20k oil changes

You never want to put sour oil in your truck.

 

I'd think you'd want to change the oil when it comes out of hibernation. So the oil doesn't collect moisture while in storage.

 

Yeah, where is old @Smitty anywho...??

 

I run her till she is well warmed up every month or so. Don't think too much H2O is getting in there....!! This has always been MY way of doing it.....!
I'd rather do that then leave her with "dirty oil" all winter.... (I know, she don't got dirty oil at 4,000 kms), but you know what I mean...

 

He pissed someone off and got himself banned!

 

So what I have learned from this thread so far is change your oil somewhere between 5k to 15k depending on how bad you driving conditions are and don't stress over going a 1000 or so over the recomended 10k you ll be alright!

 

It is considered harmful to change your oil super frequently because there are strong detergents in new oil, particularly the kind used in diesels for example. The detergent is not super good for the rubber seals.

Just follow what's in the owner's manual for your type of service. If my truck is rated by Sweers to go 16k km in a Northern Canadian winter, you will have no problem doing the same anywhere in the USA. I have not found anything in the manual that indicates more frequent oil changes, and the Toyota Canada website is saying 16k km with no mention of a shorter "severe service" interval.

Don't get me wrong, oil analysis is a cool hobby if that's what you are into, but the price of doing the analysis is the same as the price of changing the oil/filter, at least for me. Changing oil is not so expensive that extending drain intervals is hugely profitable, although I fully understand why a company that has a fleet of vehicles would do it.

You are not going to do any damage changing your oil every 8000 km, for sure. But you are doing a small amount of unnecessary environmental damage, which is not super cool anymore. This is not 1975, and you are not going to achieve anything by doing it.

 

I wonder how many people actually read their manuals? All of this grief for those who change their oil more frequently yet no one has touched on SEVERE service. There are a whole lot of people who aren’t changing their oil as per recomended intervals based on their actual use and conditions.

Maybe it is time to read those books in your glove compartment you might be surprised that you are actually in this category. Toyota doesn’t care what your Black Stone results are. Your warrantee is a contract. You don’t maintain your vehicle according to the criteria laid out by Toyota and the intervals they specify you don’t have warrantee simple as that. So go ahead and do the maximum interval and find out your warrantee claim is denied due to you ignoring the fact you actually should have been following the severe service intervals. The people doing those frequent changes will have the paperwork to cover their ass if anything ever were to go wrong.

 

5k and call it good

great video and info.

 

Do you know what section "severe service" is described in, in the manual? I can't find the factory maintenance schedule in there. They talk about it being in the Owner's Manual Supplement but it doesn't seem to be in there either. I got the 16k number off the Toyota Canada website. They just say 16k, end of story.

 

It's another booklet that comes along with the Owners Manual. It's called something like "Warranty and Maintenance Guide".

 

This one?

http://s3.amazonaws.com/toyota.site.p01/toyota/manuals/OMS1018U/OMS1018U.pdf

Can't find the actual schedule in there. Dealer gave me a printout that claims I have to do it every 8000 km, maybe that is the severe service schedule. But I want to read it in something official written by an engineer, not a dealer.

 

I'm guessing 2018 is same as 2017. Scroll down a bit and.look for the Warranty and Maintenance Guide.

https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/owners-manuals/tacoma/2017

 

I just aim to change my oil and filter at every 5,000 miles. Sometimes it's 4500 because it's a nice saturday morning and I have time to do it, sometimes it's 6000 miles because I just got back from a road trip and I'm just getting to it. But honestly, with today's oils you really don't need to sweat the digits too much. Just be prudent.

 

Weird, the American booklet has a schedule but the Canadian one doesn't seem to. According to the American manual, I should change the oil/filter every 5000 mi = 8000 km for winter use (it was -32 C here a few days ago). That is consistent with the unofficial printout I got from the dealer.