How to tell the difference?

[nesbandit]

I bought a Tacoma a few weeks ago from my wife's uncle. He told about a couple of things wrong with it but I have found alot more. I dont know if he was hiding them or just doesnt know anything about vehicles. I am going to change the oil, he said that he ran synthetic in it and I would like to make sure he knows what he is talking about. So is there an easy way that I can tell if it is synthetic or not? Or do I need to flush it to start running synthetic in it? Thanks for any help you all can give me!

Larry

 

[renegade_987]

There is no way I know of to tell if the oil was synthetic. Getting an oil analysis done could tell you I suppose. There is no flush needed to start synthetic. You can go straight from conventional to synthetic if thats what you want to do. BTW, welcome to the site!

 

[eljefino]

a used oil analysis will give you a clue but internal engine condition/ cleanliness sounds like the least of your problems.

If you're looking for irrefutable proof to confront the guy, that's a road that will be akward to go down.

 

[CharBaby]

Larry,
An easy way to tell? NO! There are other ways to tell if the oil still has life remaining but, it's via used oil analysis(UOA).

And the UOA won't tell ya if the oil is synthetic. What would lead a person to think the oil was synthetic(from a UOA) is a very long oil change interval(OCI) and low particulate, high(er) total acid number(TAN), total base number(TBN), etc.

Members here will ask many questions to you about the Tacoma such as:

year?
mileage?
engine size?
when did your wifes uncle claim the oil was last change?
And with what oil did he claim?

More information is needed from you. We won't need your SS#

And, you can use any oil you want as long as it's a recomemded grade of oil for your engine. You can use conventional/regular oil, or as we call it, DINO or synthetic oil or a blends. It does not matter what you have been lead to beleive in the past about oils.

You can switch between the two any time you want with out issue, and you can mix brands and grades of oil along with mixing your own dino and syn oils.

Of course, there is much to learn here!

 

[nesbandit]

Thanks for the reply. This helps me alot, I had heard that if you swap back and forth between the two you could gum up you engine, which was my biggest worry. Also thanks for the welcome I am glad to be here.

 

[nesbandit]

Char Baby,

Thanks for all the info. It is a big help, I was most worried about putting the incorrect oil in, but if you can change back and forth I should be fine.

The truck is a 2005 with the 4.0 in it. It has about 130000 miles on it. There is a sticker stating that 5w30 was used at the last oil change and it is due in a few hundred miles. He told me he used synthetic and changed it about every 5000 miles but didnt state a brand though.

I mainly just want to make sure I do the right thing for the truck from here on out. He isnt the type of guy that works on cars so I am not sure that he would know about the things that I noticed and I got a pretty good price on the truck so I am not looking for stuff to confront him with. I have worked maintenance in the military for the last 20 years and understand how important routine maintenance is for the upkeap of your car. Thanks again for the help and I look forward to learning alot on here.

Larry

 

[Astro14]

You've got two issues: 1. what's in the crankcase and 2. your trust in this uncle.

For 1. a UOA will cost almost as much an oil change, so just change it to what you want and quit worrying. Synthetic or dino, good oil is better than used oil...and with regular maintenance, the truck will last forever...You'll get a ton of opinions on this forum, but the essential point is to use a quality oil that meets spec (dino or synthetic) and change it when it's worn out. You can see what I use (mostly synthetic)...but that's so I can use a longer interval, or I would be changing oil every other weekend...Note: the most valuable car I own gets dino because it works for the car's need and my time/wallet.

For 2. above, well...that's your issue - I wouldn't ever bring it up...forget about it...even if he knows nothing about cars, if the truck is in good shape, then take care of it and it will last almost forever...and you and he can talk about what a great truck it is and keep a good relationship.

 

[HerrStig]

What else is wrong with it? Almost anything on a Toyota can be fixed easily. Try checking out the info on Toyota Nation.Com, you can get a lot of model specific info from the users there.

 

[CharBaby]

Your welcome Larry!
Glad to help. If your uncle was using syn oil and changing the syn oil at 5000 miles, you'll be glad to know that just about any regular(dino) oil can go 5000 miles today. This is the new 3000 miles.

By us/ourselves saying that, we still need to do 3 mo/3K mile OCI's, what we're saying to ourselves is that engine technology and lubrication technology hasnt' changed in 30, 40 or 50 years...And it certainly has!

Also, regular motor oil(dino) has, in my honest opinion(IMHO) has changed the most over the years in terms of better refinement/quality etc. Not saying that synthetic oils haven't changed too for the better but, never before has dino motor oil rivaled synthetic oils as they do today for the everyman! The normal type of driving most of us do.

Synthetic still hold it place for the extreme conditions of the brutaly ((COLD)) or extremely ))HOT(( climates such as Alaska or Death Valley. Or heavey towing/hauling/snow plowing and such.

Again IMHO, any brand name dino oil held in high regurad here at Bob is the oil guy(BITOG) will do more than fine in most engines...You'll learn what those oils are!

Also, you have a very good engine in your Tacoma and any oil will serve you well. Toyota engines are typicaly easy on their oil and provide very good used oil analysis(UOA's) for many hundreds of thousands of miles depending on how your going to use the truck. Most folks that I know with Tacoma's use them as a primary source of transportation only. And only run to the hardware/lawn & garden store now and again

Though not a full sized truck for the "contractor", Tacoma's can handle more than their owners put'em through!