Why 5000 miles oil change interval I’m a believer

A combo thread of those two would crash the Matrix.

 

Add a "will these tires fit my truck" for the triple crown of threads!

 

Watched the entire video and, while it may be "true" for some vehicles based on how they are built and maintained, I have never experienced oil consumption in any Toyotas I have ever owned and I will lump extended family into it as well because we've bought dozens of Toyotas over the years and put big mileage on all of them. So, just speaking of my own vehicles (1km = 0.62mile for US readers):
1987 SR5 - drove >880,000km (550,000miles), never consumed oil, never had major engine work, never replaced piston rings
1999 Tacoma ext cab 4x4 - drove >350,000km (217,000miles), never consumed oil
2005 Tacoma double cab 4x4 - drove >300,000km (186,000miles), never consumed oil
2017 Tacoma double cab 4x4 - at ~60,000km (37,000miles), never consumed oil
I come from a farming background with every vehicle and machine on this philosophy we followed to reduce wear and maintenance and costly downtime/breakdowns.

1) Buy new if at all possible - buying used means you just bought someone else's potentially crappy vehicle care practices.
2) Demand dealership show you every fluid level in-person and make them top up all fluids BEFORE you take it off the lot - Car manufacturers across the board short you on fluids on new vehicles to save money.
3) Swap oil and diff plugs for magnetic ones if not stock. - These collect bits of metal and the most likely time to find a chunk is after manufacturing.
4) Drive ~2000km and do your first engine oil and filter change. Switch to extended drain synthetic oil and a super high end filter - I use Amsoil and Wix but there are others.
5) Change engine oil once per year or every XX,XXXkm depending on your oil's drain time. - I live in a winter climate so change at beginning of winter so my best oil gets used in the crappiest weather. I use 25,000km (15,500miles) max drain intervals and change filter and top up oil halfway through the drain interval. Not driving as much as I used to so annually is what I'm on now.
6) If you don't live in sub-freezing temps, annual might not be a big deal but freeze/thaw cycles can build up water in engines as vapor enters the engine and freezes as frost when the engine is cold. Oil takes on a milky appearance when emulsified with water. That's why we would only let vehicles go through one full cycle of summer/winter.
6) Repeat based on annual or drain interval based on your climate.

So, where else can grit enter your engine and wear it down? AIR. Microparticles in air are the enemy and farmers driving in dust know this is an engine killer. I am not a believer in high flow air systems unless they can provide awesome filtration at the same time. Most aftermarket intakes are garbage and simply increase airflow without proper filtration and let lots of debris into the air supply. Maintain air filters and only get the very best if you are thinking of high-flow aftermarket systems.

I agree that 5000mile oil changes make sense in principle to protect your engine if using generic oils and filters. Extended drain synthetic oil and filters cost way more, but you do it way less so it is cheaper in the long run and your vehicle is out of commission fewer days/decade. I wanted to add my rationale for achieving the same goal (but cheaper in the long run) with synthetic long drain oil and filters because this has worked for my family for decades on every vehicle we have ever owned. If it didn't work, we wouldn't keep doing it.

 

No oil thread is complete without discussing what brand oil you’re running.

 

The effect probably shows up after many miles. Those of you who only put on 150,000 miles on vehicles and then sell them could probably get away with very few or no changes without any adverse effects. The diligent oil changes in the early and continuous life of the vehicle provides BENEFIT for those in the 200k and greater range.

 

If our intergalactic neighbors stumbled upon a TW oil thread they'd conclude that there's no intelligent life on Earth.

 

@Plain Jane Taco

Another oil thread buddy!

 

I haven’t put much thought into the comment “post change is the driest startup your engine will ever see.” Can you help me understand why this is? I’m not busting balls here. You drain and refill with the oil all sitting in the same place after the change as before. There will be oil adhesion on the components just like when you let your vehicle sit overnight or longer. I’m struggling to understand why it would be and I’m one of those who don’t mind asking stupid questions. I’m here to learn. Thanks!

 

The oil filter has to be filled. You can’t prefill ours like you can vertical canister filters.

And when the filter is removed it allows the oil passages in the block to drain.

 

So should I pump premium gas?

 

For aluminum engine bores yeah, i'd change the oil every 10k miles or 1 year, whatever comes first for normal use.... 5k miles, or 1 year if short trips. Its important to have the oil changed at 5k miles for its first oil change.

 

I change mine every 30,000 even if it doesn’t need it

 

Agree with you. Pretty sure this isn’t an issue. Oil sticks to bearings and rings surfaces so a startup for a few seconds for the filter to fill and get oil to the engine isn’t going to hurt. Think about how hard it is to get oil off your hands lol.

 

I think it would probably be more productive if we just all went out back and took turns smacking each other in the nuts with a baseball bat and then flipped a coin to decide

 

Some say 5k miles, some say 10k miles. Both are wrong, the best oil change interval is 7.5k miles. I could prove it to you, but then what have you really learned? Research it yourselves and you’ll see I’m right and will have truly learned something for yourself that you’ll never ever forget.

Start with researching Bob the Oil guy. Read all the forum posts. That will take a couple years. Then follow up with reading Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, for balance.

Been changing oil for 45 years. Only blew one engine so I know what I’m talking about.

Disclaimer: Not a serious post.

 

I do 5000 mile oil change intervals on both my 07 civic with 180K miles and the tacoma with 220K miles.
Even though I use full synthetic 5000 miles is a easy interval to keep track of. Also since I buy filters and oil in bulk it costs me around $35 to change oil in both vehicles.

 

I tend to feel like some of my driving is short trips and things that edge in to severe service if you read most owners manuals. So I stay around 5,000- 6,000 miles between changes. So that's every 6 months or so.
I've sent in oil samples from a previous vehicle I owned over 10 years to Blackstone once a year. They were always telling me my engine was wearing very good and I could probably safely extend to 8,000 miles but never did. 5,000 is maybe a little overkill but it's cheaper than an engine overhaul. I think 6-7 thousand is a good compromise to running out to 10,000

 

I change my oil every mile just to be safe.