Changed oil; disagree with posted instructions :)

I always use a lift, got tired of crawling on the ground years ago.

 

I've learned a lot on this forum, but I think on this one I'll stick with specific, technical information from Toyota instead of "many people", "family", "dad", etc.

 

I will change mine in about a few weeks.

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I saw this from other forum that I vist....


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No matter how well the parts are manufactured, or how meticulous your engine builder is in maintaining his tolerances, the internals of your engine still have a lot of relatively rough friction surfaces when freshly put together. I'm talking about rings, cams, rockers, and bearings...stuff like that. There is a lot of processes manufacturers put their parts through to ensure that they have the desired hardness that is required for long life: Heat treating, Tuftriding, things like that.

For approximately the first 10-12,000 miles of a fresh engine's life, the parts all go through a combination of physical and molecular changes. First, there is a tremendous (relatively speaking) amount of friction on these surfaces for the first 12K, and the result is that the parts are reaching what engineers call equilibrium. The parts are wearing into a state of near perfect smoothness, in relation to each other. Much more perfectly smooth than any manufacturer could ever produce. Secondly, as this first 12K elapses the internal parts of the engine are also going through a molecular change (for want of a better word): the best hardening processes used by manufacturers cannot achieve what the constant heat and operation of 12K can put the parts through. The parts will become even more hardened, and much more resistant to wear and tear. But they also become more brittle.

For those reasons, it is vitally important that you operate your car in a variety of driving styles during this high-friction break-in period to ensure that the internals are fully worn-in, or seated by the time equilibrium sets in. If the parts are not fully worn-in by that time, then the new-found brittleness will cause an excess of wear and tear, shortening the engine's life. For that reason, it is a good idea to stick with regular 'dino' for the break-in period, so that you will have enough friction to wear in the parts, but not so much that you are damaging the engine. Since there is so much friction, and therefore much more microscopic (but still damaging!) particulate matter present in the oil, I would recommend changing it at the first 200 miles, then at 500 miles, and then every 1,000-1,500 miles until you have reached about 12K. At this point, you have done everything possible to help your engine reach as near a perfect state of equilibrium as possible, and no more break-in is necessary. That means that now you want to have as little internal friction as possible. At this point, switch to a good full synthetic.

 

Welcome, petite Prius minx! :_>

Even just 3 quarts is enough (check the dipstick), and it eliminates the leftover fractional bottle.

 

Carefull ~ asking a question like that around some of the PC yay-hooz

When it's time to change oil, we've always been lucky enough with our two hybrids, to find a coupon for appx $14 so for a price like that, who can resist?

 

I just went to the dealer or the first filter and oil change and the receipt of work says they aded 4.0 quarts of oil...
I dont know if its just me that got paranoid, but the car feels alittle heavier..


what can i do?

 

A. You can pull out the dipstick and check the level. It should be no higher than the "full" mark. Refer to the owner's manual if you aren't sure which mark is full.

B. If its overfull you can take it back to the dealer or

C. You can remove the excess by

1. Pulling it out the dipstick tube with a vacuum pump (I did this when the dealer overfilled mine) or

2. Remove the oil filter, drain the contents, reinstall, run the engine, recheck the level, repeat until the level is at or below the full mark.

 

how do i check the oil meter, with car on or off? cold of hot??

 

Car definitely off.

Hot or cold is not important, but you need to wait a few minutes after the engine has run to allow the oil to drain down into the bottom of the engine.

The dipstick allows you to see the level of oil in the oil pan at the bottom of the engine.

Hobbit's picture is worth 1k words:

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/training/800/muptilt.jpg

 

For the most part, a little overfill isn't going to hurt anything, although some here say that it can affect MPG....but how much oil does it take to do that and is it worth messing with...you know, cost vs. benefit....I would imagine it's a wash, unless you are talking about way overfill.

Anyway, here's a link to the CarTalk guys, both MIT graduates, who have a weekly radio show, a weekly newspaper column, as well as have owed their own auto garage for years. As you see, they don't get too excited either.

IF they added four quarts (and I imagine they did 3 quarts and 28 oz and charged you for four quarts), it would still only be overfilled by 4 oz. Not enough to get me worried.

Anyway, see what Tom and Ray (Click and Clack) have to say:
Car Talk

 

It's cheap insurance to *always* check the oil yourself before driving away from an oil change. Anyone can make a mistake, and just one un-tightened filter or drain plug, or even a missing dipstick, can really ruin your day.

 

I use 3.5 litres which is 3.7 quarts according to World Wide Metric.

I jack up my Prius because my drain pan is quite deep, it can hold over 12 litres of oil allowing me to change oil in a 4x4 engine with no risk of spillage.

 

Basing oil change intervals on 30 year of experience is not very logical. 30 year old API oil was designated "API SE". We are currently up to API SM. Oil technology has dramatically changed over the years. For that matter, mettallurgy has changed too. 3k oil changes are a complete waste of resources.

API Oil designations.

http://new.api.org/certifications/engineoil/categories/upload/EngineOilGuide2006.pdf

Here is my oil change data. While there were not screws in my old oil at 2500 miles, there was a bit of extra iron and copper. That 7700 mile old oil looked pretty good though.

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachments/file-library/7258d1201550088-uoa-used-oil-analysis-uoa3.pdf

 

Re:

Por supuesto y que maravilloso! Entiendo, pues vivo en California, en donde mucha de la gente habla español.

Sounds good. Pictures are always fun; it takes some of the impersonality out of the net.