Mobil1 5w-30 Synthetic and my 2002 Corolla???

[gadawg]

I have a 2002 Corolla with 40K mi and last oil change (37500 mi) I switched to M1 5w-30 Synthetic Oil. The other night I saw the oil light come on and I popped the hood and checked the oil...it didn't even register on the dipstick. There was only 3500 miles on the oil but since it was so low I just decided to do an oil and filter change. Man was it dirty!! My 4-runner has about 6K on the M1 and it is still full and the oil is still a bronze color. My question is: Where did the oil go. I don't seem to be burning oil and I never had this problem with Dino oil. Any clues to what may be wrong?:

[Rolla97]

did you remember to put the oil cap and drain plug back after the oil change?

[gadawg]

yes i did...that is not the problem...do you think i could have driven 3500 miles with those problems and not noticed that? come on now

[TofuRacer]

Dude, First of all NEVER ever do this again.

A Toyota Corolla will give you the most outstanding quality in dependability and reliability, take care of your baby, consider this car as a sacred extension of your outer self


Anyways your oil was burnt, or used up inside your combustion chamber, you might not have realized it but your car might have been producing a black smoke coming out from it's exhaust while you were driving it. You should really not worry about any extensive problems that your car might have, although in the long run you might want to change your piston rings.


A simple advise on preventing your car from completely giving up:

1) Use a fewel cleaner or a fuel inline cleaner to add to your gas tank

2) When changing your oil, make sure to change the filter and replace the rubber bushing from the bolt in your oil pan.

3) Use a 10W-30 oil viscosity in your oil, (Best suggestion is to use Quaker State Semi Synthetic), four quarts of these babies and your set to go on the road again.

[Flashmn]

5W-30 should be correct viscosity for winter use.

[gadawg]

Originally posted by TofuRacer
Dude, First of all NEVER ever do this again.

A Toyota Corolla will give you the most outstanding quality in dependability and reliability, take care of your baby, consider this car as a sacred extension of your outer self


Anyways your oil was burnt, or used up inside your combustion chamber, you might not have realized it but your car might have been producing a black smoke coming out from it's exhaust while you were driving it. You should really not worry about any extensive problems that your car might have, although in the long run you might want to change your piston rings.


A simple advise on preventing your car from completely giving up:

1) Use a fewel cleaner or a fuel inline cleaner to add to your gas tank

2) When changing your oil, make sure to change the filter and replace the rubber bushing from the bolt in your oil pan.

3) Use a 10W-30 oil viscosity in your oil, (Best suggestion is to use Quaker State Semi Synthetic), four quarts of these babies and your set to go on the road again.

Let me set the record straight: my car is nowhere close to giving up...it is not dying nor is it mal-maintained. i am doing the same things i have always done in the past: oil changes every 3000-4000 with the dino oil, I just switched to synthetic.

1) I checked the oil about 2 weeks prior to my finding there was no oil registering on the dipstick. It was the last time I filled up with gas. No problems found.

2) I take extra special care of my vehicles. I keep meticulous service records and will continue to do so.

3) This is my first experience with synthetic motor oil. I never had any issues when using dino oil.

4) I never saw any smoke coming from the exhaust...I even rode behind the corolla a few times in the past few weeks (prior to the last oil change)...no smoke seen.

5) I am interested to know why you think I may need to change my piston rings in the future????

6) I do make sure I check the drain and filter when I get back from my test drive after each oil change.

7) 10w-30...this may actually hold some water as to my theory of the missing oil, since 5w-30 is so thin and since it's synthetic, it's extra thin. hmmm, i am going to try 10w-30 next time.

8) Fewel cleaner...i think you mean FUEL cleaner...hmmmmmmmmmm???????? why?

[cozmo_im]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gadawg
[B]Let me set the record straight: my car is nowhere close to giving up...it is not dying nor is it mal-maintained. i am doing the same things i have always done in the past: oil changes every 3000-4000 with the dino oil, I just switched to synthetic.

That is the problem... You drove engine on dino oil, so the pistons and piston ring, valves, valve seals, bearings... etc... were lubricated by Dino oil which is very different than the synthetic oil... Synthetic oil is thiner than dino oil (even at the same viscosity)... Oil forms a thin layer on cylinder walls, on piston heads, rings, valves, oil passages through the engine... so when you switched to synthetic (whic is thiner, and maybe different viscosity than the dino oil), synthetic oil simply "washed" away all the dirt and oil layers formed by dino oil, because synth is more pure, better quality than dino oil... and that caused a blow by beside valve seals, piston rings, washed away dirt and stuff from dino oil from the oil passages... and simply synth oil passed through where dino oil couldn't - and burned. Tha first thing to do when changing from dino to synth is to use the thinest oil in viscosity to "wash" the engine (sometimes this oil is called engine cleaner oil or engine wash oil) inside...
Put that oil in the engine, run engine on normal operating temperature 15-30 minutes (depends which oil you use for cleaning)... sometimes you can drive few hundred miles... than you change oil again and put synth in the engine. You will be amazed on amount of dirt which will fall out of the engine!
Lots of people have that problem when they change from dino to synth... you cannot change from dino to synth without "washing" the engine from inside - sythh oil will do just that - because it is very different than dino.
I think that you have to change oil and filter again and it will be OK (but, you've done it hard way)...
Every engine will produce symptoms like that if you simply take out dino oil, put in the synth oil!

4) I never saw any smoke coming from the exhaust...I even rode behind the corolla a few times in the past few weeks (prior to the last oil change)...no smoke seen.

If the oil blowed by valve seals you will see the blue smoke only at start-up, and sometimes (not always) during hard driving or going uphill... and if the oil goes by valve seals it will go out very rapidly in large quantities...


7) 10w-30...this may actually hold some water as to my theory of the missing oil, since 5w-30 is so thin and since it's synthetic, it's extra thin. hmmm, i am going to try 10w-30 next time.

That is what I am telling you... that oil is much thiner and it is synthetic - it simply washed away all the dirt and oil layers formed from dino oil - and burned. You should have used engine wash oil bewteen switching from dino to synthetic oil.

You didn't do any harm to your engine, don't worry! Just be carefull next time and DON'T ever come back from synth to dino oil!!!

Best regards,
Ivan