Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I would move up to the recommended 5W30, or even a 10W30 (or 10W40 if necessary) Maxlife red bottle. I have a somewhat similar situation on the XJ Cherokee in my sig, using 5W30 it will lose/burn a quart every 1K or so, but since I switched to Maxlife 10W40 it hasn't gotten off the full line yet. Only side effect has been slower cranking speed below 10F, which you don't have to worry about. And-
Do you feel that a thicker viscosity translates to increase protection against engine wear during normal operation, or do you like it more for its ability to not burn off or leak? What about at cold start-up where I've continually read that the lions share of engine wear occurs?
I see a lot of people recommending the factory 5w-30 (presumably because that is what Toyota recommended in 1997), but I'm curious if the people who are recommending thicker viscosity oil than what the manufacturers suggested — are doing so because they feel that viscosity directly translates to an increase in engine wear protection vs lower viscosity oil. Or is it simply a matter of not wasting oil or money on more oil.
Also, Toyota suggested a 5w-30 oil 20 years ago when my truck was new, but I'm curious if engine oil tech has changed in any significant ways over the last 20 years? Does their suggestion of using 5w-30 oil still apply to modern oils produced today especially on an engine with nearly half a million miles?
I personally don't feel that I'm burning much oil when I consider the age and miles on my engine. So my main priority is using an oil that provides as much start-up protection as possible along with additives that are conductive to high milage engines.
Thanks for the warm welcome btw!