What oil to use?????NEED HELP>>>

[jesterme]

Hi there,
Just bought a 1990 corolla Sr5 1.6L 5spd.....here is my Problem, I don't have a clue about toyota's engines....so I am asking all you knowledgeable PPL...

1. What type of oil and filter should I use, I want the best don't care about price ( BRAND and 5w or 10w)
2. what type of gas should I use?


And where would you recommend Me to get a tune up and oil change??


THANKS ALL........


PS::
ALSO I HAVE A 1995 Cavalier I NEED sold so I can get my corolla on the road....

Take a look at it here:
http://usedcalgary.com/classified-ad/630260&category=passenger-cars

[habsfan]

doesn't really matter what kind of oil you use in your engine. if you really want to shell out the cash for the best oil, buy a synthetic like mobil 1, but that would be a waste of money in my opinion. filter, same case, just find the part number you need and get a filter.

for comparison purposes we've got a 1992 camry 4 cylinder in our family. i always do the oil changes and usually just use pennzoil oil and a fram filter. i go with 5w in the winter and 10w in the summer. engine now has somewhere around 240k and runs smooth and problem free.

for gas, run regular-ass 87 octane. your engine doesn't need high octane fuel.

wouldn't hurt to just get a basic little tuneup, but probably isn't necessary unless you're noticing some roughness in how the engine is running.

good luck.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

.

[barbarian]

Filters, just use the house-brand from AutoValue or Napa. Don't buy fram.

[habsfan]

^any reason as to why you say "don't buy fram"?

[liquidboi69]

Originally posted by habsfan
^any reason as to why you say "don't buy fram"?
Because Fram did the crappiest in independant filter tests.
(These tests test durability, oil flow speed, filtering quality.) They're basicly the cheapest and crappiest out there.

I would recommend jesterme use:
-Regular gas
-Mobil 1 oil filter (scored up there on the filter tests)
-Mobil 1 synthetic oil (synthetics are better on older cars)

[DeeK]

I would recommend anything against FRAM air filters...

Bosch preferably.

as for oil..

Mobil1 0w-40 is the way to go for imports.

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by liquidboi69

Because Fram did the crappiest in independant filter tests.
(These tests test durability, oil flow speed, filtering quality.) They're basicly the cheapest and crappiest out there.

I would recommend jesterme use:
-Regular gas
-Mobil 1 oil filter (scored up there on the filter tests)
-Mobil 1 synthetic oil (synthetics are better on older cars)

However as far as I know, you cannot get a Mobil 1 oil filter in Calgary, and if you do know a place, let me know!

Personally from independant tests i've seen that the Napa Gold Filters (made by WIX) do very well and if pure flowrate is your concern K&N is also very good. Both of those filters i've mentioned are built very well too. I believe the Napa Gold isnt too expensive either! :thumbsup:

[FiveFreshFish]

Can't go wrong with Toyota OE filter. As for oil, I believe your car uses 5W30 year round.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I use Mobil 1 0W40. It says it's a "german car formula". The reason I like it is because it has a pour point of -56 degrees celcius, meaning when I start my car in the middle of winter, the engine flies around my engine as if it were the middle of the summer keeping it fully lubricated during the cold start. You can't safely install a block heater on my car so for me, that is ideal. Also, synthetic oil is better for turbos than regular oil. Starting your car in temperatures below -30 without something like 0w40 or a block heater is equivellent to 5000km normal driving engine wear, as it is so poorly lubricated during the starting process with regular oil. Obviously not all the parts are being worn here, but its way worse than most people think. Your regular oil becomes very thick and flows poorly when its sitting at -20 or colder and when you start your car, its very poorly lubricated for the first little bit.

Mark

[DeeK]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I use Mobil 1 0W40. It says it's a "german car formula". The reason I like it is because it has a pour point of -56 degrees celcius, meaning when I start my car in the middle of winter, the engine flies around my engine as if it were the middle of the summer keeping it fully lubricated during the cold start. You can't safely install a block heater on my car so for me, that is ideal. Also, synthetic oil is better for turbos than regular oil. Starting your car in temperatures below -30 without something like 0w40 or a block heater is equivellent to 5000km normal driving engine wear, as it is so poorly lubricated during the starting process with regular oil. Obviously not all the parts are being worn here, but its way worse than most people think. Your regular oil becomes very thick and flows poorly when its sitting at -20 or colder and when you start your car, its very poorly lubricated for the first little bit.

Mark

Indeed,

0w type oils are the ONLY way to go in winter unless you have a block heater..

And I believe its "european car formula", not "german car formula". lol.

[heavyD]

If the engine is high mileage and has used conventional oil I would advise against synthetic. I've had a couple of higher mileage engines sart to leak only after switching to synthetic oil. Sometimes the only thing keeping oil from leaking on some old high mileage engines is oil deposits. The superior cleaning agents of synthetic will clean out the deposits causing any spots of poor sealing to be exposed. Not a big deal if it's something like a valve cover gasket but oil pan gaskets can be a pain to replace or a crankshaft seal.

