5w40 in a 1ZZFE ?

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pbm

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A family member has a 2004 Corolla with nearly 200K which uses about a quart of oil over the 5 or 6K OCI he runs.
I have some Mobil 1 TDT SL 5w40 that I bought on CLEARANCE and wondered if this is too thick for a NY winter in this vehicle?
I'm thinking that it would do some cleaning of the ring area as well...thoughts?
 
Originally Posted By: pbm
A family member has a 2004 Corolla with nearly 200K which uses about a quart of oil over the 5 or 6K OCI he runs.
I have some Mobil 1 TDT SL 5w40 that I bought on CLEARANCE and wondered if this is too thick for a NY winter in this vehicle?
I'm thinking that it would do some cleaning of the ring area as well...thoughts?


The Mobil 1 is a synthetic and if it was on clearance then it was an especially good deal (clearance indicates an oil is not desired by the general buying public of that store, as in they chose to buy something else and bought very low quantities of itm usually.) I think you can use it (up) before switching to something else.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
I'd be curious to hear opinions on this myself. My wife's 2002 is an oil-eater also.


I would not classify an engine that uses one quart of oil in 5 or 6 thousand miles as an oil-eater. How much does your wife's car use?
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
I'd be curious to hear opinions on this myself. My wife's 2002 is an oil-eater also.



From what I've read the early 1ZZFE's in the pre-2003 Corolla's used a lot of oil because of the ring design and poor oil drain back hole design (?). Toyota had corrected the issue for the 9th generation Corolla (2003-2008).

I'm trying to get opinions on the cold start ability of this diesel (HDMO) 5w40 in lower tier NY state (where single digits would be the low and teens the norm over the winter).

Thanks...
 
One QT every 5 or 6 K is not an oil-eater. That's excellent for a car with 200K (my Toyota truck LEAKS 1 QT every 2K...but adding oil is a lot easier than pulling the transfer case & transmission to replace the RMS).

I would save the TDT for next summer. It's relatively cold in NY...and even with 200K on your car, it's got good clearances, or it would be eating oil. 5W30 is fine. Your engine is after the "dirty ring" years...but if you're worried about it, any good synthetic will help...I am a Pennzoil Ultra fan after seeing how clean the internals on my wife's XC are at 161,000.

I got a bunch of the M1 5W40 TDT on Clearance as well...and I am using it in the VA summers, in only those cars that spec a 5W40 for high speed driving (OK, we don't drive high speed, but it's an allowed viscosity). Wife's XC will get the PU 5W30 (that I just got on clearance also) for the winter...

Our 2006 Corolla ONLY gets 5W30.
 
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I have a 2005 Corolla with 121K burns no oil, I'm running German castrol with no issues, a Thick thirty weight might be a better choice, although, 5w40 won't hurt.
 
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Originally Posted By: Troy
I have a 2005 Corolla with 121K burns no oil, I'm running German castrol with no issues, a Thick thirty weight might be a better choice, although, 5w40 won't hurt.


Yes, go for it, use up the 5W-40 you got on clearance.
 
Thanks for the good answers......I may use up the 5w40 in the summer mixed with 0 or 5w20 M1 to 'create' a 5w30 blend.
 
Originally Posted By: 1999nick
I would not classify an engine that uses one quart of oil in 5 or 6 thousand miles as an oil-eater. How much does your wife's car use?

About a quart of dino every 2k miles.

I've heard that synthetic 5w-30 just makes the problem seem more prevalent and that 5w-40 helps the consumption a bit. I'm curious if a synthetic 5w-40 known for being a good cleaner will be my best bet for cleaning out the oil return holes since I have no intention of tearing into it to fix the rings.
 
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