Gen III Oil change @1400 miles

I know virtually nothing about engines, oil, etc. but is it possible the oil they put in the factory is darker to begin with? There is some discussion of there being certain additives or whatever in the factory oil to aid the break-in. Is it possible this colors the oil?

 

Some have tested factory oil to find additives not found in conventional oils, eg Honda appears to go this route. So, its possible the color may be different too

I never tested the initial oil in my Prius. With my FJ Cruiser, it appeared to be regular 5W-30 motor oil

 

Every thing that I have seen from the oil analysis is easily explained by assembly lube and or sealants.
Black oil this early does not necessarily indicate anything except the rings haven't seated yet. That is why I would put the engine under a load to assist in seating the rings. He is I believe beyond the interval recommended to drive it easy isn't he?
Way, Way to early to say there is a problem, in my opinion.
Actually the top end of an engine that uses a little oil will far outlast one on an engine that consumes no oil because the compression rings are lubricated
On edit, molybedumn Di sulphide "sorry about the spelling" is a common assembly lube and it is very dark in color, maybe it was just a little extra molly is all, like MikeDS said.

 

I've heard the idea of driving a new car hard to seat the rings before....how hard is hard? and for how long? I've got about 1400 miles on mine...I've cruised at 70-80mph a fair amount, and done a few hills fairly fast, but I've never just hit at as hard as possible...I kinda like an excuse to stick it in power and let 'er rip...I could drag race my wife in her Civic, but I'm pretty sure she'd kick my nice person, haha...

 

I don't think anybody is suggesting that you hot rod it. Just drive it normally. I've been stuck behind brand new vehicles, with temp tags, and they are barely even moving

"Its a new vehicle, we have to baby it!"

"Um, no you don't"

 

You should baby it for the first 1,000 miles. I wouldn't beat on the car but I would drive it normally. Most importantly follow the manual and keep the speeds down on the highway until most of the break in has occurred.
If you live in a hilly area like I do then you will get all the benefits of varying engine speeds in every day normal driving. If I lived in areas like Kansas, Texas or Florida were it is relatively flat then yes I think you would need to pay attention to varying the engine speeds during the first 1,000 miles.

Toyota along with all the other manufactures puts every one of their engines on a test stand and runs it through a cycle to get most of the pre break in process done under controlled conditions. That might be why engines built in the last 15-20 years last so much longer than engines built in the sixties and seventies.

If you trade in cars every 50-60K mile go ahead and beat the hell out of it. It won't matter since you will not be the one that will be seeing the engine and transmission problems start to occur after 100K miles. If your planning on keeping the car for 10 years or more I would be kind to it for the first 1,200 miles or so.

The Honda Civic Hybrids, beat on them and you will need a new transmission by 100k miles. Be nice to the car and you will get over 150K miles out the transmission.

Hey I traded my 87 Volvo "Clunker" with 370K miles on it for my new Prius. I babied it for the first 1,200 miles as recommended in the owners manual.

I plan on owning this car for at least 10 to 15 years so I'm going to be nice to it.

 

I agree with ALS. The ideal way to seat the rings it to put a load on it, moderate to full throttle while pulling a hill is ideal. Since this is a CVT and therefore you can't control engine RPM, I'd say moderate to heavy acceleration, but don't "beat" it, unless you need to to avoid an accident or something.
If the rings don't seat, then you will have oil consumption. I think you would be surprised to learn what is considered "normal" oil consumption.
Again 99% sure there is no problem, sorry if I alarmed you

 

Out of curiosity, what oil filter are you using and where did you obtain it?

 

I agree with ALS. The rings are just one of hundreds of components that need to wear in throughout your car. The gears, valve train, bearings etc. all have to wear in. By driving hard you may assist seating the rings faster, but do damamge to a bearing or gear face. While this may not show early in a cars life, it certainly isn't good for longevity. Times have changed, and component metalurgy as well as machining precision no longer require the treatment of the "good old days". The using of mineral oil and not synthetic for breakin is also a falsehood. My Corvette, and many other new vehicles come from the factory with full synthetic oils and they break in just fine. Too slippery to allow wear in just isn't true.

 

Isn't it possible you are looking at "break in" oil rather than what you will be putting in your car in the future?

I would suspect a new engine might have different oil, and lots of crud after the first 5000 miles. If the fluid is a "break in" oil, I would think it possible that changing out break in oil early could defeat the purpose of the oil originally put in the engine for the break in period.

But, maybe it's just the spec Toyota 0 20.

 

The 2010 Prius uses a cartridge style element that fits into the canister. There should be alternatives available

I do know with aftermarket axles for rear drive cars/trucks, and aftermarket ring and pinion sets, there is still a fairly involved break in if you expect long life.

Ring & Pinion Installation Instructions

Scroll down to the section on Break In

Randy's Ring & Pinion. FAQ.

Same above

https://www.4wdfactory.com/store/products/Trail%2dGear-Trail%2dCreeper-Ring-and-Pinions.html

etc

I don't know about the Prius, but my 2007 FJ Cruiser clearly had a different oil from the factory, at least according to the oil analysis I had done at 3,500 km

 

Motor oils, and especially those for extended change intervals, contain additive packages that include antioxidant stabilizers that will turn red as they are consumed. It does not take much of this to happen (on the order of parts per million) to discolor a motor oil. As the oxidized stabilizer builds up in the oil--long before the oil is kaput--it will go from red to deep deep red which to most eyes will appear black.

Evaluating a motor oil based solely based on its color is inconclusive. As the OP states, an analysis is the way to go.

Personally, I would would worry more about a motor oil that did not change color. It would indicate an insufficient additive package or an engine is never fully warming up.

 

I wonder why they listed it as the 1.5L engine? Probably just an error. This does make me glad I changed mine early as well.

 

hello Smoketrail, I was wondering if the washer you took off your oil pan was made of that crushable material and looks like aluminum? I have that type on my HONDA CR-V. They do seat well for a good tight seal . If you look closely you can see at ridge on the used washer. This insures that you have tightened the drain plug correctly. I use 18 ft lbs to tighten the Magnetic drain plug.

 

i dont think driving it "hard" is the right term. what i do is just drive it "long". always take a trip of at least 200 miles driving it with varying speeds within the first few weeks. iow, not all freeway. my 2010, we did the Olympic Peninsula Loop which was about 350 miles of mixed freeway, divided highway, single lane highway, bit of mountains and hills etc.

 

Yes the results look entirely normal for factory-fill oil. Nothing to worry about

 

I did not change out my oil early, but wish that I did attached is my uoa from about 6000 miles and then another at around 10k, during the second oci I changed out about 2.5 quarts and then refilled about 1000 miles into the oci. UOA is attached

 

thanks for the analysis. good illustration of the need for the first change to be within the 5,000 which i did (more or less. i think i had around 5100 or so) but i also plan to go 10,000 miles.

its great that they provide parameters for the numbers, but i being a completely in the dark as to what it all means, it would be helpful if a sticky was created that details what each measurement means and the "seriousness" of the measurement.

seems to me, someone (probably Jayman) posted a chart that detailed what each one meant and which ones were the things to be most concerned with?