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Oil Analysis

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Redpoint5, May 19, 2016.

  1. Redpoint5

    Redpoint5 Senior Member

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    I bought my reconstructed title 2012 PiP February of 2015 with 32,000 miles on it. While I don't have a record of my first oil change, I think it was done in May with Mobil 1 0w-20 full synthetic. A little over a year later, I'm at close to 60,000 miles on the car.

    My best guess is I went 20,000 miles on this oil change interval, with 5,000 of those miles being EV only. Here is my Blackstone report. I'll post back here every year when I perform a change. Post your oil analysis here too.

    [​IMG]
     
    #1 Redpoint5, May 19, 2016
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  2. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    Thank you for posting this.
     
    #2 mmmodem, May 19, 2016
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thanks. you drive a lot, i wonder what that water % would look like for those who only drive a little, making the time frame longer to reach 20k.
     
    #3 bisco, May 19, 2016
  4. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    I've been doing oil sampling since 2008 on all the cars in the extended family (3 Prius and 1 Corolla). That adds up to like 20 samples over the years. So rather than providing a barrage of data, I'll extract the interesting lessons of using Amsoil high end synthetics (0W-20 or 0W-30)

    1) Around 25,000 miles is when fuel percentage starts to climb, TBN starts to bottom out, and oxidation starts to climb. Most everything else seems to be engine wear indicators and not oil quality indicators. This clearly indicates the oil end of life is at hand. Before this, all the numbers are consistent. As a result, I don't sample till about 20,000 miles and then decide to continue or change based on sample results. I've got a lot of samples showing that sampling before this point is not really necessary until either driving habits/location changes or monitoring engine wear is desired. I would recommend everyone oversample to establish their own oil/location/engine stress /etc. baseline and not assume my experience applies beyond my cars/situation.

    2) The OEM Toyota Oil is chock full of copper (not a bad thing, just a different thing). American oils are very different than Japanese oils for sure. The OEM oil also is high in silicon due to the new engine dust contamination. So changing the first oil at 5000 miles or so definitely shows up as much cleaner oil in following samples.
     
    #4 FL_Prius_Driver, May 19, 2016
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  5. Redpoint5

    Redpoint5 Senior Member

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    Half of the reason I do the oil analysis is to provide a data point others can reference. Of course, the sample is only directly relevant to my vehicle and driving conditions, but it may give people confidence to put more than the 3,000 miles lube shops try to sell.

    This is the go-to car since it gets such good fuel economy and has EV. We tried to fit as many adventures in before my wife started med school. The day after I bought the car, we had a 500 mile maiden voyage to attend a wedding.

    We also made it out to Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Vegas. For spring break we visited Yosemite. Last week I made it out to Smith Rock, Bend, and South Sister (mountain).

    I bough the car for the utility it provides for road trips. Now I'm beginning to rely on it to tow materials to maintain the yard or get building materials.
     
    #5 Redpoint5, May 19, 2016
    Last edited: May 19, 2016
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    we don't drive much. prefer hanging around the farm, except florida in winter. even with that, we only do about 10k a year each, and a lot of that is taking care of parents. i change the oil once a year for condensation concerns.
     
    #6 bisco, May 19, 2016
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