oil analysys results with Mobil 1 Synthetic in ES350
12-10-19, 11:20 AM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
oil analysys results with Mobil 1 Synthetic in ES350
Thought the forums might find this interesting.
2011 Es350 with 91k miles. I did the analysis because Lexus does not give us any guidance for oil change intervals for this car with synthetic, and even after 5000 miles, my oil was really dark. Scotty kilmer preaches 5000 mi oil changes for toyotas because of the small vvti passageways, but I think according to this analysis, I might push my oil changes to 7500 miles. What do you guys think? The oil I used was the most basic mobil 1 synthetic. Not the fancy 20k mile version. The analysis company was in Utah, and sucked the oil out of the dipstick tube and gave me the analysis for 22 dollars. I drive pretty gently. If you forced me to guess I would say 65% of my driving is freeways.
12-11-19, 05:32 AM
#2
Oil threads and forums.. grab some popcorn. Like everyone, these always sprout strong opinions - dino or synthetic, intervals, weights etc.
In my '08, the maintenance guide says 5K mile increments between changes - whether you run Dino, Semi or full synthetic. The same motor is in my wife's 2015 Highlander and still mentions the 5K mile interval. Just because oil is "dark" doesn't mean its "bad". Freeway driving is better.. usually runs longer/hotter and allows for impurities to "boil off". Usually, short city drives, especially in the cold, shorten engine life.
Can you push it more? sure. i know some people (per the internet) who swear by 10K mile intervals (my Jetta actually specified 10K intervals with full synthetic and my dad's BMWs had variable changes that the computer would judge.. sometimes close to 12K miles.. and my 2018 Honda was similarly variable and settled,, based on my use, to approx 8K mile intervals) . Porsche used to push higher mileage intervals, but then noticed that the engines weren't lasting as long and many folks in that area swear by shorter intervals to improve engine life.
The point is, you will do NO harm by following the factory change interval with the correct oil type. In the short run, what does that cost you? an extra $100/year? less? by changing at 5K vs 7500 miles? vs having your engine develop sludging issues and need help down the line. (in fact the 3.3L in our old Sienna was one such engine known for "sludging" which was in part why Toyota got more vocal about shorter oil change intervals)
I've often seen folks use Blackstone labs. They seem to provide a more helpful analysis than "all values satisfactory" by explaining in more detail the elements/components found in the oil. on the other hand, good job getting yours checked!
In my '08, the maintenance guide says 5K mile increments between changes - whether you run Dino, Semi or full synthetic. The same motor is in my wife's 2015 Highlander and still mentions the 5K mile interval. Just because oil is "dark" doesn't mean its "bad". Freeway driving is better.. usually runs longer/hotter and allows for impurities to "boil off". Usually, short city drives, especially in the cold, shorten engine life.
Can you push it more? sure. i know some people (per the internet) who swear by 10K mile intervals (my Jetta actually specified 10K intervals with full synthetic and my dad's BMWs had variable changes that the computer would judge.. sometimes close to 12K miles.. and my 2018 Honda was similarly variable and settled,, based on my use, to approx 8K mile intervals) . Porsche used to push higher mileage intervals, but then noticed that the engines weren't lasting as long and many folks in that area swear by shorter intervals to improve engine life.
The point is, you will do NO harm by following the factory change interval with the correct oil type. In the short run, what does that cost you? an extra $100/year? less? by changing at 5K vs 7500 miles? vs having your engine develop sludging issues and need help down the line. (in fact the 3.3L in our old Sienna was one such engine known for "sludging" which was in part why Toyota got more vocal about shorter oil change intervals)
I've often seen folks use Blackstone labs. They seem to provide a more helpful analysis than "all values satisfactory" by explaining in more detail the elements/components found in the oil. on the other hand, good job getting yours checked!
Last edited by Racerd; 12-11-19 at 05:35 AM.
12-12-19, 12:31 AM
#4
Your wear metals look quite good. Seems like a healthy engine to me. Ultimately - there are good and bad oils out there, but even the best quality oil out there cannot mitigate a worn engine which displays excessive metal wear values.)
However, I cannot even begin to describe how much I would not recommend the use of Mobil 1. I know multiple users on the BMW forums who showed reports claiming it failed a shear test (when fuel dilutes the oil supply and breaks down engine oil), then you got more owners asking why they have this weird white foam building up at the bottom of their oil cap (switched to a different oil brand and it never came back)
Then you got the folks over on the subaru wrx sti forum claiming that their car started to consume significantly less oil switching from Mobil 1 to Shell rotella... Shell rotella is a good, but CHEAP oil. there is better out there.
