The old 5k or 10k oil change debate

I will add that these engines are built to run high miles. If you do decide to do 10 k miles on oci and your not really planning to go the long haul ( and I mean really the long haul ) it probably doesn’t matter. I do it at 5 k because I’m like that with everything I own. But what ever makes you sleep at night .

 

I guess your version of severe duty is different than mine, and I'll leave it at that.

 

Changing your oil every 5k vs 10k for normal operation is like the guy that has a couple drinks everyday vs the guy that doesn't drink. This guy that doesn't drink might live a few days longer would be my version of the long haul. Still, a lot can happen in-between.

 

I did virtually nothing but stop and go driving during that whole time. That punishes everything, including the oil.

But the key here is not the mileage. I do maintenance on my vehicle every six months whether it needs it or not, religiously. End of story. This applies to my car and my motorcycle and whatever else I have operational. If you don’t have a regular schedule you won’t have control over life.

Since my wife retired I have been driving her around in the truck more and we have been driving the Camry less.

So the truck may be getting changes about 3000 miles now, & the Camry which was getting changed about every 5000, is doing much less mileage. It will be getting changed every two or 3000.
I rarely let my motorcycle go more than two or 3000 miles as well.

I make up for this huge oil consumption by owning a electric boat and riding my bicycle.

edit: After writing this I realized (reading back) that I had explained it all before. Well this is what happens when you get old. That was a year ago & I had forgotten it completely. But never once did I forget to change my oil.

 

Motorcycles shear oil way more than cars. That maintenance schedule makes sense for a bike.

But with cars and trucks, you’re exposing yourself to carcinogens at least twice as often as you need to.

Six month old oil with 3k mikes is perfectly fine. If it worries you, use high quality full synthetic like Castrol Edge EP, PUP, Amsoil, HPL, etc. and get it tested at 6 months and 3k miles. It’ll test out a-ok.

 

I keep my vehicles for the long haul. Regular maintenance including following a severe service OCI. It's always seemed to work for me. Now, if I was a short term owner or just leased, then just the minimum thanks.

Some good content here.

https://youtu.be/FlmTPH_5UmQ

https://youtu.be/eHPSgqipk-E

Toyota's are quite good and can take abuse but I still feel comfortable with regular 8K km oil changes which includes regular visual inspections. Staying on top of anything unusual.

At the end of the day do what works best for you.

 

I had to dig one of those out once, on a merc outboard, guy shoved it down in the valve cover then for whatever reason decided to crank it over.. cams grabbed the tube and ate it

 

You should really be asking "Do I feel like my truck getting enough fibre?

 

3k oil changes every 6 months 50 years ago was fine, but in today's world with cleaner running engines, and the synthetics we now have, it would be considered highly excessive. I guess owning an electric boat, and a bicycle would make one feel better.

 

Watch this from "The Car Care Nut". A Toyota specialist/mechanic for many years and ardent supporter of Toyota products in general. However, he says 5K, period dot, regardless of the 10K OCI recommendations. I've known this for quite a while and watched friends with many different makes have consumption problems and other issues related to dirty oil over the years. My 2004 Tahoe with 280,000 miles on it purrs like a kitten because I've adhered to the 5K philosophy for many years. 2012 GMC Sierra with 140K - same deal - runs like new. I plan no more than 5K on my '23 Taco for the same reasons. I did the first one at 3K and even I would consider that excessive, but it gives me peace of mind. https://youtu.be/TJhFAwFv-O0

 

Fiber (sawdust) is really for the transmission, not the engine.

 

There's no need to use your definition or my definition for "special operating conditions" (aka "severe duty"). Let's use Toyota's definition. That way we can all discuss from a common standard. If owners produce UOA after UOA that indicates modern synthetic oils and filters can safely reach 10K OCIs when operating in "severe duty" conditions, what should we conclude from that data?

 

"No oil analysis is going to change my anecdotal opinion, and no, I'm not going to include all the datapoints of people who have run 10K OCIs on Toyota motors for hundreds of thousands of miles without issue, because that wouldn't confirm my bias. Instead, I'm going to pick the one motor that has a seized ring AND 10K OCIs and use that anecdote to define the rule. What was that you asked...are there Toyotas with 5K OCIs that have seized rings? Um, well... Hey, smash that like button and check out my other videos!" - The Car Care Nut

This is why oil is one of the most contentious issues that men fight about on the interwebs. There's so much ego and "my personal experience" behind it that actual data has very little influence.

 

“Recommended”

 

Gotta use the right weight- birch is good, also pine

 

100% valid. True, OCI discussions are precisely like that!

 

It's one of the most "contentious" issues because for 90% of these guys oil and spark plugs are all they're ever going to do themselves.

There's a reason we don't see pages and pages of discussion about crankshaft bearing clearances

 

If you don’t know, you don’t know, and it’s better than

 

Wtf did he put in his mouth?

 

I'm changing mine tomorrow and I'm at 9,200 miles, but I've always been an over acheiver.