Should I run Synthetic on next service?
 

94LS with 68k

It'd be fine, right? Go synthetic everything or just oil?

Synthetic hands down..everywhere :thumbup:

I recommend Royal Purple 5 or 10 w-30. I think I may be obsessive but my cocktail for oil is to start with 1 Zmax engine treatment, 1 Lucas synthetic engine treatment and 5 quarts Royal Purple 5 w-30. The car holds just shy of 6 quarts total so you will have some oil left over but thats cool since you can just keep it to top off the oil in between changes.

If you try this you will notice a difference right away. More torque and power. Previously I have used this combo with different brands of oils. The first being Mobile 1 5 w-30, the second being Quaker State 5 w-30, third being Lucas 5 w-30 and the final being Royal Purple.

If I had to rate them first to last the order would be #1 Royal Purple, #2 Lucas, #3 Mobile 1 and #4 Quaker State. It may be on the expensive side for this but well worth it in my opinion. Btw I,m getting my oil changed tomorrow morning LOL!

I hear good things about Royal Purple although I use Mobil1 Syn extended which allows 15,000 intervals. I also use a Mobil1 filter.

I started syn at 20,000 miles and now have nearly 250,000. Can't complain so far.

Lol! Damn I'm only pushing 114k! Bought it less than a year ago with only 90,023 miles on it.

Don't waste your money just use Castrol oil.

yea.i used to use only Mobil 1.but now i use whatever synthetic is on sale

No, if your car didn't leave the factory with it, I say no. I worked at Toyota, I'd be happy to put in $60 worth of oil into your ride, but I can tell you there is no real difference between conventional and synthetic beside the genetic make up, but they both have to pass certain test that meet and exceed normal conditions. If you look on your OEM oil cap, you will see it says 5w-30... Energy conserving II, SL, SM, or SN, or whatever, this just simply states the basic requirements that your engine must meet, and since it's a 1994, those requirements have far been exceeded, and the oil being produced is much more like synthetic than before. That being said you will not notice one ounce of difference between conventional or synthetic, just in your wallet.

Now oil filter is another story, I am almost religious about using OEM filters, or WIX if OEM isn't available. IF you'd like more, I am sure I can rant and rave some more, I just have an opinion when it comes to this as I used to run synthetic until I worked for Toyota, and wouldn't ever go back. Lexus says then run a "semi-synthetic", but it is great conventional oil, as I worked there. Now I buy the cheapest stuff I can find, Carquest 5w-30. Nuff said.

Absolutely on Oil Filters....OEM or WIX
BTW Napa Gold are made by WIX :thumbup:

the lexus filter is excellent - i'd be surprised if anything aftermarket compares to that. It is definitely worth spending the extra few bucks on.

I use castrol magnatec 10w40 semi synthetic - its good value stuff. There is good reason to stick to a certain brand of oil though. Changing oil brands every time can cause problems. Additives in one oil, can be incompatible with the additives in the next oil. Decide what oil you want to keep using, and stick to it. Keep in mind though, an engine like this is never really going to benefit from real expensive oil. The 1uz isnt hard on oil (not much heat, not many revs) so anything that is the right viscosity will look after the engine fine. Also, in an older engine you have to be more careful about changing to synthetic stuff as some of the seals can start to leak (crank, cam, valve seals etc)

For the trans, stick to the Toyota T-IV. For the diff, just use dino 75/80w90 - there's nothing extreme going on in there.

Given my recent experience with synthetic, I might try a synthetic blend first. I went with full synthetic Mobile1 on my 91LS @ 86k miles or so and my rear main seal started to leak. I'm keeping an eye on it to see if it stops, otherwise I'll have to have it replaced over the winter. The cleaning action of the synthetic removes all the junk/residue that dino oil leaves behind and opens up pathways around seals that weren't there before. I'm hoping the seal conditioners in the Mobil1 will help the seal expand but I may be too optimistic.

i would have to agree with jims on this one. I was always told that it is safe to switch to synthetic if the car has less then 100k on it. but a car that age has gone without synthetic for what, 15 years now? and as jim said, after such time build up starts to appear, and this is not always bad. this build up helps seal rings, and gaskets that are worn. again synthetic lifts all this, and can end up causing more trouble then helping. Really jim couldn't have said it better..i really didnt need to add anything to what he said :P I have learned this from experience. In my ae86 my 4age had about 78k on it and ran great, i was pretty lucky.. but after i decided to switch to synthetic it started smoking, and i ended up blowing the motor. either stay with what you are currently using or switch to a blend.
gl jim hope things fix themself for ya.

all my cars have been switched to synthetic, no issues. as long as you have decent compression you'll be fine.

but synthetic cost twice as much, worth for a 20 year old car?

your call, a complete oil change costs me <$30 since i do it myself :p