Break in oil change?

I guess the answer is they don’t warranty their engines for life. Wonder why?

 

No I don't

 

They do. 60k the life expectancy of the engine. Anything after that you’re on borrowed time.

 

Exactly my point. People say “I haven’t seen an engine failure come through my shop because they didn’t execute a break-in oil change.” No shit. You don’t even need to change your oil AT ALL to get to 60,000 miles. Any extra care one might apply will pay dividends at 200,000+ miles and later.

Some even say “there are plenty of Tacoma’s out there with 300,000 plus miles.” Yep. But don’t assume they all achieved it by using all change intervals of 10,000 or longer. If I had to guess I’d think engines over 300,000 miles with 5k vs 10k change intervals show less wear.

There’s a population of people who keep their vehicles for 100,000 miles or less and so long as you have one or two oil changes, or even none, you likely won’t have any issues. Does that then make 50,000 change intervals sufficient? The only owners who need to be diligent about their oil changes are those who will put 200,000 miles plus.

 

I just got my first oil change on the Tacoma at 11k miles. I checked the oil before I went and when the engine had warmed up. It was slightly slightly amber in color like really watered down kroger "maple" syrup. I checked it when I got it back and the oil looked like vegetable oil, barely any hue to be seen.

I picked up the truck last summer in Milwaukee and pretty much drove it the whole way home to Denver only accidentally following half the engine break-in recommendations in the owner's manual which I read when I got home. Nicely done me. I've hauled a bunch, towed a couple trailers, 4WD in all the winter weather, and donuts at 5am in a blizzard to name a few things. I could barely tell the oil was "used" at all.

Something's telling me 1k in a dinky Rav4 engine is way, way premature. My tale is anecdotal though, YMMV, but I'd vote nay. Good luck!

 

And my truck has 13,000 miles. Let’s compare the two at 200,000 miles, lol. I’d say 300,000 but yours won’t make it.

 

Walk us through a step by step of how you would compare engine internals at 200k, "broken in" vs non-broken in

You've obviously torn down a bunch of 200k engines and inspected them right?

 

Apparently you don’t read very well.

 

Only what you've posted

 

I'll see ya there! Bring your oil/oil change receipts and maintenance records and we'll do the math for ROI. Do you have the lab analyses from your 13 oil changes thus far?

 

As far as break in wasn't it mostly select build that negated the need for that? When I did my head gasket I saw the block and pistons with matched A,B,C. Clearances start out much tighter so less need for rings and piston to "wear into" the hole.

I recall that many years ago the brilliant management at GM said lets stop this silly expensive select build and just randomly put the round things into any hole. Results- thousands of vehicles with really bad piston slap.

 

I wish this forum had a “thumbs down” button.

 

We have like now. Just need an unlike.

 

I….LOVE….OIL FIGHT!!!!

 

I'll add my 2 cents worth. It goes against most of the replies though.

I still like to do my first OCI at 1k miles and I don't care what people say. Even though engine building processes have changed greatly over the last 20yrs, it certainly won't hurt. If you're ok with spending the money for piece of mind, go for it!

If you want to get really in depth, go to BobIsTheOilGuy forums. More info than you every thought there was about any automotive maintenance items!! Some of the best 0w16 oil is TGMO (Toyota OEM) and Idemitsu. More are coming out, but those are generally considered the best. As for what your OCI's should be, that's up to you and your driving habits. If I had a Rav4 Hybrid, I would likely do an initial oil change at 1k and 5k-6k after that since that's only 2 OCI's a year for my situation. But 10k is definitely no issue for most. Now if you are in a cold climate, I would choose to stick to 5K-6K OCI's as most manufactures tend to consider "extreme cold" as "sever duty". Usually because oil does not always get up to optimal temp to evaporate fuel or moisture build up in the oil.

As for oil weight, I would just stick with a high quality 0w16. If you are into doing oil analysis's and you find that it drops to a lower weight than you are comfortable with then either change the oil type you use or shorten your OCI. Some people use 0w20 in Rav4 Hybrids, but it's up to you. I don't see much of an advantage unless you tow a lot and the engine is running the whole time which would cause the oil temps to increase. Though Toyota is smart and had that in mind with their towing rating as well which is why there is probably a statement in your owners manual for shorter OCI's under "severe duty".

I'm glad I don't take some of the advice of some with a 10k mile OCI blanket statement. On my 21 Subaru Ascent they recommend 0w20 and 6k mile OCI's, 3k for severe duty. I changed oil at 1k like you are talking about doing, didn't analyze that one. My next OCI was at 4k on oil, 5k on vehicle. The oil analysis showed my oil at operating temp was apx equal to 13-14 grade thickness or cSt viscosity @ 100c of 5.83. In other words the oil sheared a lot. The next 2 showed similar results at apx 4k OCI's, so it wasn't just the motor breaking in still. That is just too thin at operating temp in my opinion and who knows what it would have been if I went to 6k mile OCI's, let alone 10k. We don't carry heavy loads or tow trailers so it just shows how much our Subaru is hard on oil, likely because it has 10.4:1 compression and a turbo. Toyota's are generally much easier on oil than most cars though. I was also using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 0w20 in our Subaru for those oil changes which is generally known to be one of the most shear stable 0w20's. My last OC I put 0w30 M1 AFE in, we'll see how that goes when I change the oil next.

 

Toyota oem oil is made by Exon mobile. It’s rebranded mobile1. Walmart super tech performance is equal or better then mobile1 in testing. Save your money.

 

I had the same question and my (independent) mechanic said, “no need to” so I didn’t, and waited until 5 K miles.

 

These oil threads always remind me of what a precious & versatile substance we're talking about.

 

Mobil 1 does produce the oil for Toyota, but to Toyota's specs. Like how TGMO 0w20 has far more moly and a much higher viscosity index than any M1 0w20. I can't find much on the 0w16 oils, but what I could find is similar to the 0w20 versions showing TGMO is a better overall oil than M1. It's just like how Johnson Controls makes Interstate batteries but also makes the $65 Everstart batteries for Walmart. Just because the company makes it, doesn't mean they are made to equal quality or specs.

 

I think it’s pretty much the same oil