Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 537,500 miles Later....

Nothing wrong with synthetics, but my '97 went 360,000 miles on regular ole Penzoil every 5,000 miles, then switched to high mileage oil at 300 K.

Still not using oil when my son wrecked it.

Synthetic is great, but in mild climates, can't see it being cost effective unless you really extend drain intervals.

This "no longer available" business is a bad state of affairs, for otherwise long lived designs.
I make a LOT of Delrin replacement parts for these doggone "remote activated" accessories, ....window regulators being right at the top of the pile.
Retro fitment of alternate switch gear components gets no easier,...old caches of WW2 / Korean war vintage radio parts and B29 style electrical components are drying up, to.
Those of us who actually know the potential lifespan of a Bakelite and NiChrome / Copper switch will all be gone soon enough, and this "throwaway parts" strategy may very well win the day.

Fine looking internals there, Seafire !
...oil IS cheaper than parts.

GTC

You mean the Pennzoil didn't sludge up your engine and kill it? ....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oil analysis hasn't been done every oil change.... but then probably 4 or 5 in its life span... verifying the oil was still good...


Sam on parts for yours.... in 2012 when I made a trip back to the east coast, the truck was due for an air filter.. I had no problem getting them out this way, as there are plenty of these old 4 Runners and especially the pickup version still on the road....(sadly kids love to steal them, and off road the crap out of them and then after destroying them, run them off a hill side... I have to watch this thing like a hawk...I won't drive it to Walmart and park it to go into the store, or it will be gone)....

anyway, I stopped at NAPAs in Indiana to Massachusetts, looking for an air filter....NO ONE had one, and even their distribution centers didn't have them... When I got to Massachusetts at our friends house... I pulled the Air Cleaner and soaked it overnight in a bucket of hot water with dish detergent and then let it dry in the sun the next day.... that took out a big batch of the dirt in it...

Drove it back to the west coast, went down and was able to get a filter for it at NAPA out here no problem....

Also funny on the trip... I don't know how many people would come up and ask me what brand of truck/SUV that was, when I stopped at Rest Areas. I told them it was a Toyota, and they would ask me what model...I'd tell them a 4 Runner, and many would claim that they had never seen one that looked like that. I told them it was an 88, and many claimed they don't remember them.

Guess most of them have been in the bone yard for decades, rusted out or junked...parts seem to be readily available out this way.... although when I do go to the parts store... instead of ordering mechanical stuff for a 4 Runner, many stores have those of this vintage deleted from their computers... if I tell them it is a Pick Up, those parts are still listed....

You see plenty of them it seems going down I 5, towing other Toyota pickups of the 80s and 90s vintage.. usually with Washington Plates... driven by hispanics...

Talked to some of them one night at Walmart.... there were 8 of them, parked in the parking lot, each towing another...

The one hispanic who spoke English, I asked if they were taking them down to Mexico... he said no, they were going to Guatemala....he said they get 5 to 8 grand for those down there.. mileage doesn't matter.. they sell all they can get.

They have folks up in Washington that search the newspapers and vehicle traders, internet etc for them.... I told them I had the 88 4 Runner and first words out of his mouth... Ya Want to Sell it Seniore?

hey off the topic a little...but for the old Vegas and Pintos of the 70s... there was no better oil for those cars, than Pennzoil...especially the Vegas ( for those that even remember them)... Pennzoil, never change it, just the filter and add..

Vegas leaked oil in the show room, along with Rusted sitting in the show room... or as legend from those who owned one attested.. never changing Pennzoil in them sludged up those leaks.. and the cars still used enough oil that it was always "clean enough"....if you kept on top of the level and added as needed...

I bought a Vega GT after graduating College, a 75 model... I changed the oil every 5K.. but from day one, it used a quart of oil every 500 miles...when I changed it, it wasn't really 'dirty'....80,000 miles later it still used a quart every 500 miles...

Ran off the road in a snow storm, when a lady in a Volvo refused to yield while driving on my side of the road, because it was plowed after a snow dump.. and her side wasn't...

Missed 5 trees when it ran off the road... trouble was there was that sixth tree....

Sam,

I know our trucks are old now... Last time I was down in Nevada, heading down to the Campfire Get2Gether in AZ... was sitting at a light in Reno, after getting fuel.... there was a Toyota Pickup our vintage in Super Shape in Front of me....

I had to laugh tho, first time I've ever seen it...this one had Nevada Antique/Historical/Vintage Vehicle plates...

I have heard from just about every car guy "of a certain age" that Pennzoil and Quaker State will sludge up your engine. Maybe there was something to it in the 1970's....probably was. As for today, Pennzoil and Quaker State are both owned by Shell and have been reformulated a bunch of times since the Carter administration.

Anyway, thanks for letting us know what you have been doing. You have proven to my satisfaction that modern oil is very robust and the manufacturer recommended change intervals are probably overkill by two or three times, especially with the full synthetics. I know people that dump synthetic after 3k miles in the name of loving their engine....crazy.

Oh and I remember the Vegas. The ones with the fake wood sides were SWEET!

I always heard the stories about Pennzoil being so crappy. Had a yellow '73 Dodge 4x4 that I used in it. Mostly just to tick off my "expert" buddies. It had about 370,000 miles on it when the exhaust collapsed causing it to heat up and blow a head gasket. May have been the best pickup I'll ever own.

I'm happy to read this thread. I recently bought an 03 Tacoma 4x4, 4cyl auto, with 112k miles. I probably paid a bit much for it, but you guys give me high hopes for longevity. So far it's awesome.

My first car was a '74 Vega GT. It was free, and I was the third owner. Most of it's life was spent in AK, and it had some rust. Worse than the rust was the oil use. After the first year of oil changes I just started adding oil instead. The last year I added used oil from other vehicles. It eventually lost too much power to worn rings and fowled plugs.

BUT it handled great, and was lots of fun on gravel country roads. It was a fun car, and my "first."

BTW, there's a '72+/- Ford Maverick in my town that's mint. I'm sure it's just a sign of aging, but I really dig that little sedan. Fortunately there's not a for sale sign in it.

Solid gold.

I guess I change too much. I change oil every 3 thousand in my 89 Jeep Wrangler. I change my Dodge diesel every 4 thousand. I use Shell Rotella in both.