10k Mile Oil Change Interval too Long for Synthetic?

5000 is the max I'll push on syn. Oil isn't just fine and then after X# of miles is suddenly dirty and spent. I keep my rigs 2 to 3 hundred thousand miles on average. The only time I have had major engine problems was when a gasket failed and allowed #1 cylinder to fill with coolant while while she was parked for over a month. That was at 170000+ miles. The F150 was still running as good as new up till then and she unfortunately fired right up and bent #1 rod. With these new rigs the rest of the rig is likely to used up before the engine if you do two things, keep clean fuel in her (don't let that ethanol sit for weeks unused in the tank) and change your oil. Regular oil changes BEFORE the oil is contaminated and the additive package is completely spent is cheap insurance in my book.

RAL

 

Lots and lots of articles and thread on this. Oil analysis is cheap if you're in doubt. Or just change it at 5k if you believe what mechanic said.

If 5k is too long for synthetic, 3k must have been way too too long for conventional oil.

 

I would think this has been studied much closer by the auto manufacturers themselves. They are the one's that have the reputation tied to their engines and have a warranty to back.

Go back 10 years, and I was like many people. I bought into the "Speedy Lube" mantra of changing your oil every 3 months or 3000 miles. That is what I was use to doing.

Fast forward to my Honda Fit, which came with a "maintenance minder" that told you when you should change the oil. I typically was going around 7000+ miles in between changes.

Now by my way of thinking, that was 7000 miles, on a standard 4 cylinder engine, that was constantly running while operating. I always changed with synthetic, but I went by the "Minder".

So to me? It's not so out of reach to believe a Hybrid Engine, that is only running part of the time, and works in conjunction with electric motors, could on synthetics go 10,000 miles in between changes. The way the Prius works, you don't have the same cold start ignition, which is a big part of engine wear, and obviously you have a HSD system that occasionally shuts the engine off, and is designed to try to keep the engine running as efficiently as possible at all times. I think I'd clearly always want synthetic oil....and I would pay attention to a time-frame in between changes, if I hadn't reached 10,000 miles in a year, I'd change regardless of mileage. But I've changed from the old days of drive in for an Oil Change every 3000 miles. I can easily believe on a synthetic that I can go 10,000 miles.

 

$25 for an oil analysis. If you have a big ol Marine diesel, that takes several gallons of oil, it makes a lot of sense to send the oil in to be analysed.....but for $25 I'll just add another $5 and change the oil in my car.


RAL

 

Point is why waste your money for useless oil changes... your not taking into considering what you're really wasting here. You note wasting the $30, well how about the doubling up on all those unnecessary oil changes? In 200k miles you noted, you can do 20 oil changes or 40? In the end it's not just about money.. but in the end, it is your money and equipment. Lab results are enough proof for me.

Just noting to not to fall for Jiffy/Speedy lube marketing.. BUT I digress..

 

Lab results indicate the condition of THAT oil that has been used under THOSE conditions. I asked the Engineer on the vessel I worked on why they kept doing the analysis over all the time rather than just taking the data from the first runs and simply changing it out on a hours basis. He said that running conditions, humidity, heat/cold, injector error ect have a big effect on oil breakdown/contamination . For them having several gallons of high dollar oil in the sump they need to wring every hour practical out of a oil change. I asked him if he had the oil analysed in his truck between changes, he laughed at me. For the small amount held in a car oil pan it is far more efficient to just change the oil than try to sweat more miles out of 4 to 6 quarts. You think I am wasting money, I know Im saving money. 20 extra changes at $30 = $600, less than a 1/3 of a penny per mile (cheap insurance). $600 is less than 10 hours shop time. A decent used engine can be had for less than $2000 but then you have to get her installed, cost plus the hassle. No Thanks I'll keep clean oil in my rig and get rid of her sometime after 300000 miles and still see her running around town for years afterwords.

RAL

 

Overall this argument is invalid because this is a PRIUS that we are talking about. FOLLOW YOUR MANUFACTURER recommendations instead of listening to non-sense mom and pops auto shops.

 

Lets look at this from a practical perspective. Even Amsol ( they use better synthetic stock than anybody) has backed off and now says a MAX of 10K for cars used without extreme duty. What is extreme duty.....cold driving, hot driving, short hops, stop and go traffic. Ideally from an oil life standpoint you want to start your car, ease out of the driveway drive 35mph for a couple miles enter the HWY and drive 40 miles or more at 55 to 70 miles an hour. Driving two miles to the mall stopping for a couple hours then driving 10 miles in the city stop and go traffic is considered extreme service and a lower mileage oil change scheduled is advised. This is counter intuitive but too light duty use also contributes to oil breakdown. If the engine does not operate at a high enough temperature for long enough water, fuel and other contaminants will build up and create a acidic condition and a shorter oil change schedule is REQUIRED. Mixed driving like most do 7500 or less is advised
Sometimes the manufacture recommendations are driven by factors other than what the engineers would use on their own rig......like trying to appeal to the "green crowd" It would not be the first time Toyota let marketing over ride engineering Second Opinion: Oil Sludge: an expensive but preventable disaster.

