Do you Feel or Know chancing oil every 6 mo or 3-5,000 mi has an advantage?

[jow]

Does your Extended Warranty require an oil change at 5,000 mi or 6 mo? Not being active (as retired) I average 3,000 mi a year normally and chanced oil ea July the last 10 yrs. With the change of SUVs, 1993 V6 2WD Explorer to 07 T4R V6 2WD SR5, the low mileage oil change seems a waste. I understand less driving is probably not burning off contaminants and moisture. I see no color change of oil on the stick but “slightly” more during an oil change. Changing oil at approx 1,500 mi or less (twice a yr) is hard for my continued 1960s “Old School Wrenching” to understand.

Do you Feel or Know chancing oil every 6 mo or 3-5,000 mi has an advantage? My Wife’s 2001 Camry uses the same 5W-30W synthetic blend at 5,000 changes. She would Kill Me if I put the 1,500 mi used oil in her car (as I did to our 68 and 70 VWs in the 70s/80s due to their use of 30W oil).

Does part synthetic or synthetic blend means it will work fine with 30W oil in high mileage low oil burning situations(200,000s +)?

 

[jimithing]

The only way to know for sure is to do an oil analysis with the old oil. I don't know who other people here have used but Blackstone is popular on other forums

Blackstone Labs

They'll tell you if you still have some life left in the oil at 1500 miles. I know living in Dallas I worry what the high temperatures and stop and go traffic do to my oil. I'd rather change it too often than not often enough. It's better than buying a new engine.

 

[rfuree11]

Your could get yourself a fumoto or similar drain valve, send it off to Blackstone and pay $25 for an analysis (I do it every few oil changes just to see how the car is doing) to see if you need a change, or just spend the $25 on oil and filter and change it. Water vapor gets into the oil after a while, so it's a good idea to change it after a certain period of time.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Does your Extended Warranty require an oil change at 5,000 mi or 6 mo? Not being active (as retired) I average 3,000 mi a year normally and chanced oil ea July the last 10 yrs. With the change of SUVs, 1993 V6 2WD Explorer to 07 T4R V6 2WD SR5, the low mileage oil change seems a waste. I understand less driving is probably not burning off contaminants and moisture. I see no color change of oil on the stick but “slightly” more during an oil change. Changing oil at approx 1,500 mi or less (twice a yr) is hard for my continued 1960s “Old School Wrenching” to understand.

Do you Feel or Know chancing oil every 6 mo or 3-5,000 mi has an advantage? My Wife’s 2001 Camry uses the same 5W-30W synthetic blend at 5,000 changes. She would Kill Me if I put the 1,500 mi used oil in her car (as I did to our 68 and 70 VWs in the 70s/80s due to their use of 30W oil).

Does part synthetic or synthetic blend means it will work fine with 30W oil in high mileage low oil burning situations(200,000s +)?

Its a little more complicated than that, in the old days you threw what ever you had in the engine. Leaking rings, low compression, some knocking? Throw some thicker stuff in it and call it a day! SAE and API ratings are next to useless in modern oil vehicles, not to mention the tighter clearances in engines have reduced the SAPs level in the oils, this present a danger to older splash/looser tolerance engines and can cause premature engine wear (seen a 22RE camshaft turned to circles in less than 40k on a rebuilt motor with top of the line synthetic, they failed to use camshaft additive and it just munched the cam up.)

You can't do that with modern engines, they are built specifically for the oil they call for and even in higher mileages should be using the same spec oil unless the manufacturer specifies another oil (due to temperatures or other conditions, this information can be found in the service manual, owner's manual, and occasionally TSBs) Toyota is among the few manufacturers that are lax on their oil requirements (you mentioned VW, their new spec requirements for their vehicles will make your head spin and most are all SAE 5W-30 but are vastly different from each other) Toyota/Lexus just calls for a 5W-30, 5W-20, or a 0W-20 in their vehicles, but they will test the engine oil in case of a warranty engine failure situation and will void your warranty if you did not use spec'd oil.

