A3/B4 in 2GR-FE

[johnmyster]

Situation: We have a 2009 Venza, 90k miles. Healthy motor, doesn't seem to use oil. Gets Toyota filters. A little piston slap when cold for the first few miles, then subsides. Has never had VVTi clatter on startup. Tolerable/light front cover seepage for the last 30k. I typically run PP-HM 5w-30 or M1-HM 5w-30. Has always had 5k changes, but has spent much of its life as a short tripper. The car is well maintained and beautiful. My parents bought it new, so we are familiar with the history.

Virginia, garaged, so cold starts below 40 F are rare. Someday it might be an outside car, in which case it'll see less perhaps a dozen starts in the teens a year.

Problem statement: Last oil change (5k, 9 months) was dirtier than I would like to see. My wife drives it. Our habits have changed. Short trips, short trips, short trips. Poor thing sees 25 legs of travel a week and probably only cracks a thermostat on 5 of them in the cooler months.

Plan: My plan is to switch to an A3/B4, available from Walmart and switch to a 6-month OCI. Probably Castrol Edge 5w-30 Euro, as the viscosity is a slight step up (12.1 vs the 10 or so it seems happy with.) Other LL-01 type euro oils available at WM are Edge 5w-40, M1 0w-40, and M1 5w-40. PP Euro L 5w-30 is also available, but is C3, LL-04. Let's assume all of the oils I've mentioned are the same price.

Question: Does the habitual short use warrant the change to a euro spec oil? Alternative, stick with the PP-HM and do the six-month changes.

I know the motor isn't picky, but I'm assuming there isn't anything bad about going to high SAPS, high HTHS, even if the benifits are slim-none.

I know I'm overthinking this. (Isn't that what this site is about?) Thank you for indulging me.

 

[dnewton3]

Very good write up; detailed and clear. Kudos.

I would say as far as wear goes, you're right. That engine really doesn't care.

As for cleanliness, I think a higher grade oil could help to some degree given your concerns and conditional statement. Anything with a good ester and/or ester/AN add pack. The current "oil de jur" would be HPL PCEO, but if you're not wanting that, then a good Euro oil, or PUP or Edge, Amsoil, etc. This vis is incidental; 30 or 40 grade isn't the real issue here.

 

[johnmyster]

Another note, I do intend to migrate our Mazda (2.0, GDI, Skyactiv) from 0w-20 (usually PP-HM or lately, M1-EP) to 5w-30 (likely still PP-HM.) Keeping the Toyota on the same diet as present (5w-30, PP-HM or M1-EP) would simplify my inventory.

But I'm completely willing to do the extra effort to stock an oil for each car, as I do now, if there's additional cleanliness benefit for the 2GR. My biggest concern would be piston rings, long term.

Dnewton3, thank you for the input. "Ester and/or ester/AN add pack" goes over my head. I'm not really looking to dive into the HPL line. Limiting to Walmart fodder has advantages of price, convenience, and exchanges if I ever need to shift my inventory.

 

[edyvw]

Another note, I do intend to migrate our Mazda (2.0, GDI, Skyactiv) from 0w-20 (usually PP-HM or lately, M1-EP) to 5w-30 (likely still PP-HM.) Keeping the Toyota on the same diet as present (5w-30, PP-HM or M1-EP) would simplify my inventory.

But I'm completely willing to do the extra effort to stock an oil for each car, as I do now, if there's additional cleanliness benefit for the 2GR. My biggest concern would be piston rings, long term.

Dnewton3, thank you for the input. "Ester and/or ester/AN add pack" goes over my head. I'm not really looking to dive into the HPL line. Limiting to Walmart fodder has advantages of price, convenience, and exchanges if I ever need to shift my inventory.

If sticking to Wal Mart, Castrol Euro 5W30 is OK choice. Personally, I would go Mobil1 0W40 if venturing into Euro line up and sticking to Wal mart.
If you are willing to pay more, my 1st choice would be Castrol Edge 0W30:

https://www.amazon.com/Castrol-06244-0W-30-Advanced-Synthetic/dp/B007G7PUMS/ref=sr_1_2_pp?crid=1DH3Y86Z0CF2Z&keywords=Castrol+0W30&qid=1706506348&sprefix=castrol+0w30%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc

 

[johnmyster]

Thanks Eddy and Newton. I've stocked the shelves with deal priced M1 FS 0w-40...if I don't OCD change my mind before the first oil change. I'm expecting the motor will be agnostic to the viscosity change and that the extra wear/detergent adds will help it to cope with our short trip duty cycle. If the motor seems happy on this I'll likely go to twice a year OCI.

Contemplating changing to once a year filter, as long as our annual mileage stays under 10k. The filter housing is such a mess, despite me buying the special wrench. Toyota dealer has nearly doubled the price on their filter in the past two years, so likely may move to a Fram XG for a double OCI...arguably a better filter, less mess, and less cost.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Toyota dealer has nearly doubled his price on their filter in the past two years, so likely may move to a Fram XG for the double OCI...arguably a better filter, less mess, and less cost.

There’s nothing special, or even anything above average with the Toyota filter, except maybe the price. Your engine won’t miss it if you move to another filter, especially if it’s well-constructed and more efficient, which isn’t overly difficult when leaving the OEM filter fray.

