Oil weight

Gjen71

Gjen71

Member
Hello,
I have a question for everybody. I have a 2005 Tacoma with 180,000 miles. I do oil changes on my own, and I have stuck by the manual using 5W 30 which is recommended by Toyota. Lately I've noticed about 300to 400 miles into a new oil change, the oil level has dropped significantly. It usually gets to the point where I'm adding 2 to 3 quarts before it's time to change the oil again. I'm lucky if I get 3000 miles before I have to completely change the oil again. My question would be, should I go to a thicker viscosity oil weight? I'm in Southern California so the temperatures never get cold, but it does get warm in the summer. Thanks in advance.
 
Gjen71 said:
Hello,
I have a question for everybody. I have a 2005 Tacoma with 180,000 miles. I do oil changes on my own, and I have stuck by the manual using 5W 30 which is recommended by Toyota. Lately I've noticed about 300to 400 miles into a new oil change, the oil level has dropped significantly. It usually gets to the point where I'm adding 2 to 3 quarts before it's time to change the oil again. I'm lucky if I get 3000 miles before I have to completely change the oil again. My question would be, should I go to a thicker viscosity oil weight? I'm in Southern California so the temperatures never get cold, but it does get warm in the summer. Thanks in advance.
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Do you have a visible leak or leaks? That's a lot of oil to be missing with no visual signs. I'd try to figure out where your oil is going. Bad seal/gasket somewhere? Welcome to the forum.
 
High mileage motors can go 5000 miles with no burn .
You said two things that contradict - - At 300 to 400 miles a significant drop.
But the consensus is - at the 3000 mile oil change interval you have used 2 to 3 quarts .
A quart every 1000 miles is an amount kinda consider normal , Yet no question it's normal also to have a motor
go 5000 miles with none to very little consumption . If you have no visible blue smoke / leaks & truck runs nice
I'd not give much concern . You will need be diligent with checking level as that is your trucks temperament
Naturally we all want our auto's to be perfect . So what is perfect ? if you truck starts , runs nice ,but consumes a bit of oil every 1000 miles thats really not an issue .
I'v had many auto's and yes we all marvel at the motor that consumes Zero oil , but the motors that use some oil are fine also cause you get a chance to tinker and see hows she's doing before the 3000 mile oil change . Motors that have a fresh quart put in as needed have fresher oil than the motor that burn's none by 3000 miles
I take my V-6 4.0 to 5000 miles using a 5w30 synthetic with minimal burn if any .
You can experiment with different weights , I like synthetic Mobil one & they make 10w40 20w50 10w30 5w30 & others
I've also heard of good results with the conventional STP Oil
some also like to use the additive STP buts thats another story
STP make's great oil, or you could try the high mileage oils from other companys
Since you live in a warm temperate area conventional is a fine choice
The reason's I like synthetic is when it's time to change at the 5000 mark I don't worry if I put on a few hundred extra miles , also it gets to zero and below , thats where synthetic's beat Conventional hands down .
 
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If you change every 3000 (give or take) & you're adding that much oil with no visible leaks between changes , thats unacceptable even if otherwise running ok I'd do a comp. check to rule out oil blowing past seals in heads or stuck rings, & if it's not apparent with usual oil burning smoke/smell its gotta be an internal leak of some sort...
 
I have used stop leak on a few old toyota pickups that did the same thing it slowed it down but didn't stop it. I also sold them not to long after. I don't usually recommend those additives. It's best to find and fix the problem but for less than $20 it helped short term. Blue devil stop leak is a good one.
 
My Taco is at about 228,000 and there seems to be a beyond ability compared to other auto's
The term - is some motors USE OIL
motors that USE OIL still out last the rest of truck or car .
Progression is the real question if your truck uses 1 qt per 1000 now and 3 years from now
then you'll look back and say why did I ever worry.
Here"s an old story - I have a friend that in the 1990's he picked up a used Mitsubishi silent shaft 2.0
it had an on going cam shaft leak . I used to give him my old oil
With the leak he had the Mitsubishi 10 years & at 15 years the motor ran as usual
but frame was all rusted .
 
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