Here are the pictures (of the front bank) at 232,000 miles and a link to the one from 155,000 miles. I'm pretty interested to see how the back bank looks at 275,000+
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2197631#Post2197631
That looks darker than it is because the oil needed changing at the time. There is very little varnish.
It has had mostly M1 5W-30 since the first oil change. Back when GC was all the rage here in BITOG I used that for a while, but it tended to clog up the PCV valve more than M1 does. I've also used Pennzoil Ultra twice, plus a couple of OCIs on 0W-40 when I got that on sale. Oh and 5W-20 once (since the engine is back-speced to that grade) but it was noticeably noisier and I haven't used it since.
And I too use premium fuel since the compression ratio is 10.5 to 1.
Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
Originally Posted By: kschachn
A major contributing factor is extreme heat in the back bank. If you ever take the exhaust off that car you will see a major difference in the condition of the mating flanges and short pipes between the front and rear. That is one hot engine in the back.
Mobil 1 5W-30 is fine although you will have no issues running 0W-40. Somewhere on BITOG are pictures I posted of my 1MZ-FE at 150,000 miles and again at 232,000 miles. The interior is pretty spotless on a diet of M1 5W-30 at 5-7K mile intervals. It can be done, it's not a roll of the dice. Clean or replace the PCV valve with every oil change. I tend to clean them for 3-4 OCIs then put in a new one.
I'm about to change out the timing belt for the third time, along with the rear valve cover gasket. I will take pictures when I do that but I don't anticipate anything horrible.
This engine is a poster child for a top quality synthetic on a relatively short OCI. I wouldn't even consider dino oil under any circumstances. Just MHO.
The good things about the engine are that it's quiet, powerful and smooth, plus nothing else breaks on it.
I'm going to search for your pictures. I'd love to see them.
I completely agree that this engine is a short interval, synthetic, poster child if there ever was one. Toyota could have spared themselves the whole nightmare if they spec'd it Synthetic Only. With more real world testing they'd have come to that crucial conclusion. Or simply redesigned it straight away.
How long have you been running Mobil 1 5w-30 in yours?