What oil for a 87 3SGE Celica? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Slip_87 ST · 01-20-2005, 10:29 PM

hey, guys, cheers in advance for any info you can offer

well, atm my oil pressure bar in the console is telling me that my oil levels for my engine are normal, but when i do the manual oil check on the little strip it tells me my oil is too low?

oil only covers like 5mm of the strip.

if i were in need of a oil top up, what should i put in?

should i do a whole oil change even?

EggBeater59 · 01-21-2005, 02:42 AM

how long has it been since you changed your oil last? you're supposed to do it every 3k miles. its probably 10-30 normally, you might want to put in 5-30 because its winter. check your owners manual to be sure.

Insanity-74 · 01-21-2005, 03:05 AM

5w30 is waayyyy to thin to be using on an 87 Celica, it may get round your engine quickly but it dosnt offer much protection, i wouldnt even use 5w30 in my lawn mower. Go for the complete oil change and dont consider anything less that 10w30 (dont forget a new filter), I`d go for 10w50 at least, especially with the heat you can get in Australia. Fully synthetic, dont bother with dinosaur oil. Fully Synthetic will be more expensive, but worth it in the longrun.
My`n gets treated to Silkolene Pro R 15w-50 Ester Synthetic oil for race engines, but at £40 ($78) for 5 litres it aint cheap.

logan x · 01-21-2005, 03:50 AM

10w40 is my choice of oil, it all depends on where you live. i also fell 5w30 is way to light a oil for that year of car. it is more ment for newer cars.how many miles do you have?

EggBeater59 · 01-22-2005, 03:16 AM

i should have looked at his location, i guess it doesn't get very cold down under, eh? still, check your owners manual for sure, but you shouldn't use synthetic in an older engine.

Insanity-74 · 01-22-2005, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EggBeater59

, but you shouldn't use synthetic in an older engine.

Just for my own information, why not? surely synthetic oil would offer better protection to an older engine than crappy dino oil! My uncle uses synthetic Oil in his 1971 Hilman Imp.

braddog0128 · 01-31-2005, 01:13 AM

my 88' celi calls for 5-30 oil...(in the manual under like 90 degrees) i use 5-30 synthetic, and it runs like a wet dream. Use 10-30 if its over 90 regularly, which it probably is... You are just wasting power and good lubrication properties with that thick oil... (i could see that if it were a 3s-gte for turbo heat reasons) even though its old, toyota has been using super small resistance engines for many years, esp with DOHC... just my 2 cents.