Switching from convential oil to synthetic

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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muddybumper
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My tercel:: 1987 SR5
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Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by muddybumper »

Is there any benefit? My tercel has about 250,000 miles on it and I want to start using Mobil one high mileage motor oil. What are the pros and cons?
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by Petros »

it cost more, that is a big con for me. frankly I see it as having limited benefits considering cost, would not your engne benefit more if you simply used cheaper motor oil and changed it more often? I would want to know more about their formulation, and why I should use it before I spent the extra money on it.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by dlb »

While I've gone with synthetic for gear oil, I have stuck with whatever is cheapest for engine oil because I change it every 5000 km anyway. You would probably see marginal improvements in fuel economy with synthetic engine oil but nowhere near enough to make up for the cost difference.
teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by teranfirbt »

On a low strung, low engine like ours there isn't much reason to go synthetic. Synthetic does handle high temperatures better than conventional, but that's really only necessary when towing or other high heat activities.
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splatterdog
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by splatterdog »

As far as purchase price, In 25 years ot T4'ing I have more in oil than cars. Haven't eaten an engine or trans yet, and I drive em hard. Frequently see sub zero temps(-40 two winters ago)to further legitimize synthetics. Engines look like new inside, even the worn out one with 400k is real clean. Been using 0W40 the last couple winters. Helps that I can get dealer price on redline and pentosin products..

I will always take the extra measure to preserve something so precious that continually gets harder to replace. Only MnDot takes my cars away.

I will also agree with others that synthetic is overkill for these.
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muddybumper
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by muddybumper »

splatterdog wrote: Wed May 06, 2020 2:47 pm As far as purchase price, In 25 years ot T4'ing I have more in oil than cars. Haven't eaten an engine or trans yet, and I drive em hard. Frequently see sub zero temps(-40 two winters ago)to further legitimize synthetics. Engines look like new inside, even the worn out one with 400k is real clean. Been using 0W40 the last couple winters. Helps that I can get dealer price on redline and pentosin products..

I will always take the extra measure to preserve something so precious that continually gets harder to replace. Only MnDot takes my cars away.

I will also agree with others that synthetic is overkill for these.
So are you using synthetics? I will probably stick with conventional for now but you seem to be in favor of the synthetic. I would love to see my tercel reach 400k, especially since the last one didn't even make it to 200k (although admittedly I was kind of a newbie back then).
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NWMO
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by NWMO »

muddybumper,

My interpretation would be he is using conventional oil without any problems. I run a cheap synthetic blend, 10W30, usually $25 or less for 5 qts.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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splatterdog
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by splatterdog »

Yes MB, I use full synthetic in everything I own that uses oil. For my T4's it's the top shelf synthetic.

Well, except the Expedition, that gets a blend. Those early 5.4's were extremely tough to kill even with 2 pretty long timing chains and have seen numerous ones going 400-500k on nothing better than a blend, and one that was still running good at over 700 but had a head gasket just starting to go. Also holds my interval record, 28k!!! It was at least 5 years ago and that van is still going.
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NWMO
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Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by NWMO »

So much for my interpretation :).
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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muddybumper
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:26 pm
My tercel:: 1987 SR5
Location: Idaho

Re: Switching from convential oil to synthetic

Post by muddybumper »

So maybe I'll switch to full synthetic just because I'm buying 15 quarts of it anyways for my other rigs... A little more won't hurt!
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