Tell me why I can't change my oil every 10k?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Aug 7 2007, 07:45 AM) [snapback]491810[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for playing jayman. But that one is not kommunist, that temperature is Communist!

Thanks for understanding, I live in Commiefornia, spend most of the time on AR15.com, a gun toting, hootin and hollaring pro gun web site that thinks I'm ghey because I drive a Prius. I spend a great deal of time reading posts here but definitely sense that many buy into the man made global warming bs despite it happening every 1500 years for the last million years, yet I believe the earth is about 6,000 years old. I've parked my GMC 2500 (11mpg) to save gas.... whew, got that off my chest!

Anyway, Walmart has the Mobil 1 extended 5 quarts for $27. I plan on using that next time and getting a used oil analysis just before 15,000 miles. There is a slight savings over time, but I figure preventing sludge/grime and perhaps better performance might be worth it.

Your report about US vs EU (ever notice EU sounds like a kid disgusted with something? ) oil standards pisses me off. I'll try to find the article you reference. Just yesterday I found out someone said the Nitrogen in the tires is bs also just like the 3000 mile oil changes (which I mentioned I was doing until now).

Happy driving everyone. BTW Toms strut bars have been well received by other Prius drivers driving mine.

 

Here's how I intend to handle the matter of oil changes. I had the dealer do one at 20k, in case the previous owner didn't. At the price my dealer charges, it's hardly worth it to do it myself, as I'd be spending more money and time to do so.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(D Rock @ Aug 7 2007, 09:02 PM) [snapback]492171[/snapback]</div>

And, pray tell, just how many times do you brush and floss your teeth per day? 10? 20? Do you think your priceless teeth are worth the time to brush and floss your teeth every hour or two? This is using the same logic as your argument.

Additionally, you are implicitly presuming that "standard oil" is the same quality as the long-life synthetics that are out there. Brushing your teeth with a finger 10-20 times per day might not be as effective as using a fluoride twice per day.

Just be cheap and ruin a great set of teeth. Go ahead. I would bet you would be happy with dentures for being cheap.
This is being very nice to say the least.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Aug 7 2007, 08:39 PM) [snapback]492166[/snapback]</div>

I was born and raised here. SHHS '78. I live about 1/2 mile west of my childhood home. And, yes, a job at D-land was the typical summer job here.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jburns @ Dec 22 2006, 12:47 PM) [snapback]365701[/snapback]</div>

jburns,

These are the rules. The rules are written in black and white, so how can you claim Totyota defrauding it's customers?

If you don'y like the rules, it then don't play. Buy a different car instead of a Toyota. Maybe that car allows for 9,000 mile oil change intervals. Build your own car and write your own warranty if that makes you sleep better at night. Heck, write in a 15,000 mile oil change interval and you might even have happier dreams.

The USA uses miles and the other countries use kilometers, do I complain. No, I do not. I was ok with kilometers when I lived in Canada, now I am ok with miles in the USA. I agreed to live in these countries so I played by their rules. Fortunately, the PRIUS in the USA has a mph/kph button for those that do complain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dr Rocket @ Aug 7 2007, 10:27 PM) [snapback]492205[/snapback]</div>

I thought I'd check the site during my lunch, and it appears the Search is acting up. Here are some posts that might interest you

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=23000&st=100

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=14829&hl=

This one has the reference to the API article, with page numbers

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=34433&st=20

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=35216

The last one concerns the VW Long Life Service Regime in the EU, and the special oil they use. A lot of folks here freak out at mention of a 2 YEAR or 30,000 mile oil change

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=34658

Enjoy the AR15. Before I moved to Canada I was an American citizen. In the early 1980's I was in the US Army and later in the Utah National Guard. Though I prefer a FN or HK over some gas operated POS like the AR15.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kohnen @ Aug 7 2007, 11:04 PM) [snapback]492227[/snapback]</div>

Priceless! I was having a sinister day at work, and you personally cured it

 

cheesh, sv7vk - you asked for feedback, didn't you? just because everyone doesn't back your contention, you get testy. go ahead and do what you want. if there are consequences down the line, your problem.
john

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kohnen @ Aug 8 2007, 12:04 AM) [snapback]492227[/snapback]</div>

kohnen STFU No one here mentioned teeth except you with your snotty butt "pray tell" garb. Take your toothbrushing finger and put it in your Pray tell A$$. I personally use fully synthetic at 5K intervals. And NO I do not assume anything when it comes to standard VS synthetic. I fully believe in the 5K. I fully believe in the 5K interval for oil and filter changes no matter the type of oil. I pay the extra for synthetic because I can.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(D Rock @ Aug 12 2007, 12:31 PM) [snapback]494319[/snapback]</div>

I would have expected a more reasoned response.

 

I have been abiding by this person's recomendation regarding oil quality, originally posted in one of the Yahoo Prius forums. Apologies to the author for losing his name.

-------------------------------
Our Prius is almost all city driving with a light foot. Summers up to 40C, winters down to -10C or so. I change oil and filter twice a year, which has been a 15K interval. If I can find inexpensive Castrol I'll jump on it, but to date the cheapest in spec as above oil I have found is Pennzoil Syntec.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Aug 13 2007, 01:11 PM) [snapback]494808[/snapback]</div>

I'm using Mobil 1 Extended Performance. From their web site for their 5w-30,

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(http://mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_5W-30.aspx)</div>

So, based on what you posted from "Mr. X," M1EP should be OK for extended change intervals, right?

