Toys4RJill

Anyone leave an oil change 4 months over due? I completely forgot to take my 4Runner for an oil change. I do have just 3000 miles so far since. Should I just go another month? Thoughts please.

ShrinkDoc

I don't go based on time, but on mileage. Most cars now can go between 5K-7.5K miles between oil changes, unless your drive is mostly city or you're hauling stuff. You should be fine and in fact, the 3K oil change is no frowned upon as it's seen as wasteful and anti-environment by many.

Every car I've owned in the last 30 years (there are ~5) gets an oil change at 7.5K miles, and all have had over 250,000 miles when being sold or traded in.

bagwell

for a non-turbo motor, you should just change it once a year or 7500 miles whichever comes first -- if running synthetic.

I change my turbo'd car at no more than 5000 miles.

Johnhav430

Personally, I think 3k is way too soon. I would not worry about the 4 extra months myself. One month more should not make any difference. Are you sure the level is full, that's the only thing that I would be concerned about. And don't overfill either, if it's in the range, no worries...(what I mean is as time goes by I would want to verify that the level is fine--only my wife's GM needs to be topped off between changes, and apparently normal)

ABC

I don't own a 4runner, but i change the oil in my '06 IS250 every 10k (full synthetic), which for my driving is once every 9-10 months. No problems at ~145k miles on her.

I recall a few members on the IS forum sent their used oil in for analysis and 10k mile changes were perfectly reasonable according to the results.

arentz07

I'm confused. Are you 3000 miles overdue? If you're running synthetic doing it every 10,000 miles is perfectly reasonable. I've been doing it more like every 8,000 just because I am paranoid, but that's on my IS 300 which has a different engine anyway. Most cars, including the IS, can definitely do more than 10,000 miles between changes for average drivers (like ABC said above).
I mean, ultimately it should be based on distance driven, not time, anyway, unless it's an extreme case like a car that sits in the garage most of the time rather than being driven regularly.

SW17LS

You're totally fine. No worries.

mmarshall

The answer is yes or no, depending on the circumstances. Full-synthetic oil's viscosity (thickness and effectiveness) does not break down with heat, over time and miles, as conventional peroleum-based oil does, so the engine is not likely to self-destruct (assuming the oil itself does not leak out or get burned in the cylinders from a worn engine). But the addictive packages in the oil can break down.....these additive-packages deal with a number of things, like anti-scuff properties and detergents to keep the inner parts of the engine clean. In addition, if the vehicle does not have an oil-level device to let the driver know how much oil is left in the crankcase (and that is different from the oil-monitor function that tells you how much life is left in the existing oil, since the last change), then one should manually the oil level with the dipstick occasionally to ensure that the engine will not actually use too much oil before the next change. Long oil life between changes (as with synthetics) does not mean that the engine will magically add a quart or two of needed oil in between changes if neglected too long.

SW17LS

Even regular oil, after only 3,000 miles three isn't anything to worry about.

Stroock639

do you use full synthetic oil? even if you don't, 3000 miles is nothing to worry about

Toys4RJill

Thanks for the responses everyone. I was expecting it to be 50/50. Anyways, the worry of the issue is now not of concern. I do not drive it for most of the week. so it is not used everyday.

Toys4RJill

I am not sure. I think the dealer has moved to synthetic for all cars. But I would have to look at the invoice. I know for my Corolla, they have gone from semi synthetic to full.

Hey, thanks for the question. I have 3000 miles accumulated in 10 months of driving.

mmarshall

Actually, I may have (partly) misunderstood or misread your original post. I thought you were referring to a much longer interval than your usual 3000 miles. If it's been only 3000 total miles since the last change, then I agree with everybody else......no problem, unless it's been an extremely long period of time and the engine hasn't been run much, which lets moisture build up in the oil.

arentz07

Oh. Yeah... you're super good then. Don't worry about it.

Johnhav430

Pretty sure everyone agrees, nothing to worry about due to the low miles (3,000).

Where I think it gets dicey is when someone takes their car any ol' where for a job like this, say based on price (I think $20 still exists today?)? Now you're not positive they used the oil that was specified for the vehicle, and then, it's possible to consider an unnecessary change at the dealer to get the oil/filter back to original...

When I was getting my tire remounted (bead leak) on Saturday, a person rolled in with a new BMW X5 and was having an "interval" oil change done (basically every 15k is free for the first 4 years). I think that is smart when you own, not lease. BUT, this is literally a gas station where 1/2 is rented to a tire shop, the other to a mechanic. Does he know what filter cartridge, and what oil is gonna be used? They are most certainly going to have to send for the materials. I would rather have a 1-2 y.o. BMW serviced either by me, or the dealership...old cars sure a place like the one I was at....