Did my first ever self oil change...

If it's the first 2600 miles you've put on the car, then YES, it's normal. I call it the 'Break in" oil and it's expected to get thrashed about as the internals seat together.

I switched to Mobil 1 5-30 at 5200 miles and mine is still very clean even after a harsh winter, lots of short trips, and 5000 miles. I'm changing it sometime in the next 2 weeks.

 

lowspeed, congrats on the DIY oil change.

Every DIY project I attempt results in either an injury or lost/broken part. During previous DIY oil changes, I get burned about half the time and ruin clothing the other half.

But your story of tepid oil gives me new hope.

 

It's always normal for organic oil to get black. Even syn. oil gets dark after a while. I personally leave Mobil 1 in my cars for 25,000 miles. I change the oil filter @ 3,000 miles & top off the oil. I've done this with my last 10 cars with NO engine problems. Many of them had over 90,000 miles on them when I sold them. All of them burned minimal amounts of oil. I stand behind Mobil 1 oil 100%.

 

Remember, driving 30 min doesn't mean the engine is run for 30 min. What I did on my last oil change was to step on gas making ICE run continuously. Then monitor the coolant temp with CAN-View. It took about 10 min for it to reach 180 F with outside temp around 50 F at the time. Then I drain the oil.

I had 5k miles on the oil and it was dark. I've ask this question to PC members before concerning this issue. Some said their oil looks clean and some said theirs look dark (like mine). I had an oil analysis done and posted here before. The report show very few wear metals and the engine is doing fine. So dark oil doesn't mean the oil is bad. This site provides some simple explanation, http://www.nordicgroup.us/oil.htm#The%20Dark%20Oil%20Myth.

 

to get the ICE fully up to temp before draining the oil, put the emergency brake on hard and start the car and put it in "B" 5 minutes and it'll be up to temp. And it won't hurt a thing.

 

The following KB article explains how to make the car idle indefinately.

Inspection Mode

The maintenance manual has a stong caution that drivng the car in this mode will damage the transmission. To exit Inspection Mode turn the car off before driving. These instructions are in the 2005 repair manual. I don't know if it's the same for all years and I haven't tried it personally.

 

Inspection mode is accessed the same for Prius since 2001 at least. Rick57 said as much in the KB thread, but I repeat it here to answer the question. Also repeating that you do *not* want to fast-spin a front wheel in this mode.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowspeed @ Mar 29 2006, 03:19 PM) [snapback]231896[/snapback]</div>

No, it's not. But the thinner the oil is from being heated up, the more quickly it drains.

How long you let your oil drip/drain after removing the drain plug obviously will affect what percentage of your dirty oil actually gets drained. That's one reason I'd never use a Jiffy Lube or similar facility. Speed is their game, so considerably more of your old oil gets left in the engine---they slap the drain plug back in while it's still dripping pretty readily. And this also makes it easier for them to overfill, if they put in exactly what's called for. There could easily be half-pint of old oil in there when they put in the new.

I've been changing my own oil for 50 years, and always try to allow at least half an hour for the oil to drain. Usually it's still dripping, but very slowly, when I put the drain plug back in.

As far as getting oil on your hand/wrist/sleeve during the initial "burst": do you remove the drain plug with your fingers the last few turns? If so, when you think it's on the last thread or two, change your grip to put your fingers on it from above rather than below. It can be awkward, but helps. Or grip it the last thread or two with an 8" pliers, and distance your hand from the oil.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowspeed @ Mar 29 2006, 08:19 PM) [snapback]231896[/snapback]</div>

Personnally, if you are using synthetic, I wouldn't sweat over the temperature. Synthetic is so superior to mineral based oils that it'll carry most everything out at moderate temperature. Just MHO. Too, synthetic is far more viscosity stable at both extremes of temperature, so heating it doesn't cause much change.

Mineral based oils that are in need of change, yup, get it up to temp. But why use it in the first place? Use synthetic.

I'm one of those folks who gets my oil tested. In the past I got the oil in the one vehicle that had the bypass filter installed tested. I removed that filtration device and am in the process of mounting it by itself, independent of any vehicle. I'm saving the used oil and will send a composite sample to the lab. If it comes back OK, then I'll run the apparatus to filter it back to "out of the bottle" cleanliness, then use it in all of the vehicles again. In this way I can change oil as often as I wish, in any vehicle, and always have as clean oil as I desire. The oil should last for, shoot, I've got over 30,000 miles on some of the old oil and it still was testing good when it was added to the used oil tank.

Some guys at work use the same oil I do, and I have them giving me their used oil. It could be that I'll never have to buy another qt of synthetic. Now that's green!

 

I rotate the tires at the same time as I change the oil so I just let it drain till I'm done.

 

What, no rude jokes about 'self oil changes' ? This is getting too tame. Or is it just my sick mind?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Brian K @ Mar 29 2006, 03:50 PM) [snapback]231915[/snapback]</div>

Have you gotten the total base number analysis on the used oil? I found it to be getting quite low with Mobil 1 synthetic after 13k miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(osiris12 @ Mar 31 2006, 05:08 PM) [snapback]233130[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, 25k miles seems kinda long. I remember reading a test where they tested how long Mobil 1 will last. They stop the test at 18k because TBN is getting too low.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ScottY @ Mar 25 2006, 08:16 PM) [snapback]230254[/snapback]</div>

Exactly. Which draws the question of oil change intervals. Chaning the oil every 5000 miles doesn't mean the engine has been running all 5000 miles. You'd think they will change the recommended interval to 6500 miles or 7500 miles even? <_<

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clintd555 @ Mar 31 2006, 05:51 PM) [snapback]233142[/snapback]</div>

It really depends. Engine run time between one who drives mainly on highway and one who drives mainly on local streets will vary a lot. Mayb an engine run time indicator will be more appropriate.

I think the 5k mile interval applies to most of the new Toyotas. My gf's 05 Corolla has a 5k mile oil change interval too. My Prius' engine certainly run less than her Corolla's.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Mar 30 2006, 02:17 AM) [snapback]232193[/snapback]</div>

Yes, TBN is the number I give the most importance. My used oil is a composite from a number of engines, so the other numbers that show wear metals etc. are of little use for me.

I'm using Amsoil series 2000 0w/30 if memory serves and it still has plenty of acid neutralizers after 30,000 miles/2 years.

Allow me to add to my last post...

I change the oil/filter in all our vehicles on schedule. I don't leave the oil in any vehicle, untested, for 30,000 miles/2 years. My previous post may have lead one to believe what I didn't intend.

With my new procedure of filtering the used oil seperate from any engine I have more oil total in inventory and in a used condition, but I'll be drawing it off as needed to fill sumps and to top vehicles up. This is all subject to a positive lab test result.

 

"Did my first ever self oil change..."

Don't you know you can go blind and grow hair on your hands doing that?