Anyone Running Synthetic Oil in a '09-'10 1.8L?

[Zimm]

I'd really like to switch my '10 to the good stuff, but am having an absolutely miserable time finding an oil/filter combination to go with. I was hoping some of you might have already made the change and can fill me in (there are soooo many sinppets of conversations in other threads. I've read a ton of them, but could never get exactly what I'm looking for.My first problem is that I'm having an absolutely miserable time finding an extended life filter. No one seems to have one to fit this engine, and I've spent a couple of hours looking...My second problem is that not all synthetic oils are available in 5w or 0w-20. I really wanted to go with Castrol Edge, but it's only available in 5w-30 or less similarly incorrect viscosities. Looks like Mobil1 and Valvoline's synthetic are available in 5w-20, but don't seem to be available at big-box stores at this viscosity. Are you finding it anywhere?Thanks for any tips you have. I've already spent far too much time just trying to do the right thing for my car before it gets too much wear on it (6,000 mi and counting...) and am getting nowhere except frustrated!

[vibedrivermatt]

Really doing the oil changes yourself is the only practical way to use synthetic oil in your car. Although you could just change with conventional and save even more cash. That's a whole debate I wont even get into. A lot of people say the engine wears just as well with conventional. tips? read the maintenance schedule in your owners manual.oil? doesn't matter any of those synthetic oil brands you see on the shelf will do fine. One time I picked one just because the bottle looked cool and had pictures of nascar guys on it. It was quaker state Q horsepower. Now Im a mobile1 person. I dunno the stuff just has a nice shade of yellow to it.. that's why I like itfilter? go to an auto parts store such as a NAPA or Car Quest to get it. They will sell you an oem spec filter. I wouldn't use a fram filter from walmart because I've heard they're crap. Buying oil from walmart is a different story. They seem to carry a lot of name brand synthetic oils at prices wayy better than parts stores. ehhh support the evil corporation at your own discretion. pick yourself up one of those plastic oil drain pan/container things if you don't have one already. ramps are a handy thing to have too. you should put a good 10000 miles on your car before doing that switch to synthetic. During this time when you have conventional oil in you motor you should drive it like a bat out of hell. (or just do some hard accelerating sometimes when its safe to do so of course). You wanna seat you piston rings or so I'm told.when doing your switch to synthetic do two back to back changes. When you choose your oil buy extra. Change oil and filter once then drive for 100 miles. Then change oil and filter again to that same one you used the first time. You will then have mostly only that type of oil in your engine. you should use the 5W-20 that's specified in the owners manual. There's the 0w-20 that you could also use. Some people say there's no reason why we shouldn't use the super thin 0W-20 because its safe to run in our cars. Maybe you'll get an extra mile per gallon with that stuff or use it if you live in arctic tundra. Good luck have fun. just do some searches on genvibe and you'll find plenty more on how to do it right.not sure about those extended life oil filters for your 1.8 because your using cartridge type. My 2.4 uses a canister type and when I've gone to pick one up, some parts stores have offered two kinds, a regular and premium. I get the premium one. When you use synthetic with an oem spec filter you could change every 5000 miles but I bet you could go a lot further between oil changes too.

[Old Tele man]

...our local Firestone/Bridgestone tire dealership uses Kendall full sysnthetic 5W-20 but it costs more than their normal $29.99 oil & filter change.

[j42.snyder]

