Oil change intervals

Another OCI thread, yay!

6 months or 5k miles for me. I’m rough on my truck at times and I change the oil myself, so it’s cheap.

Makes me sleep better at night.

Been thinking about switching from Mobil 1 though..

 

I used to run castrol syntec top end on all my cars then it dawned on me that I never kept them, and I was changing it too frequently to benefit.

Mobil1 from walmart is pretty much the sweet spot for 0w20 in my opinion.

 

Mobil1 just seems to be so thin? Or am I just overthinking this? I ran Lucas and pennzoil in my ranger with good results. Everyone seems to love Mobil 1 on here, so I decided to try it.

 

Pennzoil is the king right now for synthetics, but Toyotas really don't push the limits of synthetic. All 0w20 is pretty much the same viscosity. I vote save cash and stick to whats on sale as long as its 0w20. Usually its Mobil1

 

Mobil 1 went to the moon. But I still tend to gravitate to Castrol or Shell.

 

Figure I'll take the thing to Toyota for the scheduled maintenance for the first 25k, with the exception of changing the oil every 5k in that duration. First brand new engine I've had, so there's that. I don't see the need to go quite 10-12k (last Chev would have gone 12-13 had I gone by the computer). My mechanic points out that oil is cheap compared to engines, so I'll probably do more of a 6-7k interval after 25. Most of my time is two lane county/state highways, and I'm putting around 4000 a month on now.

Sometimes the problem is more getting time to do the blinking service and rotate the tires than anything.

 

I used to be a big Castrol fan. Since my last vehicle before this was a diesel Jeep I started to use Shell Rotella T6. It is definitely good oil. I was able to get enough Rotella gas truck 0w20 for 2 oil changes on clearance for about 2.29 a quart in quart size bottles. I am currently using that since I changed my oil at 4500 miles/ 6 months.
What I will use after it's gone and the Toyota care services are used up I don't know. I may continue with Rotella gas truck or try Castrol magnetech or pennzoil. I can get a 5 quart of Castrol for $20, 5qt pennzoil for $22 or Rotella 5qt for $24 locally.

 

37mi...oil changes every thirty-seven miles...

 

5k synthetic for me is almost a year interval. $30 for mobile 1 at Costco and $5 filter is cheap insurance.

 

This post needs a sticky.

 

You're definitely overthinking it, IMO.

 

1) decide when oil needs changing based on color
2) pick viscosity based on how it 'feels'
3) still thinks 3k is the right interval
4) follow the owners manual

Pick one. Carefully.

Optional: Have an independent lab test done of your oil. It will be specific to the oil you use and to the condition of your engine.

 

True, but I like @Woodrow F Call 's UOA data.

 

haha!

I do tend to overthink things...

 

Same. But, I'm also cheap. I learned to love 10k intervals and this is our third car / rig with that OCI. Now, the Subaru with its problematic VVT sensors. 6k max or it will chew up the sensor and require a new ECU for good measure.

 

I change my oil whenever the little blinking light on the dash tells me too. I drive a lot of miles mainly highway so not too concerned about sludging. I end up changing it about every four months. I get the Havoline 6 quart box (If boxed wine is good enough my wife, boxed oil is good enough for my truck) from Walmart, full synthetic of course $15-$19, genuine Toyota oil filter also from Walmart about six bucks. 20 minutes later I'm on my way to AutoZone to drop off the recycle oil. Every other oil change, I pop the grease gun on the zerks and go to town as well, adds another half hour or so mainly because I'm getting too old to slide under the truck easily.

 

6 months/5,000 miles even when using synthetic says a Toyota dealer mastertech: https://youtu.be/KkfIY0bRNss

 

This from a guy that makes money every time you come in for an oil change...

If a person makes money from the advice they give you, it is best to be circumspect.

 

100%

 

If you watch his videos he actually doesn’t encourage people to go into the shop for simple work. In fact his videos are many times to help you DIY for common maintenance like oil changes.