That being said, your wire's Camry will call for a 5W-30 I believe or possibly a 5W-20; your '07 4Runner calls for a 5W-30 (these are stock specs, not including variances for different climates that usually don't apply.) You can do a 3k oil change, but even the dino oils these days have come a long way from the days of old and hold up to 5k pretty well. Today's synthetics last a while under normal circumstances. Toyota calls for a 10k service interval for their 0W-20 vehicles (under normal driving conditions, otherwise use a 7,500mile interval) I personally use a Amsoil Signature Synthetic 5W-30 guaranteed to 15k (I'll change it at 10k out of personal caution.) So really I doubt you're getting much benefit from the earlier oil changes, but the best way to find out is to send a sample to get tested if you really want to know for sure.

Post Note-

Your extended warranty requires you to do 5k/6mo oil changes as a policy requirement? I've never heard of that.

 

[Zuke]

Ignoring all of the oil debate. If you are trying to stay within the margins for an extended warranty then follow exactly what your warranty/owners manual/factory maintenance schedule states to do. If it says 5000 miles or 6 months then change it every 6 months. If something fails within the engine they are not going to cover it. You are failing to uphold the contract by not following the maintenance schedule.

 

[Gatafly]

Its a little more complicated than that, in the old days you threw what ever you had in the engine. Leaking rings, low compression, some knocking? Throw some thicker stuff in it and call it a day! SAE and API ratings are next to useless in modern oil vehicles, not to mention the tighter clearances in engines have reduced the SAPs level in the oils, this present a danger to older splash/looser tolerance engines and can cause premature engine wear (seen a 22RE camshaft turned to circles in less than 40k on a rebuilt motor with top of the line synthetic, they failed to use camshaft additive and it just munched the cam up.)

You can't do that with modern engines, they are built specifically for the oil they call for and even in higher mileages should be using the same spec oil unless the manufacturer specifies another oil (due to temperatures or other conditions, this information can be found in the service manual, owner's manual, and occasionally TSBs) Toyota is among the few manufacturers that are lax on their oil requirements (you mentioned VW, their new spec requirements for their vehicles will make your head spin and most are all SAE 5W-30 but are vastly different from each other) Toyota/Lexus just calls for a 5W-30, 5W-20, or a 0W-20 in their vehicles, but they will test the engine oil in case of a warranty engine failure situation and will void your warranty if you did not use spec'd oil.

That being said, your wire's Camry will call for a 5W-30 I believe or possibly a 5W-20; your '07 4Runner calls for a 5W-30 (these are stock specs, not including variances for different climates that usually don't apply.) You can do a 3k oil change, but even the dino oils these days have come a long way from the days of old and hold up to 5k pretty well. Today's synthetics last a while under normal circumstances. Toyota calls for a 10k service interval for their 0W-20 vehicles (under normal driving conditions, otherwise use a 7,500mile interval) I personally use a Amsoil Signature Synthetic 5W-30 guaranteed to 15k (I'll change it at 10k out of personal caution.) So really I doubt you're getting much benefit from the earlier oil changes, but the best way to find out is to send a sample to get tested if you really want to know for sure.

Post Note-

Your extended warranty requires you to do 5k/6mo oil changes as a policy requirement? I've never heard of that.

25k if you use their filter.:biggrin1:

 

[jow]

The T4R’s 7 yr or 75,000 mi power train warranty that continued with the Certified purchase is what put me in this mind set (to continue ”factory required oil change maintenance”). I could check with the Ext Warranty Co to see if this is still required and I would think so since it was factory required maintenance. My luck in this purchase has not been good.

I felt the 19,000, 07 V6 2WD 43,000 out the door with a 7 yr Bumper-To- Bumper w/n be that bad in 2010. Until the sales manager tried to show me 6,500 needed to be added due to certification work, 7 yr Warr Tax/Title/License. With a figure of 23.500 out the door planned, I got it with a 6 yr Warr. Later the Warr Co said they could only sell me 4 yrs with that year’s purchase. I asked for a prorated refund on 2 years and it was denied since the fixed number showed I paid (1,600) which was less than 4 yrs should have cost. Now I’m in limbo with no problems and a contract showing 6 yrs Warr.

After a totaled 15 yr solid V6 2WD 1993 Explorer, and 4 months of walking I needed a ride but not the gaming and stress.

 

[ebg18t]

I send a sample or two a year to Blackstone labs to get a check in. I do ~5000 mile intervals with Pennzoil Platinum 5w30. The last lab result indicated I should extent to 7000 miles and retest. I am nearing 6200 miles so I might send another sample in shortly.

But unless you test your oil you have no way if knowing wht you oil change nerve really should be.