1997 Toyota 4Runner 3.4L

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Newbie here. LOTS of info on this site and LOTS of opinions. Looking for some help on my 1997 4Runner 4x4 3.4L v6 5spd. I bought it 2 years ago with 152,XXX miles and am now at 199,XXX. I change the oil every 3k-5k miles (average 4k OCI)...been using only high mileage Dino oil (GTX HM, Pennz HM, Valvoline HM, etc...mostly GTX HM though) and Fram filters. I've seen the disections on Frams and will quit using them next time I change the oil. My driving is probably 50/50 hwy and city. I live in Texas.

1) I hear lots of people on this site to stay with 5k OCI's and stick with dino oil if no problems exist, while others here seem to insist on switching to Synthetics. Should I be using Synthetics on this car? And if so, what would that increase the OCI to?

2) Am I wasting money on HM oils? I currently have a valve cover gasket leak, but I'll be fixing that this weekend. Since this car has almost 200k miles on it, I didn't know if I should be putting the cheap stuff in it to keep my maintenance costs down, or if that would nullify some of the life of this vehicle.

3) I changed the oil this past weekend and have a sample for UOA. How do I go about doing this?

4) Would a different weight oil improve fuel economy?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Well the engine lasted 200,000 miles running dino oil why change ? See what the inside looks like when you change the valve cover gasket.
 
1.) Switching to a synthetic is entirely up to you. It will live on dino, but a good synthetic my clean things up a bit.

2.) Does it use oil on a non-HM oil? Does this engine use any oil?

3.) If you want to use Blackstone, you can send off for a UOA sample kit (it's free). It comes with a sample bottle and shipping container.

4.) What weight are you using now?
 
1. 5000 is fine
2. I would stick with the HM oils but one brand Maxlife is my fav
3. UOA on a motor with 200k? Why?
4. thinner viscosity will give you minimal MPG increase not worth it IMO

I would use Maxlife syn blend Napa gold filter and call it good
 
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT

1.) Switching to a synthetic is entirely up to you. It will live on dino, but a good synthetic my clean things up a bit.

2.) Does it use oil on a non-HM oil? Does this engine use any oil?

4.) What weight are you using now?


1. Will switching to a synthetic increase my OCI at all?

2. The engine does not use, but the valve cover gasket leaks a little more with non-HM oil. I'm not really biased towards any one brand, but I will say that the Castrol GTX HM DEFINITELY leaks out less than the others. I still buy whatever is on sale amongst the name-brand, HM dino oils.

4. I go by the owners manual: 5W-30
 
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