saber

In the past I have pointed out that a large majority of monster mileage Toyota owners I have become acquainted with over the years DID NOT use specialty synthetic oils or aftermarket oil or air filters. Today another monster mileage owner testimonial appeared on the "toyotas-only" discussion group:

Subject: RE: [Toyotas_Only] Pickup/truck questions
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 08:57:14 -0400
From: "Jim Savino" <jjs75@cornell.edu>
Reply-To: Toyotas_Only@yahoogroups.com

My old ’90 4Runner has almost 600K miles on it, it’s getting a little weak but still pulls. The A/C died long ago and I’ve got a lot of rust, but as Jason said, the driveline is still solid and the 4WD just won’t die.

Aside from a lot of body-related stuff, cables, etc, the only serious things I’ve had to do is replace a water pump and alternator, replace the timing chain (at 450K miles) and put in 2 new clutches ‘cause they wore out. Last time I checked the cylinders were within a few pounds compression of each other.

Oil was mostly Quaker State 10-40, but occasionally Valvoline 10-40, 5 qts every 3000 miles, occasionally going as far as 5000. I used 10-30 in the wintertime here in NY.

The Toyota factory oil filter was installed every change.

The Toyota factory air filter was also installed about once every 30000.

Best,

Jim

VVT-i

I assume the engine is a 22R-E, because you said Timing Chain was replaced at 450K. The 22R is one of toughest engine in Toyota line, also the engine they put on the Previa van and now on the Tacoma 4 cylinders. With properly miant. the engine will last forever.

saber

[QUOTE]Originally posted by VVT-i
[B]I assume the engine is a 22R-E, because you said Timing Chain was replaced at 450K. The 22R is one of toughest engine in Toyota line, also the engine they put on the Previa van and now on the Tacoma 4 cylinders. With properly miant. the engine will last forever.

Actually, Toyota did not use the 22R-E in the Previa or Tacoma. The Previa and Tacoma use double overhead cam engines with direct acting bucket style valve lifters just like all the Lexus engines. The 22R-E is a single overhead cam motor with rocker arm actuated valves.

There are quite a few monster mileage Previas, Tacomas and Lexus engines on the road that never used synthetic oil or aftermarket specialty oil and air filters like the K&N.

joshthorsc

There goes another happy toyota customer. I have over 162k on my 1uzfe and I swear I can't hear the engine running at all even when I have my windows roll down. There only time I can hear my car is when I give some more gas and hear a low humming noise. My parents are big toyota fans and swear by these cars only. They two were amazed that a 12 year old car can still ride smooth and sound so quiet. I love toyota!!

nthach

I told my neighbor my car can hit the 300K mark, and i religiously use Toyota filters and coolant.

Richie

With 600k I think a fully synthetic oil would be too thin.
You would burn it up pretty fast.

Lexusfreak

I'm lookin forward to getting over a million miles using synthetic!

ldp01

Synthetic oil offers other qualities other than just longevity. It has been proven to increase gas mileage and power albeit minor increases

I use it religously from day 1 and change every 7500 miles.

saber

If true, then why don't the major oil company synthetics like Mobil 1 advertize any claim of better power or fuel economy compared to conventional oil? http://www.saber.net/~monarch/synvsconvent.jpg

Most synthetics have been on the market for 20-29 years. So these companies have had decades to carry out side by side testing of power and fuel economy using identical cars on identical test tracks running conventional and synthetic oil and report the results to the public.

But none of these companies will do this. Why? A reasonably explanation is they have already carried out the tests and know the embarrassing results and don't want the public to know because it hurt sales of synthetics.

Woogie

22RE's are gangster tuff. Excellent engines. same with that 1UZfe. Amazing.

flipside909

Exactly!!! Hard to please people who have no idea about legendary Toyota engine longevity along with simple conventional maintenance.

22RE was definitely a Toyota workhorse! But wait a minute. Did this guy have the 22R-E engine or did he have the 3VZ-E V6 Closely related to the DOHC 3VZ-FE found in the 92-93 ES300 but SOHC?

I have a family member who has over 300,000 miles (2S-E 2.0L and auto tranny) on his 86 Camry based on regular conventional oil and filter change ntervals and regular maintenance. The car is still his work beater...and has never had any major oil leakage or breakdowns.

flipside909

EXACTLY! Couldn't agree with you more on this. It would be nice if people actually listened for a change rather than believe media hype and myths.

HarrierAWD

No it doesn't. If it were true, auto makers would ship their cars filled with synthetic for EPA gas mileage testing.

True, synthetic oil has higher flash point (about 460F) than regular oil (about 420F.) But your engine oil should never see temperature that high (about 280F tops.) So synthetic is worthless.

True, synthetic oil flows better at extreme low temperature (below -40F.) But most people never see temperature that low.

The bottom line, don't waste your money. Synthetic doesn't do your engine any better than dino oil. Regular change interval is the key to longevity, not using fancy snake oil. Not to mention that some synthetic oils are actually "more refined dino oil," such as Castrol Syntec.

Fisher503

Try taking a quart of each put them outside in the winter (or your freezer if you dont want to wait) now pour them watch the diifernce and you tell me what you want in your car on start up in the winter.

HarrierAWD

I did put a Havoline 5W30 in my freezer a few years ago. It flows fine.