1st oil change at 5k or 10k?

What a mess...

 

seems to me the oil change interval @10,000 is synthetic only. i changed mine at 5,000 but only because that was what was recommended at the time.

i will go 10,000 miles from now on with synthetic. but does not hurt to do your first change earlier rather than later.

Octavia; i am glad i am part of your world (or at least in the same neighborhood) i have lived on the East Coast and its definitely a different place to be!!

 

The only way to know for sure is to have a used oil analysis performed on the oil you change

 

^You don't think the aforementioned oil spot test is of any use, even if only minimal?

 

No, no problems with Mobil 1 A1/B1 meeting the 10,000 mile OCI. No currently available 0W-20 worldwide will be anything but A1/B1 at best as the HTHS number for the other ACEA grades are too high for such an oil to meet.

The Toyota or Honda 0W-20 oils will apparently not meet the A1/B1-08 grade as the TBN of both oils is below 8.0 specified by the ACEA, according to the tests I've seen on bitog. That Toyota feels confident to recommend 10,000 should give one confidence that this shouldn't matter. I will be running a UOA after the current 10,000 mile run on Toyota 0W-20, so I will no for sure if my driving pattern works with this oil.

Here is the 2008 ACEA grades for 2008 if one is curious.

Rumple

 

Perhaps to detect soot in oil, eg for a diesel engine. Otherwise of little use

Depends on the motor. I used Mobil 1 0W-20 very early on with my '04 Prius with excellent results.

However, I had very poor results with my '07 FJ: the nitration spiked and the oil actually thickened to a xW-30 range.

 

My car is beeping that an oil change is needed soon (5,000 miles), but I think the manual says 10,000 ? What's the right approach ? Also this is my first time changing the oil on the prius, is there something that will need to be disabled after 5,000 mile oil change ?

My Corolla has an engine maintenance light that came on every 5,000 that needed to be disabled. Thanks.

 

You need o read the whole thread and think for yourself!! LOL

Do your tire rotation at 5k and they will reset the computer then when it comes on before 10k go in for your tire rotation/ oil change.

Or you can listen to the guy from the UK and do an oil change at 1,000 miles then again at 3,000 miles, then at 5,000 miles then do an extra 50 oil changes over the life of the car.

Or just follow toyota and do oil changes every 10k miles.
And if your worried about it do your first oil change at 5k then at 15k then 25k and so on.

 

Read the new thread "What #@%& designed the Dipstick ?", meet someone who thought as you do, who learned first hand why you're wrong.

 

umm ok. Again we all would like proof of your claims. Something like

1. Something thats not connected to you like a magazine or an expert saying 10k oil changes will wear out this part or every part in the motor.

2. pictures and maintance records of a car, pictures of the insides of a worn out motor.

3. Proof like sending oil in the be looked at after 10k and them saying the oil was in the car way too long.

4. Anything WITH PROOF thats not made up in your head.

5. Proof Why Toyota has no clue on oil changes and how to take car of a Toyota. And proof that Toyota is wrong when they tell us 10k on the Prius!!!!! Proof please!!!

 

I understand Toyota's motivations, they want to sell you another car as soon as they can. But how exactly is saving the price of 4 qts. of oil and the filter gonna make up for the extra wear on that expensive to rebuild new motor ? You can provide proof of what those who repair engines have said for decades, anytime you'd like. Moisture, sludge, dirt and wear particles contaminate oil, especially in a new motor. That you have personally NOT seen the oil from such new motors as often as I have, and compared it to what the oil looks like later after the break in period is over, explains your cheap view of car maintenance. So glad its your car, not mine.

 

So honestly when do you plan on doing...

1. Engine coolant change?
2. Inverter coolant change?
3. Trans/cvt/what ever they call it fluid change?
4. Brake fluid change/bleed?

 

I plan to do my "fluid changes" @ 100,000mi; and, I feel comfortable with that.

 

All those Prius taxi's running in Winnipeg, with winter temps of -40 F and summer temps of +90 F, are maintained strictly by the book

If they are lucky

I have yet to see one trail a cloud of blue smoke. They are usually written off in crashes before the motor will wear out

 

Went in for the oil change last week, at 5K mi. and was told of the new 10K recommendation. Wife went ahead and did it but they suckered her into the tire rotatation and checking of all hoses and fluids for $29.95. They ended up changing a dried out brittle hose (I live in the desert) for a new one.

Essentially I got a $29.95 "hose" and car wash. Oh well.

 

I have driven Toyotas for 12 years, including one to 220,000 miles where the oil was changed as per Lexus specs at the time (7500 miles and not religiously) with dino oil and it ran perfectly...never used any oil. My Lexus I have now has 146,000 miles has used Mobil 1 every 5k, obviously still running perfectly. I know people on the Lexus board that use Amsoil and do 20,000 mile oil change intervals and send the oil in for UOA and they come back fine.

