Oil Recommendation for '06 4Runner (V6)

[Thorn]

I found this website last year after purchasing a Honda Pilot and doing a search on 5W-20 oils. After reading hundreds or thousands of posts on the argument for and against 5W-20 oil, I still couldn't make up my mind.

Well, my wife made it up for me by totaling our Pilot a few weeks ago when she spun out on a patch of ice. We thought about getting another Pilot, but she drove a 4Runner and liked it better. The memory of the accident really made her uncomfortable behind the wheel when she test drove the Pilot. I think the 4R's tighter "cockpit" area made her feel more secure.

In any case, I am now starting to think about what to do with the 4Runner. My plan is to change the factory oil at 1,000 miles - probably with Havoline 5W-30. The factory filter is OEM made in Japan by Denso. I may consider using this filter as well; however some people at a T4R forum have said that many times the filters available at the dealer are inferior filters made in Taiwan. If that's the case, I was thinking about using a Purolator Pure One.

I plan on doing another change at 3,000 and 5,000 miles with the Havoline 5W-30 dino. At the 5,000 mile change, I may swith to Mobil 1 5W-30 and then go to a 5,000 mile OCI thereafter, at least for the warranty period.

In addition, I was thinking of replacing the front/rear diff and transfer case oil with synthetic (Amsoil?) at 10,000 miles. The tranny uses Toyota WS, and it doesn't require changing until 60,000 miles - and then only if the vehicle is used to tow. I'll do it anyway, even though I won't be doing much towing, but I wonder if I should do it before 60K.

Any comments? Thanks.

 

[KJA426]

I would change the factory fill at 1,000 miles and start using Mobil 1 and the Pure One or a Wix at that point. I switched my Dodge at 600 miles to synthetic and it has over 100,000 trouble free miles on it.

 

[Bill in Utah]

ouch.. Sorry to hear about the Pilot..

I've been running a few of those "inferior filters made in Taiwan" and they are EXCELLENT filters! Built well and filter well. We had a thread on these and other filters for Toyotas in the Filter area..

Not worth more than $3 IMO (I paid less that that for them) and have run Bosch,STP,Supertech, Purolator(sp) and cut open everyone of them.

No difference in the UOAs and once I use up my stash of Toyota Taiwan filters, my Purolators that I got on sale, I'm going back to the $2.07 Supertech filters. Built well and excellent protection for a easy 5k OCI.

As your aware, your 6mo or 5k miles OCI which ever comes first until 60k or 5 years on your outfit.

I'd run (and am in my 2005 Corolla) a good Dino (Halovine is excellent) 5w-30 and get on with it.

5k OCI with a Syn is a waste of $$.

Your engine will be well protected and hopefully the outfit will last longer than the engine will. (Keep off the ice!)

On my 2005, I changed the Factory oil out at 1k. Did a UOA, put in Pennzoil 5w-30 till 3k. Changed it out and started in with 4-5k OCI and have posted UOAs on each one.

I even did a 5k run of Mobil 1 and it was not the best running, used more oil between oil changes and the UOA was no different than under a buck oil.

Also my MPG did not get better with full syn. It stayed the same.

I also changed out my Manual Transaxle at 22k and it was not pretty. I would change out the axles around 15k. The Automatic @ 30k and then every 60k. Transfer case @ 30k.

On my Silverado, the axles were dirty oil with metal glitter like the Toyota's was and the transfer case was clean.

My 3 cents.

Take care, Bill

 

[ARB1977]

Im just about done with my warrenty and so far its been a great ride since i bought it new (2002 Tacoma V6). During my journey i was using redline 5W30 from 10K-45K changing the oil every 5K then i used amsoil ASL 5W30 and now im using amsoil series 3K and plan on going to 6 month change intervals. So far so good with the series 3K no valve clatter at startup like the other oils i used.

 

[dkryan]

Change the factory fill at 1k and use a PureOne with confidence.

I'd let the 5w30 dino go 4k, then change to M-1 at 5k. I did the same with my '05 3.3L V6 Highlander, except I used Pennzoil Platinum at 5k.

5k OCIs in order to maintain the warranty is quite annoying. However, it's your $$$ (for the vehicle and the oil), so if you choose a full synthetic for the OCI, more power to you!

My UOA at 5k with 4k on Pennzoil 5w30 dino showed the engine to have been broken in. It also indicated that I should change the dino at 4k, not 5k OCIs, if dino's what I stayed with.

Happy motoring.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would not worry about the filter or oil that much. A cheaper Puralator/Puralator Premium Plus will work just fine as will just about any filter that fits. I would go to synthetic as soon as you dump the factory fill.

Does your 4Runner have the V8 or the V6? Both engines are easy on oil but the V8 is insanely easy on oil!!

As for the tranny fluid most Toyota tranies includeing my Mother's Tundra only lose about 3-4 quarts when you drain the sump. If here trany pnly loses 3-4 quarts per drain I would do it every 15,000 miles. Most people though would be doing great if they did it every 24,000 miles. Waiting for 60,000 miles to come and go is reckless in my opion. Over extended fluid service like their 60,000 mile training drain and refill only under harsh conditions is mostly about initial cost of ownership then best practices!!

