Oil Change Interval: 5,000 miles or 10,000 miles?

I paid just under 40k when I bought mine in September of 2018. The price for the same truck now makes my heart skip a beat. I want mine to last as long as possible. For me, a 5k oil change makes sense. In the past on much older vehicles, I did 10k oil changes using Mobil 1. I found that the oil filter would get dirty and either starve the engine for oil, or it would bypass before I got to 10k. I realize this is apple to oranges, but at the cost of these vehicle now it is not a chance I am willing to take.

 

Interesting! And a bit scary. How could you tell that the engine was starved of oil, did you get the oil pressure light?

Also, regarding the oil bypassing the filter, how could you tell when bypassing started to happen?

Somebody here a while back posted a pic of the intake plenum on a 4runner that spent a lot of time on dusty roads. I was really surprised by the amount of dust in there, despite regular air filter changes.

I would imagine some amount of fine dust makes it through even the best of air filters. Some of that dust goes out the exhaust valves, but the rest would stick to the cylinder walls and get washed into the oil. I can imagine vehicles that constantly drive in dusty conditions could get those oil filters to capacity, maybe even quickly.

 

There is some bias due to the sample population (enthusiasts, many of who probably do their own maintenance). Greater population could trend more towards 10,000, unless they use mechanics that recommend a shorter interval. Some places still put 3000 mile stickers on every car, and this hasn't been required in decades.

 

So I try to avoid politics, religion, and motor oil conversations but here is what works for me and allows me to sleep good at night: I don’t drive as many miles as most people so when I look at the 5000 mile or 6 months which ever comes first rule of thumb, I go with every 6 months. (This makes my life easy, I just tell Siri to add 4Runner oil change in 6 months to my calendar as I am getting my oil changed.) By doing it every 6 months the Brand of oil becomes less important as long as the viscosity is correct and it meets the proper Toyota Specs (I still use Mobil1) and finally I believe in using a genuine Toyota filter either from the dealership or Wal Mart. My total oil change cost is about $120 year. I also think that just about everyone on here will get 100s of thousands of miles out the 4Runner even if they go 10000 miles and a year between oil changes. These 4Runners go and go and go.

 

Hey all, just changed my oil yesterday at 632 miles. Peeled open the pleats on the oil filter and numerous pepper sized pieces of metal shavings in each individual pleat. I know should have taken a photo to show the gang. Oil drain plug just snug, not loose, but maybe 2-3 ft/lbs. Replaced oil/filter/crush washer and o-ring with Toyota OEM. Factory torque spec on drain plug. Will change again in 5,000 miles and check oil filter pleats again. Will never take my baby to a dealership due to working at a Honda dealership for 7 years and saw what goes on behind the vail, I can tell stories that would curl your hair, for another day perhaps. Cheers!

 

I am in a good amount of gravel and dust. I am considering splitting the difference and doing a 7500 mile oil change. Gonna send it to Blackstone and see what it says

 

I’m curious as I’ve never done a blackstone. Does their analysis provide some sort of indication of non-metallic particulates?

If they do, it would be interesting to to see if the particulate counts are different on oil that has been run in dust vs not. Wonder how significant the difference would be.

 

Never got a low oil pressure light. What I got was the sound that hydraulic lifters make when starved for oil - increased tapping, especially when decelerating. Replaced the oil filter (not the oil) and the sound went away immediately. Was it bypassing? Probably. I did not have the means to prove it. This was on a 1990 vehicle, engines are manufacture differently today, and with tighter clearances, as I am sure you know.

 

we do quite a bit of highway driving but still qualify for the Severe Service maintenance regimen listed in the manual due to vehicle use and the heat where we live. so i like to split the difference with changes at around 7-8,000 miles. i've done multiple blackstone oil analysis and the engine seems perfectly happy with this schedule.

 

I follow a 5k OCI and follow the rest of the severe service schedule. My 4runner isn't a commuter and is used for mountain travel and offroading.

