2012 Toyota Rav4 Oil Question

I don't doubt your saw an engine with damage that had ST in it. You won't get anyone that works in the industry to say the WPP was likely to have caused it. Just because an engine has damage doesn't mean the oil damaged it. It would be highly unlikely that a major blender like WPP produced a product that actually lead to damage unless the wrong product was used for the application.
This poster has no clue whatsoever what he is posting about. In another thread he said that "One brand of low oil I have had good luck with is Warren they have some good oil too", which came on the heels of stating that Supertech oil damages engines.
 
In another thread he said that "One brand of low oil I have had good luck with is Warren they have some good oil too", which came on the heels of stating that Supertech oil damages engines.
Let me throw out the usual knock-on-Wal-Mart story..... "Warren makes an inferior blend that they only sell to Walmart" ;)
 
At $14/jug I am doubtful that these generic "synthetic" oils deliver all of the usual benefits of a full synthetic oil. I am starting to suspect that these oils contain just enough Group III base oils to meet the low temp flow requirements to be labeled as 0W20 (or to meet specs such as Dexos), but lack the high-temperature performance or cleaning capabilities that we associate with a high-quality synthetic oil. I don't think you'll have any leaks to worry about, these bargain synthetics will probably behave like synthetic blends in that regard.
Why would a synthetic contain group 2? That would be misleading. Group 3 is cheap. EDIT- Hadn't read all the earlier posts. A Walmart equals crap, you get what you pay for comment. Been over a decade.
 
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Oil consumption from piston ring deposits and timing chain wear from extended oil changes.

I think you are confusing design choices dictated by current regulatory climate with a lubricant issue. It's possible lubricant changes may be able to "crutch" the issue but they didn't introduce the fuel dilution, fuel soot, lower HTHS requirements, lower ring tension, thinner rings, higher ring location or higher chamber pressures and temps.

Critic I know you have issues with GIII labeled as Synthetic but the truth is $15 a qt oil is a tough sell in the USA. Even Mobil couldn't make it work. The Group III, Group III+ and PAO Blends of today are slowly moving Americans into a higher quality oil. Compared to the GI 90% used to use. Even GII/GIII Blends have to be better than that.

You can argue that today's oils are worse buy I much prefer my GII/GIII HDEO to the GI I was using 30 years ago.
 
The only times I've seen oil cause issues was because of the lack of it. And I think the issue was really the owner/operator.
 
Why would a synthetic contain group 2? That would be misleading. Group 3 is cheap. EDIT- Hadn't read all the earlier posts. A Walmart equals crap, you get what you pay for comment. Been over a decade.
Oils are sold by performance level in the US. There is no regulatory body governing the composition of a synthetic oil.

Again, I have made this post before: https://www.exxonmobil.com/basestoc...-ii-base-stocks/EHC50-and-110-brochure-v2.pdf

There are ways on the market for formulators to blend Group II/III based Dexos 1 approved oils.

Critic I know you have issues with GIII labeled as Synthetic but the truth is $15 a qt oil is a tough sell in the USA. Even Mobil couldn't make it work. The Group III, Group III+ and PAO Blends of today are slowly moving Americans into a higher quality oil. Compared to the GI 90% used to use. Even GII/GIII Blends have to be better than that.

You can argue that today's oils are worse buy I much prefer my GII/GIII HDEO to the GI I was using 30 years ago.
I do not have an issue with Group III being labeled synthetic. My issue has always been with the Group II/III blend oils that are now capable of being Dexos 1 approved and are probably being sold under disguised as house-brand full synthetics.

I agree that any Group II/III HDEO is superior to Group I from 30 years ago, but all of these things are relative to the engine designs on the market today.
 
Oils are sold by performance level in the US. There is no regulatory body governing the composition of a synthetic oil.

Again, I have made this post before: https://www.exxonmobil.com/basestoc...-ii-base-stocks/EHC50-and-110-brochure-v2.pdf

There are ways on the market for formulators to blend Group II/III based Dexos 1 approved oils.


I do not have an issue with Group III being labeled synthetic. My issue has always been with the Group II/III blend oils that are now capable of being Dexos 1 approved and are probably being sold under disguised as house-brand full synthetics.

