Synthetic / 5w30 & 10w30 10K / '04 Colorado I-5

[Ramblin Fever]

The Tacoma is a 4x4 V6 - call it what you will, but I do get *close* to 30mpg. I'd be thrilled if I in fact got 30mpg, but I was simply just commenting, not using exact math, didn't feel I needed to.

It's all in how you drive, not just EPA and not everyone is going to have the same mpg in every identical truck.

I was just simply amazed if he was getting close to 40mpg in that I-5; still amazed if he's getting it in the Suzuki, but I'm not going to say he's being unfactual. It's not at all uncommon for a vehicle to perform over EPA standards.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Don't be offended. I Have been around many many Tacoma 4x4's have modified them and wheeled around many.
My 2002 4x4 got 18 MPG best case highway scenario when it was stock with the 3.4 V6(it got 14-15 with 33's on it). My 2006 with the 4.0 and 5 speed auto gets at best case scenario 19.5-20 MPG. My wife's 2006 4 runner with the same engine tranny combo as mine manages to get 21-22 MPG in best case scenario (the new Tacoma is heavier).
As I said, do not be offended but my personal experience and my experience with many many Tacoma owners makes your claim exceptional.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Oh, I'm not offended; in fact, I understand where you're coming from.

For a long time, everyone always said they got incredible mileage with the Toyota 22re 4-cylinder engine, had that same engine for years and years in an '85 p/up, couldn't get that thing to come close to what others were getting.

Guess it's my turn now - believe me, I've been blown away. Never thought for a 2nd when we bought it that I would get over 20mpg. I have another truck that weighs bout the same, and I struggle to get 17mpg in it, so I just figured the Tacoma would prove the same.

I still double check the OD mileage versus gallons on the receipts every time; course, it's still very new to us and we drive it very cautiously, I'm sure that plays part.

Truck's all stock, except we have 265/75 16 tires instead of the 70's it came with and we run 'em at 36/35psi.

 

[gudmund]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. My main point pertained to the use of Lucus UCL and how someone thought it was the reason for the elevated SODIUM levels in the Colorado's oil sample and WHY my six(6)oil samples taken over a 65thou mile period of time never showed much of any sodium(4 of the 6 was after using M1 also)!! My samples were all done by Blackstone also. My Sodium levels were 6-8-3-3-4-7. The first five were 10thou each and the last was after 15thou using M1/EP. My other piont was that I have seen a 2mpg increase in overall mpg when using UCL from what the car use to average before and that consistant after over 121++thou miles of useing UCL!! take care

 

[TeeDub]

I expect this vehicle still has the Dexcool antifreeze?, which contains both sodium and potassium. I don't think this engine has ANY history of head gasket or intake gasket problems. So the history of the 3.1L and 3.4L, GM V-6 engines really isn't relevant.

The trace of sodium in this case could simply be road salt, given the relatively poor air filtration. I'd leave the engine alone, but I'd consider upgrading to an Amsoil EAA air filter to see if you can't cut these silicon levels by 30%-50%.

The oil has reached the end of its' service life, given this level of total solids. The PP does fine in terms of wear rates, but it's not an extended drain formulation.

TD