I tend to stick with OEM oil filters as some of the cheap aftermarket ones can fail or cause other issues. A few dsm members reported collapsed Fram filters and most stick to the OEM large ones. When I did the first oil change on my SRT-4 I used a K&N oil filter which is supposed to be good. The engine developed a 'tick' like lifter tick after the change. Next change I switched back to OEM Mopar and the tick was gone.

Most older cars recommend 10W30 or 5W30 so I would stick with those weights if they are the recommended for your car and using a slightly heavier weight (10W30 over 5W30) can aid older engines that suffer from low oil pressure.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by DeeK


Indeed,

0w type oils are the ONLY way to go in winter unless you have a block heater..

And I believe its "european car formula", not "german car formula". lol.

I haven't actually looked at the bottle in a while lol, it may very well be european car not german car :D .

I will never use anything else though. My car starts like its plus 30 outside every time, even if its minus 30. Never takes any longer to start in -30 than if it were the middle of summer. There is absolutely no difference whatsoever that I can tell in starting length or sound regardless of the temperature.

Mark

[DeeK]

Originally posted by heavyD
If the engine is high mileage and has used conventional oil I would advise against synthetic. I've had a couple of higher mileage engines sart to leak only after switching to synthetic oil. Sometimes the only thing keeping oil from leaking on some old high mileage engines is oil deposits. The superior cleaning agents of synthetic will clean out the deposits causing any spots of poor sealing to be exposed. Not a big deal if it's something like a valve cover gasket but oil pan gaskets can be a pain to replace or a crankshaft seal.

I tend to stick with OEM oil filters as some of the cheap aftermarket ones can fail or cause other issues. A few dsm members reported collapsed Fram filters and most stick to the OEM large ones. When I did the first oil change on my SRT-4 I used a K&N oil filter which is supposed to be good. The engine developed a 'tick' like lifter tick after the change. Next change I switched back to OEM Mopar and the tick was gone.

Most older cars recommend 10W30 or 5W30 so I would stick with those weights if they are the recommended for your car and using a slightly heavier weight (10W30 over 5W30) can aid older engines that suffer from low oil pressure.

These are good points. However, in my opinion if your engine is not leaking due to deposits thats not a good thing. I'd rather have my engine leak so that I could fix it. I would clean out those deposits and have the engine run like new. It will prolong the life.

As far as filters go, I have never heard of ticking due to a different oil filter. That is news to me, but I don't know SRT-4's very well either. Interesting nonetheless.

10w30 and 5w30 are ok for summer. But for winter, cold starts with this oil do some serious damage, I know first hand. My first car I owned I wasnt smart enough to change the oil over to a winter oil. (I still did frequent oil changes). But when I was using regular oil 10w30, one winter was enough to finish off the already old engine I had. Ever since I have gone to 0w oils, I have not had ANY problems with winter. Like mitsu said, they start just like its +30 outside in the dead of winter.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by DeeK
However, in my opinion if your engine is not leaking due to deposits thats not a good thing.

Deposits at the sealing areas don't really do much harm.


Originally posted by DeeK
As far as filters go, I have never heard of ticking due to a different oil filter. [/B]

Different filters can have different flow characteristics.


Originally posted by DeeK
10w30 and 5w30 are ok for summer. But for winter, cold starts with this oil do some serious damage, I know first hand. [/B]

What the hell are you talking about? People have been using 10W30 & 5W30 in the winter for years.

Where do these guys come from?:dunno:

[jesterme]

KEEP THEM COMING!! Mobli1 or vavlione( spell check)10w 30 in summer and winter maybe 0w 40? Learning alot,....maybe I will use a toyota filter if they make them.


As for the gas to use I have only had one comment.....



You guys are great.....

[AE92_TreunoSC]

If you read your owner manual, it will say use 87 octane for the SR5 (4AFE) and 91 (premium) for the GTS with the 4AGE.

Your manual also has an oil range chart. (most people dont have em after 10 years)

The factory oil range is 5W30 for -30 to 10c ish
10W30 for 0-30
10W40 for 0 - ****
I wouldnt use synthetic on a 4AFE just becuase its impractical money wise, and uneccesary. I would just use shell or castrol.

And as i stated before 5W30 on an older toyota motor = bad unless its been taken care of. Just use a block heater in the winter and you'll be fine with 10W30.

Go OEM for the filter, you can just go to a dealership parts counter and they'll help you out.
OE # YAZZA2 (i think) If you can get a YAZZA1 (its bigger and bigger = beter ;) )

As for the tune up just make sure you DONT put bosch plugs in your toyota (dealers highly recommend against it) put either NGK or Denso plugs in.

