LexusLst07

How may times do you change oil before you reach 3,000 miles to remove metal filings?

starstreak

Unless your car is broken, you're safe to change the oil as recomended by Lexus. This was told to me by Lexus Mechanic when I brought up that I wanted to change my oil at 600mi to remove factory contaminants like metal filings.

ServerTech

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gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

I have 700 miles on my car and im gonna change it at 1000. Oil is cheap and i'll feel better after I change it. Plus I like working on my car so thats another reason for me to change it.

Plus I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander V6. I change the oil on that every 3500 miles. 100k miles approaching and car runs like it did when I drove it off the dealers lot.

starstreak

I was talking about changing the oil at 600miles like you did. In Hawaii, I normally change my out about 2-3k due to the short driving distance. How does the metal filings cause sludge? I noticed the suite was for 4 year old cars. As you said, chaning oil wouldn't hurt (like at 500miles) , but its not really needed. And as long as you're the type to keep an eye on your oil stick for dirty oil, you should be fine.
Engine oil made 6-10 years ago is somethng different that what is made today. Oil, if taken care of can last for more than 2-3 times the lengh the oil change maintanance. What breaks down are other additives that the oil manufacturers put into their brands of oil. If you used oil from 10 years ago in your new car now, it probably wouldn't last due to how the oil was made back then. And its not made for how new cars engines work now.

A good example is engine warmup. You don't really need that. Your modern car unlike old cars are made to operate at a set temperature for best result. The faster you get the car to that temp the better the car will be. Idling for 5 minutes isn't going to help if you dont reach that temp. Not saying to dive like you stole it before the engine warms up, but drive moderatily and you'll probably have a car that lasts longer than one that you startup to warm your engine untill you finish your coffee.

Sorry off track. His post was about getting rid of the metal filings. I have no idea how many times you need to change th oil to remove it. You might being that you change your oil yourself. All I was saying is that he shuldn't panic and keep changing it untill it was clear.

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

Does anyone know if there is actually some sort of "break-in oil" that the dealer puts in the car at the factory? I hear lots of people saying this but with no confirmation.

I highly doubt this is true.

starstreak

Well my dealer said something like that. When I asked him, about it, he just said its not anything special but its standard oil, not synthetic.

GS2006

What does shavings have to do with sludge?
That sounds like design problem with Toyota. I have a 20yr Nissan truck. Did first oil change at 500 miles, 7-8k after. It runs as smooth today as it did 20 yrs ago. BTW, I still have not adjusted the valves as they said. Just what you need is some idiot over tighten them and then need a valve job. It ticks a little but run smooth and compression it very good. I agree though, they will use the cheapest crap they can find to put in your car. Also, I do not think they use the recommended 5w30 either. I asked and they said they use 10w30. Another reason to DIY which I am doing now after two botched jobs at the dealer.

hughh

I don't know about Toyota products, but Honda does. I had a 77 or 78 Honda Accord that the dealers I called (three I think) insisted not to change oil until the first 6,000 miles due to break-in oil.

After that it was every 6,000 miles. I switched to Mobile One and changed oil around 10,000 miles after that. No problems with their V6 engines.

hughh

Yeah, I can't believe that Toyota/Lexus engines have degraded through the years that much. I purchased an ES300 way back in 93. Switched to Mobile One and 10,000 mile oil changes. The only problem was an occational valve gasket replacement due to leaks.

I have never heard of cars having sludge problems using synthetic oils. Maybe I didn't hear about some of them...who knows.

Porsche, BMW, Audi, 'Vette and many Italian exotics use synthetic oils from day one. My BMW requires an oil change whenever the computer tells me so. Usually around 15,000 miles or once a year, including the first oil change. No sludge or any other problems and my usual driving is around town, with 70-80mph whenever I get on the hwy.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I think the 'sludge' problem on the 3L V6 was probably with people who rarely or NEVER change their oil. I owned a 3L V6 RX300 for 6 years and 100K miles and zero oil problems. Just followed the manual, 5K changes, nothing special, no special oil.

Also had a GS400 for 65K mi. followed the manual, nothing special, no special oil, zero oil/engine problems.

Synthetic oil *is* better oil (more slippery, less viscosity breakdown over time, better overall properties) but is it needed in 99% of cars? No, they're just not driven hard enough to matter, and if you get oil changes at reasonable intervals, the synthetic oil has probably only used 1% of its useful life, so it then gets thrown away (or recycled by the dealer ). But if it makes you feel better, do it!

hughh

I agree with you, synthetics are for people like me that hate to go to a dealer for frequent anything. Changing oils in short intervals to me is a waste if using synthetics.

VW had a case of sludge on their turbo engines a few years ago. They claimed they made some mods to the engines and I remember that they went to synthetics.