Greetings BITOGers, what you are about to read has probably been asked many times, but I could't find a similar situation by searching.
I recently aquired a '97 Toyota 4Runner 3.4L with 268k miles.
The previous owner had the truck for the majority of it's life, putting nearly 200k miles on it himself, I've driven about 1k in it.
He said he always used Castrol GTX High Mileage (y'all probably have an acronym for that) 5w-30 with an OEM filter every 3k miles (it ought to be clean in there lol). The engine runs very nicely and burns no oil. Only leaks are slight valve cover leaks, which is normal for a 5VZ-FE of this age.
I plan on switching oils and increasing the OCI at some point, likely after I replace the valve cover gaskets so I can see how well Castrol has done it's job.
The general consensus around here seems to say that Toyota filters aren't that great, but I can't find any evidence that other filters in it's price range are much better.
Opinions on oil filters on this site seem very polarized, with no filter being clearly the best, which isn't exactly surprising. One thread may say that FRAM and Purolator suck and WIX is great and another says the exact opposite, etc. I have had other vehicles before this and have used mostly NAPA Gold/WIX, with no failures.
My question is of course, should I stick with the OEM filter or are other filters definitively better, and which one(s)?
(P.S. Please answer with factual information, not "well I done used them purolaters fer 10 years and never blew nothin." Thanks.)
I recently aquired a '97 Toyota 4Runner 3.4L with 268k miles.
The previous owner had the truck for the majority of it's life, putting nearly 200k miles on it himself, I've driven about 1k in it.
He said he always used Castrol GTX High Mileage (y'all probably have an acronym for that) 5w-30 with an OEM filter every 3k miles (it ought to be clean in there lol). The engine runs very nicely and burns no oil. Only leaks are slight valve cover leaks, which is normal for a 5VZ-FE of this age.
I plan on switching oils and increasing the OCI at some point, likely after I replace the valve cover gaskets so I can see how well Castrol has done it's job.
The general consensus around here seems to say that Toyota filters aren't that great, but I can't find any evidence that other filters in it's price range are much better.
Opinions on oil filters on this site seem very polarized, with no filter being clearly the best, which isn't exactly surprising. One thread may say that FRAM and Purolator suck and WIX is great and another says the exact opposite, etc. I have had other vehicles before this and have used mostly NAPA Gold/WIX, with no failures.
My question is of course, should I stick with the OEM filter or are other filters definitively better, and which one(s)?
(P.S. Please answer with factual information, not "well I done used them purolaters fer 10 years and never blew nothin." Thanks.)