 

I do short trips and have infrequent use. Once a year or 5K, whichever comes first (usually the once a year)

 

Every 5k LOF and tire rotation for all my vehicles seems to work for me.

 

So I have a couple of questions. I saw a toyota oil change kit which had everything including the washer for the drain plug and also a new drain plug. The questions I have are one do you really have to replace the washer everytime you change your oil and also is it necessary to change the drain plug or bolt whatever it's called at each oil change also. The second question is If I have to change the crush washer for the drain plug can I buy a pack of lets say 6 or more or those the dealer only sell them by quantity of one.

 

My approach to the oil drain plug was to install a Fumoto Oil Drain Valve that drains oil by opening a lever-valve. No need to ever replace a drain plug crush washer.

Cheers,
Bob

 

Yes replace washer each time. No need to replace bolt unless you round the head off.

You can buy all of the oil pan, transfer case, and differential single use washers on Amazon in varying quantities. (I think they have 10 pack for the oil washer).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CJHTDVV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007OW6MD6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

 

They track potassium, sodium, and silicon (dust) as the non-metallic particulates

 

what HazOpRed said - dirt will show up as silicon ingested through the intake. enough of it will turn up the iron/aluminum/chromium count through additional internal wear. i had this exact situation happen to my old subaru when i ran it hard on some forestry roads with an intake box that had a latch come loose, so it ended up ingesting some dust. silicon did a little spike and so did my metals for that oil change.

 

I'm doing the same thing. I use Mobil1 European blend, extended mileage oil, so I will be doing the 7500 mile changes.

According to the Care Car Nut on YouTube, who claims to be an ex Toyota mechanic, the 10K mile oil change ideas came from the sales people to show how cheaply the car/engine is regarding maintenance, but if one asks an engineer, who designed the car, they will tell you 5K miles.

 

Ok, I've got a question on this topic! (sort of)

I do all my own oil changes, personal preferences as I've been burned by dealership knuckleheads before. Anyway, I do it every 5k and was wondering at what intervals should I be doing any other service items? Tire rotations is the obvious one, but is there anything else I should be doing at certain mileage points? I'm guessing there's a big one at 30k? I could probably look at the manual but yes I'm being lazy and asking the experts.

 

Not really sure you’re going to find many real “experts” here. Just look at the manual and it list everything for the 30k. Remember it won’t hurt anything if you do it more often /early. The maintenance section is only a few pages and easy to follow.

 

The experts will say stop being lazy and look at the manual.

 

RTFM! Best thing you can do with any vehicle, tool, what have you.

 

Well, half of it is me being lazy and the other half is that everyone on this forum has opinions on things that aren't in the manual. What should be done when, what doesn't need to be... etc. etc. etc.

 

What if the manual guidance is not in the owner's best interest? Take "lifetime" transmission fluid. To them, "lifetime" is the period during which they're responsible for it - usually 100K. Is that "lifetime" for the average 4R? Your truck, your call, but at least see what a Toyota Master Tech has to say about 10k changes in this video where he's tearing down a damaged Toyota engine at 150K. The whole thing is interesting but you can skip to 10:49 where he explains what happened to the cylinders and why (that being 10K OCI). At 13:13 or so he shows the pistons and explains how they got how they are.



I'll stick to 5K. I'll also highly recommend the Car Care Nut channel as he has many, many videos about Toyotas and 4Runners on everything from how the 4WD works to frame rust to you name it.

 

Since I keep seeing this bumped. 5k oil change. But. I can hear the difference in the engine pitch after it reaches about 4,000 to 4,400 miles. This makes me want to change the oil around then but I typically do high 4,000's.

 

Engine oil, Diff and Transfer oil, grease the driveline zerks…those are the frequent biggies

 

I just listed the Blackstone report on my 2nd gen tacoma. 17k oci.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/17-000-mile-oil-change-interval-blackstone-report.33950/

 

How many miles on it?

 

220k