Changing Oil Filters

[dbanker]

Just curious...why are you going with the petrolium based over synthetic?

btw- nice picture by the way of all those solara's lined up with the lights. So are those silverstars you have just a tad bit whiter than the sylvania OEM's? They look like they have the same whiteness but are just a little brighter.... whose lights did you like the most when you all met?

[Flipside909]

Just curious...why are you going with the petrolium based over synthetic?

btw- nice picture by the way of all those solara's lined up with the lights. So are those silverstars you have just a tad bit whiter than the sylvania OEM's? They look like they have the same whiteness but are just a little brighter.... whose lights did you like the most when you all met?

Because we change our oil regularly on our cars...it's not cost effective for us to use synthetics. Our miles are highway long distance miles. All of our motors have never had any breakdowns...and the engine that had 275,000 miles only had worn out valve seals...cylinder walls and heads looks almost new...just using plain old dino oil. A quart of Castrol GTX runs around 1.30/qt avg. Using a Toyota filter which is about $3.50. I do about 20k miles per year and change the oil at 3-4k intervals. You do the math. Most people are content with using synthetics. If you feel it will benefit you...use it! We've had several discussions about this before in the past. Many of those 100K, 200K, 300k and above...high mileage Toyotas have achieved those numbers with regular petroleum oil...not synthetic. I have several family members and friends that can prove that claim.

As for the bulbs..HID's aren't really a viable option for me right now. I love my silverstars and liked them since day 1. When I get enough funds...and when the "Dual filament/ high/low beam" HID's come out, then that will be the time I will buy HID's for my Solara. As for brightness of OEM compared to Silverstars...there is a HUGE difference with the naked eye...something a digital camera's white balance cannot pick up.

[4banger]

I ran petrolium in my celica before I sold it with 186k, it has 191k now( I work with the guy that bought it), and it's still running great with about 38 mpg.

[dbanker]

I've heard many success stories as well with petroleum based oil. I'm going to try going with AMSOIL 10W-30. It's a little less than $5 a quart and I'm going to try running about 5000-6000 mile drain intervals. AMSOIL says it can be changed every 25,000 miles/ 1 year, and the oil filter every 12,500 miles/6 months (with their oil filter). I've heard nothing but great things and great testimonials from this company and their oil...with extremely long drain intervals and vehicles with extremely high milage. Plus it performs very well so I'm going to give it a shot. I've read into it a lot and all the hype seems justified.

I think no matter what way you go (synthetic or not) you will have viable arguments for both...mechanics with numerous years of experience will have their opinions. I think I'd tend to go with the experience and knowledge of those gogle-wearing/pocket protecting scientists who formulate well proven sythetics in conjunction with mechanics where the oil has been tested and proven many times over. It just seems to me like the old tradition of 3,000 mile drain intervals as being the ONLY option for maintanence is simply not true. Even the president of jiffy lube (owned by quaker state & penzoil) said they formulate their oil so it MUST be drained at those intervals so they can see their customers more often and therefore make more money. They guy openly admitted the bottom line is profits. Sounds pretty sketchy huh?

Who knows though...this is all things that I have just read and it's up to the consumer to make the decision. Even AMSOIL makes a 7500 mile oil specifically just for this reason so they can compete with other oil companies in the specified drain interval range. Though the oil I have performs better and costs about 50 cents more a quart. Just goes to show however that if you do the petroleum based oil and change regularly like you have you can have great sucess. Guess you can do well either way as long as you're consistant with your oil changes...

Just my thoughts on the topic....those Silverstars do look nice though. Are you running the DRL or did you disconnect them? I'm thinking about switching sometime to the Silverstars but if they burn out relatively quick I may not want to. What do you think?

[ICUFG]

AMSOIL says it can be changed every 25,000 miles/ 1 year, and the oil filter every 12,500 miles/6 months (with their oil filter).

Be sure you are not under factory warranty in that case any warranty before you go and change the oil every 25,000 miles on a 1MZ-FE. If you run an aftermarket oil filter and geling occurs Toyota will not cover you. I spoke to some race car buddies that run Hooters pro cup series and they all said that Amsoil wasnt any thing special. O and I agree with Flip stick with Castrol GTX or Syntec.

[dbanker]

I have the 1MZ-FE and plan on changing it every 5000-6000 miles, not every 25,000 miles. I'm going with the AMSOIL because of it's statistics and reputation. I'm also past the warranty period because I own a '99. I don't think I'll have to worry about gelling since I'll be changing the oil often and using a quality oil filter, not to mention the oil will be synthetic.

Like I said though, it depends on who you talk to and what their opinions are. I know you'd find people in the same field and race leagues who would have completely different opinions. It all depends on who you talk to and what their own biases are. However, synthetics have been proven to be better than petroleum based oils. I'm sure most people will tell you this. I plan on keeping a log and seeing whether or not I get better gas mileage or not with the AMSOIL. And I'll also see if there's any noticable performance improvement, although I very much doubt this. The main reason I'm going with it is on the basis of better gas mileage and longer engine life to do less wear & better protection (supposedly), among other things. So we'll see...