What you don't understand is that the COLOR of the oil when you change it isn't really indicative of a breakdown of its ability to do what it needs to do. Oil absorbs moisture and carbon and that makes it appear darker, but only UOA can tell you whether or not it is still effective and based on my experience...it is. If you have experience using actual lab tests that is contrary to what I am saying, please post it.

Nothing in my experience with Toyota leads me to believe their goal is to try and get you to buy new cars more quickly. Quite the contrary, their entire claim to fame is how reliable they are and how long they last.

The fact of the matter is, modern synthetic oils just don't need to be changed every 5,000 miles. Toyota is one of the LAST carmakers to finally cede this point. For years their standpoint was even when using synthetic to not go beyond the 5,000 mile interval. BMW for instance specifies every 25,000 miles with synthetic oil.

Following the manufacturer's guidelines is hardly "cheap" maintenance.

If you want to do more, great. But keep your back-nice person snide, judgmental comments about people who are satisfied doing what the manufacturer recommends to yourself.

 

I can understand the anger by people who learned, too late, the reasons to change the motor oil in their expensive new Prius more frequently during the all important "Wear-In" or "Break-In" period of the first 5000 miles, when the new engine will experience as much wear as it will over the following 50,000 miles. That they leave the oil, contaminated with moisture from condensation, dirt, and that higher volume of wear particles created during the wear-in, in the new motor too long doesn't mean the engine will fail, just that it is being subjected to unnecesary wear and tear that a few extra quarts of oil and a new filter could have avoided. I recommend the few dollars be spent on this 'wise precaution' because wear is the enemy of the engine, and avoiding it is better for the car, the engine, and the investment in this new technological wonder called a Prius. I also warn those who can yet accomplish this, who have not learned the lesson Too Late, so they can avoid the anger of the less fortunate who learned too late, and feel they must attack me for the warning.

 

I have owned vehicles who only had their brake fluid changed when the brakes needed repairs that made it necessary. 100% synthetic brake fluid is a wise precaution and I have that usally done at about 50 K. The coolant change can go as long as 5 years based on the better formulations, so I usually do it every 3 years just to be safe so I avoid any possible corrosion damage.

Transmission Fluid is almost always a 'partial' change, so contaminants always remain. I do that about every 30K and I use 100% synthetic fluid to make the possibility of failure lower. Like motor oil, full synthetic transmission fluid is far more resistant to heat, the primary enemy of all transmissions.

Fluids are the life blood of the machine, and changing them insures longer life, and protects the investment.

 

If this is backed up with used oil analysis, fine. But for the vast majority of new vehicles on the road, which will go on to lead a long life, a waste of time/money

For example, probably unnecessary in the Prius. In the FJ Cruiser, the factory oil is usually done (TBN zero, high nitration, etc) at 3,500 km

There are many cars in the EU that have normal 24 month or 30,000 mile oil change intervals, using EU ACEA spec motor oil. They also lead a long life

You can't use DOT 5 in a vehicle with ABS, especially one with electric assist brakes like the Prius or the FJ Cruiser.

The repairs can be steep if you chose to substitute DOT 3 with DOT 5. Don't do it, use DOT 3

With something like my FJ, you are correct if you only do a pan drain. The vast majority of the fluid remains in the torque converter. Unless the dealership is equipped with a fluid exchange device, like this one

MotorVac

at least 70% of the fluid remains behind in a regular automatic transmission. The TransTech is a safe and proven way of getting out +90% of the old fluid

This does not apply to the Prius cvt. The Prius cvt doesn't have shift clutches, torque converters, valve bodies, etc. It actually has a lot more in common with a manual transmission

A drain and refill of a Prius cvt will get out +90% of the old fluid, at least that has been my experience with my 2004 Prius. The drain plug has a magnet to catch the metal wear material

 

Do you have some problem reading and comprehending? I haven't "learned too late" I've driven these vehicles for over a decade to mileages of 150,000+ and have never had any problems whatsoever. How long have you owned Toyota products and what mileages have you driven them to?

How am I bitter and less fortunate? I am the prime example of why what you are saying to do isn't necessary.

Why don't you point us towards ONE story of an engine failing and gelling in a Toyota product because the manufacturer's maintenance schedule was followed to the letter? ONE story.

You of course aren't hurting anyone by doing this, so I don't see the harm. However your constant insinuations that those who follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule are asking for trouble is preposterous.

Again...proof. Show us some proof that what you are saying is true because I can point you to oil analyses all day long to prove my point.