my "new" used 2000 toyota corolla...

[tony1983]

I bought a used 2000 Toyota corolla 4 months ago, the timid Asian lady I bought it from said she used it to commute to work the past 10 years and was mostly highway.

She said she took her car in to the shop every 5000 miles for the oil change and told them to do whatever needed to be done. All the fluids were close to clear when I bought it and the glove compartment was full of service receipts.

At 87000 miles I changed the oil and put in Mobil 1 5w-30 synthetic and a fram oil filter. Manufacture says "API grade SJ energy-conserving ORILSAC multigrade engine oil" every 5000 miles.

I am a VERY conservative driver leaving all my abusive driving to my 96 trans am project and my 1997 Suzuki TL 1000r. I ALWAYS let my car warm up for 3-4 minutes when its cold before driving.

My thought was that Mobil 1 synthetic was twice as much as penzoil... but if I can change the oil at 10000 miles instead of 5000 miles, and change the filter at 5000 miles($3), then it will even out price wise with more startup wear protection than regular penzoil and less labor, right?

Thank you for your time,
Semper Fi. -Tony

 

[Papa Bear]

I had a '98 Corolla and put about 150k on it. It was a good car. Any dino like PYB 5W-30 would be great in that car and change it often.

 

[Knox]

Personally i wouldn't let the warm up bother me, if i lived in texas.

For your car i would use, 0w20 and change it at 10K miles. That's not an issue. Toyota would even be fine with that. It's in there official oil change chart. Just use a quality filter and you don't need to change it. If you want to stick with fram, use a fram extended quard, the one that comes wrapped in plastic. Most fram filters are not that great, but the extended guard is great and can go 10k miles no problem.

EDIT: I mean you don't need to change the filter at 5k miles, but just at 10k with the oil.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
I had a '98 Corolla and put about 150k on it. It was a good car. Any dino like PYB 5W-30 would be great in that car and change it often.


+1

 

[HTSS_TR]

You are on the right track, you can double the OCI(oil change interval) with synthetic oil such as Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum or any other brand name. You don't need to change the oil filter in middle of an OCI, but you should a better oil filter than Fram Extra Guard, something like Purolator or Wix or Napa ...

My LS400 had both conventional and syn oils, I do 6-7k miles/6mo OCI with dino and double the OCI with syn. I actually don't change the oil filter at every OCI with dino oil, I change filter on second dino oil change.

 

[tony1983]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies... I posted and went and made a burger, came back and had 3 replies. I will be recommending this site to all my gear head friends.

So, at 5k miles, I'll change to a different filter... is there anything better at autozone than a frsm extended(In case they don't have extended) ?

I only get fram because I like the gripped bottom. But grabbing a rubber jar opener grip from the kitchen isn't 't that hard either, hah. So I'm not obsessed with fram.

Thanks!

 

[JustinH]

You can run any approved motor oil in this car and get great results, no need for synthetic. Shop the sales..

 

[Eosyn]

congratulations on getting a used Corolla, very wise choice. It will serve you well in many years to come with just 87k miles on it. My brother had a '88 corolla he bought new, did regular maintenance on it and was still running pretty good with just under 500k miles on it when he sold it. I drove it a bit while in college, loved that car and that's why I bought a brand new '05 Corolla when my daughter was born. I tell my wife that our daughter will be driving that car when she turns 18 but wifey is skeptical. She'll see

As for your oil and filter usage. Mobil 1 is a good choice for oil; for the filter, use anything but a Fram (unless it's the extended guard). On my Corolla, I've been using Valvoline Synpower with a genuine Toyota filter since I've gotten it and she runs like a beauty (after 6yrs so far with no problems). I will be switching to Maxlife full synthetic and WIX filter in about a year when it will hit the 75k mile mark and my stash of Valvoline and Toyota filters run out.
Somewhere among these forums, I've read peoples' engines run really smooth and quiet with Pennzoil Platinum and/or Ultra over valvoline syntech. I'm considering giving them a try.
Best of luck!