I agree that any Group II/III HDEO is superior to Group I from 30 years ago, but all of these things are relative to the engine designs on the market today.

Generally speaking a Dexos 1 Blend is something along the lines of Pennzoil Gold a 50/50 Blend of GII+/GIII+. I don't believe someone like WPP can build that oil cheaper than an S-Oil GIII based oil so I don't see their incentive.

I believe the original Mobil EHC promotion was for Dexos Gen I. The later examples I've seen used a EHC + GIII+ to make Gen 2.

Given the fact we can buy GIII Havoline for under $3 a quart it's not like SuperTech with zero marketing cost at $2.80 a quart is enough cheaper to raise red flags about store brands.
 
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What does your owner's manual say?

Maintenance Schedule: https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-12RAV4/pdf/2012_Toyota_RAV4_WMG.pdf

You can find which of the two Owner's Manuals is right for your car, but I suspect they both say similar things with respect to the oil to use: https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals/rav4/2012

“Toyota Genuine Motor Oil” is used in your Toyota vehicle. Use Toyota approved “Toyota Genuine Motor Oil” or equivalent to satisfy the following grade and viscosity. Oil grade: ILSAC multigrade engine oil Oil capacity (Drain and refill  reference*) Without filter With filter 2.5 L 4-cylinder (2AR-FE) engine 4.2 qt. (4.0 L, 3.5 Imp. qt.) 3.5 L V6 (2GR-FE) engine 6.0 qt. (5.7 L, 5.0 Imp. qt.) 2.5 L 4-cylinder (2AR-FE) engine 4.7 qt. (4.4 L, 3.9 Imp. qt.) 3.5 L V6 (2GR-FE) engine 6.4 qt. (6.1 L, 5.4 Imp. qt.) 489 6-1. Specifications 6Vehicle specifications Recommended viscosity: 2.5 L 4-cylinder (2AR-FE) engine SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20 SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20 engine oil may be used. However, SAE 0W-20 is the best choice for good fuel economy and good starting in cold weather.

Seems any ILSAC multigrade engine oil changed every 5k miles according to the maintenance schedule and you'll be good to go for a 2012 Rav4
 
Yes as a professional mechanic I always tell people get conventional if your car calls for it don’t get the synthetic just don’t be like one of the cars we had towed in that complained of a grinding from the engine and a knock they had done their own oil change in a 2017 Camry and used 20W-50 oil and it calls for 0W-20 oil yeah we had to end up putting a new engine in the car LOL. The guy was furious too he said because he said he read online it would be ok to use in that lol
Telling people not to get synthetic, just because someone used the wrong viscosity and had to replace their engine because of it, makes a professional mechanic looks like he knows nothing about oil.
I can teach you what you should advice a customer. Any oil that meets the requirement per the owners manual can be used. It does not matter if the the oil is conventional or synthetic.
 
And the only way 20W-50 oil would cause a problem is if the ambient starting temperature was so low that the oil gelled near the pump pickup tube and could not be pumped. Otherwise the engine will operate satisfactorily on that grade.

Along with the complete lack of understanding about synthetic oil this is just more made-up nonsense from this poster.
 
And the only way 20W-50 oil would cause a problem is if the ambient starting temperature was so low that the oil gelled near the pump pickup tube and could not be pumped. Otherwise the engine will operate satisfactorily on that grade.

Along with the complete lack of understanding about synthetic oil this is just more made-up nonsense from this poster.
Wait, what, when, huh ? … a 2020 VW appears in your million dot something mile stable … did you post pics of that ?
 
I don't use syn because I can't change my own oil and I have a stash of $10 change, filter and rotate coupons. Valvoline Daily Protection is good enough for my Soul and also for the OP's car. However I have no doubt that ST syn is better than my oil. This thread has a Russian bot load of misinformation.
 
I have a 2012 Toyota Rav4 with the 4 cylinder engine. It has approximately 115k on the odometer. It has seen conventional 5w-20 its whole life. There is no burning or significant consumption in the 5k OCI it sees.

Question: do I stick with conventional or switch to synthetic?

The prices of synthetic oils are very attractive (sales and rebates) and it's making it difficult to keep putting conventional in.
Yes the prices of synthetic oil are very good but if it were my vehicle I would just continue with what you have been doing.
 
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