Establishing best practice, ’89 LandCruiser

[RockDoc]

Hi all. Hope I have stuck this in the right section.

I am looking to establish good practice for engine lubrication in my truck and am looking for a bit of guidance. This is going to be a long first post, as I want to fit in everything I think is relevant. I am not looking for a quick “use this”, but rather a discussion on what I should do to find what’s right.

The vehicle:
I have a daily-driven ’89 Toyota LandCruiser FJ62, 3FE straight 6, EFI, side cam, solid lifters, 4L displacement. Often called a tractor motor, the engine puts out 220 ft-lbs @ 3000 rpm (~200 @ 1800) and 155 HP @ 4000 rpm. Engine redlines @ 4500rpm. Toyota’s recommended intervals for oil and filter are 10 000 miles normal service and 5000 miles severe service.

Unknown history prior to acquiring it @ 120 000 miles, although the PO ran Castol GTX when I bought it. I switched to Mobil 1 10W30 (not EP), which has brought me to 165 000 miles (generally ~6000 mile intervals). I recently installed a dual remote filter (by-pass and full flow, as much for access as for filtration), which has brought the capacity up to 10 quarts.

The F block engines commonly surpass 300 000 miles before any internal work, so it is by no means on its way out.

The environment:
I live on the Canadian prairies, so I see temps anywhere from –40 in the winter to 100 in the summer and it is generally dry. The truck sees a short commute in town (say 3 miles) and some off-road/primative road use, but most of the ~17 000/yr mileage is seen on long highway trips. The engine stays cool (never overheated in my hands) and rarely sees the high side of 3500 rpm.


What I want out of the oil:
Lots of guys running these engines find they are happiest on a heavier oil (#W40), which is what I would like to switch to. My current thinking is to run Rotella T syn 0W40, with some UOA monitoring of the first batch to establish a reasonable and safe oil change interval.

Would this be a suitable year-round oil in my setting? (product data sheet with properties: http://www.shell.com/static//ca-en/downloads/shell_for_businesses/oils_lubricants/1-15.pdf not sure if this is available in the states)
Or would I be better off running Rotella T 15W40 conventional in the warmer months?

When looking for a suitable oil for longer intervals, is it the base stock (between a Gp III and a “true” synthetic) or the add pack that makes more of a difference in a low stress engine such as this?

How would you expect the viscosity to drift with use? Thicker or thinner?
If I were to get 12 months out of a batch, would it be better to refresh it prior to winter (for max acid neutralizing with condensation), or in the spring (to loose all the condensation)?

When it comes to monitoring, is it better to use a VOA to base line the oil, or a UOA after a couple hundred miles of acclimatizing to the engine?
What intervals would be good to check at to see how it is holding up?


Other oils I should consider instead? I don’t mind paying extra for something if the quality and longevity are there, but I don’t want to waste my money either.

I realize this has been long-winded, but hope you have some input to offer.
Thanks,
Curtis.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: RockDoc
Hi all. Hope I have stuck this in the right section.

I am looking to establish good practice for engine lubrication in my truck and am looking for a bit of guidance. This is going to be a long first post, as I want to fit in everything I think is relevant. I am not looking for a quick “use this”, but rather a discussion on what I should do to find what’s right.

The vehicle:
I have a daily-driven ’89 Toyota LandCruiser FJ62, 3FE straight 6, EFI, side cam, solid lifters, 4L displacement. Often called a tractor motor, the engine puts out 220 ft-lbs @ 3000 rpm (~200 @ 1800) and 155 HP @ 4000 rpm. Engine redlines @ 4500rpm. Toyota’s recommended intervals for oil and filter are 10 000 miles normal service and 5000 miles severe service.

Unknown history prior to acquiring it @ 120 000 miles, although the PO ran Castol GTX when I bought it. I switched to Mobil 1 10W30 (not EP), which has brought me to 165 000 miles (generally ~6000 mile intervals). I recently installed a dual remote filter (by-pass and full flow, as much for access as for filtration), which has brought the capacity up to 10 quarts.

The F block engines commonly surpass 300 000 miles before any internal work, so it is by no means on its way out.

The environment:
I live on the Canadian prairies, so I see temps anywhere from –40 in the winter to 100 in the summer and it is generally dry. The truck sees a short commute in town (say 3 miles) and some off-road/primative road use, but most of the ~17 000/yr mileage is seen on long highway trips. The engine stays cool (never overheated in my hands) and rarely sees the high side of 3500 rpm.


What I want out of the oil:
Lots of guys running these engines find they are happiest on a heavier oil (#W40), which is what I would like to switch to. My current thinking is to run Rotella T syn 0W40, with some UOA monitoring of the first batch to establish a reasonable and safe oil change interval.

Would this be a suitable year-round oil in my setting? (product data sheet with properties: http://www.shell.com/static//ca-en/downloads/shell_for_businesses/oils_lubricants/1-15.pdf not sure if this is available in the states)
Or would I be better off running Rotella T 15W40 conventional in the warmer months?

When looking for a suitable oil for longer intervals, is it the base stock (between a Gp III and a “true” synthetic) or the add pack that makes more of a difference in a low stress engine such as this?

