Synpower 5W-40 in 1ZZ-FED?

[icyvisor]

Hello, BITOG friends,
long time lurker here,

Straight to the question I've got for your minds: any problems with Synpower 5W-40 in 2003 Celica's 1ZZ-FED?

- I am on Synpower since 80k miles - have a good working relationship with a Monro shop based on regular changes there with the stuff. They were out of 30 and put in 40 last time. Engine seems quieter with it and I want to keep it. From what I've read here:

Pros:
- 40 is supposedly the weight recommended countries other than US for 1ZZ (but links are broken)
- Synpower 5W-40 is all-around better oil than Synpower 5w30

Cons:
- 40 weight, especially Synpower is too thick. Oil will not be getting where it needs to and is hard to pump - long term suboptimal situation.

115k miles,
not driven hard, only if traffic necessitates.
Mix of highway and stop and go,
fuel economy drop acceptable,
changes every 5k,
North Carolina.

Thanks all

 

[CATERHAM]

Welcome!

Yes the oil is unnecessarily thick with no benefit.
You may not notice it, but you're just incurring reduced fuel economy and less power.

 

[beast3300]

You won't have any problems with that oil.

 

[icyvisor]

Good to know. I like less peripheral noise (chain, valvetrain, what not) it makes idling with the 40 oil, but would like to avoid any long-term damage.

 

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

You wont have any "problems" using the oil, but what has me bugged is you siad the engine got quieter. That puzzles me. So when its a cold start the engine has no lifter tick or anything? or??

Here is the deal, and I am a practical person to some degree, but if you put this oil in and the car is quieter and seems to like it and you don't mind a slight MPG drop, then I say use it.

With the Miles your car has, its quite possible that the 40w is cushioning some worn bearings and thus making the motor "seem" quieter.

On a side note, my Father had a Celica with a 2SE motor in it and he ran Wolfs Head 10/30 in that car for 300K miles. Never had a problem. I must admit it seems Toyota built better cars in the 80's and 90's than they do today IMO.

Jeff

 

[icyvisor]

Thanks for the concern. I don't think I have any problems with the engine, it's just the 1zz idle at least in the Celica packaging is rough and unrefined. Been that day since day 1 when bought as certified pre-owned with 30k. Standing next to it it's not just the exhaust but you can hear all its metal guts turning and rubbing. That always bothered me for some reason.

It's the non-consuming engine, with the Toyota "secret fixes". Lucked out, buying I knew nothing about the consumption problem but liked the 03+ front more.

 

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

Not that there is a problem with the car, but you bought it with 80K on it? or just have used synpower since 80K?. I am sure the thicker viscosity is cushioning the valvetrain and bottom end. Give it a try, keep using it, keep an eye on your MPG's and see how the car responds.

Doesn't hurt to try it. Why not??

And Welcome to BITOG

Jeff

 

[icyvisor]

No, bought with 30k. Was on Pennzoil regular until 60k, dabbled in synthetics and settled on synpower since then...

 

[icyvisor]

How objective do you all think (let's forget about noise) are opinions out there that 5W40 is only appropriate for hard driven/tracked cars - talking 1zz context of course?

 

[CATERHAM]

It's not appropriate.
As I mentioned initially there is rarely any benefit to running a heavier oil than the specified oil, particularly when the spec' oil is already a 30wt and this applies to track use as well.
And for a typical street application like yours, even a light 30wt is heavier than optimum 99% of the time.

 

[icyvisor]

Understood, appreciate all replies! Back to 30 on the next change - in a hurry.

 

[aquariuscsm]

How different is a 10W40 vs a 5W40? If a car specs 10W40,is 5W40 appropriate? Reason I ask,I`m going down to thinner oils after this run of Mobil 1 15W50. I bought some Mobil 1 10W40 HM and have some RP 10W40 in my stash. I have a case of Synpower 20W50 and I`m thinking about exchanging it for either Synpower 5W40 or RP 10W40.

My fsm lists 10W30-20W50. The sticker under the hood says "10W30 below 60F/10W40 above 60F".

 

[aquariuscsm]

^^Here`s a revision to my above post. It wouldn`t let me edit it,so I retyped it and revised it:



How different is a 10W40 vs a 5W40? If a car specs 10W40,is 5W40 appropriate? Reason I ask,I`m going down to thinner oils after this run of Mobil 1 15W50. I bought some Mobil 1 10W40 HM and have some RP 10W40 in my stash. I have a case of Synpower 20W50 and I`m thinking about exchanging it for either Synpower 5W40 or RP 10W40. I never realized how much a thicker oil can slow down a car until I tried some 20W50 in my gf`s Olds 88. It has a hellacious oil leak,so I figured I`d use up my 20W50 stash on it. Previous oil was Valvoline 10w30 conventional and when I put the last of my Valvoline 20w50 conventional in it,it slowed the car down drastically. 10W30 will be in her Olds from now on.

My fsm lists 10W30-20W50. The sticker under the hood says "10W30 below 60F/10W40 above 60F".