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I've noticed, from other threads, Mobil 1 is the most recommended. A few use toyota brand. But any synthetic that meets the engine requirements in your owner's manual is fine. I also noticed that many using synthetic still change at 5k intervals rather than 10k. I'd say, if you change it every 5k, any synthetic brand is fine. If you want to push it to more than 5k, stick with Mobil 1. If your engine is using oil in between changes, use a ring cleaning product in your oil just before your next change(following directions). It may loosen up the stuck oil rings (causing oil use) that are mean to float around the piston. It's a known Toyota Lexus occurrence/issue.
Get the full synthetic with the high mileage formula if your engine has 80K+. I’ve switched brands several times; the deciding factor is usually ease of pouring. I avoid the ones that have that little foil glued to the opening with no tab to pull it off. I’ve dropped pieces of foil into the container trying to remove it. Valvoline and, I believe, Pennzoil are very user friendly.
I use full synthetic oil in all of my cars with zero issues, and I just changed my oil a few days ago on my 07 LS460. It had about 3,500 miles on the current oil and the oil was super black. You couldn’t tell that much just by checking the oil level with the dipstick however since it didn’t look too bad at first. But it has been about 6 months since now and I don’t drive much because of my remote job.
I went with Mobil 1 Extended Performance which is a great oil prior and it’s usually cheaper at Walmart than say Valvoline or Castrol, but they were sold out so I went with Valvoline Extended Performance 5W-30 because my engine burns a little bit of oil and the thicker weight has helped reduce oil burn off.
No changes in fuel economy or engine performance at all either. Just make sure you check the oil dipstick a few times after the oil change because although the manual states 9.1 quarts, I’ve had to had close to 9.5 quarts to get the level on the dipstick perfect.
I use full synthetic oil in all of my cars with zero issues, and I just changed my oil a few days ago on my 07 LS460. It had about 3,500 miles on the current oil and the oil was super black. You couldn’t tell that much just by checking the oil level with the dipstick however since it didn’t look too bad at first. But it has been about 6 months since now and I don’t drive much because of my remote job.
I went with Mobil 1 Extended Performance which is a great oil prior and it’s usually cheaper at Walmart than say Valvoline or Castrol, but they were sold out so I went with Valvoline Extended Performance 5W-30 because my engine burns a little bit of oil and the thicker weight has helped reduce oil burn off.
No changes in fuel economy or engine performance at all either. Just make sure you check the oil dipstick a few times after the oil change because although the manual states 9.1 quarts, I’ve had to had close to 9.5 quarts to get the level on the dipstick perfect.
When you check the oil after changing it. do you account for the filter needing almost a quart? I am confident that the engineers at Lexus know how much oil that engine needs. 9.1 is very specific. So, if you check it after the change without starting, you will get a false reading. Add 9.1, start it, let it run, turn it off and let it sit for 30 min before confirming level on dip stick.
I’m a fan of the Mobil1 EP because in the 0W20 weight it had the highest amount of PAO base stock that you could buy off the shelf at Walmart or a parts store. Which means it truly had around 70% synthetic base stocks and a remaining 30% group lll. But this has since changed. Due to the difficulties of acquiring oil, and the cost, it appears that Mobil has recently switched their formula to something called “triple action” or something like that, and they no longer are using anywhere near as much PAO in their formula. It’s now less than 25%, with the remaining being group lll and gas to liquid base stocks.
Does any of this matter? Probably not, but now if I’m choosing between Mobil1 EP and say...Pennzoil Ultra...or Valvoline extended protection?? I’ll just choose the least expensive.
I’m a fan of the Mobil1 EP because in the 0W20 weight it had the highest amount of PAO base stock that you could buy off the shelf at Walmart or a parts store. Which means it truly had around 70% synthetic base stocks and a remaining 30% group lll. But this has since changed. Due to the difficulties of acquiring oil, and the cost, it appears that Mobil has recently switched their formula to something called “triple action” or something like that, and they no longer are using anywhere near as much PAO in their formula. It’s now less than 25%, with the remaining being group lll and gas to liquid base stocks.
Does any of this matter? Probably not, but now if I’m choosing between Mobil1 EP and say...Pennzoil Ultra...or Valvoline extended protection?? I’ll just choose the least expensive.
Interesting! I always wonder how Mobil 1 compares to Penzoil. I can get one from Walmart and other one from HomeDepot. I believe, the price is similar. If somebody has an insight, please, share.
Interesting! I always wonder how Mobil 1 compares to Penzoil. I can get one from Walmart and other one from HomeDepot. I believe, the price is similar. If somebody has an insight, please, share.
Well, prior to using Mobil1 I was using Pennzoil pretty exclusively for three years because it always seemed to test well in UOA’s I read online. I used it in two different vehicles for 5,000 mile intervals. Seemed fine. Never did an analysis on it, and I used Pennzoil Platinum, not the more expensive/better Pennzoil Ultra. I’d like to try the Ultra, and Pennzoil is running their rebates again.
But I did run a used oil analysis on the Mobil1 EP 0W20 and the results were phenomenal. My first ever 10,000 mile intervals. Wear metals were only 5ppm in iron. 2 ppm aluminum. TBN was 3.7...those are numbers that you might see on a 5,000 interval (if you’re lucky), not a 10,000 interval. I was impressed but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the oil is doing this^^^. It more likely means that my engine is in excellent running order (and I have an easy commute/highway commute). Which I do.
But the gas to liquid base stocks produced by Pennzoil are being sold to other oil companies right now because the PAO base stocks are harder to come by right now, and more expensive (From what I’ve read). And supposedly the gas to liquid base stock is considered a group lll plus...something that might compete more favorably with the group lV base stocks. But who knows? And does it really matter? Not if you’re running a 5,000 mile interval...you could put Honey Nut Cheerios in there for 5,000 miles and everything would probably be good enough.
06-09-22, 06:33 AM
