Fisher

I have a 2006 IS250 AWD. I bought this car in AZ and had it serviced before trailering it to Denver, CO. I believe the shop put in conventional 5w30; Not sure if our cars came with synthetic oil or conventional. I feel they used conventional because my car has horrid valve or lifter ticks when first started and now I seem to hear it often when driving. Also the oil went just under 3k miles before my Oil service required soon warning came on leading me to believe that it was just conventional oil. Not sure if there is an internal sensor that tests the oil to determine how much life is left or if it's solely mileage based. I'm leaning towards synthetic for all of the obvious reasons, but am thinking Mobil 1 0W30 synthetic would be best since it can get pretty cold here in the winter. Let me know what you think, thanks.
-Fisher

chikoo

It appears that you purchased this car recently. Congrats. How many miles on it?

Actually regular oil is better at reducing noisy valves and lifters. What you may be hearing is the fuel injectors. It is a trademark engine sound of the is250

It is mileage based and you can set the mileage to your liking. the default is 5000 miles.

5w30 or 0w30 both work great.

aviator409

I have an AWD model and these are notorious for noisy differentials and that can sound like noisy lifters/valves. The fuel injection isn't loud enough to hear when driving. I'd put Royal Purple or Amsoil full synthetic differential fluid in next time you need the diff. serviced. Its every 60,000 miles per owners manual

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

0w30 is better than 5w30 because of the pour rate at start up is thinner. since engine wear occurs at startup, that's where you want to protect your engine. get the oil pumping as soon as possible.

Fisher

Thanks for the replies gents. Purchased back in July after I crashed my
02 IS300. My IS300 was so cherry I'm still not over it! Brings a tear to my eye every time I see a nice black one. Oh well, needed AWD for Denver winters any ways. Would've rather just sold it instead of killing it though..
The IS250 had 59K when I bought it, around 62k now. Navi, backup cam, I was under the impression it had Mark Levinson sound but after reading more into it I don't think so. I guess there is supposed to be some sort of Mark Levinson signature or something and I don't see it. Oh well, I still think it sounds pretty good. I'm kind of over the pounding stereos any ways.
I guess I need to check and see if they serviced the diffs before I took it to CO since I'm now over 60K. I'll probably do the top engine cleaner myself before my next oil change and change the spark plugs as well. Doesn't seem like they are too difficult from what I've read...
I'm thinking I'll go with the 0w30, probably Mobil 1 synthetic. Again thanks for the replies.
-Fisher

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

go with 0w30 esp the cold weather...

BlkSapPrl7

i use 0w in the winter. but you shouldnt have any problem with both



the noisy clicking is becuase the 2IS 250 are GDI and the 350 is hybrid PFI and GDI

Duke02

iTrader: (2)

You'll probably get an even split between people for each. I caveat all of the following with the fact that I am not an expert, but am providing the information I have compiled along with some deduction

0w30 will have an advantage flowing at cold temperatures but since you live in AZ, that's probably not an issue. I know some old timers like the higher cold viscosity oils (if that's the right term) like 10w30. I think this comes from the fact that while both 0w30 and 5w30 behave like 30 weight oils when hot, they have to do that with viscosity modifiers and the greater the difference between the cold and hot viscosity makes that oil behave a bit less like a 30 weight oil when hot than one that has a smaller difference. Again, not an expert but what I have gathered.

That said, you will not damage your engine with either. The original factory fill in 2006 was 5w30 and they recommended 0w30 afterwards. I've heard some say this was for gas mileage reasons but I'm not sure how the EPA tests (cold engine or hot engine, etc).

if you really want to spend some time, stop by bobistheoilguy.com. You could spend a lifetime on that website and come across more uncertain than you started but it can be interesting.

Eurosport

isn't that the truth
oil threads are always entertaining better than political threads

Duke02

iTrader: (2)

If you really want to see a fracas, go on there and ask if Royal Purple is better than Mobil 1. Or go onto any enthusiast forum and ask about k&n

Bichon

You can't change the oil maintenance warning interval from 5,000 miles.

Yes, I'm aware of the maintenance screens on the Nav. Unfortunately they have no effect on the warning system in the instrument cluster.

quick123

iTrader: (2)

I think you may have this backwards...SYNTHETIC oil will quite the noise from the valvetrain by providing a more constant lubrication as compared to a conventional oil.