[armyguy]

everyone,

how often are we suppose to change our oil for tC?... i know that we should have a full maint. every 5k or 6month, but i doubt we should wait that long for an oil change...

i had a camry, with maint every 5-6month, but i still had to get an oil change every 3month or so.....

i tried looking through our owner's guide, but doesn't say how often we should get an oil change...

 

[TBova]

My dealer told me every 5000 miles.

 

[hamster]

just do what the owners guide says. other wise, you're just wasting lots of oil... and money.

 

[TBova]

Originally posted by armyguy@Jun 23 2005, 05:51 PM
i tried looking through our owner's guide, but doesn't say how often we should get an oil change...

He said it didnt say

 

[nY1018]

lol.

 

[Plissken]

The maintenance guide says and it says get an oil change every 5000 miles.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Mine oil changes are free every 5k or 6 months, but I don't like the idea of waiting that long, I'm pondering changing it every 2500. Just doing every other one myself.

I just don't want an oil burning car in a few years. Early oil changes are better than late ones.

 

[Jenn]

I change the oil when the light comes on, which is what 5000? I couldn't imagine changing the oil every 2500 miles. I would have to change it at least once a month.

 

[armyguy]

even if it is a new car... wait for 6 month or 5k miles? aren't there debris(new cars with new parts) in the engine that needs to be filtered or cleaned out?

 

[hamster]

nope... toyota does the first oil change in the factory

 

[bizzyliz]

They did a story about oil changes on one of our local new. Read the story below and you can see why I am still doing the oil changes at 3k miles bc I am not taking any chances later on down the road.

Engine oil sludge

 

[lo bux racer]

Oil change interval depends on a lot of factors. The most important is how far you typically drive. If you don't drive at least 10 minutes (very short trips) every time you drive, the oil never gets hot enough to boil off the water that condenses and settles in the engine. The water also contains acids and byproducts of combustion called blowby. It settles on top of the oil sitting in the oil pan and doesn't boil off until the oil gets hot. If you shut off the engine before the water is vaporized, you get water in the oil and that's what causes the milkshake appearance. The oil and water homogenize and form a brown sludge. The sludge also contains air, and the air kills the engine's bearings. This is the real cause of early death.
Changing the oil frequently is one solution, but the first thing you need to do is examine your normal driving pattern to see if you are an "at risk" driver. If you are like me, and your normal trip is a hundred miles or more, you are an unlikely candidate for frequent oil changes. If you drive less than 10 miles regularly (like for your commute), then you should be considering either driving more, or changing your oil more often.
FWIW, I use synthetics and typically change my oil at 10k mile intervals. I've never had an oil relate failure since I started doing this in 1988.

 

[armyguy]

Originally posted by bizzyliz@Jun 26 2005, 06:16 AM
They did a story about oil changes on one of our local new. Read the story below and you can see why I am still doing the oil changes at 3k miles bc I am not taking any chances later on down the road.

Engine oil sludge

thanks... good article.... i was planning to get an oil change every 3K... i rather spend the 20-25 bucks than risking an engine problem...

 

[pinky25]

interesting article, I've never head of changing oil at every 10,000 miles. That just seems like a lot of miles for an oil change. even every 5000 is kinda weird for me, I'm used to the 3,000 mile rule for oil changes.

 

[lo bux racer]

Amsoil went 467,000 miles in a commercial truck with a bypass filter and no oil changes only filter changes. When they tore it down for a rebuild, all the interals were at factory specification. There are lots of reasons why this will work in a commercial vehicle and not in a daily use vehicle, but the whole thing about oil changes being based on mileage ignores a lot. All the mileage thing does is prevent the worst case scenario from happening to the vast majority of drivers. Mercedes actually has an algorithm built into their ECM to tell you when it's time for an oil change. Fixed intervals waste a lot of oil and money IMHO.

 

[Hudnut]

I'm goin 14k on my amsoil