I just purchased a new Tacoma (3.4l V6) and a Camry (4 cyl). When should I start using a synthetic oil. I heard to wait until after the "break in" period....but what is that? 1,000 miles? 5,000 miles? 10,000 miles?
Thanks
quote:I changed the oil in the entire powertrain, but only used synthetic in the transmission and rear differential. I didn't feel that the front differential and transfer case had enough break in yet to go synthetic w/them.
Hi, GoHack - IMHO I recommend that you change the diff oil now. Get rid of the assembly/manufacturing debris out of there ASAP. Diffs and G/boxes should be treated differently to engines when new For what its worth
quote:Doug, your post brings to mind an interesting case, or series of cases in the U.K. in the late 1970's to mid-1980's. A bunch of Japanese Import Auto dealers were being driven up the wall and 'round the bend by a series of mysterious leaks coming from otherwise new and well-maintained Japanese cars. What all the leakers had in common was that they had switched from dino mineral oil to Synthetic Oil. After careful study and analysis of the problem, the dealers concluded that the Syn Oil was reacting with the traces of dinosaur mineral oil in the seals, causing the seals to go bad. The dealers concluded that the only cure for this leak was to advise that any car due to do the switch to Syn Oil be completely torn down, cleaned of all traces of mineral oil, and reassembled again with all-new gaskets and seals. That way, the only thing the new gasket/seal would have come into contact with would have been Syn Oil. Interesting that today, the prescribed preventative for the seal deterioration problem is a flush/Auto-RX job, before going on to Syn Oil full-time. So, the U.K dudes were thinking in the right general direction, but they failed to identify the exact cause of the problem: that is, the problem is one of Syn Oil cleaning out the crud that forms around the seals under a steady mineral oil diet.
Originally posted by Doug Hillary: Hi, it is important to get conventional gear oils with EP chemicals etc. out as soon as possible. This prevents chemical build up on seals etc. ( Eaton Corp. - "...Petroleum mineral-based lubricant deposits can be dissolved by synthetics and other lubes, causing seal leakage and lubricant loss.", and "...mineral oils must be drained during the first 5000 miles." With my new vehicles - heavy trucks,cars,light trucks etc. this is the first task I do........ Regards Doug
quote:Hi Doug. Thanks for your views. Re: kerosene. As a boy, I was taught that kerosene should never be allowed to contact lubricating oil. Seems, it causes lube oil to break down. In cases where kero is used to flush, plenty of time must be allowed for every molecule of kero to dry off. What about gasoline(petrol)? Does it not break down lube oils, too? Yes, but if gasoline is used for washing engine parts, it is much easier to dry off said part completely. Gasoline: quick and easy to dry off. Please note: Do not mess with gasoline!!!!!! Dangerous!!!!!
Originally posted by Doug Hillary: Hi, intersesting comments. Thanks! When I first started converting road-going vehicles ( not earthmovers ) to synthetic lubricants in the gearboxes and diffs ( especially )Shell and Castrol both had a full flushing regime that needed to be followed. If I remember correctly ( this was 25-30 odd years ago )it went like this; a) Fill and flush drained component with kero. b) Charge with a fill of 50%kero/50%synthetic. c) Run for a short time "until warm" then drain d) Add full charge of synthetic lubricant Perhaps we have moved on - but some things still remain the same! Regards
quote:Syn Oil of vintage 1980 to 1985 often did wreck engines. Those Factory engineers probably witnesed some of the wrecking cases first hand, so they are terrified of Syn Oil. But today's Syn Oils have come a long way. I daresay 90% of the guys that use Syn Oil do not end up grenading their engines. I alway say, everybody screws up sometime. Even Castrol GTX of 20 years ago, it could not satisfy all of the people all of the time. People who used Castrol GTX 20 years ago called it "Black Death"[somewhat unkindly, methinks!!!!!!] and other un-complimentary stuff. But look at Castrol GTX today!!!! It seems like every other person in North America uses it!!!!!!! But having said that, I still prefer to pay $1.00 to $1.89 a quart than $5 a quart for my motor oil. There is no way to justify the added expense, unless I was driving from Boston to Miami in the middle of Summer and I fear "cooking" my engine.
Originally posted by Doug Hillary: Hi, a little aside to this subject About 1983 I visited the Kubota engine factory in Japan. I met the Enginners and posed the issue of using synthetics in their engines. We we trialling them in Reefer Units The spoke around the table in Japenese - and said "do not use synthetic engine oil in our engines" I did Castrol R 10w-50? and never had a problem - some engines ran out to 15000hrs plus!! Regards