Royal Purple High Performance/Extended Life - How Many Miles can I go before next oil change?

I consider synthetic oil as being application specific.

  • The vehicle is raced.

  • The engine has a turbocharger.

  • The vehicle is used to haul heavy loads.

  • The vehicle is exposed to extreme high/low temperatures over extended periods of time.

Always follow the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations for oil change intervals whether using regular oil or synthetic oil. Or anything in between.

There’s two categories in the owners manual for oil service recommendations.

These are normal service and severe service.

Most drivers fall under severe service.

Tester

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You know that the Camry of that vintage was known for oil-related problems with both engines right?

The 2.4L ( 2AZ-FE) was known to burn oil due to faulty piston rings and the V6 ( 1MZ-FE) was known for engine producing prodigious amount of sludge, and more frequent oil changes are recommended in order to combat that problem. And you want to extend OCI’s? You couldn’t have picked a worse car to attempt this with.

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A colleague had a 2001 Camry with the 1MZ-FE V6 . . . definitely part of the sludge years, as far as I know . . . and he used synthetic oil and changed it every 3K

He never had the sludge problem

Cars that have 10k mile or longer oil change intervals generally (maybe exclusively, I don’t know) have synthetic oil as the recommended oil. Like my 2013 highlander. Oil spec is 0w20, which is only available in synthetic, and the recommended interval is 10k.

So…this would lead me to believe that you’d be fine changing the oil in that 2005 Camry at 10k miles using synthetic oil if you’re ok doing it in the newer Highlander. I don’t think the oil recommendation is extended because of differences in the engine. I think it’s extended because synthetic oil is recommended. Further, Toyota says 5w20 can be substituted if 0w20 isn’t available. But then the interval changes to 5k miles. So Toyota is basically saying 10k for synthetic (0w20) or 5k for conventional (5w20), I guess. I don’t really think they’re saying you have to change the oil twice as often solely because you switched from 0w to 5w.

I change it at 5k miles anyway :grin:. I think the extended change interval is more to advertise “less maintenance required” than anything else and the 0w20 is for a slight bump in fuel economy. A 10k mile interval on synthetic might be fine. But I already know a 5k mile interval works!

All that being said, I think the 4 cyl Camry’s may have had sludge issues on longer change intervals, if I’m not mistaken. So I’d er on the side of caution and just do the 5k interval. Use cheap Wal Mart synthetic if it makes the owner feel better.

I 95% agree with you

I can’t agree 100% because Honda markets a 0W-20 synthetic blend . . . or at least they used to

Um . . . I’m not the one that’s planning on doing 10K oil change intervals in a 2005 Camry

I’m in agreement with you on that one

Exactly which 4-cylinder Camry engine are you talking about?

The 2.2-liter 5S-FE from the 1997 - 2001 Camry generation . . . or the 2.4-liter 2AZ-FE from the 2002 - 2006 Camry generation

I’d partial quote you back, but I don’t know how on this I phone.

When I say “you’d be fine”, I meant the owner.

Not sure on which engine. I was thinking the newer series, but I really don’t know. We had a 99 4 cyl Camry and didn’t have any problems until 208k miles, but we didn’t use a long oil change interval (or synthetic).

Also, I get that you’re in agreement with me and the 5k mile oci. But Toyota recommends a 10k mile interval…on synthetic. The longer interval is allowed because they believe you’re using synthetic, I believe.

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Theoretically, if you use the cheapest oil that meets the API grade specified by the manufacturer (usually SN) at the viscosity specified by the manufacturer, you will gain no benefit from using a more expensive product. You can verify this by googling “Blackstone Oil Analysis” and having them analyze your used oil.

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The latest classification for motor oil is SP

Tester

Thanks. I still remember when SE was as good as it got.

To the original poster’s point, and what I was trying to get at, I believe the only real benefit to using synthetic is to extend the oil change interval (barring racing or extreme duty). Whether you’re comfortable or not extending the interval (I’m not) is another story. Like Mustangman mentioned, you could extend the interval and then send a sample off to Blackstone. I just don’t feel 100% comfortable interpreting the oil analysis data, myself.

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Right is it seems that I would benefit from synthetic because it gets in the single digits during the winter time where I live. And per the article, the different type of oil is negligible. Some might prevent less wear, but the difference is insignificant. Just follow the manufacturers instructions and change the oil ever 5,000 miles.

So I should just get the cheapest “name brand” SAE 5W-30 oil that I can find and call it a day.

What about the filter though? Any filter that fits my car would work. Is there similar data suggesting that the type of filter I use is irreverent? Kinda like the oil, where more expensive filters might do a better job, but the difference isn’t worth the extra cost. What does data say on oil filters. Are the more expensive ones worth it?

I like the oil article that Tester pointed out. Can’t argue with the data. Type of oil is irrelevant, as long as it meets the viscosity requirement your good.

When I was a 15 year old kid with my first job at the corner Chevron station, we kept some “Zerolene” on the back shelf. It was Standard Oil’s 30 weight non-detergent and every now and then some cheapo would come in and buy a quart. It had been discontinued by then but we were just selling the last few cases that had been sitting in the back for 10 years.

You do realize that not all the oil passes thru the filter media 100% of the time?

Most oil filters have a by-pass valve.

The by-pass valve is there so oil still reaches the engine under these conditions.

  • The filter media gets restricted to the point where oil can no longer pass thru it.

  • The temperature is cold enough where the oil is too thick to flow thru the filter media on a cold start.

  • When the engine operates at high RPM’s, the filter media isn’t capable of providing enough oil volume to protect the engine. This is most important as filter media gets dirty.

About the only time most of the oil passes thru the filter media is when the filter is clean, the oil is clean, the engine is at operating temperature, and the engine is at idle.

Tester

So basically the type of filter I used doesn’t really matter, as long as it has a bypass valve.

Yep!

The only time you’ll see an oil filter without a by-pass valve is, if the oil by-pass valve is built into the engine.

Example:https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,2001,park+avenue,3.8l+v6,1371091,engine,oil+filter+bypass+valve,720

Tester

So why even have the filter, if oil rarely even passes through the filter media?

Well?

If your sitting at RR crossing with the engine idling while a one mile train passes by, you’re filtering some of the oil.

But then we come back to, why use synthetic oil if there’s no application?

Tester

That makes sense.

I thought synthetic was recommended if you live in colder climates because it flows better at colder climates? When should synthetic be used over conventional. My owners manual doesn’t call out synthetic.

This is a good example of why one of the forums that John Goreham moderates does not allow oil threads .

Sorry. I’ve learned a lot from it though!