Oil Viscosity Question

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 07/17/2017 at 19:30 • Filed to: None

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The car is a 1989 Camry 4-cyl automatic with 240k miles. Runs great and I’ve replaced every part on the car at least once in the ten years and 100k miles I’ve been driving it.

It’s using some oil, however. Not a great deal, but enough that we need to keep an eye on it. No smoking that we’re aware of at cold start or under way. It’s due for an oil change. Should I switch to a 40- or 50-weight oil? Climate is very mild, so cold weather is not an issue.

Thoughts?

benjrblant > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 19:34

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What oil are you presently running in it? What constitutes “some”- are we talking 1qt every 3k or 1qt every 250 miles?

benjrblant > benjrblant 07/17/2017 at 19:36

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Also, can you determine if the oil is burning or just leaking out?

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 19:38

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You could try Rotella 10w-40 and see what happens. If it helps, great, if not, you aren’t out any money and it certainly won’t hurt anything.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > benjrblant 07/17/2017 at 19:52

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10W30.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > benjrblant 07/17/2017 at 19:52

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We don’t have a puddle.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Sovande 07/17/2017 at 20:25

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You like Rotella brand?

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 20:46

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That should be fine. My and many other people do exactly that on 90's Honda’s because the valve guides like to leak.

I don’t know about Toyotas. But for Hondas there’s not a specific weight you have to use. There’s multiple weights you can use, per the manual, at any given temperature. So it’ll be fine.

example

MyJeepGetsStuckInTheSnow > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 20:47

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I was losing synthetic oil on my 98 civic with 267k miles. Switched to Castrol high mileage full synthetic and the oil usage went away. Maybe try that first?

dropthatclutch > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 21:17

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If you’ve replaced every part on the car at least once is, then is it still a 1989? 

Sovande > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 21:39

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I do. I figure if it is good enough for the diesel engine in my boat it is plenty good in my small block and my Nissan 720. I run full synthetic in my Volvo (whatever 5w30 is on sale).

HammerheadFistpunch > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 22:11

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Valve guide seals. And no it won’t help.... Other than slow the amount of oil your engine gets on cold starts. Keep an eye on the level though, I have a 3sfe piston on my desk as evidence.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > HammerheadFistpunch 07/17/2017 at 22:32

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Will the high mileage oil help to swell the old seals?

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/17/2017 at 22:33

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would second trying high milage oil. same grade

jimz > Sovande 07/18/2017 at 03:51

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faulty assumption. there’s a reason the API has separate certifications for spark ignition (S*) and compression ignition (C*) engines. just because it’s “good enough” for your diesel boat doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for a gas engine in a car.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 05:51

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20w-50 is the way to go, if it continues, go 30-70

Sovande > jimz 07/18/2017 at 05:59

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I disagree, but whatever.

Sovande > Sovande 07/18/2017 at 07:53

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Thought I would expand a little. Rotella 10w-40 I mentioned above is a semi-synthetic and is rated for gasoline and diesel engines. It is also cheap and readily available. SM and SL compatible oils (such as the Rotella mentioned above) are fine with gasoline engines. You could go also use 15w-40 which is a conventional oil and still be fine. It is SM rated as well. Here is the oil rating chart on the API website: http://www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/eolcs-categories-and-documents/oil-categories#tab_gasoline

There are, of course, other options, I was just trying to relay what I would do with an old car that is showing oil consumption issues. Unless it is burning a ton of oil at which time I would simply by the cheapest oil I could possibly find and add it as needed.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time 07/18/2017 at 10:55

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Extremely rare that we see a day or a night below 20F.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MyJeepGetsStuckInTheSnow 07/18/2017 at 10:56

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That’s a thought, but I don’t want to pay for full synthetic in these old engines that have always had mineral. I’ll probably use a flavor of 40-wt.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > dropthatclutch 07/18/2017 at 10:57

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That is an excellent question. It’s like the guy who claimed to own George Washington’s hatchet which had had three new handles over the years and he’d just replaced the head.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jimz 07/18/2017 at 11:11

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I correspond with an Old Guy who has been building and racing engines, mostly GM straight-sixes, for 50 years or more. Posed with this same question, his reply was that he uses a 15/40 in his entire fleet, including his tractor and his lawn mower, and the cars in his fleet all have over 100k miles. Granted, that is pure anecdote.

But taking your remark into account, and having sufficient faith in the automotive engineers of the world, I will probably try using a full mineral 10W40 that’s spark-rated. That’s how I was leaning anyhow.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > HammerheadFistpunch 07/18/2017 at 11:13

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Yes, well I don’t think I’ve started my car below 30F in ten years. That said, I am leaning toward using a 10/40 conventional, in part, on the advice of an Old Guy...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/18/2017 at 11:14

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I have often wondered what the high-mileage oil does for a high-mileage engine.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/18/2017 at 11:14

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What does high-mileage oil do for the engine?

HammerheadFistpunch > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 11:51

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I mean cold start as in from rest, not ambient cold. Thicker oil is only going to increase wear on startup and make your oil pump work harder.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 12:56

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I know it helped a little with my old mans old town car that was creeping up on 200k, but it never eliminated the blue smoke. I think he actually tried Lucas treatment with some success.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 12:57

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I would lean towards a lower first number a 0w or 5w to get the oil through the engine quicker. But I could be wrong. I assume if you go too thin, or thick, for that matter, the oil pump and distribution throughout the engine may be affected.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > HammerheadFistpunch 07/18/2017 at 16:40

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Yes, I understand. Unless it’s a multigrade...

HammerheadFistpunch > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 16:44

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You can go for it, but I’ve had 2 3S-FE’s including an 89 camry and both had this issue and oil didn’t help me.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/18/2017 at 17:13

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I had Lucas suggested to me today, but I am not ready to do additives.

I have two quarter-million-mile Toyotas, a ‘91 Corolla and the ‘89 Camry. The Corolla blows smoke on cold start, which I am told, is probably valve guides. I might rebuild that engine, or replace it with one that has half the miles, but it runs great and returns about 35 mpg on the highway. I’ve been running straight SAE 30 in that car for a few years and I am leaning toward sticking with it.

The Camry, on the other hand, I think I am going to go to 10W40.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > HammerheadFistpunch 07/18/2017 at 17:14

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I’m not expecting any dramatic changes. I’ve been using 10W30 and I think I’m going to switch to 10W40.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 17:50

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Understood about not going the additive route. The high mileage oil might do the trick for you. Also, have you checked the intake for oil residue?Maybe check and clean up the pcv system as well. Could be oil being pulled out of the valve covers over time?  

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/18/2017 at 17:56

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I’ll have a look.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 18:53

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helps conditions seals, usually extra detetergents to prevent/reduce sluge build up and some have additional zinc content to help lubricate metal bits.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/18/2017 at 19:19

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Hmmm...

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/18/2017 at 19:58

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If you don’t trust doing a full switch. If you are nervious of switching, You could get 3 quarts of regular and one quark of high milage and see if that helps.