You go ahead and just follow the "scheduled" I'll take care of my rig.

RAL

 

To each their own, lets leave it at that

 

done. put a cherry on it.

 

Well first of all? I'd never refer to my Prius as a "Rig".

But I agree that every owner has every right to take care of their vehicle as they believe is best. Generally Oil and Filter changes are a cheap enough action that whether you do them every 3000 miles, 5000 miles or 10,000 miles probably isn't going to financially kill anyone.

So you just go ahead doing whatever you want to do with your "rig". I think in general, I'm going to follow the scheduled manufactured recommend maintenance protocol for The Toyota Prius, as put forth by the auto builder itself. IMO Toyota has no advantage what so ever in artificially extending the oil change period beyond what should be reasonable. The dealerships certainly would like to see you as much as possible. I tend to think if a shorter interval was advisable or preferable Toyota would not hesitate to recommend it, for the good of their own vehicles and for the advantage of their own dealerships.

In the Hunger Games of Oil Changing maintenance and personal protocol, may the odds forever be in your favor.

 

I have been a Mobil 1 user since the 70's. After doing oil analysis on my first use of mobil 1 in a Chevy, I checked it at 3000, 6000, 9000 miles . The test at 9000 said the oil was good for many more miles. I settled on 10,000 miles and used that on many rigs of various brands for the next 30+ years with no oil related engine problems.

In fact, I found that if I put Mobil 1 in a 100,000 mile engine that ran nice and did not use oil, it would still run that good with another 200,000 on it using mobil 1.

When I bought my 10 Prius in July 09, they still had the 5000 mile oil change. By the time it was ready for that first change, Toyota had raised the oil change to 10,000 miles. At 10,000 miles on that second fill with Toyota 0w-20 synthetic, I was flat amazed by the fact that the oil was still on the full mark and only slightly dark after 10,000 miles, almost new. I would say the Toyota synthetic is great stuff and the little Prius engine has to have the best ring and valve seal of any engine I have ever owned.
My Chevy, Dodge, Ford and Mitsubishi engines on mobil 1, would have enough blowby products in the crankcase to turn the Mobil 1 a dark maple syrup brown by 10,000 miles, the Toyota oil in the Prius is just dark enough on the dipstick to see it a bit easier. I suspect the Toyota synthetic oil In gen 3 prius is no where near used up at 10,000 miles.

 

I have been watching this site for years, I don't remember hearing about a ICE thats worn out. Lots of accidents, battery, inverters, and transaxels problems. Don't think 10 k on our oil is any problem at all. I have seen chevy work trucks idle 4-8 hous a day go over 200,000 miles. With 10k oil changes, plus the extra thousands and thousands of hours of idle time ontop of that. But do what feels right to you, thats all that matters.

 

I'll stick with a 10,000 mile oil change. Heck, with the PIP, the engine runs even less.

 

I always roll my eyes when a "mechanic" makes such a profound statement. Does this individual have the funding to disassemble and inspect a sizable number of engines, including ones that are entirely problem free. Have they performed (very costly) extended laboratory tests where every available parameter is measured and recorded? Do they have the funds to operate a statistically significant number of fleet vehicles whose oil-change intervals are varied? Are they investigating one specific engine?

Anyone who has worked in a real engineering environment realizes that it takes a team of engineers, scientists and statisticians (and others) to make such an assessment. You spend a couple hundred $K and still you have doubt, since the laboratory world and the real world do actually differ.

IMHO, the only really small passages in a typical automotive ICE is in the hydraulic lifters, which the Prius does not use.

 

I guess these commercial work after all... lol..

Jiffy Lube TV Commercial For Keeping Vehicles Running - iSpot.tv

 

That sounds good .......But if you drive in power mode most of the time, or pull a trailer, or just drive 75 or faster MPH ; that will be putting more load on ICE. 5,000 mile oil change might be better...... But if you drive slow, pulse & glide, try to save on gas; then I agree with 10,000 mile oil change .

 

nope. don't see any reason to question toyota's wisdom and reputation. they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D, no one can claim they do more than toyota. based on this, opinion of others with limited experience isn't worth anything imo.