[ICUFG]

Thats cool keep us posted im curious, I agree with different people saying that some oil is better than others, I live here in the south and some of these hicks around here still swear up and down about "Marvel Mystery Oil".

[Missay]

they formulate their oil so it MUST be drained at those intervals so they can see their customers more often and therefore make more money

you know..i wouldn't be surprised if that was true. i remember learning in physics class in h.s. that we have the technology to make a light bulb that would last literally a lifetime, but they won't make them b/c then we wouldn't have to replace light bulbs every couple of years.

[Flipside909]

Just my thoughts on the topic....those Silverstars do look nice though. Are you running the DRL or did you disconnect them? I'm thinking about switching sometime to the Silverstars but if they burn out relatively quick I may not want to. What do you think?

My DRL's are disconnected...and Sylvania doesn't put out crap bulbs. I trust the sylvania name over Amsoil as far as reputation is concerned...not the products. I'm surprised you would rather take "lab" claims...over actual experiences of owners who have actually had proven results. But it's up to you on how you spend your money. We're only telling you what really works...not what an advertisment or company claims. I would never put synthetic in an engine with over 20k miles. Your valve seals and head gaskets are more prone to leaks from it on higher mileage cars. Good luck!

[ericatdallas]

Scientists don't usually make those claims, it's the marketing guys that do it and they do it by stretching the truth. For instance, the 25k mile claim might be made on an engine running 1000 miles nonstop, in a clean room, at a given temperature, etc. and the claim is based on the condition PREDICTED given that data. Very controlled conditions.

First you have to believe that lab conditions are SIMILAR to real world conditions and second that the prediction model is accurate.

Assuming that's the case, and that AMSOIL really will last 25,000 miles, then you have to rely on your filter. If your filter is defective or gets too dirty then you're going to run your engine off unfiltered oil for a very long time, which is a very VERY bad idea.

Btw, I've mentioned this before, but I've ran my car (not my solara) off dino for two years before my oil change. The engine was still going just fine when I got rid of it.

[ICUFG]

it's the marketing guys that do it and they do it by stretching the truth.

Amen!

[dbanker]

You guys crack me up! I was just saying synthetics have been proven many times over for their application and success. As for testimonials and actual experience with owners...I've spoken to many people who have used synthetics with tremendous success. Even individuals who have gone on the 25,000 mile drain intervals with regular oil filter changes and have vehicles with extremely high mileage on them. These are the individuals who first got me interested in AMSOIL and other synthetics. Not a "lab" claim. I never buy any product based on what the company claims it will do.
As for switching to sythetic past the 20k mile mark, I've talked to several people and have read up on this and it seems like it's OK. As for the engine seals leaking, I know this will happen if valve seals and gasket heads are not in good shape. However, I have plenty of confidence that my engine is still sound and running great (I hope, Toyota ). So this shouldn't be a problem. Especially with a much newer car and engine. Even AMSOIL states they do not recommend running their oils in non-mechanically sound engines.

Regardless of all this talk you all will swear and go by the oil you use just as others will theirs based on personal experience and information we've recieved. If we didn't we wouldn't have such strong opinions about the products we use and how we feel about them. Especially here where people actually care about their cars and are willing to invest extra time towards making what they feel is the right decision. (you can tell by looking at this forum

btw- You all see The Two Towers yet? Just saw it tonight and it was awesome... thanks for all the input too- I really enjoy hearing what other people/owners have to say other than mechanics I don't know and what company reps & ads have to say.

[ericatdallas]

btw- You all see The Two Towers yet? Just saw it tonight and it was awesome... thanks for all the input too- I really enjoy hearing what other people/owners have to say other than mechanics I don't know and what company reps & ads have to say.

Okay, that was totally random... I think there is a LoTR thread or one thousand in this forum already.

Anyway, I think, and have said this many times, do what the owner's manual tells you and you'll be okay. And the owner's manual recommends regular oil changes regardless of oil type.

[dbanker]

Thought you all would like to know I just changed the oil filter WITHOUT changing the oil and had little to no leakage. I have the V-6 1MZFE.

The car had been sitting in the garage for about a day so it had time to drain into the pan but the only leakage came from the oil filter which was very little. Then I flushed the engine with a cleaner so I could clean up any deposits that may be in there (I did this because I'm switching to synethic). I ran the flush with the old oil for about 20 minutes at fast idle and drained the oil. Then when I put on the new filter after the flush it did leak a little more but still not too much.

So it all went fine...you can change the filter with the oil still inside.

[ICUFG]

You will feel better now that you run synthetic, Good Job!