2GR-FE High Mileage Switch to Synthetic

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Hello BITOGers

I used to read this board religiously, but switched our cars to EVs over the past 5 years and thus I have been away from this place for awhile. We're switching out our extra third car to an 07 RX350 with the 2GR-FE engine. Going through the records the PO provided, throughout the 166k engine life, it has received mostly Toyota bulk 5w20 oil at the toyota dealership, and recently some shop's synblend 5w30. Motor does not appear to burn any oil, could not see any oil leaks, engine and underside looks clean.

Since this is the third car and mileage will not be put on at a fast rate, plus the fact that the 2GR-FE is known to be a pretty resilient motor, I don't really care what oil I put in. But here's the rub - I had stocked up on a ton of BMW LL01 oils from my prior car, and I would love to use it. I'm talking like 25 qts of the good stuff - PUP, PPEuro, the magical elvish elixir known as German Castrol 0w-30, and a random old case of M1 5w30.

I've had a pretty bad experience in the past of switching an e36 m3 that had been dino oil all its life to synthetic at 200k. I was chasing oil leaks left and right at that point. Given that, I'm tempted to not rock the boat and just keep on keeping on with dino on the RX. But, I've got all this good synthetic doing a whole lot of nothing, so I'm also tempted to just run the good stuff since I got it. But with a newborn and a toddler, I just don't have any time whatsoever to be chasing down oil leaks and replacing engine seals.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Create your own syn blends or sell the good stuff to a neighbor/Craigslist and use a SuperTech, Havoline, QS, PYB, Supreme dino. (fwiw, hard to find a true 100% pcmo dino these days.. most are a blend of some percentage)
 
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Keep using the dino! If that timing cover starts leaking at the top left corner, it's an expensive fix and a known problem.
 
I've switched from dino or unknown oil to synthetic up to 125,000 miles. Got some seepage around the rear main seal, but that dried up after around 3500 miles.

I'd expect the same or better from your Lexus.
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
I've switched from dino or unknown oil to synthetic up to 125,000 miles. Got some seepage around the rear main seal, but that dried up after around 3500 miles.

I'd expect the same or better from your Lexus.

There's an explanation for why that happens (sometimes) and why it "dried up".

If you're interested...👇

Amsoil Blog
 
I'd use that oil no problem. Two 2gr-fes in the family, the oldest is 2008, now at 173000kms, seen both dyno and syn. Been running for some time now on various mixes including but not limited to Nulon Long Life, Valvoline Synpower, Castrol Edge, Shell Helix Ultra. 5w30, 10w30 or 5w40, whatever I can grab from the stash on the day. It's more important to service them regularly, they tend to sludge up if you skip the oil changes, but if you don't they're pretty reliable. Worth checking the vvti oil line, on the early models they were made of cr4p rubber and would burst unexpectedly causing oil starvation in seconds.
 
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Thanks for all the advice.

I think since I don't know how long I'll keep the car, I'd rather not poke the hornet's nest, even if the hornet's nest is a figment of my imagination.

At the end of the day, the biggest driver for me to switch to synthetic is my large supply of synthetic and no car to use it on. And that supply was not that much cost to begin with since it was mostly purchased via Autozone's year end clearance (do they still do that?! man those were fun days checking all the local AZs)

I may add in one quart of syn to a jug of dino to make my own "blend" but otherwise I'll keep on using dino. The motor doesnt burn any oil and doesn't leak, and it's known to be a solid motor that doesn't sludge or have oil passage issues so why bother.

I think I'll do the same with the tranny fluid - no record of any changes even though it was serviced regularly at the dealer. Current fluid looks dark grey, definitely not pink. I told my parents to change their fluid at 120k for their 99 camry 4cyl, immediately after the shop changed the fluid (flushed or drain and fill I'm not sure), the tranny gave out. It had been shifting perfectly fine up until then, but the fluid was dark and smelled burnt. So to me, it's not an old wive's tale for either the tranny fluid or high mileage dino to syn switch. I've personally experienced both old wives tales and it just doesn't seem worth it to me to risk it again, especially since I'm not sure how long I'll keep this car.
 
I have the same engine. It's going strong still at over 170k

Here's my UOA

I've switched from HM to Regular Dino and now using Castrol 5W-30 A3/B4 LL-01 oil.

Plan on using Delo 15W-40 dino next CK/SN
 
Changed my Corolla over to full synthetic at 60K miles. I never leaked a drop. When I first switch over I started the full synthetic with PUP.
If you get a leak its going to be one that would have showed up soon anyway. I've also switched back and forth using HM still no issues.
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Changed my Corolla over to full synthetic at 60K miles. I never leaked a drop. When I first switch over I started the full synthetic with PUP.
If you get a leak its going to be one that would have showed up soon anyway. I've also switched back and forth using HM still no issues.

Right. You were on borrowed time to begin with.. now one could argue that "borrowed" time could be another 50k miles..or not. My take is I'd rather have a leak become known to me on MY schedule when I'm in a position to do something about it, not down the road when it could blow out and leave me stranded roadside with a shot engine (like with a rear main).

That said, there's no one size fits all rule IMO..if the thought of switching over to a full syn scares you - don't switch. Maybe a nice middle ground for ya is a HiMi syn blend w/extra seal conditioners... there are UOA's in the sub forum of syn blends doing 6k+ mile oci's. Nothing wrong with that in my book...
 
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