New guy looking for oil opinions for my Tacoma V6

[corrado007]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Looking for an oil recommendation? The BITOG community would love to help you find a good oil for YOUR vehicle and YOUR habits.



Hello everyone. I’ve been checking out this forum over the past week after stumbling across it while researching Rotella T synthetic 5W40 oil. This seems to be a pretty technical forum with some really bright people who know way more than I thought enthusiasts would know about oil so it seems to be a perfect place to ask a question.

Following the “there is no best oil!” thread instructions I’ll tell you about my vehicle & what I’d like to learn.

I would like to know if it would be beneficial to switch the oil in my Toyota Tacoma to Rotella T synthetic 5W40 as I have done in my motorcycles (entirely different application). I currently use Mobil 1 synthetic 5W30 or 5W30 Truck & SUV and change the oil and filter every 5k miles or so.

The Mobil 1 is about $22 for 5 qts at Wal-mart and the Rotella T synthetic is about $24 if I buy 2 gallons and spread the second over 4 oil changes to make up the 5th quart that my Tacoma needs.

1) 1998 Toyota Tacoma 3.4L V-6 4x4 manual transmission w/ ~130k miles

2) The shop manual says it needs API grade SH or SJ energy conserving oil and suggests 5W30 or 10W30 for temps above zero degrees F.

3) I live in Sacramento, Ca. and the outside temperature range is about 28-110 degrees F.

4) I’d say my driving style is fairly average, maybe leaning toward harder driving but not crazy although I do tend to drive maybe 5-10mph over the limit.

5) My daily drive is typically 5 min of in town to the freeway, then 10 min on the freeway and maybe another 5 miles once off the freeway to my destination. I also use it to go on trips camping or to the snow in the Sierras a few times a year.

6) The truck doesn’t have any known problems, doesn’t seem to consume any noticeable amount of oil, and doesn’t leak oil (no oil spots in the driveway).

Oh, and I used to use Mobil 1 filters but have just switched to Pure One after reading several great comparison/review threads.

Thanks

 

[Boomer]

I see no reason to change away from the Mobil 1 oil you are using. It has been performing well and will definitely keep the internals of that engine nice and clean. If you want, use the Mobil 1 5W-30 EP.e it in my Frontier and am very pleased with it.

 

[bepperb]

There are two differences between the Rotella and what you're using. The viscosity and the ZDDP levels in the oil. Neither will have a very big impact on the longevity, driveability or really anything else since you're in a pretty mild climate and probably don't get great gas mileage anyway. You could stick with what got you here, or if it helps to only stock one oil and that would be Rotella that would work as well. Little difference between the two in this app... my two cents.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Welcome to the site! Just wanted to say that the V6 Tacoma engines are very easy on oil and the engine will outlast the body with any SM-rated oil you choose. Your climate range seems like 5W-40 would work fine if you so desire. Rotella T Synthetic is a very good oil, as is their regular Rotella T (I like the 10W-30 myself...)

 

[ChiTDI]

Welcome to BITOG.
Your choice of Rotella isn't energy conserving as the service manual states. However that oil has been used successfully in many applications. Search the Used Oil Analysis forums and you'll see.
My two cents would be the M1 EP as Boomer stated. Seems like Toyota and M1 go together well.

 

[corrado007]

Wow, you guys are quick!
I'm a member of numerous forums that cover various hobbies of mine and this is by far the quickest response I've ever had from so many people. Thank you for your suggestions.
As bepperb stated, stocking only one oil was one of the reasons I was looking into switching to Rotella T synthetic for my truck. Really not a big deal though, it will actually be easier to just get one 5qt jug of M1 each time rather than having to keep the extra jug of Rotella on hand since it only comes in 4qt containers here.

So, since it seems that either one would be just fine but sticking with M1 was the more favored approach suggested, what thoughts do you guys have as to which M1 I should use?

As I recall, these are the ones available at my Wal-mart:
Regular synthetic 5W30 $22
Truck & SUV synthetic 5W30 $22
High Mileage synthetic 10W30 $22
Extended Performance 5W30 $26

Thanks again everyone

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
I see no reason to change away from the Mobil 1 oil you are using. It has been performing well and will definitely keep the internals of that engine nice and clean. If you want, use the Mobil 1 5W-30 EP.e it in my Frontier and am very pleased with it.


+1. M1 will give you 10,000+ mile OCIs, with clean and long lived engines. I change the EP oil out at 10,000 miles bt the regular M1 will do that as well.

 

[SargeBB]

I would use the Mobil 1 5W-30 of your choice. The Pure 1 filter is a good selection. My work car is a 14 year old 3.0L V-6 Camry which I bought new. I use M-1 and it now has a quarter million miles on it. I go 6,000 to 7,000 miles between oil & filter changes and it doesn't use a cup-full of oil between changes. These Toyota engines are long-lived rascals!

 

[bepperb]

Regular synthetic 5W30 $22
Truck & SUV synthetic 5W30 $22

These two are basically the same thing in your climate.

High Mileage synthetic 10W30 $22

If you don't have any leaks or oil consumption issues, I'd stick with a 5-30.

Extended Performance 5W30 $26

This really is a bit better than the non-ep M1, but there's probably little difference under 10,000 miles.

 

[corrado007]

Alright, that makes sense to me. I'd agree that I don't need the HM oil since I don't have any noticeable oil consumption.

As for the EP, if there's little difference under 10k miles I'll stay away from it since it costs more and I can't bring myself to let my oil go for more than 5-6k miles any way before changing it.

That leaves me with the standard synthetic or the synthetic Truck & SUV. These two are the same cost so I figure I may as well go for the Truck & SUV since from what I understand based on Mobil's website, it's better if I end up towing or putting a heavy load on the engine.

Thanks very much guys. I think I'll likely put a link to this thread on a Tacoma forum or two since I really didn't find much on oils when searching those forums. Hopefully your oil expertise can benefit a few more Tacoma guys too.