Do the ignition wires if the ones on your car are dated 5 years or older (the year is printed on the wires)
Distributor cap if it looks old, and the distributor rotor if you take the cap off.

And a "while-your-at-it" is do the disributor o-ring if there is oil leaking out of the bottom of the distributor. Its cheap and it stops a pretty common leak.

Timing is 10 Degrees BTDC with the car in "diagnoses mode"

I know I just listed a tonne of stuff but you ask and you shall recieve!

[jesterme]

THANKS AE92!!! GREAT INFO!!!

[DeeK]

Originally posted by heavyD

What the hell are you talking about? People have been using 10W30 & 5W30 in the winter for years.

Where do these guys come from?:dunno:

I was giving my opinion, and my experiences... isnt this what this thread is about?

It all comes down to user preference... within reason of course, obviously someone is not going to use 20w50 in the winter.

[barbarian]

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

All about oil filters.

[Mangina]

Originally posted by jesterme
KEEP THEM COMING!! Mobli1 or vavlione( spell check)10w 30 in summer and winter maybe 0w 40? Learning alot,....maybe I will use a toyota filter if they make them.


As for the gas to use I have only had one comment.....



You guys are great.....

You realize that you'd be running a thicker oil in the winter?:dunno:

[CryoCarnage]

Ask any mark 3 owner or an LS series motor with long stokres and we will tell you anythign you need to know. i cant stress enough about to not use those crappy Fram filters for oil. thye do not flow, and the little filter opads they use clog up and cause all sorts of problems for oil pumps, bearings and in general oil quality. For oil use any synthetic thats proven (i cant find my personal chart of all the flow levels and such) but Quaker state is good but Castrol Syntec is the best.

[theFlash]

As everyone has said, stay away from Fram! As for oem, not sure, but according to a friend of mine who used to work for Mazda, they (Mazda) switched their oem manufacturer of oil filters to Fram for North America... which is not worth the risk for my RX-7s. So if you use Toyota oem, which I would tend to believe would probably be from a quality manufacturer, try to find out who actually preoduces them.

I've had good results with Purolator filters, about 8 dollars at Bowness Auto. Also keep in mind that I change my oil roughly every 3-4500 kms. Changing frequently will do more for you than synthetic at this point in my opinion. Just as others have said, you risk leakage with synth with an older car.

As for fuel, check your owners manual. My old 1987 Celica gt ran 87. Hope this helps.

[CryoCarnage]

Originally posted by theFlash
As everyone has said, stay away from Fram! As for oem, not sure, but according to a friend of mine who used to work for Mazda, they (Mazda) switched their oem manufacturer of oil filters to Fram for North America... which is not worth the risk for my RX-7s. So if you use Toyota oem, which I would tend to believe would probably be from a quality manufacturer, try to find out who actually preoduces them.

I've had good results with Purolator filters, about 8 dollars at Bowness Auto. Also keep in mind that I change my oil roughly every 3-4500 kms. Changing frequently will do more for you than synthetic at this point in my opinion. Just as others have said, you risk leakage with synth with an older car.

As for fuel, check your owners manual. My old 1987 Celica gt ran 87. Hope this helps.
Purolator and Wix are the same company and thye are used in TOp fuel drag cars. ill trust them any day.

[barbarian]

Originally posted by CryoCarnage

Purolator and Wix are the same company and thye are used in TOp fuel drag cars. ill trust them any day.

Autovalue house brand = Purolator. (some may be Wix now, if they say Arvinmeritor on the box they are Purolator, if they say Dana they are Wix)

Napa house brand = Wix.

This chart may be informative as to oil viscosities. Not all grades and blends are on there, but if you get the product data sheet for an oil (i.e. Mobil 1 0W40), and get two viscosity points, you can plot those ones as well. They are (mostly) straight lines.

By the way, viscosity in cSt = (centipoise / specific gravity)
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7797/crankcase9cw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

One thing to remember is that in the winter, the oil needs appropriate viscosity at cold cranking temperature, and at full operating temperature. Generally your vehicle OEM has considered this when making recommendations in the manual as to what oils to use. In addition, if you change the base weight oil you are using (say if you went from 0W30 to 0W40), the film thickness the oil forms will differ. On an old engine, all the gaps between moving parts have worn-in to the old oil grade.

[CivicTunr]

where can you get mobil 0W40?

[Mitsu3000gt]

Auto value, part source, and apparently canadian tire in the NW. I go to Part source, it's $8 or $9/liter I forget the exact price, but it was 2 or 3$ cheaper than auto value at part source. You can't buy it in 4L jugs unfortunately. It's not cheap stuff but worth it IMO.

You should check if its good for your civic though (if thats what it's going in). I don't think every car likes it as much as others. It's designed for european cars and excellent for turbo cars.