 

[Thorn]

JB,

It is a 4.0L V6 (1GR-FE) that will see many short trips. At least for the next few years, it will be primarily driven by my wife as a grocery-getter, so I didn't think the V8 was worth the extra money. I have a boat, but it's only a 14 ft. aluminum boat that probably weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 lbs., plus trailer, so the 5,000 lb. towing capacity of the V6 should be plenty.

It would be nice to have that stellar Lexus-derived 4.7 litre V8, but it's also nice to have an extra two grand in my pocket.

As for the tranny, it calls for a 60K service ONLY if you tow. If you don't tow, Toyota claims that its WS tranny fluid is a "lifetime" fluid. I certainly will change it out, probably by 30K. As far as I know, this tranny doesn't even have a dipstick for checking the fluid, but I think it does have a drain plug. I haven't looked into how to refill it yet, though. Anybody know?

[ January 07, 2006, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: Thorn ]

 

[Bill in Utah]

quote:

---

Toyota claims that its WS tranny fluid is a "lifetime" fluid

---

No drain plug;

it's either disconnect a line for the machine or suck it out...

Take care, Bill

 

[LarryL]

Just make sure you use the exact Toyota replacement tranny fluid. Don't mess around with taking any short cut if you are going to change it sometime in the future. I have an older 03 and it does not use the new fluid. I use Red Line D4 ATF. I've got 30k miles on my V8 2X4 and really like it. What ever oil you use, stick with 5w-30. And don't let the dealer change the cabin air filter. It should be changed more often than listed and only takes one screw and 2 minutes. The dealer will charge you an arm and two legs.

 

[CharBaby]

I certainly hope that your wife didn't get hurt! Vehicles can be replaced, people can't.

All good recomendations listed above by BITOG members.

 

[Boaz]

for more than 5k OCI, I would use M1 or GC what ever is cheaper. I have run M1, ASL Amsoil and GC. THey all return stellar UOA.

If your going to run 5k intervals, honestly I would stick with dino. Its a waste to drain good syn at 5K

 

[2005tundra2002yz250f]

The trans has a drain bolt. It also has a fill bolt, but no dipstick. They are both on the trans, it is now setup like a differential. Anyway, swapping out whats in the pan, and replacing what you take out it easy. Checking levels, doing a complete change, etc, is more involved. It requires a manual for instructions how to do so, and the table for reading the ATF light blinks, jumper wire, etc. Not like the old days.
After winter I will have approx. 25,000 miles, and will replace whats in the pan. Take a drive, and come back and do it again.
Only use the correct toyota fluid, no one else has a substitute.

 

[Thorn]

Char Baby,

Thanks. The first thing I should've mentioned was that my wife is fine. She spun out on some black ice on the Interstate, and she ended up hitting a section of guidedrail right where it begins. In other words, the driver's side door T-boned the rectangular "bumper" piece of guiderail at the front of a section. The vehicle then rode up on the guiderail, which twisted underneath the vehicle in a mangled mess. This really screwed up the unibody frame, drive shaft, exhaust system, suspension, etc.

She had a bruised thigh and a sore neck, but everything is healing fine. I was happy with the protection the Pilot afforded her. My only complaint was that the driver's side front door came open and the outer shell fell off. However, the front door side-impact beam was perfect. I believe the doors are designed to remain latched in the event of an accident.

Thanks to everyone for the advice on the 4Runner. I'm hoping to get many years of service from it.

 

[928vette]

I have an 05 Tacoma with the 1GR-FE engine and 5 speed auto and will be doing an analysis in the next couple weeks. The analysis will be for 5000 miles on Syntec GC 0w/30 (green) and a Mobil 1 EP M1-209 oil filter (oversize to run a full 6 quarts)
Total mileage will be 9000 miles. I changed the factory fill at 750m to Mobil 1 5w/30 EP and then changed to the Syntec at 4000m.
I also changed both diff fluids and transfer case fluid at 4000m to Mobil 1 syn 75w/90. Took about 5.5 quarts to do all three and are very easy to do. You will need some tubing to refill the front diff as there is no way to get the bottle up above the fill hole. The rear diff and transfer case take a 24mm socket on both plugs, and the front diff takes a 10mm hex for both plugs.
I plan on doing a complete fluid exchange on the tranny at 25k to 30k. I just don't trust leaving it in for longer than that. I remember reading some posts on other forums a while ago about people having tranny shift problems around 40k to 50k on other models (Seqouia and Tundra) and the fluid was shot and they were NOT towing anything, but I honestly don't remember if it was the WS fluid or the T-IV fluid. The tranny does have a drain plug and refill plug and works just like the diffs. Keep filling until the fluid starts to run back out of the fill hole. It will be easier to just take it in and have the fluid exchanged with the flush machine.

 

[Thorn]

dave,

Will I need to remove the front skid plate in order to gain access to the front diff?

Thanks.

 

[928vette]

You need to remove the bottom skid plate that attaches to the front skid plate, but not the front.

 

[H20024.6L]

Thorn; I have a 2005 Highlander with the 3.3V6 and changed out the factory oil at 1800, and put in Havoline 5-30 dino. I ran it for 3300 and the TBN was 1.9, it was used up. It did protect well and wear was really non at all. I was surprised that the TBN was so low with 3300 miles, but then the oil did do it's job. I'll get around to posting the results in a few days for you to see. BTW the filter was a Pure 1. Testing by Blackstone and analysis by Terry.