 

[Eosyn]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
You can run any approved motor oil in this car and get great results, no need for synthetic. Shop the sales..


Since he's in Texas and gets really hot down there for the summer, wouldn't synthetic be a better choice over conventional because of its' higher heat protection? Considering he wants to go with 10k mile OCI. In that case, I'd go with the Mobil 1 filter, especially when used with Mobil 1 oil.

I do agree with shopping the sales though. With instant/mail in rebates and coupon codes (online), you can get great prices on motor oil.

btw, Welcome to BITOG. This is a great community with knowledgeable folks who will give you honest advice. I'm still new here myself but they've guided me thru PCV valve and spark plugs replacements already. I didn't even know what a PCV valve was

 

[friendly_jacek]

2000 Corolla has only 1 major problem: oil consumption from coked oil rings.

Check for oil consumption. If you have none, using synthetic oil to prevent it is a very good idea. Also good idea to change oil filter early at 5000 in case there is some cleaning happening. Amsoil learned the hard way that you can't extend oil filter change in the Toyota's 1ZZ-FE engines.

 

[tony1983]

Excellent, thank you. I'll change the filter at 5000 miles as planned, and cut the filter open and look for any caking deposits...if Mobil one had cleaned off any caking... it'd be in the filter, right?

 

[needsducktape]

I could be wrong but isn't the 2000 Corolla a known oil burner or sludger?

I'm not sure I would go 10K between changes maybe 7500 give or take (on the right oil)

 

[chet2]

PYB could go 10k too in regular driving....i have gone 5k on a G5 and OLM says i have 58% oil life left

 

[tony1983]

When I did my research on the car I didn't run across any oil burning issues? The car seemingly had 0 problems for that year after they did mods from learning issues from 98 and 99, which is why I shot for a 2000.

I have 500 miles on the new oil change I'll be checking the level now every 1000 miles now since two people have mentioned they've heard of oil burning issues.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Oil burning in 1ZZ-FE engine existed in 98-02 1ZZ-FE for a few different reasons. When I bought my 03 Corolla I was not aware of it even though I researched for issues carefully as Toyota was going through its sludge fiasco at that time.

Later I found about it and about the final fix implemented in 03 (redesigned pistons). Unfortunately my 03 Corolla was built in 2002 with the old style pistons. I developed oil consumption at 65000 miles (IIRC) after 5000 miles OCI with dino oils.

You have to careful about oils and OCI in this car.

 

[tony1983]

Dang, well that sucks to hear. Glad I know about it now. I'll be monitoring my oil consumption vigoursly now...what if it is slowly eating oil? Just keep topping it off until it eats it at a ridiculous rate and its pluming smoke then change the rings?

 

[friendly_jacek]

Slow oil consumption is reversible by piston soaks. My first standard (overnight) MMO soak stopped it for ~4000 miles. I just did a mega (3 week) MMO soak followed by Kreen soak and no consumption over 2000 miles later. Time will tell.

 

[tony1983]

What is a mmo soak and kreen soak?

Thanks

 

[caravanmike]

most people with the oil consumtion problem (1.8L) just keep filling it with oil until the compression gets to low. (which could be a long time). but unsuspecting people (like my sister) who never check their oil get a nasty rod through the block (her fault).

do you have the 3speed, auto 4speed auto or the manual transmission?

alot of the oil burning problem was tracked to the 3 speed auto. i don't know why, but i am sure their are other causes as well.

 

[JustinC25]

These engines either burn no oil at all, or they burn a ton (1qt every 500-1k miles Like my uncle's 2000 Celica.)
Until you find out if you have any consumption, I would check it every time you get gas. Also take a look at the back side of the block on the passenger side. The timing chain tensioner is known to leak on these engines.

Good luck with the new car. I'm sure it will serve you well.