Despite the Synthetic Oil requirement, 5000 mile change intervals are still "required"

Finished downloading a bunch of info from techinfo.toyota.com. One of these was the Warranty/Maintenance guide. Also downloaded the Owner's Manual.

The 5000 mile oil change interval is still retained, despite the requirement for 0W-20 oil.

Oil requirements:

Total oil fill 4.4qt w/ filter, 4.1qt w/o. Owner's manual (current revision) lists how to get to oil, but has no mention of the oil filter.

There is a 5000 mile oil maintenance reminder in the MID that starts warning at 4500 miles. Reset process is the same as the current vehicles.

 

I'll probably look closely @ Mobile 1 0W-20.

 

Technically, no, I can't without Toyota's explicit permission. The subscription is $10/day, which for those who can spend the time "gathering", it's well worth the price of admission. Even when it goes up to $15/day next month, I feel it's still worth it.

I kinda wish some of the materials were available in one large PDF vs. in small chunks, but that may defeat the purpose of on-demand access to the materials.

 

Last bit of checking I did, 0W-20 wasn't available in dino-juice form, only 5W-20.

"Requires" in that the car will continue to nag at that interval. There are arguments either way surrounding warranty coverage, etc.

I'd be willing to bet that other countries are more lax on their mileage intervals.

This is by far one of the areas where Toyota USA can improve the Eco friendly image of the Prius, by consuming less motor oil and creating less of a disposal burden.

 

Only if they're charged the difference out of their paychecks.

A blatent overfill will be far more difficult in US terms - 4.4qts could possibly be rounded to 4.5 being a marginal overfill, and rounding all the way up to 5 would be extreme. You can bet on dealers charging for 5 qts regardless.

I reviewed the oil change procedure in the repair manual yesterday. This is a tad more complicated than your standard oil change w/ the "required" cover removals. I think some of us called this out @ PCD.

Steps are as follows (w/o pics it can be somewhat vague):

Parts required:

• SST 09228-06501 - oil filter cap assembly "cap wrench"
• Oil Filter Element (no p/n)
  
• Oil Filter Cap O-Ring (no p/n)
  
• Oil Drain Plug Gasket (no p/n, but I imagine it's the same as before)
  
• 4.4qt 0W-20 Oil (5W-20 can be used if 0W-20 is unavailable, but 0W-20 must be used at the next change interval per manual)

1a. Remove Front Spoiler Cover (if equipped)
-or-
1b. Remove Engine Under Cover (if equipped)
2. Remove No 1. Engine Under Cover
3. Drain engine oil.
a) Remove oil filler cap
b) Remove oil pan drain plug and gasket, and drain the oil into a container.
c) Clean and install drain plug w/ new gasket, torque to 27 ft/lb
4. Remove Oil Filter Cap Assembly
a) Using SST, loosen the oil filter cap 4 revolutions, align the cap ribs vertically, and drain remaining engine oil in the cap.
There's a warning not to remove the bracket clip and a hint to place a container beneath the filter cap prior to loosening.
b) Remove the oil filter cap assembly
c) Remove the oil filter element and O-ring from the oil filter cap.
5. Install Oil Filter Cap Assembly
a) Clean Oil Filter Cap threads and O-ring groove.
b) Apply a small amount of engine oil to a new O-ring and install in the oil filter cap
c) Set a new oil filter element in the oil filter cap.
d) Remove any dirt or or foreign matter from the installation surfaces and from the inside of the engine.
e) Apply, a second time, a small amount of engine oil to the O-ring of the oil filter cap assembly. Align the cutout in the oil filter cap threads 90° to the grooves in the oil filter bracket and temporarily tighten the cap.
A note is provided to ensure the O-ring doesn't get caught between the parts while threading
f) Using the SST, tighten the oil filter cap assembly to 18 ft/lb
A note is provided to check for gaps in the installation suraces, don't remove the oil filter cap bracket clip during installation, and do not cross-thread the cap assembly.
6. Add engine oil and install the filler cap.
For USA: Grade - ILSAC multigrade 0W-20
For Canada: ILSAC multigrade 0W-20 or 5W-20. 0W-20 is the best choice for fuel economy and good starting in cold weather conditions.
Capacity:

• Drain/refill with filter: 4.2L/4.4 US qts
• Drain/refill without filter: 3.9L/4.1 US qts
• Dry fill: 4.7L/5.0 US qts

7. Inspect for engine oil leaks.
a) Put the engine in inspection mode.
b) Start the engine.
c) Check for oil leaks from the connected parts of the oil filter cap and the oil drain plug.
8. Install No. 1 Engine Under Cover
9a. Install Engine Under Cover (w/ cover)
-or-
9b. Install Front Spoiler Cover (w/ front spoiler)

Now assuming the tech reads the instructions correctly and puts in the drain/refill amount vs. the dry fill amount, we should be fine.

 

0W-20 is only synthetic at this time. The lowest "dino-juice" grade is 5W-20.