"high mileage" or synthetic?

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Hi,
I recently bought a '94 Toyota 4x4 with the 22RE engine. It already has 195k miles on it and I would like to get a few more out of it. Is it best to use one of the oils made for high mileage engines or a synthetic? Based on what I've been reading in the messages on this site I've decided to use the Napa Gold filter but I can't seem to find information on which type of oil would be the best for my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Randy
 
194K is kinda high. Usually High Mileage Oils are just synthetic blends which are not good for their value. Your better off running 1/4 synth and 3/4 dino.

A question you have to ask yourself is, what do you want out of this truck. Do you want performance. How long do you want this truck to last. IS the cost of $4-6/qt for syntheric worth to you to spend on this truck.

If I bought a 94' with that much mileage and didn't know the past schedule of oil changes, I would just do an engine flush and just use plain Dino oil.

Just my opinion though.
 
I don't agree with mixing oil, I do agree with sticking with dino oil, and for the engine flush I'd only use either Auto-Rx or Schaeffer's Neutra. The same products also work very well in the transmission, stick or auto.


Ken
 
With that high a mileage I would stay with what has been working for the previous owner and don't play around with cleaners or new oils. If not using synthetics previoulsy there is slight risk of seal leaking if you switch to synthetic and a good cleaning may give you more then you bargained for.

It it runs well and meets your needs keep doing what the previous owner was doing, he had something right.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I've always used Castrol GTX in all of my other engines. Is this a good choice for a dino oil or would you recommend some other brand?

Thanks again,
Randy
 
Castrol GTX is a very good otc dino oil, probably one of the best for the price. I also wouldn't use a synthetic or engine cleaners for the reasons stated above. Does the engine consume oil? Do you know what the previous owner used?
 
I was actually just about to post a similar topic.

I think the previous owner of my car was smoking crack so I don't even know what he was doing.

I have a 90 Honda CRX with 205k miles that I bought a couple months ago for $300 because it was not running due to stuck rings and a bad ignitor. I now have less then $400 into the car total: oil, filter, plugs, new used distributor, muffler so seeing how long I could drive it without putting any real money into it kind of has been a novelty factor.

I really like the car now and want to treat it better.

When I get some time, I'm going to put a fresh engine in . . . but for now, it runs and is reliable transportation but is using a good bit of oil. I have added 4 qts in just under 3k miles. To be fair, it has had a couple autoX's in that time where I, friends of mine and driving instructors beat on it hard. I was debating changing the oil because it only had a 3.8qt capacity and I've since added more then that. I started with 10w40 but am adding 15w40 now. It is using less oil with the 15 weight.

I was considering using 20W50 racing oil to stop the oil consumption before doing some research and coming accross this site.

What do you guys think I should do? I am not opposed to spending money. Although I don't want to waste it.

Thanks.

This site rules!


quote:

Originally posted by Spector:
With that high a mileage I would stay with what has been working for the previous owner and don't play around with cleaners or new oils. If not using synthetics previoulsy there is slight risk of seal leaking if you switch to synthetic and a good cleaning may give you more then you bargained for.

It it runs well and meets your needs keep doing what the previous owner was doing, he had something right.




[ April 22, 2003, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: eHoward ]
 
I would use Castrol GTX 20w50 in the summer. No point wasting money on synthetic oils with this engine. If anything the synthetic might make it worse by cleaning the crud off the neglected engine..
Btw, go Leafs!
canada.gif


[ April 22, 2003, 04:50 PM: Message edited by: Quick_lude ]
 
I think 15W-40 dino is excellent for a high mileage engine. If the oil consumption is still above 1qt in 1000 miles, I'd try a 20W-50 "high mileage" product. If the rings are worn, the higher weight will help, if it is valve seals, the seal conditioner might.
 
Ok, part of me wants to try the autoRX just to see how well it works, do an oil analysis and put a synthetic in there afterwords, but the other part of me is affraid that the crud is "working" for me in the engine and it would be a bad idea to try to remove it and all the oil analysis is going to tell me I need new gaskets, rings and bearings. I'm leaning towards what you're saying.

The weird thing about this car is I'm using it as a daily driver(about 75miles-150miles/day) and beating on it good. I do check fluid levels and let it warm up first, but it seems to be getting smoother, make more power and get better mileage every day.

Go FLYERS!

quote:

Originally posted by Quick_lude:
I would use Castrol GTX 20w50 in the summer. No point wasting money on synthetic oils with this engine. If anything the synthetic might make it worse by cleaning the crud off the neglected engine..
Btw, go Leafs!
canada.gif


 
eHoward

I've used Auto-Rx in three high mileage engines and had nothing but good results. I'd do two doses of Auto-Rx, maybe more frequent filter changes than called for, then a high-mileage 10W-30 or standard 10W-40 or whatever makes this engine hum.


Ken
 
Hey, why is it when someone comes on here with a "mature" car, eveyone says "Just use dino, don't play will oil, yadda. Keep doing what you have been doing....
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"

We all could just do 3,000 mile dino changes and get a couple of hundred miles out of our cars.....

Do only people with new cars get to play with their oil???
tongue.gif


I'm taking my 260,000+ mile Volvo and going home.....

BTW...j/k......
cheers.gif
 
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