Visual reminder to oil change during break in (at 1000 miles)

[CMill4Runner]

No I think 10k intervals is a horrible idea. I change mine at 5k. I dont really care that toyota recommends 10k and provides 2 oil changes. I really dont want them touching my car to begin with.

Gotcha so we think EXACTLY a like, I was just reading your post wrong! Yes me too hate even bringing it in but the Carfax mark helps for resale, these dealer idiots always seem to find way to mess up a simple oil change.

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[nubbins_]

I honestly don't know that I will even go to Toyota for a single oil change. I don't trust dealership techs at all, they do such a sloppy job (if at all!), I don't want them anywhere near a fumoto that I might put on there

 

[jsvwx]

That's what this website was created for. Glad to help!

I'd also recommend consuming as many YouTube videos from The Car Care Nut as possible. I follow his advice closely & almost always without question. He knows his stuff!

Care car nut specifically says to change the engine oil at 5k at the very max. I always change oil at 5k with synthetic on all my vehicles, but I wonder if there is a long term benefit to this particular engine to change the oil less than 5k or is that just overkill? He knows his stuff, but I wish he would've elaborated more on that comment with saying an ideal time. I personally think changing the synthetic oil at less than 5k is overkill. It's like we're going back to the conventional oil 3k change spans.

 

[The_Dark_Knight_Forever]

Care car nut specifically says to change the engine oil at 5k at the very max. I always change oil at 5k with synthetic on all my vehicles, but I wonder if there is a long term benefit to this particular engine to change the oil less than 5k or is that just overkill? He knows his stuff, but I wish he would've elaborated more on that comment with saying an ideal time. I personally think changing the synthetic oil at less than 5k is overkill. It's like we're going back to the conventional oil 3k change spans.

You have to remember that this new 4Runners' engines have turbos now. Those turbos run incredible hot which in turn naturally makes the oil hotter than it would get in a naturally aspirated engine. The oil is not only lubricating the engine but also functions as a cooling fluid as well. Turbos simply put more stress & wear on the engine & the fluids. More is being expected from the oil in modern vehicles with turbos. To keep the properties & additive packages of the oil performing as intended & not breaking down excessively, turbo engines will benefit from having the oil (and air filters) changed earlier rather than later.

Will you be okay with full synthetic oil changes every 5k miles? Probably...but would you rather have fresher oil 1,500 or 1,000 miles earlier & feel more secure that the turbos aren't getting sludged up with too much scorched oil & that the oil is still performing optimally?

I personally change my oil & filter on my '03 Tundra every 5k-6k miles as time allows & use full synthetic oil with extended life filters. I change the air filter every 10k miles with high quality filters. As of now, my Tundra has about 351k miles & still runs fantastically well with the exception of the cold engine rattles that resolve themselves after it warmed up. I couldn't have chosen a better truck to daily drive for the past 22+ years. They don't make them like that anymore.

You can always collect used oil samples & send them for analysis to see how long your choice of oil can be pushed. But for the cost & extra steps for that I'd personally rather have piece of mind knowing that I'm being more preventative by changing oil (and other fluids & the air filter) early while they still have some life left in them rather than being totally spent & broken down. Fluids are cheap but what they function in are not...and frankly Toyota isn't making them like they used to anymore. Still high up there on the quality dependability list but the head that wear the crown has apparently gotten a bit weary & been slipping up in recent years.

 

[jsvwx]

You have to remember that this new 4Runners' engines have turbos now. Those turbos run incredible hot which in turn naturally makes the oil hotter than it would get in a naturally aspirated engine. The oil is not only lubricating the engine but also functions as a cooling fluid as well. Turbos simply put more stress & wear on the engine & the fluids. More is being expected from the oil in modern vehicles with turbos. To keep the properties & additive packages of the oil performing as intended & not breaking down excessively, turbo engines will benefit from having the oil (and air filters) changed earlier rather than later.

