New Prius Owners - Don't use Synthetic Oil in the beginning

Must be an old mechanic. This wives tale hasn't been given any credence for ages.

Mobil1 is standard fresh from the factory issue on a number of cars, including some very high performance ones with tight clearances.

 

Having had one of the first S2000s, I was anxious to change the oil at 600mi to synthetic. I began to burn 1qt oil per 1k mi at least, and the tail pipe was greasy after every short trip. A few months later Honda came out with a directive not to change the oil too soon, and also to wait on synthetic. Might have something to do with the fiber reinforced cylinder walls.

I do not plan to change the oil in the Prius until 5K mi and then only to nonsynthetic.

 

If engine design requires at least a few thousand miles of non-synthetic oil use to make things work right, isn't it about time they reworked things so synthetic will work too?

Seems rather poor for a machine to require underperforming lubrication for a while to make things 'settle in', THEN let better lubrication make it last longer...

 

I agree with Tempus, 'old wives tale. Mercedes Benz, GM's Corvette, Porsche and a few others all come with Mobil 1 right from the factory, and in fact tell the owners to only use it. I can't imagine MB or Porsche wanting engine problems on their vehicles.

I usually swap the oil in cars with 'Dino' oil to Mobil 1 at about 2K miles, and we will be doing the same with our new Prius.

 

We switched over at 1000 mi and have had no trouble. Of course the odo reads a whopping 1400 mi now. I will report back if any trouble crops up but I'm seriously doubting it.

Oh yeah. My husband was the one to insist on the changeover and he's a Toyota tech. Says he wants the car to retain as much value as possible since it's our first new vehicle ever.

 

Re: New Prius Owners - Don't use Synthetic Oil in the beginn

If you check the 2004 maintenance records at john1701a's website, the most Prius-obsessed person we all probably know, he switched to synthetic at 2K miles and is now at 30K miles and doing just fine with the car.

 

>>I figured a race car mechanic would probably know a lot more than most of us about oil performance and what an engine looks like on the inside because they usually completely take them apart and rebuild them after every race day. <<

Its a completely different thing. But, I see no reason to dump what comes in the car early. I'd just swap to syn at 5k.

 

Motors are now broken in at the factory. They no longer use "break in" oil, like they use to.
I still wouldn't dump the oil, but not because of break in, because its a waste of money.

 

Re: New Prius Owners - Don't use Synthetic Oil in the beginn

Pretty simple to do both. Change to synthetic at your 1st or 2nd oil change at 5K or 10K miles.

You'll do any "break-in" possibly needed, and you'll get the run out of the factory oil. It's gonna take you about that long to break even on the more expensive synthetic anyways.

 

Re: New Prius Owners - Don't use Synthetic Oil in the beginn

Personally I feel Synthetic oil is huge waste of money. If you drive lots of miles like I do, 2 to 3K miles a month, the money you would spend on Synth oil is nuts. Change your oil regulary at 4-6K intervals without fail and your car will treat you fine. I currently own an 85 Toyota p/up with 400K miles on it and its rolling along strong!

 

I know you wouldn't do it, but the beauty of syn is you can go at least 10k on it, likely longer if you change the filter and top off.
So, over the long term there could be a cost benefit, not to mention you're tossing less oil waste.

 

Re: New Prius Owners - Don't use Synthetic Oil in the beginn

Most of the motors with factory-fill synthetics are actually broken in at the factory on engine dynometers. You're talking about exotically expensive cars, so you're also paying a wee bit extra for this extra level of protection.

With different - superior - materials now used in production (Coated rings, gapless rings, crosshatch cylinder walls, automated honing process, deck plate during honing, etc) there really is NO need to schedule an initial "early" oil change. That's a very outdated wives tale.

Engines made the "old fashioned" way will have a lot of metal shavings or "swarf" inside the oil galleries and motor itself. And traditional low-tension steel compression rings need a "break in" along with the camshaft, so there will be a lot of trash in the oil very quickly.

That's why you had to run the motor with no load and at 2,500 RPM for the first 30 minutes, to break in the camshaft and lifters. Then you had to "pull load" in varying stages to break in the rings. Then change the oil and filter. Then drive 500 miles. Then change the oil and filter again.

What a PITA.

Unless the owner manual tells you differently, keep the factory oil in until the first scheduled oil change. Of course, we've been raised so long on this "3 month 3,000 mile" garbage that everybody believes it like gospel.

In some cases by having the first oil change very early, you can really bugger up a motor, but more than likely you're just wasting time and money. If we really do need an early initial change, then Toyota should have this in writing. Otherwise I would think they would have a rash of warranty claims on the motor.

Or at the very least the Toyota Prius in Europe would have its first oil change one h*** of a lot sooner than 12 months or 16,000km. Mention 1 year 10,000 mile like in Europe and folks here become horrified. The same motors used over in Europe also appear to live very long lives.

Again, if the book mentions differently, then follow the book. As an example, my 2000 GMC Sierra had the stipulation that the rear axle had to be "broken in" at least 1,000km before towing. You were supposed to change the rear axle gear oil for the first time at 5,000km, and/or within 600km towing the first time.

I did all that, and even then that POS had leaky seals and a loud gear noise.

 

Absolutely, I agree 100%. And if you install a bypass oil filter in addition to the main filter, you only change the filter when the UOA tells you to.

If you install an air-centrifugal cartridge, like on a highway tractor, then in essence the oil becomes lifetime fill. You just take out the basket and clean the crud out every 5,000-10,000 miles and the oil stays spotless forever.

Remember those Toilet Paper oil filters? They really did work, though the pressure drop was a tad high. The oil life was dramatically extended, but this ran counter to the API mission to promote frequent and unnecessary oil changes.

Unfortunately, here in North America, we're stuck with 8,000km / 5,000mi or 6 month oil changes to maintain engine warranty. Otherwise if you develop a problem, a rare occurence anyway, then Toyota will have the legal right to say right to your face "TFB pal you're SOL."

 

I'm sticking with regular oil, changed along with the filter at 5,000 mile intervals. I do it myself, so the cost is ten bucks. In my moderate climate, I see no advantage to the synthetics.

 

Jayman - yeah, I guess you're right, but I'm not to worried about it. I once worked for someone who never changed her oil, let it run dry, and siezed up the motor. She got Nissan to give her a new one.

 

Yes, I understand it also plays havoc with the Prius's carburetor and manual crank starter assembly.

 

I changed at 5000 miles to synthetic and currently have 27k miles over 18 months. Engine consumes NO oil and runs great. I use synthetic for POM POM. I don't mind spending the extra money for that security.