jem1660

What all goes into making the switch to fully synthetic oil? And an even more newb question: anyone care to give an explanation between regular and synthetic, in layman's terms?

ALarsh

Nothing goes into switching to full synthetic besides purchasing it at the store, draining your old oil and putting in fully synthetic oil.

It is my understanding that synthetic oil is better for your engine in terms of protection. I believe it makes it idle smoother, get better gas mileage, accelerate better, run at higher rpms more efficiently. Generally just better, cleaner and more optimal for your engine. I was reading some posts and someone was proclaiming that if an engine for some reason was drained of its oil and continued to run down the road, the engine that previously had conventional oil in it would self destruct much faster than the engine that previously had synthetic oil in it. I do not know the validity of these comments but it is what I have read over time. It comes stock in high performance sports cars, so it must be good?

jem1660

Great info, thanks ALarsh

03 ES

I use mobil 1 5w-30 full synthetic with a toyota filter every 3-5k.

97'ES

I go 7.5k on Mobil One EP and a Mobil one filter. Been doing that for 60 thousand miles, bout 3 years. All is well. I know people who do 12k on this oil and filter combo. The advantage to Synthetic is that the molecules are arranged uniformely unlike dino oil. It gets in smaller spaces more efficiently(flows better) and dissipates heat much, much better. The reason people say you feel a difference in the smoothness of the engine and a slight increase in gas mileage is the direct reduction in friction or metal to metal contact if you will. This combined with a superior package of additives to clean and maintain protection equals an expensive but far superior oil. This does not apply to all synthetics either. Use Mobil One, preferably the extended performance, it has more of the additives that make regular mobil one so good. For another 3 or 4 bucks why not? Amsoil is also just as good if not better. Avoid valvoline, pennzoil, quaker state,etc. etc. It's not worth the savings. Valvoline continually scores near the bottom of industry tests. Castrol is also highly overrated imho. The have that new "edge" that they claim to have 7x better wear protection then m1. That silly ****** makes me laugh. It's garbage. btw I wouldn't personally go 12k on any oil just because of condensation (diluting the oil) and contamination over time from an older high mileage engine. On a side note, has anyone been using the full synthetic M1 ATF for an extended period of time? I'd really like to make the switch without a flush and am a little concerned about it's compatability with conventional atf among other things.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Even with Fully Synthetic oil they become dirty at 3k. I would recommend at 4k for synthetic. The cleaner you drive, the better. Everytime you change the oil, you get a good vibe out of it.

ALarsh

Good post 97'ES. For the 97 300's they recommend just a Dexron III/IV so that is what I used in the transmission. I'm not sure if we should/can go up to a synthetic oil for the transmission?

97'ES

Thanks. On the back of the M1 Synthetic ATF it says it exceeds dexron 6 iirc. The car calls for dexron 3 or better, so theoretically it should be fine. I just have a concern with the compatibility of the conventional dex 3 I have in there. They claim it is compatible with all ATF's conventional or not but I was just wondering if anyone had first hand experience with the stuff. Also pointing to my original post, If I had the money and time I would change the M1 EP every 3k, as unnecessary as it would be.

Lexusfreak

I've used both M1 synthetic ATF & Amsoil synthetic ATF over the years......I found that the Amsoil outperformed the M1 especially in the shift quality of the tranny.....you can just feel it's a better overall fluid. Fantastic performance in extreme cold temps too. I swear by the stuff.

Many are hesitant to use anything but Toyota Type IV fluid (which is not synthetic) but Amsoil meets & exceeds all of the requirements of the Type IV specs. I'll be doing a 'drain & fill' on both my vehicles (including the Wife's 2003 Subaru Forester) in the fall as a matter of fact.

Oh & it's awesome for your power steering too.

More info on the Amsoil here...

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/atf.aspx

03 ES

Thanks LexusFreak....im now thinking of switching my ES over to the amsoil because ive been running T-IV since ive owned it and ive always been thinking of using a syntheic ATF fluid but i was always timid to use anything but oem toyota fluid

Lexusfreak

Been using it for years Cor......it's great stuff....you will be pleased with it's performance.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

It's rather stick with OEM or go with AMSOIL

ALarsh

When I changed my transmission fluid I did a drain and fill with a Dexron IV Napa ATF fluid that i'm not all that impressed with.

Lexusfreak - When you switched over to Amsoil in the transmission, did you do just a drain and fill? Is it okay for there to be roughly 1/2 Amsoil synthetic and 1/2 conventional Dexron IV in there? I know each Dexron supersedes the previous, but I would like to know if there are any consequences or incompatibilities to the two fluids working together?

Lexusfreak

I simply do 'drain & fills'.....Amsoil ATF is compatible with Toyota Type IV fluids so there are no consequences or risks making the switch.