Longer Lasting High Mileage Engine Oil

[campbeam]

Quite simply, I am skeptical of the latest new vehicle trend for increased servicing intervals e.g. 12 month or 15,000 kms. Admittedly, engine oils have improved in the past 40 years and there is ongoing R&D to meet motor vehicle manufacturer's engine demands.

In my internet travels, I came across the following article titled "Can Engine Oil Last 20,000 Miles? Here's How Engineers Test That Claim" with an embedded video by one of my favoured presenters.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/car-technology/a14517942/can-engine-oil-last-20000-miles-heres-how-engineers-test-that-claim/

http://www.mobil1.com.au/products/product-oem-toyota.aspx

https://www.autobarn.com.au/mobil-1-syn-esp-formula-5w30-5l-dpf-engine-oil

Good to know that it is not all marketing hype. 

Pays to challenge your current thinking/bias based upon past practices of 5,000km oil change intervals to either reconfirm or consider a review of which oils to buy.

 

 

[trentmeyer23]

The absolute maximum I will go is 6 month/10,000km(which I never get close).

[ZZT86]

Preventing oil from degradation & making it go the distance is very dependent on how the car is treated & driven. Lots of short trips will invite fuel & water dilution which will acidify & slowly destroy the oils additives pack. Performing a UOA can prove the state of an oil. This is why it's important to get the oil "hot" to help burn off these unwanted contaminants. After time the additives will become depleted after which the engine becomes a sitting duck !

I now only use Full Synthetic oils in my cars, they're stronger, cleaner & stay in grade for longer but I wouldn't take it beyond my Camrys 15K km service interval, just my personal preference.

[campbeam]

9 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

After time the additives will become depleted

A graph was briefly shown in the oil testing video that demonstrated how long the additives lasted before starting to deplete. However you have made a valid point. I think their testing methodology was more based upon long distance driving. 

 

9 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

Lots of short trips will invite fuel & water dilution which will acidify & slowly destroy the oils additives pack.

I do a lot of short trips so a 10-15K service interval is not applicable for my vehicle. 

[nidge]

I used to do mine every 7500km according to service manual’s “severe driving conditions” and since oils and filters have improved (I used part synthetic) I’ve jumped to 10000km intervals.

[AlexeiN]

Agreed, with semi-synthetic or synthetic, the current interval is 7500km.


But nething up to 10000 is pretty good

I stick to the brands I know like castrol and shell. 10-30W or 10-40W pretty much goes well with any car after 2010ish

[nidge]

For older engines, what’s your thoughts on mineral VS synthetic for older cars? Some experts claim that synthetic can cause older engines to leak badly (especially in the case of 5S-FE and 1MZ-FE). Perhaps a high mileage oil would be better like Castrol GTX 15W-50?

[campbeam]

15 hours ago, nidge said:

For older engines, what’s your thoughts on mineral VS synthetic for older cars? Some experts claim that synthetic can cause older engines to leak badly (especially in the case of 5S-FE and 1MZ-FE). Perhaps a high mileage oil would be better like Castrol GTX 15W-50?

 

Following URL is quite relevant for directly answering your post.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/what-are-the-risks-of-switching-to-synthetic-oil-in-older-cars

My thoughts are also aligned with this URL

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/switch-to-synthetic-oil1.htm

 

The 5S-FE engine in the family’s 1998 Camry is in original condition and has never had any oil leaks. Mineral based 15W-40 engine oil has been predominately used.  I have recently bought [ Xmas discount special ] the Castrol GTX high mileage oil mainly for the extra anti-sludge formula.

 

[ZZT86]

On 2/12/2018 at 7:30 PM, AlexeiN said:

I stick to the brands I know like castrol and shell. 10-30W or 10-40W pretty much goes well with any car after 2010ish

As a general rule, always use the grade/weight of oil recommended by the manufacturer as the engine has been designed to use it, ie: Toyota manual states 0W20 for the 86's FA20 which has tight tolerances & should use this grade oil.

[ZZT86]

On 2/12/2018 at 11:27 PM, nidge said:

For older engines, what’s your thoughts on mineral VS synthetic for older cars? Some experts claim that synthetic can cause older engines to leak badly (especially in the case of 5S-FE and 1MZ-FE). Perhaps a high mileage oil would be better like Castrol GTX 15W-50?

