High mileage oil?

[ucfireman]

I have a 2007 tacoma with 2.7 4cyl 5spd. It has 265000 miles. I bought it at 52000 and have always used full synthetic oil, mostly 5W30. I change the oil/filter every 7500 or so and check the level regularly and add when needed.
It usually uses about a quart to 1.5qt between oil changes and has no noticeable leaks. And I do not see any black smoke and it always passes emissions.
I get 24-25mpg at 65mph.
My question is. Should I switch to "high mileage" full synthetic or stick to what has been working? I would hate to cause a leak because of something may be "cleaned" or cause things to swell and start to leak. Or get lower gas mileage.

PS. I am on the original clutch, When I finally do replace it should I replace the flywheel or just resurface? I have heard pros and cons for both. Mostly there may be "hairline fractures" in the flywheel that will not show when resurfaced.

 

[GoldDot40]

I'll give you an honest to God testimony from when I used to operate "quick lube" facilities.

Had a customer with a early 90's Isuzu Trooper. Had crazy high miles on it. She would always come back right around 1/2 way through her interval between oil changes to have us check all the fluids. We always had to add nearly 2 qts of oil.

We discussed and recommended her to try the high mileage oil and explained it cost slightly more than our conventional product. She agreed. After about the 4th oil change we noticed we were having to add less and less oil over the course of her 1/2 way check-ins. Eventually, this vehicle got down to using less than 1/2 a quart between services. No other changes than simply using an oil formulated for high mileage engines.

That said, whenever an engine consumes abnormal amounts of oil, it could be one of several different culprits. Poor crankcase ventilation, bad rings, bad valve seals, bad valve guides, unseen leaks, etc, etc, etc. It would help to dig a little deeper to diagnose the actual cause. High mileage oil COULD help (depending on the reason it's losing it)...it could do nothing. I would bet it certainly would NOT hurt or create an issue though.

For what it's worth, I run high mileage oil in my 2002 Silverado with 213K miles and I'm at little to zero oil consumption.

 

[transfixer]

I've not tried high mileage oil but once or twice in my current truck an 01 Silverado 6.0 that currently has 305k miles on it, and didn't notice a difference when I did, I may try it again and check for any differences, I don't know what they do different between "high mileage" oil and normal, so I'm not sure why there would even be a difference ?

Oil is going to be used up in an engine in one of two ways, either its going to get pulled up past the oil rings on the pistons , and get burnt, or its going to get pulled down past the valve seals and get burnt, seems to me thinner oil would cause either condition to be worse ? but in this day and time most of the oil you find available is all lower viscosity ,, hard to find 20w50 anymore, which is what I always used to run in older engines,

I know modern engines are held to tighter tolerances, and therefore benefit from thinner oil, but a major reason for the lighter weight viscosities used today is simply better fuel mileage, thinner oil provides less resistance,, less resistance equals better fuel economy. high mileage engines will naturally have worn valve seals, and oil rings on the pistons will likely not be in as good a condition as they used to be , so some oil consumption is natural and expected

 

[Artfuldodger]

I've not tried high mileage oil but once or twice in my current truck an 01 Silverado 6.0 that currently has 305k miles on it, and didn't notice a difference when I did, I may try it again and check for any differences, I don't know what they do different between "high mileage" oil and normal, so I'm not sure why there would even be a difference ?

Oil is going to be used up in an engine in one of two ways, either its going to get pulled up past the oil rings on the pistons , and get burnt, or its going to get pulled down past the valve seals and get burnt, seems to me thinner oil would cause either condition to be worse ? but in this day and time most of the oil you find available is all lower viscosity ,, hard to find 20w50 anymore, which is what I always used to run in older engines,

I know modern engines are held to tighter tolerances, and therefore benefit from thinner oil, but a major reason for the lighter weight viscosities used today is simply better fuel mileage, thinner oil provides less resistance,, less resistance equals better fuel economy. high mileage engines will naturally have worn valve seals, and oil rings on the pistons will likely not be in as good a condition as they used to be , so some oil consumption is natural and expected

I also used 20w50 in all my older v-8's and my Slant Six. I used to use Rislone Treatment but switched to High Mileage which probably had all the additives and zinc the Rislone had.