 

[johnmyster]

There’s nothing special, or even anything above average with the Toyota filter, except maybe the price. Your engine won’t miss it if you move to another filter, especially if it’s well-constructed and more efficient, which isn’t overly difficult when leaving the OEM filter fray.

For both of our cars, the Mazda "value" filter (the mexico filter that looks like it belongs on a lawn mower and doesn't even come in a box) and Toyota denso were $4 at the dealer. It was a no brainer to swing by once a year and grab a few. Now they both want $9 each and stopped tossing free drainplug washers at me. It no longer represents a value.

Yet another rabbit hole to go down.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

For both of our cars, the Mazda "value" filter (the mexico filter that looks like it belongs on a lawn mower and doesn't even come in a box) and Toyota denso were $4 at the dealer. It was a no brainer to swing by once a year and grab a few. Now they both want $9 each and stopped tossing free drainplug washers at me. It no longer represents a value.

Yet another rabbit hole to go down.

I still have a stash of XG 3593As that fit my Subarus. Napa Gold 7055 is a solid buy especially if you get it during the filter sales and are looking for a direct-size replacement. Fram Endurance 7317 would be my new recommendation for someone looking for maximum performance to price ratio these days; they’re rated to 25k (basically $0.50/1k miles protection if fully used) so you could easily get multiple OCIs from a single filter.

 

[wlk]

My kids bought a 2013 4.0l v6 Tacoma w ~ 175k last summer and it starting to burn some oil this fall, 1qt per 1k miles, and give a vvt-i solenoid code. The motor is spotless through the oil fill hole. He changed the pcv valve and it helped. I put a qt of the HPL EC as a top off and he ran that for about 1k miles and dumped it as he needed to change the oil before a month long road trip, no improvement. He ran Castrol HM blend 5w30 and it improved slightly. After the trip ~3k miles he changed the oil again with the Castrol HM and added a pint of the Rislone HM or (whatever the 16oz bottle is now) and ran that for 500-1k miles, still burning some 16oz per 1k miles. Code was less frequent and we were going to replace the solenoid after the trip. So when we found the Valvoline Restore and Protect at AutoZone he dumped the Castrol and refilled with the Valv R&P 5w30. He has a couple thousand miles on the oil now and he says it is staying full and no codes. Has about 30 miles one way commute on an interstate 5 days a week. Whatever was developing has been helped the most by the Valvoline. Yes HPL is top notch but for $38 w a filter the Valvoline may be worth a shot for you as it is easily sourced and you don't have any shipping costs. It will be all he runs now.

 

[johnmyster]

I still have a stash of XG 3593As that fit my Subarus. Napa Gold 7055 is a solid buy especially if you get it during the filter sales and are looking for a direct-size replacement. Fram Endurance 7317 would be my new recommendation for someone looking for maximum performance to price ratio these days; they’re rated to 25k (basically $0.50/1k miles protection if fully used) so you could easily get multiple OCIs from a single filter.

Fram XG7317 was well reviewed here, and is $7.67 on amazon with subscribe and then cancel discount. There are a few inbound for my shelf. That solves the Mazda unless I get word...as you say, that Napa is running a sale.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Fram XG7317 was well reviewed here, and is $7.67 on amazon with subscribe and then cancel discount. There are a few inbound for my shelf. That solves the Mazda unless I get word...as you say, that Napa is running a sale.

The “new” XG is a shadow of what the old, wire-backed filter was, at least as far as construction is concerned. That’s why I feel the Fram Endurance is a better choice.

I’d recommend cutting one open and assessing for yourself.

 

[johnmyster]

The “new” XG is a shadow of what the old, wire-backed filter was, at least as far as construction is concerned. That’s why I feel the Fram Endurance is a better choice.

I’d recommend cutting one open and assessing for yourself.

I hate this website. There are other areas of my life that are deprived of second guessing because of this nonsense.

You'd say the same thing about the XG9972? I peeked at Fram "Titanium" 9972 at AA, but are you kidding me, $27. The rebate oil in the sump barely costs half that.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I hate this website. There are other areas of my life that are deprived of second guessing because of this nonsense.

You'd say the same thing about the XG9972? I peeked at Fram "Titanium" 9972 at AA, but are you kidding me, $27. The rebate oil in the sump barely costs half that.

Do some searching of your own on here of “pre/post” First Brands buying Fram. The original XGs were built like tanks, and worked very well. Even after 15-20k miles, people who cut them open saw arrow-straight pleats and tank-like construction.

After re-imagining their filters and removing the wire media, filtration does not appear to have suffered, but now cut-open XGs with no wire backing are hard to distinguish from others, including some failures. The site trustee, wwillson, even had some failures (which I originally thought had to be flukes, but 3 filters bought at different times that all had failures changed my mind).

The Endurance has wire backing. Maybe you can return/exchange the XGs you bought and pick up Endurance as well, so you can return to bliss?

 

[johnmyster]

Amazon returns are easy. Sigh. Wix/Napa, or dealer filters, and reconsider on the doubled up filter interval. Or spend the $13 and pretend this is the way.

 

[Georgiey22]

Goodness, looks like the writing of an Amazonian. Working backwards OP?