Will you be okay with full synthetic oil changes every 5k miles? Probably...but would you rather have fresher oil 1,500 or 1,000 miles earlier & feel more secure that the turbos aren't getting sludged up with too much scorched oil & that the oil is still performing optimally?
You can always collect used oil samples & send them for analysis to see how long your choice of oil can be pushed. But for the cost & extra steps for that I'd personally rather have piece of mind knowing that I'm being more preventative by changing oil (and other fluids & the air filter) early while they still have some life left in them rather than being totally spent & broken down. Fluids are cheap but what they function in are not...and frankly Toyota isn't making them like they used to anymore. Still high up there on the quality dependability list but the head that wear the crown has apparently gotten a bit weary & been slipping up in recent years.

I changed the first oil today at 1400 miles and it was surprisingly dark for a brand new engine. I feel like it was darker than usual compared to NA engines. To your point, turbos beat up the oil more. Maybe it's not a bad idea to do 3 oil changes in 10k versus 2? Just surprised when thinking that Toyota engineers say to wait to 10k.

 

[The_Dark_Knight_Forever]

I changed the first oil today at 1400 miles and it was surprisingly dark for a brand new engine. I feel like it was darker than usual compared to NA engines. To your point, turbos beat up the oil more. Maybe it's not a bad idea to do 3 oil changes in 10k versus 2? Just surprised when thinking that Toyota engineers say to wait to 10k.

My 1st change is getting done at about 300 miles & I'm exclusively using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum with a CarQuest Premium oil filter moving forward.
Next oil & filter change at 500-600 miles, then 1k miles, then 2.5 k miles, then 4k miles & then every 4k miles until it croaks.
Air filter changes at 5k-6k miles.

Overkill? Maybe but again I'd rather change often & early to keep it optimal. I've got $9,200 worth of products installed on the vehicle so I need it to run the best it can for the next 15-20 years like my old Tundra still does.

 

[RdMick]

Just had my 1000 mile oil change done at the dealership. Had pretty good service from those I dealt with.

 

[4RunnerTony]

I just hit the 1,000 mile mark and will be getting my oil changed. Also will change at 5,000 and 5K intervals. I don't care if I have to pay and only get the 10K and 20K change for free. I intend to keep this vehicle for 150K/200K miles and will be paying for all but 2 oil changes anyway.

 

[Joey_Midnight]

My 1st change is getting done at about 300 miles & I'm exclusively using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum with a CarQuest Premium oil filter moving forward.
Next oil & filter change at 500-600 miles, then 1k miles, then 2.5 k miles, then 4k miles & then every 4k miles until it croaks.
Air filter changes at 5k-6k miles.

Overkill? Maybe but again I'd rather change often & early to keep it optimal. I've got $9,200 worth of products installed on the vehicle so I need it to run the best it can for the next 15-20 years like my old Tundra still does.

Im a fan of Pennzoil as well. Over the years i've seen oil testing and Pennzoil is always in the top ranks for lowest wear and a great additive package.

As for turbo life I agree with you that we me get 150 -200k out of a moderatly used one but coming from a diesel field formerly we did have some tractor trailers with a million miles on the same single turbo setup. CAT twin turbo engines where less fortunate haha. On average i think we could get 500k out of an abused over the road truck turbo thats laying in boost on highways.

 

[kekecarioca]

I did mine yesterday @the Dealer under Toyota care and also got tires rotated under that too: 1932 miles. They tried to explain the 10k....blah blah.. but I said I no, please and thank you.
No more fuzz.
I cheeked the oil periodically in the last few hundred miles and every time you wiped you could see metal grey with the oil, also it smelled very gasoline like ( not familiar w/ synthetics here).

 

[Archer]

Just got a call from my dealership wanting to schedule my first oil change, which I did myself at 1K. They said it's every 5K or 6 months which ever comes first. I asked them about Toyota's 10K recommendation and they told me if I didn't do it within the first 5K or 6 months it could affect my warranty.

That's not what Toyota says, but my dealer does????


.

 

[The_Dark_Knight_Forever]

Just got a call from my dealership wanting to schedule my first oil change, which I did myself at 1K. They said it's every 5K or 6 months which ever comes first. I asked them about Toyota's 10K recommendation and they told me if I didn't do it within the first 5K or 6 months it could affect my warranty.

