Oil change every 5K to prevent excessive oil consumption ?

i would like to see some lab testing to back up the theory. otherwise, i'm sticking with ten. but i can see someone who likes to change their own oil taking a cautious approach, it doesn't cost that much.
ten extra oil changes at my dealer would be another $1,000. over 100,000 miles.

and on top of all that, the prius engine doesn't even run all the time, although, maybe the start stop puts extra wear on it?

 

A member on here has a thread going on this subject. It seems the majority with oil consumption have used the 10k OC interval. The majority with no oil consumption used the 5k interval. Not scientific, but you can draw your own conclusion.

Personally, I have maintained the original 2010 5k interval and at 127k miles I have zero oil consumption.

 

Split the difference: oil only at 5000 miles, oil and filter at 10,000?

Canadian 3rd gen schedule is 8000 km (5000~ miles) or 6 months, solves the dilemma for me. No consumption so far (which I find a little unnerving...), but only 67K km's (42K~ miles) to date.

 

$300 extra if you do it yourself and go Mobil1. That my friend is a $700 saving (but a $300 expense)!

 

Interesting article. Always valued Prius' reliability as much as fuel economy.

 

Interesting.
Older oil would contain more contaminants.
Said contaminants would possibly wear the cylinder bore and rings more than no contaminates.
Well that's my logic statement.

Oil filter every 10K and oil every 5K could be a cost savings technique and present a reduction of contaminants.
From above posts there seems to be some evidence that oil and filter every 5K could be best.
Prius start/ stop function is harder on an engine than constant running.
As a hobby 5K oil and filter changes feels good.
That's my unscientific statement.

 

There is a poll and more:
oil consumption vs length of oil change interval | PriusChat

 

People who have had their oil tested in this forum have had good results for the oil at 10,000 miles and at least one has even extended beyond 10,000 for that reason. I'm not aware of any tests showing poor oil condition at or less than 10,000 miles, so that's what I am sticking with. A common argument for 5,000 miles for non-harsh conditions seems to be for those who don't check their oil levels...so they are less likely to run dry and kill their engines between oil changes. Since I habitually check levels at every gasoline fill up, that doesn't apply in my case.

 

Oil filter OEM is like $5.00 at the dealer...... Just saying

 

Remember Gen 3 came out originally with 5k mile oil changes. Then for some unknown reason Toyota pushed it up to 10K mile oil changes. I wonder if CAFE standards had something to do with it

 

You need to qualify that, to Toyota USA. Toyota Canada stayed with 6 months or (roughly) 5000 miles. Australia is the one other I know, believe they're (rough conversion from 10,000 km's) 6250 miles or 6 months?

OTOH, UK and European Toyota entities are higher than 10K miles? Also, for 2016 onward, Toyota Canada has gone to 10,000 miles or yearly.

In a nutshell, the oil change interval all over the map. I'm sceptical of Toyota's motives. Not overly, but somewhat.

 

Google CAFE standards.....too much to explain. But the one big trend from CAFE standards is the use of 0W-20 weight oil across most new cars. This IMO is the biggest reason we are seeing oil consumption. The Prius can run on thicker oil and is recommended in other parts of the world who don't have to meet US Gov. CAFE standards.

 

But, do you really think they would have changed it to 10K intervals if they didn't do testing? Of course they had lab results to back that decision.

Also, it's not a blanket 10K interval. It's 5K intervals for "Extensive idling and/or low speed driving for a long distance such as police, taxi or door-to-door delivery use".

 

Not sure what you mean by 5k mile intervals? When they first came out oil and filter changes were set at 5k miles. Don't forget that all manufactures set the life of a car at 150k miles. So yes I do think Toyota was not too worried with oil consumption as it would not start till the end of their life expectancy.

 

No, it wasn't CAFE. It was the free maintenance package they rolled out after the unintended acceleration bad publicity. CAFE is responsible for 0w20.

 

This is a common misconception that $10 test can tell you everything. It can't. To see piston deposits you have to take it apart.

 

IF.....you are trying to get fresh oil in it more often, leaving the filter full of old dirty oil on there makes no sense to me.

I compromise a little differently:
It calls for tire rotation every 5K and oil changed at 10K.
I do both around 7K.

 

Are the piston deposits carbon? From a brief reading, soot is common in diesel engine oil, but not gasoline. I have seen soot in my intake manifold coming from the EGR system though, so maybe that is the source and it ends up in the crankcase oil.

Soot can be analyzed for $10 at Blackstone. (Their standard oil analysis is $28.) Tests / Price List
Maybe someone can have their oil analyzed for soot next time they do an oil change.