Help on Variation of Mobil 1 for 2000 Celica GTS

[amodoko]

Hi guys, new to the forum. I read the sticky on what to ask for on the forum with regards to what oil to use in my car. So I will follow that protocol. This forum is amazing. I appreciate anyone's help. I have a 2000 Toyota Celica GTS and am trying to decide on what fully synthetic oil I should use. I am leaning heavily towards Mobil 1's line. I have about 78,000 miles on my car and can't decide on Mobil 1 5w-30, Mobil 1 5w-30 Extended Performance, or Mobil 1 High Mileage for Cars over 75,000 miles. At first glance, it seems that the Mobil 1 High Mileage is geared for my car considering my mileage. But here are the answers to the necessary questions according to the sticky:

1. What kind of vehicle you have:

I have a 2000 Toyota Celica GT-S with 78,000 miles

2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well

The manual says that it recommends SAE 5w-30 oil. It also says this under "oil grade": API grade SJ, "Energy-Conserving" or ILSAC multigrade engine oil is recommended. It says to change the oil every 5,000 miles or every 4 months if driven in dusty areas, or if the car is used for towing, or you take lots of short trips. It says you can change the oil every 7,500 miles or 6 months if you don't drive in rough conditions (I don't drive in rough conditions in my opinion, although about half of my drives are short drives). Despite what the manual says with regard to time intervals, since I only put about 5,000 miles on my car a year, I will probably only change my oil once a year.

3. Where you live

I live in the United States in the state of Missouri

4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)

Nowadays I generally drive about 5 to 10mph over the speed limit, and I don't really drive that hard 95% of the time. Occasionally I will push the car to accelerate pretty fast onto the on ramp of a highway but I only do that about 5 times a year when I'm in the mood to have some fun. In the past, about 10 years ago, I did drive the car really hard for fun. I used to launch the car like a drag car. But nowadays, I don't really push the car. I use it as form of transportation from point A to point B. I am more interested in keeping my car till the "wheels fall off" so to speak, so I'm looking to drive the car easy for the most part. I would like to see the engine make it to 200 or 300 thousand miles before major engine work is needed.

5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)

My daily drive varies. I actually only drive the car about twice a week. Some times the drives are just a short trip of county driving about a mile or two to the store, and then back home a mile or two with no highways. And then once a week I drive about 24 miles of highway since I drive 12 miles to have dinner with family and then back another 12 miles to my home. I tend to put about 5,000 miles on my car every year.

6. Whether your car has any known problems

No, my car is functionally sound. The clutch is being replaced due to it slipping due to my early years of hard driving, as well as the fact that several years ago it was used to teach many people how to drive a manual transmission (since my car does not have an automatic)... but a clutch is a wear item. So other than that, everything is working as it should.

7.If you have any preferences -- synthetic vs. conventional, store-bought vs. ordered online, how long you'd like to go between oil changes, etc. -- or any other info you think might be important, let us know that as well.

I am leaning towards synthetic oil since that seems to be marketed as the better oil. In the past I used to just get my oil changed by the local Dobbs Tire and Auto and I believe they just put in conventional Valvoline oil, but I'm not sure. Now, I am looking to do all my maintenance on my car myself, and thus, I am looking at Bobistheoilguy for help with the oil. I will probably only change my oil once a year since I only put about 5,000 miles on my car annually

I think that should answer most of the questions needed to make an assessment on what oil I should use. Like I said earlier, I am leaning towards Mobil 1s synthetic oils line and specifically Mobil 1 5w-30 High Mileage oil since my car has 78,000 miles on it... but if you think there is a better oil for my driving needs/habits and my goal to get my engine to last between 200 and 300 thousand miles, please let me know.

Thanks so much for your time, much appreciated.

 

[tig1]

M1 5-30 will be fine. I would only use the HM M1 if my engine had slubge or slight oil leaks. The 5-30 has the Honda HTO-06 high temp, low deposit spec and is outstanding in keeping engines clean.

 

[amodoko]

Thank you very much for your response.

How do I know if my engine has sludge? I'm assuming I would need to get an oil analysis done? I am going to be changing the oil myself next week so can I visually see sludge in the oil?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

PU 10W30

 

[Gabe]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
PU 10W30


^^ Bold recommendation.

