Wald GS

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys,

While at HIN, they gave away coupons for 2 free quarts of the new Valvoline SynPower oil with the purchase of 4. It's pretty tempting, but could this stuff be better than Mobil 1 or is it pretty much the same. thanks guys!

-bryan

mburnickas

It is a group 3+ oil I call it. It has 60% group 4 and the rest is group 3. If you are doing short drains it would be fine.

saber

According to the Toyota engineers, type of oil (synthetic vs. natural oil) used does not determine engine life http://www.saber.net/~monarch/faq.jpg There are many other factors that determine engine life. Example: if the fins of your radiator and air conditioning condenser look like this; http://www.saber.net/~monarch/radjunk.jpg engine life will be reduced because cooling and air conditioning system efficiency will be impaired causing elevated engine temperatures.

The commercial interests that promote the use of synthetic oil never tell the public about things like this and which cause Toyota engines to prematurely end up in the junkyard. Why? Because the commercial interests are only interested in making a sale of synthetic oil because its highly profitable.

Another reason the commercial interests will never tell you about engine life destroyers like this http://www.saber.net/~monarch/radjunk.jpg is because the solution does not involve any special cleaner, lube or filter. The solution involves just removing the radiator and hosing the bugs and dirt off with plain water.

PERRYinLA

This is way off topic, I know, but that is one dirty radiator! Where did that come from, a car that followed an uncovered dump truck full of leaves cross-country?

saber

Perry, the car was a '91 LS400 with only 101,000 miles and owned by a rich middle aged Danville, California couple that used the car mainly for trips to their vacation homes in Shell Beach and Lake Tahoe, Caliif. The car had never been off road, was always garaged and the engine compartment and underbody looked almost showroom new.

Thanks to Toyota Long Life antifreeze, the inside of the radiator looked brand new. Just the exterior fins of the radiator collected alot of leaves, bugs and dust from travel on ordinary California highways (just as an engine air filter does)

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Send a fresh sample in for analysis. Do a fill and drive it for 7,500 or 5k, send that in for analysis then let us know.

Lexusfreak

Agreed.....

damon

That looks suspiciously like a water line as the result of flooding.

Clean those coils by all means!!

http://www.bbjenviro.com/products_powercoil.asp

nomad

PS: Cleaning coils would obviously help AC function as well.

PERRYinLA

Telling Saber to clean/maintain his own car is like telling the pope to pray.

HarrierAWD

That radiator looks like it's pulled from a trout sale car.

LS4Lexus

60% group 4? Isn't Synpower (SL/SM) strictly a group 3 synthetic?

LS4Lexus

I'd be interested in hearing the Toyota engineers' explanation on why you shouldn't switch back to petroleum-based oil after using synthetic in Toyota engines.

The myth that you can't switch back to dino after using synthetic has been debunked for some time. The oil manufacturers, the ones that would rather you stick with the $$$ synthetic, also say it's not an issue.

This seems to me like outdated information that never got removed - the bit about having to stick with synthetic after switching to it is noticeably absent from Lexus' version of the FAQ entry. But if this is the Toyota engineering dept.'s current stance, I'd certainly like to have them elaborate on it.

mburnickas

It is a group 3 technically but has some other adds in. It conforms to MB229.3, ACEA A3 spec's.

There Valvoline VR-1 is a group 2 oil.

I just looked at the MSDSs for Synpower and the 20w50 is PAO!

The 30 weights are Group III:
5w30: CAS 64742-54-7 (52-62%)
10w30: CAS 64742-54-7 (53-63%)

But look at the 20w50 MSDS:
20w50: CAS 68037-01-4 (65-75%). MolaKule just had a thread on CAS numbers showing this one to be PAO. I wonder if PAO is cheaper in the larger size molecules of a 20w50?

I also think there 5w-40 is a group 4/PAO. Both PAO oils are low in zinc and phosphorus.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

And who said you have to wait till your first oil change to use Synthetic? Some cars come from the Factory with Mobil 1. These myths were long disputed.

Lexusfreak

Agreed Grand.