Some questions

[Island_Yota]

I run 10w-40 Castrol GTX in my 7MGE, seems to be just fine, Change the oil every 4500km's, Use normally just a cheap Fram Filter, Is this fine to use for daily driving? I can get Rotella 10w40 aswell for the same price, sadly its not easy to get a better filter.

My oil pressure is weird, When I first got the car I remember it being higher but I didnt really watch it for a few thousand km's and its never been in the same range since. I have a metric gauge so heres what it reads: Idle, cold: 2.0-2.5kg/cm2, Idle, Warm: .07-1kg/cm2, 3000rpm: 2.2-2.5kg/cm2.. I rarley ever see it any higher than that, It slowly works its way up to 2.7-3.0kg/cm2 if im driving it hard, just weird inconsistency doesn't seem right to me, especially now that im using a higher quality/"thicker" oil than when I bought it.

 

[jdub]

First of all, Fram filters are crap:
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42763

It's your car, but it will be a cold day in hades before I would run a Fram filter on my car. Get a Wix or a PureOne filter...I order Wix filters at www.rockauto.com or get a NAPA Gold filter (it's a Wix).

Second, you've bit off on an old school myth...thicker oil is not better. You need to read this:
http://www.supramania.com/aehaas/

All you're doing is restricting flow to the bearings running a thicker oil. There's a lot of info in this section...time to do a bit of reading to educate yourself.

The pressures you are seeing are normal at idle and a bit low at 3000 RPM. Assuming this is a stock oil system, the 1st thing I would look at is the cooler relief valve spring located in the stock filter head. The way the stock cooler circuit works is above ~40 psi it allows oil to flow to the cooler...the problem is it returns to the pan. Effectively it is a pressure bleed. If the relief valve opens early you will get low pressure at higher RPM.

Here's a measurement convert tool...I speak in psi, so if you want me to help you....
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83487

 

[Island_Yota]

First of all, Fram filters are crap:
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42763

It's your car, but it will be a cold day in hades before I would run a Fram filter on my car. Get a Wix or a PureOne filter...I order Wix filters at www.rockauto.com or get a NAPA Gold filter (it's a Wix).

Second, you've bit off on an old school myth...thicker oil is not better. You need to read this:
http://www.supramania.com/aehaas/

All you're doing is restricting flow to the bearings running a thicker oil. There's a lot of info in this section...time to do a bit of reading to educate yourself.

The pressures you are seeing are normal at idle and a bit low at 3000 RPM. Assuming this is a stock oil system, the 1st thing I would look at is the cooler relief valve spring located in the stock filter head. The way the stock cooler circuit works is above ~40 psi it allows oil to flow to the cooler...the problem is it returns to the pan. Effectively it is a pressure bleed. If the relief valve opens early you will get low pressure at higher RPM.

Here's a measurement convert tool...I speak in psi, so if you want me to help you....
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83487

This morning I watched my oil pressure for most of my drive, its reading normal at idle, and at 3000rpm it was about 45psi(mind you this is the stock gauge) once it warmed up then it was right around 38-40 at 3000rpm, sometimes it its lower though. Is it common for a relief valve to fail on a 7MGE with around 150 000 miles?


Yeah I definetly agree, Fram filters do suck, not much else readily available thats any better, id assume the dealership has filters but to be honest ive never tried, how would you rate a Toyota filter? I cant justify ordering online because by the time it gets here its a $20 oil filter, shipping across the border is definetly not worth it.

Reason I run 10w-40 is not because of low pressure, my car consumes more than it should, its pretty high mileage. Im afraid to try anything different because of the consumption and because its my daily driver, everyone is telling me to run 0w/ synthetic but I dont know enough about it to try. I looked through all of the receipts that came with the car and its ran 10w-40 for the past 15 years except for the one oil change it had right before I bought it, it got changed to 10w-30, the lady who owned it brought it to a different shop than usual. What is your opinion on a high mileage car thats been running 10w-40 for years, safe to switch to synth or a lighter weight?

What do I look for when I check the relief spring? just replace it? Ive heard of shimming before and I understand how that works I just dont know how its done, or is that something to do with the oil pump? so confused..

 

[jdub]

Did you read the filter thread? Based on your question, it doesn't look like it.

Actually your oil pressure is not that bad for a 150K stock system...it's within normal values. You want to replace the cooler relief spring. Shimming applies to the oil pump relief valve for higher pressure...it involves dropping the oil pan...not something you want to do. You could get rid of the stock filter head all together and switch to a full flow, thermostat controlled cooler circuit. That would eliminate the stock cooler circuit pressure bleed. Here's how:
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62838

Do you have WalMart or a Canadian Tire near by? I would go with Castrol European Formula (German Castrol) 0W-30...it's a thick 30W at ops temp....both stores carry it in Canada. There's more info on it in this section. Please read before you ask

 

[Island_Yota]

Did you read the filter thread? Based on your question, it doesn't look like it.

Actually your oil pressure is not that bad for a 150K stock system...it's within normal values. You want to replace the cooler relief spring. Shimming applies to the oil pump relief valve for higher pressure...it involves dropping the oil pan...not something you want to do. You could get rid of the stock filter head all together and switch to a full flow, thermostat controlled cooler circuit. That would eliminate the stock cooler circuit pressure bleed. Here's how:
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62838

Do you have WalMart or a Canadian Tire near by? I would go with Castrol European Formula (German Castrol) 0W-30...it's a thick 30W at ops temp....both stores carry it in Canada. There's more info on it in this section. Please read before you ask

I did read the oil filter thread but I just was not to sure about the Toyota filter or if they have changed at all etc.. Just double checking, Its probably the best filter I can get without alot of hassle and I pass by the dealership often. But, Now that I think about it the car did have a PureOne filter on it when I got the oil changed Oilcheck so il stop there and see if they will sell it separate, Did some searching online and found Mr.Lube shops might carry the Wix filters so il try that first for sure

I will continue with the 10w-40 for this change and pick up the Toyota Filter, and Cooler relief spring for the next. I will also give the German Castrol 0W-30 a try on my next change and keep a close eye on consumption and pressure. I have heard good things about it on the board but was not sure I should try it on a high miler/oil consumer.

Thanks for your input! Very helpful.

 

[jdub]

NAPA Gold filters are made by Wix...that's what I would use if I were you. the Toyota Denso filters are good, but hard to come by. The Toyota Thailand filters are not much better than a Fram. If all else fails, WalMart SuperTech filters (made by Champion Labs) are not bad.