I agree with tig: EP or HM is not needed. You might have deposits if you skipped a few OC or had a coolant leak. Otherwise, you're fine. I would skip the UOA and just stick to yearly oil changes.

It is going tough to get your car to 300k by only adding 5k each year.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: tig1
M1 5-30 will be fine. I would only use the HM M1 if my engine had slubge or slight oil leaks. The 5-30 has the Honda HTO-06 high temp, low deposit spec and is outstanding in keeping engines clean.

I agree. No need to spend the extra money on the ep line since you only drive 5000 miles a year and I'm sure you will change it yearly.
The HM stuff isn't a bad idea either though.
At your yearly mileage you could easily use a conventional and change it once a year but tig makes a good point about the HT0-06 spec which translates to a squeaky clean engine as well as able to handle high temps without breaking down.

 

[A_Harman]

Does the engine in your Celica GTS have the VVTL-I variable valve lift system? If so, I definitely recommend M1 High Mileage. The VVTL-I system has slider cam followers on the switchable rocker arms and would benefit from the higher zddp the is in High Mileage. The owner's manual does say SJ oil, which had a limit of 1000ppm for zddp content.

 

[amodoko]

I agree, it will be tough to get my car to 300K with 5K a year, I'd probably die of old age first at that rate. But it does represent my desire to keep my engine running well for as long as possible. I am kind of assuming in a few years I will be changing jobs and then will be driving quite a bit more then and it won't be so hard to put on the miles quickly. So it could be possible for me to reach 300K in about 15 years if I switch jobs. At the moment, I work from home, thus the low mileage. But in a few years I will probably have to drive more regularly.

And my car does have the VVTL-i system. So thank you for that information about the benefits of Mobil-1 HM.

I read the recommendation for PU 10w-30 and I am wary of changing from the manual recommended 5w-30. I don't think I could do that. I was wary of using another brand other than mobil 1, but after looking online, the PU has an amazing marketing campaign and it seems there is published research data saying it is a "superior oil" to Mobil 1? And that some users have had a UOA with the same car with Mobil 1 vs PU and the PU comes out the winner? Obviously, I don't really know the truth without doing my own oil analysis on the two. But at this point I am open to PU too due to its lower price point and the information that says it could be "better" than Mobil 1.

I am open to trying PU 5w-30 or Mobil 1 5W-30 lines. Not too comfortable with 10w-30 though. I'm assuming that the reason PU 10w-30 was recommended over PU 5w-30 is that PU runs a bit thin?

Anyways, now my question is more about whether I should use PU 5w-30, PU 10w-30, or Mobil 1 5w-30 lineup. I would lean towards PU 5w-30 or M1 5w-30 more though since I don't like going against manual recommendations.

I understand that any of the above oils will probably be fine. I have recently become very particular with my car though, as I have started to take on cars as a small hobby of mine, and now would like to give myself peace of mind in giving it a good oil for a decent price.

 

[HerrStig]

T6

 

[LineArrayNut]

M1 5W30, from what you've written so far. Although any of the oils suggested would work fine, and I have bought/used all suggested so far. I definitely still do climatic shadings on grade, so if you get the itch to swap around... stay thinner in winter, thicker in summer. (Flame suit on...)

 

[amodoko]

Okay, thanks everyone. I feel better at least about both PU and M1's lineup for my car. I can see myself using either product now.

One thing I forgot to mention that may be of some more value in determining the best oil for my car is an issue that is common to 7th generation Celicas. That is that the fourth cylinder has a tendency to get oil distribution problems. I don't know why, except that it is simply the last on "the chain" to get oil. One user had spun a bearing in his fourth cylinder at 180,000 miles even after changing his oil every 2.5K miles. The preventative solution to this... I don't know. Some said a heavier oil would create a thicker film to prevent this, while others say a thinner oil would be able to get there quicker. I don't think I want to stray away from 5w-30, but if I had to the only other oil viscosity I would do would be 10w-30.

I don't know if that information affects anything at all, but thought I would mention it.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: amodoko
Okay, thanks everyone. I feel better at least about both PU and M1's lineup for my car. I can see myself using either product now.

