ARTICLE: Synthetic oil vs Mineral oil

[rakesh_r]

err does anyone from Mumbai know where i can purchase shell engine oil for my 98 carb zen.The shell station is going to shut down from 1st april.They are shifting to Pune

[sam003]

Yesterday I put Toyota recommended synthetic oil in my Innova, they say change period i.e 10K remain same. I would like to know from experts, is it really same? Then what's the point paying triple amount.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by sam003

Yesterday I put Toyota recommended synthetic oil in my Innova, they say change period i.e 10K remain same. I would like to know from experts, is it really same? Then what's the point paying triple amount.

Mineral oil is recommended to be changed at 5000kms, with synthetic you could 50% kms.

I thought the service period for the Toyota diesel cars is 5000kms while the petrol are 10,000?
How much did Toyota charge you for the oil?

My Fortuner is due for it's 1000km service this week- Should I switch to synthetic now itself?

[nick17s]

@ sahil: if you wish to you can, it wont hurt anything, but I'd suggest do that after your car is run 5000kms, as the oil is still new.

[sam003]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Mineral oil is recommended to be changed at 5000kms, with synthetic you could 50% kms.

I thought the service period for the Toyota diesel cars is 5000kms while the petrol are 10,000?
How much did Toyota charge you for the oil?

My Fortuner is due for it's 1000km service this week- Should I switch to synthetic now itself?

Service period is 5k, but they generally wash and do general checkups on 5,15,25,35... and 10,20,30 etc they do oil change and other things too.

They charge around Rs 670/ lt and total 7 lt it takes so 670*7. As off now I haven't seen any difference is driving, ya just felt like new oil.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sam003

Yesterday I put Toyota recommended synthetic oil in my Innova, they say change period i.e 10K remain same. I would like to know from experts, is it really same? Then what's the point paying triple amount.

You pay more for much better lubrication and protection that synth oil gives you. I saw the Toyota synth when I had my car's free service done in Oct 09. With 5W-40 API SM/CF specs, I felt it was more suited for petrol rather than diesel engines. Why? You get better API spec diesel engine oil in CH and possibly even CI or CJ. While SM is top slot for petrol engine oils.

If synthetic pricing pinches (as it will for most of us) go back to mineral and stick to the normal oil change schedule. Either way, never extend oil change intervals to justify the additional cost of synthetic.

Cheers!

[Twiny]

Originally Posted by sam003

They charge around Rs 670/ lt and total 7 lt it takes so 670*7. As off now I haven't seen any difference is driving, ya just felt like new oil.

7ltr for Innova oil change, true ?

[sam003]

Originally Posted by Twiny

7ltr for Innova oil change, true ?

Yes this is what I know, as they show 4ltr *1 and 1 ltr *3 in bill. so total 7 ltr oild required.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sahil

My Fortuner is due for it's 1000km service this week- Should I switch to synthetic now itself?

Best to switch after 10,000 kms. Over the initial coupla thousand kms, wear & tear is good.

[shreyasMAX]

Hello everyone!

My verna crdi is due for its 3rd service. Its done 18000km and i am planning to change the engine oil. I would like to know some things.

1) What grade?
2) Which brand is the best? Mobil delvac MX or delo 400 or some other which you all recommend.
3) Do i need to do flushing again, had done it after 10000km i.e for my 2nd service.

Present verna owners who have changed over to this can shed some light.

[Buffetfan]

I had changed over to Mobil One in my Baleno sometime ago. Wanted to have the toyota approved synthetic oil in my Innova Diesel for the 10k service. Ordered it but when I realised that they have to put in 7 litres and the drain interval remains at 10k kms, I shifted back to normal oil. Rs 5k extra per oil change, compared to the regular mineral oil, makes the deal very tough for the innova.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by shreyasMAX

Hello everyone!

My verna crdi is due for its 3rd service. Its done 18000km and i am planning to change the engine oil. I would like to know some things.

1) What grade?
2) Which brand is the best? Mobil delvac MX or delo 400 or some other which you all recommend.
3) Do i need to do flushing again, had done it after 10000km i.e for my 2nd service.

Present verna owners who have changed over to this can shed some light.

Mobil Delvac MX is pretty good mineral oil - stick to 5000 KM oil change intervals. If you can find it, Mobil Delvac 1 is a good synthetic choice - if you choose any other synthetic, ensure it is API-CI4 rated or higher, oil change intervals should not exceed 75000~10000 even on synthetics. The recommended grade for most common uses is 15W40, but check the user manual and find which grade best suites your ambient temperature of application.

You need not have flushed at 10000 KM, and do not flush now either - flushes are not required unless the engine has clocked a lot of KM - I'd say 50k+ or even more. Too frequent a flush can actually cause more damage than good.

[sam003]

I am not sure which synthetic oil toyota put in my Innova. But frankly now I have experienced the difference. Engine response has improved(specially pickup), seems more refine then before. Mileage improved by 1km as off now. Does this true with change of synthetic oil or I am feeling like that (due to high cost which I have incurred )

[Twiny]

Yes smoothness, refinement can be easily felt when shifting to Synthetic oil.. that is why I am also sticking to synthetic.

[sgiitk]

We tend to attribute a lot of smoothness etc. to the new oil, while it is the general tightening, etc during service.