that way. I've been set in my ways about doing religious 3000 mile OCI's but with synthetic I should be able to go longer. I'm just not sure for how long. I'm using Mobil 1 Truck & SUV 5W-40 oil. I like how the oil has a stronger viscosity and the easy 5W cranking start. I drive long distance driving all the time, but I don't exactly drive her softly. I do constant 80+ mph driving, so the rpms are well up there. I like the oil I'm using but I'm not sure how many more miles I should keep it in there. Right now I have 3500 miles with the oil; it's already bothering me. But I'm thinking it should be fine, the car is running very well. I'm going to stick with this 5W-40 oil because on Mobil 1's website it claims you can use it in 5w-30 or 10w-30 applications, exactly what my car manual says to use. Kind of like getting two birds with one stone. I do however think that oil has come a long way even since then. So I don't follow word for word the outdated manual suggestions. I placed a similar post on BITOG (Great site btw) but I wanted to get some Camry enthusiast(s) point of view. Anyhow, I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions on the OCI's when using this Mobil 1 synthetic on my Toyota. Thanks.

I absolutely need this car to last as long as possible. If you have other tips or suggestions for me to help keep my car running, feel free to let me know. I drive her softly so she's been well.

I misplaced my Haynes manual around my apartment somewhere, dangit...

[atobe]

with synt you can go for 5000miles and you don't drive it hard anyways.. i think 5000 is safe for you. you're lucky you didn't get any leaks with switching to synt

[UFOtofu27]

5000 mi OCI should be fine. I think the limiting factor would be the oil filter. It might get plugged up and not filter anymore. Or you could do it right and get a UOA and find out for sure whether the oil needs changing. M1 T&SUV is good stuff, maybe change out the filter every 3K or so, and leave the oil in until the UOA says its bad. Or go to www.bypassfilter.com and have the fellow make a bypass filter system for you. He has one on his Gen 2 Camry.

These days I use Motorcraft 5w30 and 10w30 (2 qts. each), plan on 4000 mi OCI, to get the car into the shop and looked over. The oil might last longer, but at 210K on the clock, it's best to look things over regularly.

[cycosurfer]

thanks for the input so far. so far from the research i've been doing it's to stick with the wonderful oil that is mobil 1... use purolator filters... and possibly change the filter if i think is needed in the middle of my OCI.

and if i'm not too lazy, i'll try to get a UOA for myself...