LS400BOY

i been letting the dealership change my oil since i bought my car a year or so but i think im going to start changing it myself along with the oil filter,i got a 92 ls400 with 280thousans on the clock,whats a good brand of oil and filter i can stick with for now on??? thanks much guys

LS400BOY

i was thinking Synthetic but scared that Synthetic mite be to thin of a oil and will start noticing leaks in my drive way

LS400BOY

any input from you guys??

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

What have they been using? That's a great question to start with... Higher mileage engines won't necessarily start leaking if you switch to synthetic, but if there are leaks, it could definitely make them worse... It isn't how thick or thin the oil is, 5w-30 is 5w-30 whether it is synthetic or not. The difference is that synthetics have higher levels of detergents to clean the inside of the engine better, and if some of this gunk is keeping the engine from leaking, well, then we get leaks...

That being said, 5w-30 is the recommended weight for the car, so long as it isn't burning oil, I would stick with that. Then, any decent brand is going to be just fine. I prefer Mobil1 synthetics, but the Mobil brand in regular oil is fine too, same with Castrol and most other off the shelf brands...

LS400BOY

see thats the problem when i bought the car used i dont know what oils been used so i just stuck with the toyota dealer to change it but been hearing that they be using cheap oils, plus just want to start doing it myseld cant stand the hour wait when they do it lol since my last oil changed i been noticing a oil drip in my driveway but dont know where its comming from but did notice when i start it up i can see the oil buring off because i see little smoke comming from under the hood then stops,was thinking valve cover gaskets needs changed or oil filter leaking??? that being said i know synthetic will leak so scared to use that,i just want a good oil i can use for now on for a long time

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Mobil 5000 or Castrol, either would be fine, and my two favorites for "dino" oil, but really any oil is ok, so long as it is changed at regular intervals...

Oil leaks- could be anywhere, most likely valve cover gaskets if it is dripping on the exhaust and burning off... there could be more than that, only one way to find out - get a flashlight and start looking... anything wet with oil, if it has a seal or gasket, replace it...

I doubt the Toyota dealer is using junk oil, they probably get it from a bulk supplier, nothing wrong with that...

burny

Cstrol high mileage in the green jug and a toyota oil filter. Been uing itin my 91 4runner with 250,000 for years and also in the 2002 gs300 with abut125k on it. I do 4,000 mile changes or 4 months