Depends on condition & mileage of engine, no reason not to use full synthetic if engine is in great condition & has low kms. My MCV20R Camry with the 1MZ-FE requires 5W30 & I use the full synthetic, car OCI is now approaching 15K kms & hasn't used a drop of oil & is still a light golden colour.

[nidge]

2 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

Depends on condition & mileage of engine, no reason not to use full synthetic if engine is in great condition & has low kms. My MCV20R Camry with the 1MZ-FE requires 5W30 & I use the full synthetic, car OCI is now approaching 15K kms & hasn't used a drop of oil & is still a light golden colour.

Wow how many kms has your Camry done? Mine is nearly 240,000km. Very slight leak on side but doesn’t drop any on the floor so it’s not bad at all. I normally use Shell HX7 semi synthetic 10w-40 and now Castrol Magnatec 10w-40 semi synthetic.

[campbeam]

Will reply as a Personal Message

[ZZT86]

19 hours ago, nidge said:

Wow how many kms has your Camry done? Mine is nearly 240,000km. Very slight leak on side but doesn’t drop any on the floor so it’s not bad at all. I normally use Shell HX7 semi synthetic 10w-40 and now Castrol Magnatec 10w-40 semi synthetic.

My MCV20R has just ticked over 100K kms, was my godfathers who did 75K in 16.5 years. 2 weeks ago I did the cars first timing belt change inc factory water pump, pulleys, seals & both VBelts on my m8 mechanics recommendation based on age alone. I watched him pull the old belt off & quickly picked the oil seals str8 out in 1 piece each, all seals were still soft & rubbery, not hard & brittle like many. The OE belt was not frayed or cracked & looked great to be honest - it goes to prove the quality of the engine & how it was looked after.

Presume you have 5S-FE ? Is yours leaking from seals or cam cover ? When was the last time you had the timing belt done & all its seals ? My old gen7 celica with the 2ZZ-GE did more than 300K kms on my watch in 13 years before I reluctantly sold it, it was well looked after with very regular oil changes & I always used Helix HX7 10W30 semi-synth & it never leaked a drop of oil anywhere anytime & despite the hi-revving nature of the engine, it never used any oil either.

Essentially my point is . . . if you look after your Toyota fair chance it it will last . . . a very long time :)

[nidge]

On 14/02/2018 at 7:08 PM, ZZT86 said:

Presume you have 5S-FE ? Is yours leaking from seals or cam cover ? When was the last time you had the timing belt done & all its seals ? My old gen7 celica with the 2ZZ-GE did more than 300K kms on my watch in 13 years before I reluctantly sold it, it was well looked after with very regular oil changes & I always used Helix HX7 10W30 semi-synth & it never leaked a drop of oil anywhere anytime & despite the hi-revving nature of the engine, it never used any oil either.

Essentially my point is . . . if you look after your Toyota fair chance it it will last . . . a very long time :)

Thanks for sharing :) Yes mine is a 5S-FE. Had timing belt done at 10 years / 129,000km. Head gasket was replaced last year and that fixed most of the leaking. Haven’t had seals replaced. Should I get that done? I imagine it’s a lot of work. Have looked after my car as best I can but it seems I could have done more! In 2014 took it over a rough road after tracks were made in the mud from earth movers and the vibrations were so bad I think it shook some of my engine mounts. Never drove the same after that. Rougher when cold and around 2,000RPM at low speeds.

[ZZT86]

^^ The seals in question are those for the camshaft & crankshaft ideally done as a kit with pulleys when your timing belt was done. Your head gasket was replaced? Overheated, cooling issues? Perhaps you meant cam/rocker cover seal ? Yeah an engine mount could be shot - inspect.

[nidge]

On 17/02/2018 at 7:34 PM, ZZT86 said:

^^ The seals in question are those for the camshaft & crankshaft ideally done as a kit with pulleys when your timing belt was done. Your head gasket was replaced? Overheated, cooling issues? Perhaps you meant cam/rocker cover seal ? Yeah an engine mount could be shot - inspect.

Ah right I see. Actually it was the cam cover gasket seal that was replaced. Thanks for the info! :)