I May Change My Oil Soon

It will be overkill but I may do it anyway, because I'm somewhat of a fanatic. Got the car from a Mazda - Acura dealer Jan 8, 2020 with 108k well maintained miles. They changed the oil and filter and used Conoco-Phillips 0w20 full synthetic, which by no means is an inferior oil. I couldn't even see the oil on the dipstick when I got the car, that's how clean it was. And I've driven the car 1100 miles since I've owned it (and I now can see the oil on the dipstick). But I'm planning to do either 6 or 12 month oil changes and I drive up to 5k miles a year in East Tennessee USA. I have some Castrol Edge 0w20 FS and the same oil filter that the dealer put on it, a Federated PH4476F.

I could easily run the Conoco Phillips oil the whole year and change it next January if I wanted to. Many people do one oil change per year and get hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles on their Toyotas. But I'm a fanatic and strive for automotive perfection. And besides, they told me they used Conoco Phillips oil in my car which may be true, but if I add my Castrol Edge I will KNOW for fact it has Castrol Edge in it. Plus changing the oil in the spring is the ideal time because most of the condensation occurs from driving it on short trips in the Winter, but that's nit picking, but I'm a nit picker. So I guess I'll change it sometime in April and then try to decide if I'm going to run it until April 2021 or change it again in October and do oil changes 2x a year.

 

No way. I'll trust Toyota to know what oil viscosity to run in their Prius C. I don't like to fool around with Mother Nature.

 

I noticed the other day that there was an 0w20 syn blend oil at Walmart but I can't seem to remember the brand. It might have been Castrol. But full synthetic is the prefered flavor of oil for the C.

 

Yes, most 0w20 oil I've seen is full synthetic. Some people have said 0w20 is all FS.
The 0w20 SB was the first non FS oil I ever saw.

 

Changed my oil today and added fresh Castrol Edge 0w20 full synthetic and a Federated oil filter.
Then I went on a 28 mile drive and got 64.6 MPGs.

The oil drain plug gasket (lower left) looked pretty worn out so I used one of my new aluminum gaskets (right). I think one of the plastic ones [top] would also work OK on it.

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There was a drop of oil that had leaked out by the drain plug after my drive so I wiped it off, then loosened the bolt and tightened it up again, then drove to the post office and back which is 2-3 miles. It didn't seem to leak again. I can remember new drain bolt washers leaking a wee bit in some of my past cars when I changed my oil. Evidently this bolt will be OK now and will not leak any more. I didn't dare to tighten it up any more than I did the 2nd time. I have a feeling one of the plastic washers would have worked better but I'm not sure. I no longer have my torque wrench. I think I sold it and I kind of wish I'd kept it.
The oil drain bolt on the Ford Fiesta I had was so tight that I couldn't even get it off myself. I had to take it to a car care place for them to loosen it. I bought the Fiesta from a woman who worked at a car care place where they did oil changes on cars that were on a hydraulic lift and it was like the muscle heads there didn't want anyone else to be able to remove the oil drain bolts.

 

That's the first coated washer I've seen on one of my oil drain bolts so far. That thing must have been used for many oil changes.
It may have continued to work but I chose to use a new aluminum one.
Checked it again today and it didn't leak one drop.

 

The Castrol Edge seems to make the car run even nicer, or it may be the placebo effect or just bc it's new oil.

I saw Castrol GTX Ultraclean 0w20 syn blend in Walmart today for about $19 for 5 quarts. But for $1 more you can get Castrol Magnatec 0w20 full synthetic. Or Super Tech 0w20 FS for $15.

 

But I think Castrol GTX 0w20 syn blend would work good on a Prius C for someone who prefers using something other than full synthetic for some reason. And it said "For Toyota and Honda" on it.