Oil Change Interval Concern

No. Different engine oil formulations will change color at various rates.

 

I don't have an answer for your question, but just wanted to remind you that at 5,000 miles, you are due for your first service on the car.

Looks like you'll hit 5k in another month.

 

For my peace of mind, I went ahead and changed my oil and oil filter at 1000 miles. After that, I just changed oil and filter every 4000 miles using dino oil.

If you are a DIY, you can go ahead and change oil and filter. It never hurts doing it a little early. To wait for 5000 miles on your 1st oil change, I think is way too long for me.

 

just run the factory oil till your first service. It's normal for oil to turn a bit dark, that means it's doing it's job.

if you stick with dino, get castrol GTX, it's good regular oil. And good for 5k on this engine.

if going to synthetic Pennzoil platinum or Mobil 1 are both good choices, or any syn for that matter.

 

On our motorcycles, I do the oil changes. Usually the first is at 200 miles or so (motorcycle engines work pretty hard). I always examine the oil and tear apart the oil filter to see what's in there. Invariably, there are metal shavings from the factory machining process that the oil filter picks up. After that oil change, I just get clutch dust which is normal.

So, I had my Prius oil changed at 1k miles just to flush out any leftover machining debris. Next oil change will be at 5k and after that I'll just follow Toyota's recommended 5k oil change interval.

A few years back Cousumer Reports did a study of how different oil change intervals affect engine wear. After 60,000 miles they found no benefit - none - in changing oil more often than the manufacturer's recommended interval (every 7,500 in that case). I'd bet the farm that is true with the Pruis engine as well.

 

If the oil is dark, then thats a GOOD thing. It means the detergents in the oil is doing its job. I'd be worried if the oil was crystal clear after 5000 miles.

 

If you ever intend to do any Prius oil change ahead of schedule, it should be the first one. Used oil analyses posted here indicate that only that one collects unusually large amount of iron and copper from the engine.

By unusually large I mean much more than subsequent oil changes, not that the amount is necessarily damaging. But there's a summary of the data; make your decisions accordingly.

 

With my Prius, I left the oil in until the recommended oil change. It was pretty dark. I made the mistake of not sampling the used oil until around 16,000km, so I have no idea how high the early break-in wear was

What I did uncover was that my dealership oil was complete crap, with high sodium levels. Using Mobil 1 for +3 years, everything has settled down and the oil analysis is fine even pushing 16,000 km intervals

With my FJ Cruiser, the oil was black before 3,000 km. Concerned, I sent off a sample and, essentially, the oil was used up: sky-high nitration, under 2 TBN, shear, etc

My Cruiser took longer to settle down, and a bit of experimentation with different oils. I have the best results - used oil analysis - running Mobil 1 0W-40 in that motor. I run Mobil 1 0W-20 year round in the Prius.

There is heated debate on this forum about different viscosity from the magic 5W-30 recommended on the fill cap. I'm not really interested in continuing that debate, you can search the forum for my posts on that topic

 

I recently started to use synthetic oil in my 2004 and my powertrain warranty has expired (odometer currently at 65K miles). I've decided to move to 7,500 mile change intervals to get more value out of the synthetic oil. My maintenance booklet came with a leaflet that says 7,500 mile/6 month service intervals are OK if the car is not driven in very cold weather, stop & go short distance travel only, etc.

 

I heard a plausible theory but not sure how much truth is in it: you shall wait for the first oil change until the prescribed first interval (5000 mi that is), because the metal debris in the oil is acting as polishing agents helping with the engine break-in. If you change the oil earlier, the engine break-in will be longer or less.

Some people even say that manufacturer added some polishing agents in the oil to help break-in.

Not sure if this is true.

 

Not sure if it is needed but I had the dealer do the first service whenever they said too, then I started using Amsoil full sunthetic and performed oil changes at every 35,000 miles (yes 35K) with an oil filter change at the half way point. 160,000 miles later no MPG change and still running great!

 

I think I am going to get a UOA on the Pennzoil Plat. I dumped it in last month on the change. Still have a couple of months to go with my rate of driving. Curious on the results..it should come back really good though. Especially since I dropped the oil early at 1200 miles. Although looking back, I tell myself that was pretty lame and premature..keeping the factory fill for the first 5k is more then likely fine. But of course that geek kicks in and the wonder of your poor oil lol!

thinking of switching over to Motorcraft synblend for kicks on the next change at 18000. Can't beat the price @2 bucks a quart...plus the reviews are really good on this oil.

this is the only stuff my dad runs in his Lincoln that is 5 years old now. He had a UOA done last year after I hounded him on it..and it came back really clean.

supertech might be on the list also

 

If I had to use a conventional oil, that would be my choice too

 

That pretty much puts to bed any worry about using quality synthetic oils for extended oil changes

 

Wow! How much oil is being consumed over the ~17,500 miles between filter changes or over the full 35k? Is it moving any on the stick? I assume you are filling the replacement filter with fresh oil.

 

Well, I've been keeping it to 5k miles between changes with Mobil 1, but I'll do an oil test at 100,000 miles and probably go over to 10k changes and testing at that point. I'm only at about 89k miles now, but will be up to 100k within 6 months. I still "burn" less than a 10th of a quart in 5k miles.

Dave M.

 

I would agree that you should go with the suggested 5000 mile interval. That is what I have done with my 2005 and it is still running fine.

 

Hi PriusRules...

I just did our first oil change on our '09 at 1271 miles. The oil was a very light yellow on the dipstick but was pretty dark coming out the drain hole. I'm not concerned as the darkness means that the detergents in the oil are doing their job.

I replaced the factory fill with Havoline Deposit Shield 5w-30. That's the lightest viscosity regular oil I've been able to find. I'll run it until 5k miles and then change regularly at 5k mile intervals. I have some oil analysis kits standing by to see how things evolve in this engine. It's nice-to-know stuff.

I noticed at the level check before the oil change that the factory fill was a little over the full mark...about 1/16th inch or so. Certainly, it was not an entire 1/8th inch high. That's not very much. Subsequently, after a filter change and 4qts of oil the oil level was right where the factory fill was. 4.0 vs 3.9 doesn't seem like enough to lose sleep over.

I wasn't ready for how small the filter was! None of my oil change gear would fit it. I wound up using a large pair of channel lock pliers to get it loose. I guess I have to go buy another tool to fit it properly (dang, gotta buy more tools .) Or, I'll find a slightly larger filter that will not only work right, but fit the tools I have and negate the quandary over 4.0 vs 3.9 quarts.