First of all, I'm going to assume you've at least done one "regular" oil change in this 6,000 miles - right? More important that "what's" used is how often.I doubt you're going to have much luck finding a "premium" type of cartridge filter. I used to do oil changes for my brother when he had a GM Ecotec with the cartridge - and I never saw anything other than the "standard" replacement. I have the 2.4 so I haven't had the need to look for the one for yours.On a new engine, you're not likely to be plugging up an oil filter very quickly. Fuel delivery is very accurate now - and as long as the air filter is of decent quality (the factory style should be sufficient), oil contamination shouldn't be much of an issue.Regardless of oil used - I wouldn't push change intervals much while under warranty. In the unlikely event that something DID go wrong - you don't want them to be able to point any fingers at you. Any filter should suffice for 5,000 mile intervals.I'm also a bit skeptical these days as to exactly how much difference there is between many "conventional" and "synthetic" oils. Any new 5W20 conventional will likely use a group 2+ base oil. Considering how open the description of "synthetic" is since 1997, even that stuff may possibly qualify itself. I'm sure they wouldn't dare label it that way though - or you'll get people who simply won't use it because they somehow feel that using synthetics can be "bad" - and the oil companies wouldn't be able to charge a premium for the "good" stuff anymore. I'm sure there must be "some" difference - but is it really meaningful?I will admit that since my Vibe's second oil change - it's only seen "synthetic" - but mainly because I managed to get some for virtually the same price as conventional typically sells for here. I still stick to the recommended change interval for warranty. I'm not too concerned about what I run for filters - although I've come to prefer ones made by Wix. Here in Canada it's hard to find anything other than Fram or Wix (Carquest, NAPA) that's readily available. Prices seem to be on the increase lately too.Once my current stash of synthetic is depleted I'll probably go back to using a name brand 5W20 conventional again. I noticed that Costco sells Castrol GTX at a very reasonable price here - and it meets all of Ford and Honda's requirements (quite stringent). The stuff I'm running now is a Canadian only product - a house brand of Canadian Tire made by Shell. The only name brand syn's I've seen around here in 5W20 are Mobil 1 and Quaker State. Last I looked M1 was over $9/quart here - not worth it IMHO for our applications.If you're looking for a 0W20 - you may try the Toyota dealer. I've heard they sell it quite reasonably around here - although I've never inquired. I've got about a 1.5 year stash going already - so I'm not shopping too much right now. When the 4.4L jugs were on for $18 I couldn't resist...I'm sure that if you stick with a good name conventional 5W20, and change it when you should, you're not likely to run into any wear issues for a very long time. The only Toyota's I've seen "wear out" around here have been severely neglected for some time. Usually the engine outlasts the rest of the car. Just make sure you get that filter and housing in there right! I seem to remember hearing a horror story a number of months ago on here about one that didn't go so well for someone.John

[jake75]

I think I saw Mobil 1 5w20 5 qt package for about $22 at Walmart here.

[star_deceiver]

I've been using mobil 1 since the first change at 500kms. Since then I've changed the oil every 8000kms with mobil 1 5w20, I'd use 0w20 but I have yet to see it sold in any store here. The last oil change I did i used PP 5w-20 because it was on sale.I try to buy oil in the states whenever I'm there, as it's usually half the price, even when comparing Canadian to US Walmarx prices!Walmarx here just got Castrol edge... $50 for 4.XX litre jug after taxes(ouch my wallet), mobil 1's $43, they don't sell PP in 5w20 here (5w30's around $39)... The jug of 5w20 PP I bought at the Walmarx in Tulalip (north of Seattle) cost $22...

[mistertwo]

WALMART.... /thread

[star_deceiver]

Always corprate greed... AlwaysStill... synth oil's cheaper there (usually)!

Attached files

[Zimm]

thanks for the input guys. i'm not in a rush to switch to synthetic, but will probably do it either this coming change or next (fwiw, i got my first change at 3,500mi), and am planning the next in about a month at 7,000. if i go conventional next time, that would set me up to switch to synthetic late summer/early fall at around 10,000 miles.i only put about 10-12,000 a year on my car, so that would equate to about 1 synthetic change per year. i can live with that!if castrol won't make edge in 5w-20, i'm ok with M1. i guess the hard part will be finding the extended life filter if i plan to go 10,000 or more between changes. if anyone finds a product/source, please let me know!!!

[j42.snyder]

If you really want to run extended intervals - you should consider getting an oil analysis done after the 5,000 miles to be sure everything's fine - and then again after 10,000 to see how it did for future reference. At least then you'd be sure that your "plan" is beneficial for the car. There are a lot of variables other than just mileage that determine when it should be changed. Ambient temperatures, length of trips, driving style, etc. No two people log 10,000 miles exactly the same way. Too bad GM hadn't managed to specify their oil life monitor into our cars. I don't know why Toyota seems to be resistant to that idea. Honda's been doing it on all of their models for a few years now - and owners like it from ones I've talked to.Obviously oil analysis and synthetic oil aren't cheap - and there's still your possible issue of only finding a "standard" oil filter. I still feel you'd be doing it more good using a decent "conventional" 5W20 twice a year versus once for a synthetic - and it'd probably be cheaper too.Your idea for using the synthetic is likely fine - but you'd need to see a UOA report to KNOW for sure. I still doubt that would be very helpful if a warranty issue arose though. For the small cost while under warranty - I'm sticking with the factory recommendations. It's my first "import" of sorts - and although the reputation seems impressive - I haven't had it prove itself to me long enough to freely say "anything goes". After a few hundred thousand km, I may think differently - we'll see - hopefully!John

[star_deceiver]

Found this: http://www.trdparts4u.com/scri...26829

[Zimm]

crap-wish i'd seen that before i hit autozone today.