SV21, 3SFE Oil Viscosity?

[scribby]

I've been experimenting with oils lately, and just wondering what everyone else runs?

My Camry has 304,000KM (188,000 Miles) so I figured it to be an old engine so I started off running high milage oils (yep I'm an idiot) so these were around 20W50 - 25W60. After alot of reading around I relized that it was quite bad and by using these oils I could be damaging my engine, so as of today I'm trying 10W40 Castrol Magnatec which claims to stick to metal and stop damage during cold starts, however I'm pretty skeptical of this and only bought it because it was on special at the time.

I would say the 10W40 makes the engine alot louder, is there any harm changing from high viscositys to low? As I was running the high mileage oil for around 15,000KM (9,320 Miles).

Also the car has had the head rebuilt around 2 1/2 years ago so should this be taken into consideration when chosing oil?

[scribby]

Also here's some info on that Castrol Magnatec which I believe is fairly newish..
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/produ...tentId=6008598

[CamNub]

Holy crap! Isn't 20w-50 and 25w-60 used by Diesel trucks??? They shouldn't be used on a gasoline injected engine. Good thing you caught it early(ish)

Btw, that's pretty low mileage for a gen 2...

How long do you expect to keep this car?

But I would run a 10w or 15w oil that's thicker so you won't get leaks on your old car.

[scribby]

Originally Posted by CamNub

Holy crap! Isn't 20w-50 and 25w-60 used by Diesel trucks??? They shouldn't be used on a gasoline injected engine. Good thing you caught it early(ish)

Btw, that's pretty low mileage for a gen 2...

How long do you expect to keep this car?

But I would run a 10w or 15w oil that's thicker so you won't get leaks on your old car.

Its strange because some of the oils actually say reccomended for engines built between 1980 - 1990 and there 20W50, I only an 25W60 for a month or so because I was losing alot of oil due to the spagetti ring on the oil pump leaking.

I'm actually currently thinking about keeping it or selling, I'm not to sure.
If I keep it I will be driving it untill it gets to 400,000KM then if still is going good I'll get an import engine put in, which I'm looking at prices for now because there is a slight knocking sound which I think its coming from the bottom of the engine so I'm not sure how much longer it will last for. But it could be because of the thick oil so I have my fingers crossed at the moment.

[wiccanferret]

I use 10w30 in all mine...I go between Castrol, Valvoline, Havoline, and Mobil either high mileage or synthetic blend, whatever happens to be cheapest between all that. I figure what's not in one additive package might be in another...hehe.

[movement]

Directly from toyota motor corporation:


Subject Recommended oil type and spark plug change intervals
Discussion Thread Response (Jay S)06/12/2007 07:49 AM Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. We appreciate your interest in properly maintaining your 1990 Toyota Camry.

Toyota is currently recommending American Petroleum Institute (API) grade SJ petroleum-based engine oil. In moderate climates, this oil should have a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) viscosity rating of 5W-30. Toyota recommends using 5W-30 weight oil because this viscosity provides better lubrication in a wider range of temperatures, provide less friction and assist in achieving higher fuel economy.

The platinum tipped spark plugs should be replaced at 30,000 miles, at 60,000 miles and then every 3 years after that. When the spark plugs are replaced, install new plugs of the same type as the vehicle was originally equipped with.

[scribby]

Would be great to hear what other Aussies are using?

Also I've noticed since I changed to 10W40 an oil leak I had been meaning to fix stoped leaking, maybe the thicker oil was causing too high oil pressure?

[monito]

Originally Posted by CamNub

Holy crap! Isn't 20w-50 and 25w-60 used by Diesel trucks??? They shouldn't be used on a gasoline injected engine. Good thing you caught it early(ish)

I remember reading way back in the day that 20w-50 was recommended for the older turbo vehicles. My dad used to have cases of 20w-50 for our 79 regal turbo v6.

[WVcamry3sfe]

10w-30 is a good oil viscosity for the 3sfe. I use castrol syntec 10w-30. I autocross my car and sometimes hit the RPM limiter... seems to protect the engine parts well enough from that abuse... would definitely recomend that weight.

[cvandiv]

wait, so i shouldn't be using wal-mart high mileage 10w-40 oil in my 88 3sfe? i just changed it too.

[Doctor J]

If the bearing clearances are too big, resulting in heavy knock and flickering oil light at idle hot, 20w50 is the only the way to postpone the engine rebuilding.
When my friend lost the engine oil due to the busted oil sender, the engine developed knock, however after using Castrol 20w50 the car ran additional 20Kmi, then it was scrapped due to the smog failure. The engine still had some knock but it never seized.

[fredk]

when I was in FL. I used 20w50 for years in my Camrys and my Tacoma, my Tacoma had over 300k on it when I sold it to a buddy and its still going, The Camry was on 20w50 and never gave it a thought until I drove here, one morning when it was near 0 it had a very slow crank and no power cold, I had to go to 10w30 for that reason but with the thinner oil it bangs around until the oil lite goes out