synthetic oil?

[middleoroad]

I am thinking of switching my 07 to synthetic oil,any thoughts?

[jon_570]

couldnt hurt but once you use synthetic you always have to

[PhatRoyale]

Do a search!

All your answers can be found here, here, and here

[Tavel]

Originally Posted by jon_570

couldnt hurt but once you use synthetic you always have to

that's not really true.

It's absolutely not true with psuedo synthetics like mobile 1 because they're actually made from mineral oil (they're highly refined from the very best bits of mineral oil). Redline makes true synthetics and states that their oils are completely compatible with mineral oils.

I suppose there could be some special cases so do the relevant reasearch. But it's not necesarily a lifetime subscription to synthetic.

middleoroad: You can only switch to synthetic if the engine is past the break-in period. Toyota (and most oil manufacturers) specify only mineral oil during break in.

I don't know if there are any real benefits from synthetic, but I use mobil 1 because my driving classifies as "severe service" (I also do the 3 mo. oil chainge intervals). I want to make sure my oil doesn't break down on me. I would probably use mineral oil if i did mostly highway driving.

[middleoroad]

thanks for the input ill check out redline.i also read some interesting info about a new 0w20 synth from amsoil looks like good stuff.i cant buy mobil(im still boycotting exxon from valdez plus i hate monopolies)

[middleoroad]

one poster in the thread phatroyal sent me to said not to switch to synth until 30k others said after second oil change(6k). any thoughts?

[Criard]

I respect boycotting because of the Valdez . but please tell me you're not on the 'don't buy from mobil/exxon and gas prices will go down!' short bus

look in your owner's manual. there should be mentioned a 'break-in period' for your engine during which you're supposed to follow a few rules (keeping under a certain speed and rpm and not towing or something of the nature). 30k seems a bit long for a break-in, my friend just switched to synthetic in his new VWbeetle turbo and his break-in was 10k.

someone will most likely chime in after me with a more definite answer

[touringcamry]

YOu can switch to synthetic whenever you want. Keep in mind that if you want to maintain the warranty, you'll still have to change the oil at 5000 or 7500 miles for the first 60000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first.

Toyota's stance is that you can use synthetic but you still have to change it at the schedule intervals (for warranty purpose at least).

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by middleoroad

one poster in the thread phatroyal sent me to said not to switch to synth until 30k others said after second oil change(6k). any thoughts?

LOL you misunderstood me, I referred you to those threads because they discussing the benefits and recommendations surrounding synthetic oil which I wanted to bring to your attention because you did not perform a search prior to posting a new thread.

The general consensus about when the optimal time to switch to synthetic oil can be debated endlessly, some say to switch when the engine is brand new, others said to switch when it's thoroughly broken in. Truth is, it doesn't matter when you do so. I personally switched mine over this year, at 10 years old and almost 90,000 miles, on my second oil change running Mobil 1 10W30 high mileage formula and it runs great.

[Flashmn]

It's absolutely not true with psuedo synthetics like mobile 1 because they're actually made from mineral oil

Thats something I havent heard of before. You do realize that mobil 1 is a product family, not a specific oil, besides mobil 1 is their flag ship, so I seriously doubt thats actual proof there, otherwise I would of heard about it at work.

Also it wont matter if you use synthetic then put mineral, but I dont see the point there.

[root]

Quite a few synthetics are highly refined & processed mineral oil. Didn't realize Mobil 1 was one, i thought it was a fully created synthetic. They're still good. Theres also different synthetics, i think most of ones now are compatible with other oils and don't shrink seals (actually they don't cause new seals to shrink, they cause seals that expanded with regular oil to shrink back) If you search web, you'll find some pretty in depth stuff.

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by root

Quite a few synthetics are highly refined & processed mineral oil. Didn't realize Mobil 1 was one, i thought it was a fully created synthetic. They're still good. Theres also different synthetics, i think most of ones now are compatible with other oils and don't shrink seals (actually they don't cause new seals to shrink, they cause seals that expanded with regular oil to shrink back) If you search web, you'll find some pretty in depth stuff.

I think Mobil used to a be a fully synthetic and it only became a synthetic that is purified mineral oil recently. They took Castrol to court and lost regarding Castrol's Syntec product.