 

Kohnen, looks that way to me.

 

[attachmentid=11807]<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Aug 14 2007, 05:10 PM) [snapback]495641[/snapback]</div>

Here's the oil analysis for my first 9,672 miles on M1 EP 5W/30.

I think it looks pretty good.

I am using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W/30 and a Pure One PL 20195 filter.

I especially like the insoluables being at 0.1% - compared to the limit of 0.6% that's quite small.

I had the TBN test done too - TBN = 2.7, so there's still some oomph left in the oil.

OK. Love to know your thoughts.

 

As I've stated before, with a reasonable quality synthetic, a 10,000 mile OCI is fine. Your lab results are good, certainly nothing to raise concern

 

Save a $30 oil change, pay for a $30 oil analysis and buy the opportunity to fight with Toyota about voiding the warranty. Yeah, that sounds like a bargain :_>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Oct 2 2007, 09:55 AM) [snapback]520290[/snapback]</div>

Save a $30 oil change, pay for a $30 oil analysis, post the results for the Prius community so that they can have some hard facts and data.

Nope. Not a bargain for me at all.

But a bargain for all of you out there in Prius-land.

Now, Richard, it is YOUR turn to be useful.

 

I for one would *love* to see UOA of folks who run bare-minimum-spec North American API "Starburst" oil and 5,000 OCI intervals. Wonder why they don't want to share those results with us?

I'm particularly interested in end-TBN, particle analysis, residual moisture, and residual fuel.

At least in my situation, using synthetic oils at *twice* the recommended OCI, I had lower wear metals, lower residual moisture, better (Lower) particle residuals, and much higher end-TBN

 

I am so happy my dealer (Daytona Toyota) offers free lifetime oil changes. I am old enough to remember doing oil & filter changes at 10,000 miles and at the time I was studying to be a mechanic in vocational school. Of course there were a lot of other factors to include back then such as leaded gas but I do remember that those engines when torn down were NASTY with sludge. YUK! Even back then after seeing that I did my cars every 5,000 oil and filter. My brother in law doesn't do maintenance and he just put in a new engine in his car. A Buick with a 3.8 motor which is probably one of the best engines ever built. Toyota probably set the interval at 5,000 because the way we Americans (in general) treat our vehicles. You didn't say what type of driving you normally do? If it isn't dusty and full of short runs and your considered to be easy on your vehicles then it may work for you but from my school days I remember an ad campaign that read "pay me now or pay me later". Ultimately it is your decision.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BuddyL @ Oct 3 2007, 09:54 AM) [snapback]520588[/snapback]</div>

I commute about 70 miles per day, so the engine gets nice and warm. Short runs on the weekends, but 5 days a week about an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.

All freeways or paved roads - there's not much else in So. Cal.

As I noted, I'm using Mobil 1 Extended Performance which is Mobil's best synthetic. I've never had a sludge problem with Mobil 1.

I am using the Pure One PL20195 oil filter. That filter is oversized - about double the volume of the stock filter, so I'm not worried about the filter clogging. From what I read, that filter removes smaller dirt than most others and I think the good insoluable numbers support that idea.

And, I plan on getting the oil analyses until I am convinced that 10k miles (even maybe 15k miles) still results in good analysis of the resultant oil.

 

You may be happy with your Toyota dealership now, but you won't be should you have any major problem.

You probably noticed that when you bring your Prius in for service, you see about 25 service people walking around. These people greet you, shake your hand, grab your keys and then cart your car off for work. They all look very clean and slick.

A little bit later they drive the car back out to you and are very pleasant as they hand you the keys, take your money, and send you on your way.

But what you don't realize here is that you've never seen the mechanic who worked on your car. You never talked to the mechanic. You have no idea if the mechanic did everything he was supposed to, you have no way to ask the mechanic what he did.

Now imagine having a real problem with your car and being in this type of situation, where you cannot speak to the mechanics directly but are handed a $2000 bill from basically a salesman. If you ask to speak to the mechanic, you instead are sent a manager or supervisor who works on the floor, not in the garage.

Add to the new policy that Toyota is handing down which stipulates that the techs not do any physical troubleshooting. Toyota wants all mechanics to hook the computer up to the car and follow the troubleshooting steps on the computer screen and not deviate from that.

Back to the main topic, if you use high-quality oil filters and not the filters that chains put on your car which are made of very thin layers of paper, you can probably get away with changing your oil every 10k miles. Just be sure you're checking the oil level in the engine at 3,000 mile intervals if you're going to do that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gippah @ Oct 3 2007, 11:17 AM) [snapback]520604[/snapback]</div>

and where'd you hear that? techs are paid flat rate. the lame ones don't really have much interest in doing much more than what is required of them. di-ag time does not make them money.

DH was the best tech his shop had, but was also the lowest paid because he insisted on finding the problem and fixing it right the first time. reducing your repair errors to 2 repeat visits in 3 years (as opposed to the shop average of that or more in a month per tech) is far less important than generating revenue to the dealership.