One thing I forgot to mention that may be of some more value in determining the best oil for my car is an issue that is common to 7th generation Celicas. That is that the fourth cylinder has a tendency to get oil distribution problems. I don't know why, except that it is simply the last on "the chain" to get oil. One user had spun a bearing in his fourth cylinder at 180,000 miles even after changing his oil every 2.5K miles. The preventative solution to this... I don't know. Some said a heavier oil would create a thicker film to prevent this, while others say a thinner oil would be able to get there quicker. I don't think I want to stray away from 5w-30, but if I had to the only other oil viscosity I would do would be 10w-30.

I don't know if that information affects anything at all, but thought I would mention it.


A 5w-30 and a 10w-30 are the same viscosity at operating temp. The 10w is slightly thicker at start up than the 5w.
I'd try a euro spec oil in your car. They tend to be formulated a bit better than the vanilla grades we get as the standard in NA.
Maybe give German castrol a shot. It's a 0w-30 which is what you are after anyways. Be sure to look at where it was made. You want the "made in Germany" stuff. Or M1 0w-40. It's one of the best oils on earth.

 

[fdcg27]

The API rating was current when the car was new.
It's nothing to focus on.
Nothing special about M1.
QSUD, PP or PU 5w-30 would be fine for you on yearly drains, as would any flavor of M1.
The engine of this car might pass 200K, but it won't in the car it's installed in based upon your use of the car.
My advice would be to use any decent oil, whether M1, PP, QSUD, Synpower or Syntec (or Edge with Syntec technology, whatever BP is calling it now) and change it once a year.
Use a quality filter intended for longer intervals.
A P1 would be fine, but a D+, K&N or M1 oil filter would not kill you on cost once a year.
I'm sure that the engine of this Toy will outlast the rest of the car.
Good luck, happy motoring and welcome to BITOG.

 

[donnyj08]

Any synthetic 5w30. Walmart has M1, qsud, synpower,PP, PU, castrol edge and others depending on your area. Any of those would be and excellent choice! If you go with M1 you shouldn't need the EP for your oci's good luck!

 

[amodoko]

Thanks guys, I have one last question if you don't mind. About the oil filter... I know I need a quality oil filter that can go a year without changing, but I was planning on just getting the OEM filter direct from Toyota. Would that be fine on yearly changes? I tend to always want to stick with OEM products and recommendations.

 

[donnyj08]

OEM is generally a good choice. There are also a few good filters at Walmart. The Bosch D+, fram ultra are both decent. P1 is a great filter at AAP for cheap as well.

 

[amodoko]

Awesome, thank you. I will stick with OEM filter for now then since I can get it very cheap. Roughly $5 per filter, which I can't complain about. Thanks again

 

[DuckRyder]

I agree standard M1 5w30 will be fine, I have a UOA of that oil run for one year and I won't change it at one year again, it was fine with about 6500 miles of use not unlike yours.

I also agree the OEM filter is fine.

Is this engine one of Toyotas known sluggers?

 

[amodoko]

I'm assuming "slugger" means an engine that gets sludged up easily? If so, I don't know if it is known to be a slugger. I haven't heard that it is anyways. The engine is the 1.8 liter 2zz-ge that is found in celicas, lotuses, mr2s I think, and maybe some other cars.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: amodoko
Awesome, thank you. I will stick with OEM filter for now then since I can get it very cheap. Roughly $5 per filter, which I can't complain about. Thanks again
Toyota OEM filters are usually NOT original factory oem and are A poor performing Denso Thailand VARIANT. I would stay away from those, I had many problems on my RAV4 and Yaris trying to run a TOYOTA Thailand Denso filter (WHICH IS SOMEWHAT SURPRISING AS THEY APPEAR WELL BUILT) I've always had good luck with non-Ecore ACDelco filters ON ANYTHING.
The PU is the only REAL synthetic oil of the bunch - and the W number (be it 0/5/10) has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with startup viscosity above freezing.

You have a very high spec output NA engine - give it the best.
Really ILSAC GF5 are marginally additised oils. You may want to look at some street racing non API oils like Fuchs, Motul, RL, (not RP).