Timing Of Initial Oil Change To Synthetic In New Vehicle

[fireant911]

I am soliciting opinions from knowledgeable people regarding when to switch over to synthetic oil in a new vehicle. I recently purchased a Toyota Tacoma truck and realize that many automobiles now come with synthetic as a factory fill. I have read that because of the manufacturing processes currently used it is not necessary to use conventional oil for several thousand miles before switching over. For those individuals who are gifted in the petroleum science field - when is the optimal time to make the shift in a new vehicle and why (assuming that the conventional oil is to be replaced with synthetic)?

LubeMaster77, this has your name written all over it.

If someone wishes to increase their post count by suggesting a 'search' for this question please do not. I have closely followed the plethora of oil related threads for quite a while and have not seen an answer or an educated opinion for this question.

[M.D. Holloway]

Daryl - Does that take a 5W30? The fac fill is Castrol I believe. They seem to be owning the market in Fac fills as of late - they put a big push into bulk oil selling and are offering it at cost to fill out the mfg.

Switching to a syn with a newer model is fine - years ago the seal technology would tend to produce leaks because of compatibility issue. That has been over come for the most part. The Toyota engine is so robust you will not have any issues. As for the oil chemistry, the new API specs have made the lube companies step up and really produce product that is better than it ever was. The chemistry is compatable now - years ago some real funky ***** was going down - not so much any more.

Truth - with the Toyota engine, you could have a camel spit into the crank for your lubricant and run it through a sand pit and the engine wouldn't blink. They are great trucks. The synthetic is fine and you should be able to go 10K to 15K between changes - send me your shipping address and which weight you need and I will hook yo arse up brotha!

[TerryH]

Here's an article I read recently about engine break-in. Seems even the manufacturers disagree....

Using synthetic-oil in engine break-ins
By Road & Track, Technical Correspondence Column, July 2000 issue


"Many readers have questioned us on engine break-in procedures when using synthetic oil. Conventional wisdom has it that a new or freshly rebuilt engine should be broken in using mineral oil, then, once enough mileage has accumulated to ensure rings and cylinder walls have lapped themselves into harmony, synthetic oil can be used.

Readers have correctly pointed out that several major brands come from the factory with synthetic oil, among these being Corvette, Mercedes-Benz and Viper. How can these engines break-in if run on synthetic oil from day one, they ask?

To find out, we spoke with Mobil and Redline Oil companies for their take on the synthetic break-in question. Mobil's response was that engines break-in just fine on synthetics, and that any wear point in the engine significant enough to be an interference, and thus susceptible to rapid wear, would be a wear point no matter what lubricant is used.

Redline, on the other hand, has found it best to recommend a mineral oil break-in. Occasionally an engine will glaze its cylinder walls when initially run on Redline, they say, so by using a mineral oil for 2000 miles, verifying there is no oil consumption and then switching to the synthetic, glazing is eliminated.

Cylinder-wall glazing is not a deposit left on the cylinder wall, but rather a displacement of cylinder-wall metal. This happens when the high spots of the cylinder wall crosshatch are not cut or worn off by the piston rings, but rather rolled over into the valleys or grooves of the crosshatch. This leaves a surface that oil adheres to poorly, against which the rings cannot seal well. Compression is lost and oil consumed, and the only cure is to tear down the engine to physically restore the cylinder-wall finish by honing.

Why is glazing not a problem for the major manufacturer? Because they have complete, accurate control over their cylinder-wall finish and ring type. Redline deals with a huge variety of engines and manufacturers, both OEM and from the aftermarket. Cylinder-wall finish and ring type thus vary greatly, and glazing can therefore occur, albeit rarely."