Corolla recommendations

[2019CRVlx]

Just bougth a new Corolla and have a few questions. Does the Corolla come with "break in" oil like some Hondas? If not ... I was planning on changing oil at 1k miles. I'm undecided on M1 vs conventional. Only drive about 6k miles a year (95% city). So, at 6 months I'm lucky to have 3k miles and that seems a little wasteful to be replacing synthetic. Any advice?

 

[haley10]

Congratulations on the new Corolla.

 

[Gene K]

1. 5W-30 Motorcraft/Conoco $1.42 @ WalMart 2. 5W-30 Havoline/Chevron $1.08 @ WalMart Nippon Denso Toyota Filter not the new Fram. Japanese built 4 cylinder engines appear to get High Moly 500 ppm + Break-In Group I Oil. I would run this out for awhile US Built V6 and V8 engines appear to get a Normal Group II production oil with modest levels of Moly. If your 4 cylinder is Japanese Built I would run it 6 months or 2000 mi which ever occurs first. If you want to dump it sooner, first make sure the oil is at full operating temp and do a full throttle blast from 2000-5000 rpm in third gear (second for a automatic) and then let the engine decelerate against the gear back to 2000 rpm. Repeat five times. Let Cool. Then do the same thing again taking the engine to 6000 rpm. This should ensure the rings are fully seated before dumping the break-in oil. Gene [ July 10, 2004, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: Gene K ]

 

[Amkeer]

If you plan on keeping this car for a long time I would go with M1 and change it every 6 months, 7500 miles. The benefits with synthetics are worth it IMO, cleanliness alone makes it worthy. The Wix filters work good. I have the same situation as you with 6000 miles a year, but still use M1. Daily Drives: -2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil1 Synthetic SS 5W-30. ODO 9300Miles. -1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30. ODO 91400 Miles. http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[2019CRVlx]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I got a "J" VIN Corolla. Was very happy to see that the vehicle I wanted was actually assembled in Japan, Takaoka Plant (I think). I didn't know so much was involved with "break in". I thought with today's machine tolerances that new vehicles were pratically broke in on delivery.

 

[haley10]

It never hurts, but economically, I see no point to a synthetic in this application. 95% city driving would dictate non-extended oci's anyway.

 

[2019CRVlx]

haley10, That's my concern too, but I believe synthetics (M1) gives superior protection at "start up". This may justify the additional costs since much engine wear occurs when you first start it.

 

[haley10]

This is very true, but you live in New Orleans and not the frozen North. That is where synthetic shines and in turbo and high horsepower engines. You have no cold weather and I doubt the Corolla is hard on oil. Synthetics are fine (I run 'em), but I don't think start up wear is a concern at all.

 

[Gene K]

quote:

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Originally posted by 05corollaLE: I didn't know so much was involved with "break in". I thought with today's machine tolerances that new vehicles were pratically broke in on delivery.

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In theory they should but I have had cars with very hard or light tension rings. LS1 Corvette and Honda CRX Si for instance that simply wouldnt seat until I used enough cylinder pressure to force the rings into the bores. This is the forced Ring Seat procedure usually recommended by most of the perfomace/racing divisions of most of the manufactures and close to what is done on a dyno with a race engine to get the rings seated before the first test pull. Gene

 

[2019CRVlx]

quote:

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Originally posted by haley10: You have no cold weather and I doubt the Corolla is hard on oil.

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Is that true? I thought Corollas (and Toyotas in general) were tough on oil. What's the story of Corollas?

 

[ryansride2017]

"If you want to dump it sooner, first make sure the oil is at full operating temp and do a full throttle blast from 2000-5000 rpm in third gear (second for a automatic) and then let the engine decelerate against the gear back to 2000 rpm. Repeat five times. Let Cool. Then do the same thing again taking the engine to 6000 rpm. This should ensure the rings are fully seated before dumping the break-in oil." While this is an interesting theory, I don't believe this is necessary for your normal passanger type car. Just drain/refill every 3K or 6 months for the first 9K, then start extending your OCI with a good, quality oil. That Toyota will last you a long time. [ July 10, 2004, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: ryansride2017 ]

 

[2019CRVlx]

ryansride2017, I'm such a newbie! I didn't even realize Gene K was kiddin.

 

[Gene K]

I wasnt kidding. This is standard break-in procedure for a new high-performance engine. It is the same procedure TRD, GMPP, FRPP, MP etc will give you if you order a crate engine from them and dont have access to a Engine Dyno. With Race Engines you do it on the dyno after a couple of gentle pulls to get the oil up to temp. With a Toyota it is not likely to be required. With a LS1 Corvette or Northstar Caddy if you follow the gentle break-in procedure in the owners manual to the letter you will glaze the rings before they seat in many cases. I dont begain to understand how adding Moly can reduce the chance of glazing the rings before they seat but it evidently does. Gene

 

[Audi Junkie]

Start driving moderately and progressivly a lil harder every day. Deep throttle, low revs. The engine should tell you how far it wants to be pushed, whomp on it once or twice a day and then back-off for the ride home. Observe warm-up restrictions until oil temp is warm. Keep oil level full or in the center of the dipstick marks. Grab a case of MotorCraft 5w-30, change it after the first 6 months, at the 1yr mark and once yearly after that with TOYOTA or SUPERTECH filters. Get on with life. Auto-Rx at 50,000 miles. If you want to go synthetic, Saab Synthetic is killer for $3.25/litre, German Syntec is an option, but how crazy are you willing to get???

 

[mikemc]

Given your climate I doubt that sub-zero cold starts are an issue. Those Corolla motors are tanks and I'd say a good dino like Havoline or Motorcraft 5w30 changed every six months or 3K (or whatever warranty compliance calls for) will help that motor last longer than you care to keep the car.

 

[Amkeer]

Just go with the synth and change it twice a year. Do your first change at 2000. If you change the oil yourself it will cost you a whopping $50 bucks a year, big deal! Brand new vehicle, use the synth! If you keep the car longer than the warranty you will eventually be able to go one year 7500 mile intervals. The synthetics from the start will give you a good foundation for this using that interval of 1 year changes.

 

[Alan]

I have a 99 Corolla(Non VVT-I)with 53k of pretty much pure DC metro area traffic.I've used M1 5W30 with varying intervals with some going up to 10k for 98% percent of these miles. Everything under the valve covers is spotless,no varnish build up at all.Really clean.I'm happy. BTW I thought all Corolla's were built in the US with the engines built in WV.

 

[2019CRVlx]

I'm not sure where the individual components are built, but mine was assembled in Japan ... hence the "J" VIN. I believe less than 10% of Corollas sold in the U.S. are assembled in Japan. I only seen 2 LE's during my shopping process which included looking at approx. 200 LE's.

 

[buster]

quote:

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What's the story of Corollas?

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I have a 2001 with 164,000 miles on it. Will be getting rid of it in the fall. Car runs like new. I've used Mobil 1 Trisynthetic, Mobil 1 SS, and Amsoil. All do well. This engine can last a good 300k easily if maintained. Amsoil S2k 0w-30 was the best in terms of reducing oil consumption. My car now burns about 1 qt every 3k miles. I'm running Amsoil 5w-40 and with 2,500 miles on the odom. I havn't used a full 1/2 qt yet. Gas mileage is down though. I'd use Amsoil/Mobil 1 and change it twice a year or once a year depending on how many miles you drive. The furthest I went was 8k and the oil had a lot of life left. I think there are some UOAs where the oil went 15,000 miles in the 1.8L Toyo engine. Do a search.

 

[2019CRVlx]

So the 1.8l engine isn't hard on oil?