Some observations after doing my own oil change on the Prime

And I wonder how careful a typical dealer employee is going to be when they screw them back in. Hopefully they are careful but there's no guarantee. Another reason to DIY in my opinion.

 

Or snapping the heads off.

I've often wished there was some sort of screwdriver socket driver, say in 3/8" socket size. More controlled, and no risk of over-torque.

 

How about one of these. Or were you looking for something that is ratcheting?

 

Perfect!

 

Are you already past the 2 free oil changes?

 

@Since2002 can you suggest some links or search key words for that powerbuilt socket screwdriver. Thanks.

Edit: Ok, finding hits ok, this search string is good:

Powerbuilt 641569 3/8" Dr. Spinner Handle

Lots of hits also with:

3/8" Dr. Spinner Handle

 

3/8" spinner handles are rare, seems like most are 1/4" but using a search string like yours they are out there. I picked the Powerbuilt as my example just because they had a nice photo of it that says 3/8 in big letters

 

While you all can change your oil whenever you want, you should check to see if the manufacturer puts in a special break-in lubricant in to their oil at the factory. I don't know that Toyota does, but Honda definitely does. It is important for those vehicles not to have that break-in lubricant replaced before the 5000 mile mark (on most models). I am in the 10k boat myself, I don't change it until the manufacturer says to change because I don't want to send out the used oil for no reason.

 

Might be, but I'm sceptical. Any more info on this?

 

I'm not aware of any facts about break-in lubricant, but I've heard tell of assembly lube, which is a grease put into bearing surfaces at assembly to protect those surfaces when the engine is started the very first time before the oil gets circulated. Whether Toyota or anyone else uses it, I'm not sure. Hopefully, someone around here knows someone who works in an auto assembly plant.

 

The engine will be started for the first time when the vehicle reaches the end of the assembly line, so presumably the special grease's job is done by the time the car even reaches the dealer.

I have heard anecdotally for decades about "break in oil" which needs to be left in for the first few hundred miles. My guess is something like that was used in the past on some cars, but long ago abandoned. If it does still exist I am sure it is mentioned in the owners manual of whatever car uses it, with instructions how long the original oil needs to remain in. So any claims about this can be easily proved or disproved by simply going to the owners manual.

 

@danlatu put little dabs of various break-in grease on bearings and cam lobes, when reassembling his engine. But again: not a break-in oil, except that that grease would end up in the engine oil.

 

It was actually Lucas Assembly Lube per the picture in post #57 of that thread. (3rd picture in the post) More info on the product here. Lucas Oil 4 oz. assembly lubricant 10152 - Read 1 Reviews on Lucas Oil #10152 It does protect during break in, but I think it's main goal is to protect till the oil gets there.

 

I'm positive Toyota used there own oil and possibly filter. As my mpg went lower then normal. Also they lowered my tire pressure to 32 from my 40/38. I prefer taking my vehicle anywhere but Toyota. Would do myself but apartment living doesn't allow lol.


But to op I suggest the 2x6 prior to the ramp. When I had a lowered ride I used 2x12 then 4x12 to ramp. Sometimes I had to add a 2x16 below my ramps. Was the only way I could do oil changes.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

About vehicles using break in oil? I posted something many moons ago when this came up before. It would take a while to find the article again because it wasn't super important to me, but Honda definitely uses something that is supposed to help clear out particles and rough spots left in the machining process for the engine. I think I posted it back in like February but not sure, I will see if I can find it and if I can will edit this post.

Okay here it is: My Prime's first transmission fluid change | Page 5 | PriusChat

That links out to a couple places about Honda using break in fluids.

 

My sister is loyal to Honda so this got me interested. I just downloaded the 2017 Accord and Civic owners manuals, but couldn't find anything mentioning not changing the oil early. I looked in the sections on changing the oil, and also did keyword search of the word "oil" to look for any warnings about it, but found none. In fact neither manual even mentioned break-in period at all except the Accord manual where it said only to not tow a trailer during the first 1,000 miles. I also looked at the online service schedule, it didn't say anything about not changing the oil during break-in.

In the previous thread that you linked to, someone mentioned their 2005 Civic manual said not to, so I downloaded that manual, in the section on break-in period it says "Do not change the oil until the scheduled maintenance time"

Not sure I will have time to download manuals in between 2005 and 2017 to see when they apparently stopped making this recommendation, at least on these cars, not sure if this would be model specific.

 

I own a Honda Ridgeline from 2006, it definitely had this suggestion in the documentation. I think it is less likely now that most companies are putting synthetics into their vehicles that they really feel it necessary to put such warnings into the documentation. I haven't looked at the redesigned Ridgeline to see if they still have the same oil change recommendation or not.

My guess is that at this point in machining and refinement you will find almost no evidence to support more frequent or an earlier oil change in providing any improvement in overall engine life. For every person who says they have done it earlier and got 200k miles I could probably find someone who only did it ever 15k miles and got the same overall life with a generally similar repair history. That said, it is your dime do what makes you the most comfortable. The old 3k oil change came at a time when engine oils started out less refined and the parts used in vehicles were also not as well tooled and it wasn't uncommon for those vehicles to need major engine work by 100k miles. Now you find, more often than not, dealership slapping stickers on your window for early changes because they make far more money in service than they do in sales, not because the vehicle needs it.