Would going to diff't oil brands matter w/ more mileage?

[FishyMan]

The manual suggest 5w-30 and I have had the car serviced a few times at diff't places. My question is, would it be alright if I changed oil brands from time to time?

I take it that valvoline is pretty good right? Should I care about the brand?

Thanks

[pmesfun]

Yeah, doesn't matter if you change brands, Valvoline is fine.

[FishyMan]

Originally Posted by pmesfun

Yeah, doesn't matter if you change brands, Valvoline is fine.

Do you know if I should care though? I know this topic has been beaten to death, but I plan to buy whatever's on sale.

[pmesfun]

Not really, Walmart always has the good brands on same, Castrol, Valvoline, Mobil 1 etc.

[JohnGD]

Valvoline is a good brand.

Depending on where you are. If in the cold climate region then use fully synthetic or synthetic blend for the winter, and syn-blend or dino for the summer. Check out the API SN/ILSAC GF-5 Motorcraft synthetic blend 5/10W-30 at Walmart.

Otherwise Mobil-1 5/10W-30 should be fine. Parts stores run a $32 5-qt special with a Mobil-1 filter often.

With a Gen3/4 you can use 10W-30 unless it's really cold.

[FishyMan]

Hi Everyone.

Thank you for the replies. I did the oil change w/ regular the valvoline 5w-30 jug. It was pretty easy to do. I didn't even jack the car up and was able to torque off the oil bolt. The extra court allowed me to flush the pan a bit more (if that even matters).

I just wish the new Toyotas were this easy. LOLZ

[fenixus]

it doesn't really matter. stick to walmart assortment of great priced synthetic (or blends) oils and have a good filter handy (e.g. WIX/NAPA Gold, Purolator Pureone, Mobil1 EP, Bosch Distance Plus, OEM, etc.).

Over 75k miles I like using High Mileage formulated oils, e.g. my favorite Summer formula of 10W-30 Mobil1 Full Synthetic HM ($24.50 for 5+qts jug in Walmarts).

For Winter months (depending on how really Winter they are in your area) I like to experiment, now planning to use 0W-40 Mobil1 FS oil from some AAP promo, other than that M1 5W-30 FS HM will always do as well as any other Valvoline Maxlife/Synpower, Castrol Edge or Penzoil Platinum or similar. I just like using Mobil1 personally

If you're more into numbers than you may want to compare the oil datasheets and check the viscosity a certain temps and HTHS levels if they provide it, it's pretty good info. Usually the more HTHS the better engine protection, but the golden optimum is around 3.5 (if I understand it right).

[garytho]

Great advice from all posters!
The key is change your oil at least every 3000 miles for long clean engine life. I was a long time conventional oil man,....but after seeing how clean the engine was on a car that used synthetics all it's life,....I'm starting to use a blend ...and if no leaking occurs,...I will probably switch to full synthetic next oil change.

[fenixus]

i'm doing 6month/5k miles OCI on full synthetics and they always come up great. since I'm saving money on the frequency of oil changes (paying around $28 per change including new filter) I do the Black Stone UOA on the old oil (including TBN at extra $10) to know which comes better and how much life left in that oil.

thing is that I do mostly city driving, so I stick to 5k OCI, but if someone commutes daily on highways and generally car does more h-way driving vs city then 7.5k OCI is just fine with plenty of margin for error. I could probably try 9month/7.5k OCI even on city driving just to compare samples, because usually the 6month oil change is too premature and while doing the city driving it's hard to hit mileage limit first.

[pmesfun]

^I used Mobil1 EP in the 07 yesterday and I plan on changing it in 7.5-10k miles.

[JimBowNut]

Hello Fenixus, What oil analysis is that you are talking about ?

[fenixus]

I mean this lab:
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

I'm sure there are others, but those I like, perhaps I like their name hehe

You can order free sample kit (free shipping too) for collecting oil and sending back (return postage is $1.95, can buy it in an automated postal center, no need to stand in lines).
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

regular Used Oil Analysis is $25, TBN is extra $10.

Originally Posted by JimBowNut

Hello Fenixus, What oil analysis is that you are talking about ?

[cf99]

I don't have any scientific proof to show that it matters, but I've always tried to stay with the same oil for the life of my cars. For my Camry I've always used Valvoline conventional.

The "logic" is that every oil has a different addative package, and you never completely drain the old oil after an oil change. So a new oil mixed with an old could have completely unknow reactions under the heat of engine operations.

This logic is a lot more solid for coolant (i.e. there are certain coolants you should not mix) and tranny oil, but there are no such warning for mixing motor oils so I presume my sticking with one oil doesn't really matter. But it certainly doesn't hurt anything either

[JimBowNut]

And, I hate to show my ignorance but, What is the 'TBN' ?

[cf99]

Originally Posted by JimBowNut

And, I hate to show my ignorance but, What is the 'TBN' ?

I forget what it stands for, but it's a measure of the amount of additives remaining in the oil. It's helpful if you're trying to figure out your maximum oil change interval. Once the TBN gets too low, the oil is considered beyond its prime and should be changed.