I now have a BMW E30 which uses 20W50. New cars is a whole different matter this with those tighter tolerances. Older Escorts and Corollas, I usually ran a little thicker weight back on the 90's models when they got a lot of miles. Like maybe 10W40 instead of 10W30.

I just switched to a synthetic blend High Mileage in my 4Runner. It's always had conventional.

 

[Eudora]

The "High Mileage" and "HD" oils are supposed to have additives that enable better suspension of harmful particles that can accumulate in an older engine so that it can be more easily trapped in the oil filter. Same viscosity, but the additives are the difference.

 

[GoldDot40]

The "High Mileage" and "HD" oils are supposed to have additives that enable better suspension of harmful particles that can accumulate in an older engine so that it can be more easily trapped in the oil filter. Same viscosity, but the additives are the difference.

The additive package also includes "conditioners" that are supposed to soften seals that have gotten hard over time and help (re)seal them. I think that's what happened with the Trooper I mentioned earlier. I think that engine was losing oil through the valve seals. The high mileage oil may have worked as designed for that scenario by helping slow down the passing of oil through those valve seals.

I don't want to come across as it being a miracle or snake oil. It's certainly not a cure for anything. Possibly a band aid for certain issues and maybe a preventative product for others.

 

[35 Whelen]

I started using "high mileage" full synthetic 5w-20 in my 2001Mazda B3000 with 254,000 miles. Still uses a quart of oil between 5,000 mile oil changes, same as it did when using same brand full synthetic 5w-20 oil not labeled "high mileage."

 

[fireman32]

07 Camry 3.5 6 cylinder
05 Expedition with the 5.4 Triton
Both in the 220,000 range. Switched from conventional to high mileage synthetic blend about 20,000 miles ago, both are losing about a half a quart between 5,000 mile changes. So about the same usage as before the swap so far. The synthetic blend does hold its clarity longer than the conventional oil did.

 

[wildcats]

I have never ran "high mileage" synthetic but do run full synthetic.
07 F150 with 5.4 198,000 miles - no smoke, no rattle, no oil loss between 5k mile changes.
1995 Ford Probe (mazda engine) sold with 325,000 - lost about half quart between 5k mile changes.
I'm religious with oil changes.
Both vehicles had long commutes. Short mileage runs day after day, in stop and go traffic is harder on engines imho.

 

[hopper]

Switched to high mileage do to a rear main seal leak even after replacement. Has slowed it down to a small drip. 1999 jeep tj 115 000 miles. Harder to find high mileage non synthetic.

 

[Semi-Pro]

I switched to high mileage at 200k on my Camry. Now I'm at 400k.
As far as the flywheel. I always resurface. If you still on the original clutch it is likely not burnt or have cracks in it. Even if it did it would still be fine. Most likely. All of mine did, but I drove like the dukes of Hazzard everywhere I went.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

07 Camry 3.5 6 cylinder
05 Expedition with the 5.4 Triton
Both in the 220,000 range. Switched from conventional to high mileage synthetic blend about 20,000 miles ago, both are losing about a half a quart between 5,000 mile changes. So about the same usage as before the swap so far. The synthetic blend does hold its clarity longer than the conventional oil did.

if it is cleaner longer, it ain't doing its job. If it is cleaning the engine better, it should get dirty looking quicker

 

[ucfireman]

Wouldn't there be a a point where the engine is clean and there is not much "dirt or trash" to clean? There by allowing the oil to stay clean looking?

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Wouldn't there be a a point where the engine is clean and there is not much "dirt or trash" to clean? There by allowing the oil to stay clean looking?

Not really. It might stay a little cleaner for a little longer period of time, but the carbon from the combustion will make it get dirty pretty quickly. You can take a brand spanking new engine and by the time you run it 500 miles, the oil will look dirty. That is because the oil is doing part of its job... suspending the carbon in the engine