Okay BITOG, time for synthetic?

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: citationxeleven
On my Mazda, I switched to PP and 2,000 miles into it the oil was down 1qt and pretty dark. Car never used oil at any time before. 2nd oil change it didn't drop at all and oil stayed clean the entire 5,000 miles it was in the engine. If you switch don't be too alarmed if consumption goes up. In my case it was only temporary.


I got the same thing switching more than one vehicle over after 75k. Consumption 1st change, which goes away after the second.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'd just keep using your favorite dino 10W30.

 

[asme]

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond to my thread. I really only know just enough about my car to be dangerous. Sure, it's a little better than being clueless, but it also leaves much to be desired.

I'm going to stick with the conventional oil my car has been using for ages. Given everyone's responses, it seems that synthetic oil will offer at best marginal benefits in my car's use case.

I'm happy to have been able to use a great online resource for some advice!

Originally Posted By: Donald

Does your car have the coil inside the dist? My 1994 Camry 4 cyl did and it failed leaving me needing a tow. If you have the same engine and dist then I suggest having it replaced before it fails and you need a tow. They seem to fail between 150K and 200K.


Thanks for letting me know. As I understand it, my Corolla is of similar design to your Camry in that regard, with the ignition coil inside of the distributor cap. They have different part numbers, though. Recently I've been having some very intermittent problems with rough idle, so it might be worth taking a look.

 

[CharBaby]

Keep us posted on your oil useage and smoke at start up. The valve guides should have taken care of the start up smoke. I read your maintenance report.

Also, I agree that you should keep doing what you're doing. If anything, you might(MIGHT) want to run 5W30 year'round due to all of the gasket/seals being replaced but, only if it helps you sleep well at night.

Not much else to add here