How would you expect the viscosity to drift with use? Thicker or thinner?
If I were to get 12 months out of a batch, would it be better to refresh it prior to winter (for max acid neutralizing with condensation), or in the spring (to loose all the condensation)?

When it comes to monitoring, is it better to use a VOA to base line the oil, or a UOA after a couple hundred miles of acclimatizing to the engine?
What intervals would be good to check at to see how it is holding up?


Other oils I should consider instead? I don’t mind paying extra for something if the quality and longevity are there, but I don’t want to waste my money either.

I realize this has been long-winded, but hope you have some input to offer.
Thanks,
Curtis.



First let me say

to BITOG.

I wish we could get that oil down here. I would run the Shell synthetic 0W-40 year round. If you are going to do UOA's on the oil, it would not hurt to send a new sample to the lab you are going to use so they have a reference point to look at.

I would start out taking my first oil sample at 5,000 miles just to see where you were at. Not sure I understand how far you would like to extend this, but from reading your post it appears you are looking to do two oil changes per year?? If so that would be 8,500 miles per change, which I do not think would be a problem with this oil. If this is the case IMHO doing one oil change say September and the next one in April or May would be something to look at. I would really want to watch the oil closely during the harsh winter months due to all the condensation and extra idling that will be taking place.

I will say if it were me, considering the age of your Land Cruiser and the weather conditions, I would just change the oil three times a year, or every 6,000 miles.

Nice old Land Cruiser.

 

[RockDoc]

Thanks for the welcome. I've always heard good things about this forum, and decided it was time to learn up myself.

I am curious about extending the drain interval to 1 year/17 000 miles with monitoring, but you bring up a good point about the winter being harsh on the oil. Would the condensation you get in the colder months lead to more acid production (and base consumption), or is it the moisture itself that is the issue? How does moisture behave in the oil? Does it form an emulsion? Would a bypass filter scavenge it out? Do long full temperature runs drive it off and out the PCV system?

Game plan A would be to run the syn 0W40 regardless of season, and keep up with UOAs to see what a reasonable drain interval would be, considering the climate.

Game plan B would be to use conventional 15W40 through this summer, and run the the 0W40 through next winter, checking it in the spring to see how it is holding up (and if there is the possibility of trying for annual intervals, but expecting to stay with 2 drains per year) . This would still put me ahead cost-wise from the 2-3 rounds of M1 I was running before the bypass system.

Does the chemistry of the fresh oil hold after introduction to the engine? Or would a "UOA" after a short mixing period in the engine provide a better baseline for trends than a VOA?

Thanks,
Curtis.

 

[Jim 5]

You can also buy Esso XD-3 HDEO 0w-30 or 0w-40 at any esso bulk dealer. It will be cheaper than the Rotella (and way cheaper than M1), and is arguably a better oil than both being a full PAO synthetic. It is also available at Wal-mart and UFA stores as their private-labelled "Polar Plus".

Your climate and use is not suitable to a one year UOA. Condensation in -40 and constant cold starts are torture on an engine. Further, your 3 mile commute is never allowing your 10qts of oil in the sump to get up to full operating temp.

With your climate, I would run 2 OCI's on the XD-3 through the winter, and to save a few pennies, I'd run one longer summer OCI on just about any cheap 10w-30 you can find on sale. With 10qts this engine is easy on oil provided temperatures are reasonable (which they are not in your winter).

I lived in edmonton for 5 years, and had a similar commute. I remember checking the oil on my vehicle religiously every fill up. One winter, I did a 5 hour drive after 5-6 months of short-trip city driving and between tanks of gas, my oil level dropped 1.5 - 2 quarts. I think the 5 hour drive had finally allowed the oil to heat up and burn off the condensation. This was a shocking revelation.

In any case, an 0w HDEO with a strong TBN, combined with a winter front on the radiator, and perhaps a long drive on the weekend to get things up to temp will help.

 

[RockDoc]

Had a peak at the numbers for the XD-3, good looking stuff.

Would running an pad-type oil pan heater help much in getting the oil up to temp and burning off condensation? I've been looking at a 150W one along with a battery warmer to compliment the block heater.

 

[Jim 5]

I think that would go a long way towards helping with the cold starts. However, with 10qts in the sump, you are going to need to drive probably 20-30 km's at -20 to get the oil just up to operating temp. Once its there, it needs to be there for a good amount of time before you will see condensation boiling off. A good long drive once per weekend would likely help considerably.

In any case, in a climate like Edmonton, a pad type oil pan heater is a great idea. They sell them at canadian tire.

 

[dnewton3]

I have a friend who has a early 1990's Lexus variant (LX450?)of the Land Cruiser with the same straight-6. Their vehicle has around 160k miles on it now. He got it used, from family. The vehicle history includes nothing buy routine O/Fci's at 5k mile intervals with conventional dino 10w-30 or 5w-30.

Recently, I talked him into an analysis with Blackstone. He received a stellar report back. As it was his first, I encouraged him to continue UOA's so that a baseline and trending may be established. Still - I don't think you can kill this engine; it's a great running motor!

I would think that a good synthetic HDEO would be a reasonable compromise for year round use. I emplore you to choose a brand, and do several UOA's at 5k intervals to establish your ranges and trends. Then you may experiment with other viscosities or brands, but always doing several UOA's before another change-up.