[Abram86]

I have an 86 camry, it didnt come with an owners manual and its past due on an oil change.

I looked all over under the hood and it doesnt say it, im sure because it sat in an old ladies garage and its nice and clean under the hood

so what weight and how much?


Im guesing its like 10w40 or somthing

 

[luvmybeater]

5W30, 3.9 quarts

 

[WhiteCrown]

We had an '85 Camry. If it's the same engine (2.0L) I think it was 4.2 qts of 10W-30. I can check when I get home . . .

 

[Abram86]

yeah its a 2 lieter, I think, it says 2000 on the intake manifold

 

[MattSWE]

I have a 91 DX and use 10w30, what would switching to 5w30 do for me? I have 147,000k btw on mine.

 

[Abram86]

lol you would burn more oil

 

[WhiteCrown]

I'm looking at the owner's manual and it does say the oil capacity is 4.2 qt (with filter change) for the 2S-E engine. The viscosity is more complicated:

I used 10W-30 for most of the life of the car, I switched to 10W-40 as the engine got looser. With 10W-30, the oil light would take a long time to turn off right after starting the engine. 10W-40 was better.

MattSWE:
For the above reason, I would not use too thin of an oil on a high mileage engine. You could try 5W-30 and if the oil pressure is not too low, you should be OK.

 

[fredk]

the thinner the oil the noiser the motor is going to be

 

[Abram86]

sry i drive an 87 not an 86 camry, and it has 97k miles on it should i use 10w30 still?

 

[Mike Gerber]

I owned an 86 Camry with the 2SE 2 liter engine for many years. 4.2 quarts is correct, however, it may require only 4 quarts depending on the capacity of the filter you use. I would put in 4 quarts and then start and run the engine for a few minutes and then shut it off, wait 10 minutes and then check the oil. 4 quarts will probably fill it. When Toyota published that 4.2 quart figure in the manual, they were using a larger stock filter than is available today. I believe the filter I used was the Fram PH2951. Also, I always used 10W-40 oil.

Mike

 

[WhiteCrown]

sry i drive an 87 not an 86 camry, and it has 97k miles on it should i use 10w30 still?

The best oil to use is what the Owner's Manual recommends.

 

[Abram86]

yes which i dont have

 

[Nice89]

10W30 is fine for most climates. If you live in snow country and drive short distances, then the 5W30 might give you better lubrication during all those cold start ups.

When I lived in the Boston area, my cars had no problem starting with 10W40. I never worried about oil grade and temperature.

I run 5W30 full synthetic in my 89 3sfe. It works fine with minimal oil consumption, mostly due to a few small external leaks. My car has 64K miles on it. I drive it a lot so the oil is changed every two months (about every 4k miles).

I think people get carried away on these oil decisions. The enemy of your engine is sludge. Cheap oil will have more sludge forming chemicals in it than the best synthetics like Amsoil, Repsol, Spectro, etc.

Those high end oils can be expensive, but stand up better to long oil change intervals like I do. For me, top quality oil is cheap compared to the labor for a service station to change it. With 2 jobs and night school, I don't have time to DIY.

You can get similar results with cheaper oil like Mobil, Shell, Chevron, and Valvoline dinosaur oil by changing with a new filter every 3k miles.

 

[Skell]

just did an oilchange in 90' 4cylinder.. with 10w30 used 4bottles (4qts) w/new oil filter

should i really be concerned about the ".2" i didnt put in? id have to buy another bottle....

drove around the block and everything seemed fine...

 

[WhiteCrown]

As long as the oil is between "Low" and "Full" on the dipstick, you're OK.

 

[aussie_gen1]

It's summer where i live and the temp. gets into the low 30's degrees celcius, about 85 degrees fahrenheit. I'm using 10W/40 in my 1984 (single cam) Camry, and it's really a bit thin for this climate I think. I should really be using 20W/50 for summer, and switch back to 10W/40 for winter, when the temp. is more around 20 degrees celcius (say 70 fahrenheit).

I think oil is pretty flexible about how it works in most temperatures, except when used in extremes of climate and function. So basically just go into the local shop and buy the best of whatever weight is most common. Or buy the worst, see if I care:lol: .

As I understand it, a lower weight oil is thinner, will lubricate the top end slightly faster, will decrease the engines internal friction very slightly (perhaps) but will break down sooner at higher temperatures and engine revolutions. Oh, and I've heard here it may leak slightly faster, if you have leaks. Just fix the leaks and use the correct weight, I say.