03-03-2010, 10:14 PM
The thinner the oil the less drag on the engine and you get better gas mileage. BUT the thinner oil, especially in older engines, leaks out faster and may not give you enough oil pressure.
If your 16 year old toyota uses oil (either burning or leaking out) putting in thicker oil will help.
Synthetic is a waste in this car. Most preparations have very low viscosity and will improve gas mileage at the cost of increased oil consumption. For a new car synthetics are great.
Since you live in Southern California 15w or 20w should be fine. I wouldn't put in 5w or 10w because you don't need oil that thin. The summer weights 30, 40, 50 would depend on how hard you push your engine. If you tow or spend all day at highway speeds put in the 50 weight oil.
You can safely mix different weight oils but unless you are consuming a lot of oil between changes why bother?
Dad
If your 16 year old toyota uses oil (either burning or leaking out) putting in thicker oil will help.
Synthetic is a waste in this car. Most preparations have very low viscosity and will improve gas mileage at the cost of increased oil consumption. For a new car synthetics are great.
Since you live in Southern California 15w or 20w should be fine. I wouldn't put in 5w or 10w because you don't need oil that thin. The summer weights 30, 40, 50 would depend on how hard you push your engine. If you tow or spend all day at highway speeds put in the 50 weight oil.
You can safely mix different weight oils but unless you are consuming a lot of oil between changes why bother?
Dad