New Oil Change Questions

[coolwater]

Okay, I've heard enough about synthetic oil.

Now, I have 2 new questions.

1. I see "High Mileage Oil" from most brand names these days. They say 75K is time to switch. They also say the oil is designed specifically for cars over 75K. Should we all consider switching to "High Mileage Oil"??? (I guess this doesn't apply to synthetic users)

2. Most brands also have Synthetic Blend (full synthetic + conventional) Motor Oils. If the Full Synthetic causes leaks, would Synthetic Blend be safer against leaks?

In summary, we basically have 4 choices.

1. Conventional (stick with 5W-30, then you're ok)

2. High Mileage (is this a must???)

3. Synthetic Blend (if I'm worried about leaks, can this be a good option?)

4. Full Synthetic (I've heard enough, but I will probably hear more about this)

(more choices include: Winter Synthetic Blend, Synthetic Blend for High Horsepower Engines, etc.)

[monarch]

Only a small percentage of Toyota owners who make it to 500,000 or 600,000 miles without an engine overhaul use synthetic oil or synthetic blends. That's because these owners realize use of synthetic is not critical to ultra long engine life. The critical factor is to keep the engine in perfect running condition at all times and the way to achieve that is with timely preventive maintenance performed on the ignition, fuel, emmission, cooling and exhaust systems using genuine Toyota parts, filters and fluids.

In other words, a perfectly tuned and running Toyota engine protected with genuine Toyota parts, filters and fluids suffers hardly any mechanical wear after 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 miles, etc. so specialty oil blends and thicker viscosities are never needed.

In sum, Toyota / Lexus recommends using plain conventional 5W-30 motor oil (especially its specially formulated Toyota brand conventional oil http://www.saber.net/~monarch/ls430b.jpg) for the 600,000 mile potential life expectancy of all its engines.

[steviej]

the high mileage motor oils have additives in them to help rejuvenate aging seals. They don't claim to bring them back from brittle, but they claim to soften and swell them a little so that the gap that are filling remains tightly filled. I do not know to what extent they actually help. The condition of seals themselves are going to be dependent on the frequency of oil change, the type of driving the car was used for, the climate and road conditions the car was driven on and in. Lots of variables. Is it a must? of course not.

Most high milage formulas come in 10w-30 weights. Since you are in a southern climate, using a 10w-30 instead of a 5w-30 will not even be noticed by your engine. 10w-30 is also an alternate weight suggested in your owners manual (at least it is in mine).

I don't really care about blends. Go one way or the other is my theory. I prefer synthetic simply due to the extreme cold that I encounter in New England winters.

50% of the oil changing world will tell you to use conventional, the other 50% will tell you to use synthetic.

There are many many threads on the subject as you already know.

The choice is up to you, and only you. You won't go wrong as long as you stick to a routine schedule of changing. Every 3000-5000 miles is what is generally suggested on most websites and by most resources. Change the filter with a qualitly filter, too. And every once in a while, if it tickles you fancy, have the oil tested to get a feel for whay the numbers look like on your engine.

steviej

[alank22181]

When I lived in Vermont I switched to Mobile 1 synthetic oil as soon as the car passed 5000 miles. My main reason for switching to synthetic was to ease starting probelms during periods of cold weather- we often drop to 20 and 30 degrees below zero. It really helped the starting process when the car was stone cold; no hesitation experienced and it turned over like it was summertime. I'd recommend the oil to anyone living in a severe cold climate.

I'm not sure why you want to use this oil if you are living in a hot climate.

It did boost the MPG somewhat- I owned several Subaru Legacy Station Wagons and often exceeded the rated MPG with the synthetic oils. Since my new 2004 ES330 is now averaging 26MPG on the road with reg oil, I don't expect I will switch to a synthetic oil.

[coolwater]

I believe an extreme hot climate is as bad as an extreme cold climate (well, extreme cold is probably worse). And, since ES is--although, it's not prevalent--known to have oil gelling problem, synthetic engine oil at least gives you a peace of mind. As for me, I won't take a risk of oil leaks and stick with genuine Toyota motor oil and change it religiously.

[tundra-lover]

I wouldn't believe all the here-say about different oils. The reason people were having some leaks with synthetic was because they had build-up in the motor, which was cleaned out by the synthetic. The build-up they had before that was stopping a leak was removed causing the synthetic to slip on by.

The synthetic, from what I understand is refined down to a finer molecule, which helps lubricate smaller channels better- which is great for hot and cold. Highly recommended by many manufacturers now.

I personally have never seen anybody who has changed over come up with a leak, infact in some cases it has stopped leaks? As far as the blends, I say crap or get off the pot! Either go one or the other.

[coolwater]

Synthetic oil cleaning out the build-up? I want to know if that is really true.

[Nunyabiz]

Tundra is correct.

Personally I have been using 100% synthetic oil since 1977 (Was Amsoil 20-50 racing oil then) in every car I have ever owned, my original reason for trying the oil in 1977 was at that time I had a VW BAja Bug that was VERY supped up, bored, ported polished, VW racing heads, etc etc, being an OIL cooled engine oil temp and pressure were critical to performance, with the finest regular oil the car would lose power within 5-10min whether it was hot or not made little difference, I had tried everything including adding a deep sump, plus external cooler put in a scoop on the roof, that helped a little, one day a friend suggested this 100% synthetic Amsoil, so I went WTF, did an oil change BAM, ran like a bat outa hell with virtually no detectable power loss from that point on, I was sold on synthetic to say the least.

Now that was on a car where using synthetic made a HUGE difference, a hot running 4 cyl, thin engine wall, oil cooled engine. The difference between regular oil Vs Synthetic in your Lexus will not be as pronounced by any means.

BUT, what is the one thing that the Lexus ES300 engine will do if you are not careful? Will "Gel" the oil because of the high cylinder head temps, Synthetic oil is FAR less likely to Gel than regular petroleum based oil, actually quality synthetic oil can handle temps up to 700deg without breaking down, the best petroleum based oils break down around 300deg that is what causes your sludge and Gelling oil problem.

http://www.corolland.com/sludge.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news02/toyota_sludge.html

here is a little information on Amsoil 5W30W which I usually just order off the web, because in my area I can not find any on the shelf.

http://www.oilsandlube.com/5w30motor_oil.htm

Does Synthetic oil clean out buildup? YES, which is both good and bad, depending on how you do it.

Here is how you "should" change from Petroleum based to synthetic.

http://www.fidalgo.net/~brook4/newoilflush

Sorry but anyone that says that regular petroleum based oil is just as good for your engine as a 100% synthetic just has no clue what they are talking about, period.

[Lexusfreak]

I use Mobil 1 5W 30 and I have over 50,000 miles on my 01 ES. I use it because it has the cold weather properties for use in Canada & resists breakdown to extreme heat conditions that conventional oil's suffer. Synthetic does not break down like conventional so your getting proper engine protection over the life of that oil change. B)