That's not what Toyota says, but my dealer does????


.

I say good on them for wanting to do it at 5k for you. Many don't want to until 10k. It shouldn't affect your warranty if you choose to not let them change it as long as you are keeping records of what products you used & when you changed the oil. You have a right by law to service & maintain your own vehicle with compatible items but keeping records is a necessity to avoid problems with the warranty should something go wrong. Letting the dealer do it & giving the vehicle a 5k check up might be good though because it should be documented by them...just make sure they actually do document it & get proof just in case you have to make a warranty claim.

 

[kekecarioca]

Just got a call from my dealership wanting to schedule my first oil change, which I did myself at 1K. They said it's every 5K or 6 months which ever comes first. I asked them about Toyota's 10K recommendation and they told me if I didn't do it within the first 5K or 6 months it could affect my warranty.

That's not what Toyota says, but my dealer does????


.

Bizarre to say the least.... I call BS on the warranty thing, but as said above good to do it sooner @ 5k by them nevertheless.

 

[bakutheleo]

Not to (somewhat) disagree with seemingly everyone here...but I am ;-).

I find it curious that so many people know more than the experts (that is, the folks that designed the vehicle). My thought is that, if the designer thinks every 10K miles is right, then it is probably right. Yes, if you idle your engine a lot, drive very slow/lower gears a lot, such that your mileage does not reflect engine rotations well, then it should probably be done more often. I am also not saying that an initial earlier change is a bad idea, although still not convinced it is necessary.

Mechanics that have been around forever (and I am not saying anything bad really, I very much respect their expertise!) have something in common with many techs (not just car): they started with certain guidelines, but never change. Modern engines run cleaner, oil makeup is different, so it makes sense that oil change interval requirements are different. I still hear people advocating 3000 mile oil changes--great way to waste oil in most cases.

Some non-scientific personal data:

My first car, which I bought brand new, was a 1984 Honda Civic. I did the first 2 oil changes at, or probably a bit before, the recommended interval from Honda (I think even way back then it was 7500 miles). Then I switched to Mobile 1 synthetic. Back then it claimed (on the bottle) it was good for 25,000 miles. So, I changed it roughly at that interval (usually closer to 20,000 and only started that routine after the Honda warranty period ended). I reasoned that there would still be wear particles in the oil, so changed the oil filter only at roughly a 7500 interval. How did that go, you ask? Well, the first significant engine problem I had was when one cylinder lost some compression. It was still entirely drivable, still got great mileage (it has dropped to about 40 MPG from the high 40s). Quite a few miles later it lost all compression on another cylinder. That did affect it (it would still drive though!) but at that time I figured that driving it on 2.5 cylinders would not last long, so retired the car. That was at just under 30 years and over 387,000 miles. Although Mobil no longer makes those claims (probably because it does not follow manufacturer guidelines) but it seems that it really did last that long. BTW, the oil remained about the same viscosity (by my subjective feel) until the end, and after each filter change it cleaned up to look like new.

I also had a 1998 Ford Explorer I bought new and treated similarly. I sold it with well over 100,000 miles, never had any engine problem at all, and it was still running perfectly.

I also had a Chevy Tahoe, although I got that used, so cannot say much--but it also had no lubrication-related engine problems.

Last vehicle--the one the 4Runner replaced--is a 2000 Toyota Sienna. My (at the time) girlfriend purchased it new, so I do not know the early history--although I am sure she followed the manufacturer guidelines. Once we met I basically started my cycle. I got the vehicle after she passed from a stroke, and I still have it with 372,000 miles. I am retiring it because it will not pass smog--it runs perfectly and also has never had any significant engine repair (I think the biggest was replacing one of the spark plug coils--obviously oil did not affect that).

Even based on my limited personal, non-scientific data, I find it hard to believe that changing oil every few thousand miles is needed. I will follow Toyota's recommendation for my 4Runner--at least through the warranty period. After that--don't know. I will probably continue the 10,000 mile guidance.

 

[LARIN]

I took mine in for 5k service, they said it was for tire rotation only, So I paid for the oil change. Tire rotation and and oil change included at 10k.

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