Seems like the only people who swear by it, are the ones who have zero evidence in regards to it's (utterly nonexistent) quality. Then you got tons and tons of people who saw better results switching to other oils and never looking back.
Regardless, I strongly suggest not to push your oil changes past 5000 miles. It's already plenty even if your engine's analysis does look good.
Even if the oil is still able to lubricate the engine properly, the amount of dirt/contamination suspended in the mixture in itself warrants a change. Plus, unless you are using a top-notch racing oil, most regular oils just don't have enough additives to properly fight fuel dilution over the course of several thousand mile oil changes. The more often you change your oil, the better. There is simply no good argument as to why you would want to go for such length oil change intervals, unless maybe you are changing out your oil filter once every 1000 miles to keep the oil supply clean and dumping in extra oil additives into the crankcase to keep the fuel dilution properties intact.
However, I cannot even begin to describe how much I would not recommend the use of Mobil 1. I know multiple users on the BMW forums who showed reports claiming it failed a shear test (when fuel dilutes the oil supply and breaks down engine oil), then you got more owners asking why they have this weird white foam building up at the bottom of their oil cap (switched to a different oil brand and it never came back)
Then you got the folks over on the subaru wrx sti forum claiming that their car started to consume significantly less oil switching from Mobil 1 to Shell rotella... Shell rotella is a good, but CHEAP oil. there is better out there.
Seems like the only people who swear by it, are the ones who have zero evidence in regards to it's (utterly nonexistent) quality. Then you got tons and tons of people who saw better results switching to other oils and never looking back.
Regardless, I strongly suggest not to push your oil changes past 5000 miles. It's already plenty even if your engine's analysis does look good.
Even if the oil is still able to lubricate the engine properly, the amount of dirt/contamination suspended in the mixture in itself warrants a change. Plus, unless you are using a top-notch racing oil, most regular oils just don't have enough additives to properly fight fuel dilution over the course of several thousand mile oil changes. The more often you change your oil, the better. There is simply no good argument as to why you would want to go for such length oil change intervals, unless maybe you are changing out your oil filter once every 1000 miles to keep the oil supply clean and dumping in extra oil additives into the crankcase to keep the fuel dilution properties intact.
12-12-19, 04:16 AM
#5
With synthetic oil you can do 10k/1yr oil changes. 2013 Lexus has the same engine and Toyota recommends 10k changes, the only difference they use synthetic and lighter weight, Even my dealer suggested that I can do 10k with synthetic. UOA is a right way to go, if analysis is good, you can go more. Go to bobistheoilguy.com and read other people reports for es350 engines, they come out very good at 10k miles with synthetic, so stop listening to all the paranoid people. You doing the right thing by doing UOA first.
12-12-19, 06:39 AM
#6
With synthetic oil you can do 10k/1yr oil changes. 2013 Lexus has the same engine and Toyota recommends 10k changes, the only difference they use synthetic and lighter weight, Even my dealer suggested that I can do 10k with synthetic. UOA is a right way to go, if analysis is good, you can go more. Go to bobistheoilguy.com and read other people reports for es350 engines, they come out very good at 10k miles with synthetic, so stop listening to all the paranoid people. You doing the right thing by doing UOA first.
anything past 6000 miles on an interval is completely outrageous, and quite frankly, very stupid unless you don't care about your car or using some sort of high performance racing oil.
Lexus wants you to use water thin ;"synthetic oil" for 10K intervals for a very specific reason. We had lots of BMW owners following lengthy 10-15K OCI's with perfectly good motors gunked up and nearly destroyed. If you care about your car, you're going to change your oil often.
Trending Topics
12-12-19, 09:46 AM
#9
.... Yea.
12-12-19, 11:21 AM
#10
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
With synthetic oil you can do 10k/1yr oil changes. 2013 Lexus has the same engine and Toyota recommends 10k changes, the only difference they use synthetic and lighter weight, Even my dealer suggested that I can do 10k with synthetic. UOA is a right way to go, if analysis is good, you can go more. Go to bobistheoilguy.com and read other people reports for es350 engines, they come out very good at 10k miles with synthetic, so stop listening to all the paranoid people. You doing the right thing by doing UOA first.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post