Viscosity for 04 Corrolla

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I am planning on changing the oil on my 04 Corrolla and I was not sure what grade to use for summer as the manual strictly recomends 5-30(summer or winter) but I was wondering whether 10-40 or 10-30 would be ok for summer and then I would switch back to 5-30 for winter.
The car has only 2K miles on the odo and this would its fist oil change. I use only Castrol Syntec blend in my all my cars as I have used Castrol for years without any problems. I have used Syntec blend 10-40 on my 99 Camry for the last 60K miles without any problems.
Any recomendations and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
 
I use M1 10-30 in both of our '03 Corollas year round. No noise , excellent mileage, and 7500 miles between changes. I assume that you know that the Syntec is not a true synthetic? It's a good oil but you can buy the real thing for about the same money.
 
I would stick with the 5w-30 vi but think the Mobil Drive Clean 5w-30 new vehicle PAO Blend would work very well for you until you get far more miles on the engine .

It will keep your warranty valid too
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Mobil

If you like the Castrol Syntec blend they have it in a 5w-30 but it does not use PAO for the synthetic part of it
 
Radhe,

I also have an '04 Toyota Corolla. I've had it for 6 months and it has 17 000 miles. I've followed the "service passport" doing oil changes at 5000 mile intervals. I am using Mobil1 10w-30 with a Mobil1 oil filter without any problems. When the winter comes, I'll switch to Mobil1 5w-30. So far so good with M1 10w-30.
 
Check your owners manual again and I bet like mine it says you can use 10w30 from "0" degrees up and that they recommend using 5w30 for temps below "0" and year round. Mobil 1 10w30 is the best Mobil 1 oil in UOA that I have viewed on this site. Since you live in California and I bet you never see "0" degrees you could use the Mobil 1 10w30 and be in compliance with the Manufactures warranty recommendations. I would also wait until at least 5K miles to convert to synthetic.
 
I converted both of ours to M1 10-30 @ 1000 miles after talking to the Toyo Master Tech at the dealership. He changed to synth (M1) at the same mileage on his V-8 Toyo truck. Zero oil consumption to date but both of ours were broken in (although with extreme agony) by the book. Neither has consumed a measurable amount of oil since mile one. In view of this I do not agree with the 3500 break in prior to the switchover to M1.
 
I thank everyone for their recomendations. I think 10-30 or 5-30 would be adequate for my use. I have been using Syntec blend for a very longtime in my camry and usually pick a case or 2 when its on sale at kragen or pep boys for $ 1.99/qt. So its half the cost of a synthetic oil and better than a regular dino oil which should get me to the 100k mile and possibly well beyond that without any problem. I have been using Castrol lubricants for along time and I have also used their Formula RS 10-60, which is suppossed to be a racing oil in my car when I lived in europe. I have faith in Castrol and the syntec blend is similar to the Castrol GTX Magnatec avaliable in Europe and Asia. I have read horror stories about Mobil but I guess its a matter of having had good experience with Castrol so I just stick to them as oppossed to Mobil. I have met and spoken with Castrol Engineers in Uk and they have mentioned that their blending technology is the best. The best of Castrol does not come to NA I guess due to high cost. I paid almost $ 30 for a 4 liter pack for Formula RS 10-60. But once you put that oil in then your engine you can tell the difference in smoothness immediately.
Thanks once again with your input, above is just my opinion and I guess everybody should go with what their comfortable with.
 
I was just wondering...

Would Mobil 1 0w-30 be better than 5w-30 for the winter?

Would Mobil 1 0w-40 be too thick for the summer months?

I keep reading more and more on here (and caring more and more about what oil I use) about M1 0w-30 and German Castrol (GC) 0w-30 that makes me wonder...

-Mario
 
quote:

Originally posted by macaddict:
I was just wondering...

Would Mobil 1 0w-30 be better than 5w-30 for the winter?

Would Mobil 1 0w-40 be too thick for the summer months?

I keep reading more and more on here (and caring more and more about what oil I use) about M1 0w-30 and German Castrol (GC) 0w-30 that makes me wonder...

-Mario


You do realize this topic is a month old?

That depends on the car, There have been some reports of shearing with 0W-40 Mobile 1 in some cars. The most stable Mobile 1 with the best UOA's seems to be 10W30 and I would not think it gets cold enough in most parts of Jersey to worry about its cold cranking performance.

German Castrol 0W-30 seems to do very well and has extreme cold performance and is a thick 30W (Barely below 40W) designed for the 10,000-15,000 mi oil change intervals used in Europe. It is reputed to be a excellent oil and seems to hold up very well if you dont mind going to the extra trouble to find it.

If Radhe is still monotoring this thread he might consider Motorcraft 5W-30 now that it appears to be a Group II+/III Blend available at Wal-Mart for a $1.42 QT.

Gene
 
I have a 2001 Corolla CE, 3-Speed Auto....I know, I know....I should've gotten a S or LE with 4-speed auto.

Anyway, currently, I have 79,960 miles on it.

I'm still using 10W-30 Valvoline, mostly because I want to use up the case of Valvoline 10W-30 first, so that I can switch to "10W-30 high mileage" blend (Chevron), later.

But as for your question of 10W-30 or 10W-40, since I live in Southern California, and I don't see that "0" degree very often, I park my car in the garage, I use 10W-30 all-year-round without any problem. The car runs like new! Woohoo!

- Uchok00
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I thought the CE came with the 4spd auto?

I belive the VE came with the 3spd auto.
 
We have an 04 Corolla and followed the 1000 mile break in procedure specified by the manual to a tee. It was not easy but now it has 3750 miles and runs M1 5w-30. I run M1 0w-30 in my Civic and may do the same for the corolla in the winter but I think with the engine in this car, almost any oil will do fine. It is one of Toyota's best engines (1zz-fe). You can't go wrong with either m1 0w, 5w, or 10w-30.
 
quote:

I thought the CE came with the 4spd auto?

I belive the VE came with the 3spd auto.

For 2001 Corolla CE, unfortunately, Toyota decided to use the older 1ZZ-FE engine with 3-speed.

I believe the later Corolla CE, has 4-speed, the same engine on S or LE models....which is better, with better gas mileage.


- Uchok00
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I have a 99 LE.When I researched the models in 99 I remember reading that only the VE had the 3spd.

Does you transmission have a seperate drain plug for the differential?
 
quote:

dagmando
Member # 277 posted 23 June, 2004 10:32 AM
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"manual strictly recomends 5-30(summer or winter)"

You just answered your own question.

Does that mean that that is the ONLY oil to be used?

What does Toyota recommend in other countries? The same 5w-30?

I just want the best protection for my engine since I wnat to keep this car until it dies.
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-Mario

[ June 23, 2004, 10:22 PM: Message edited by: macaddict ]
 
I believe Corolla CE version came from Corolla VE line....which is why my 2001 Corolla CE shares the same 3-speed auto engine with the older Corolla VE.

But like I said, the newer Corolla CE has the same engine as Corolla S or Corolla LE......

I would like that 4-speed auto engine....but my 3-speed auto is good enough, the little engine that could....
grin.gif



- uchok00
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My 99 Corolla has the orginal 1ZZ-FE without the VVT-I.4spd auto.

In my booklet in mentions only the VE models having the 3spd.

The only real difference between a CE and an LE is the trim.
 
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