2011 GX460: first HPL drain

[Hohn]

Since this GX was “new to me” nearly two years ago, I used HPL for the first time in my life and gave it the most basic possible entry: PCMO 5w30.

Today after 9k miles, that PCMO was drained. Not because the oil was done, but because I wanted to get my drain intervals on the 10k-miles-with-HPL routine. I also wanted to switch to the HPL 15w40 PCMO as the long term oil for this engine, so I didn’t sample the 5w30 because I didn’t want to baseline or build trend on an oil I was moving away from.

What was interesting was how clean the oil stayed. Since this 1UR-FE uses the Toyota cartridge filter, it was trivial to inspect the filter for evidence of sludge or other cleaning. There was ZERO finding in the filter. Absolutely nothing.

Since we know that HPL does clean quite effectively, I can only conclude that this 1UR-FE was basically immaculate if the maiden voyage of HPL shows no evidence of cleaning in the oil nor the OEM filter.

Since the vehicle’s one prior owner had all the service done at a local (to him) Lexus Dealer, all the change events are documented. Except, the kind of oil used wasn’t mentioned. There was a windshield sticker with Valvoline on it and it said “advanced synthetic” so perhaps that was what he previous owner opted for? He paid $130 for an oil change, so I’d HOPE that was synthetic!

Anyway, the prior oil— which I believe but cannot prove to be Valvoline Advanced— kept this 1UR-fe essentially immaculate. Clean enough that the HPL did no noticeable cleaning in 9k miles on its first go. So that’s a pretty good endorsement of whatever prior oil was used (and also the 1UR-FE which is known to be durable if you keep the coolant sealed).

I’ll but following the @dnewton3 method on this vehicle— grabbing an early sample here in the first 100 miles or so as a baseline and then periodically resample every 5k or so establish the trend.

 

[edyvw]

Those engines are easy on oil. I am at 6,600mls on Castrol Edge 0W30 and looks all clean in my 5.7.
However, do not understand need for 15W40?

 

[thescreensavers]

Not following why you want to go to a 40 grade on this engine. It's super easy on oil and 20wt used oil analysis always show very low wear, albeit some so show fuel dilution.

I am personally running 0W30 ESP in mine, I really don't see a need to run a 40wt in it. My wife is the one that drives it and it's short tripped a bunch ~8k miles a year so that's my excuse of going up one grade I'll do a used oil analysis on my OCI soon.

 

[Hohn]

Those engines are easy on oil. I am at 6,600mls on Castrol Edge 0W30 and looks all clean in my 5.7.
However, do not understand need for 15W40?

Need? No, there’s no need for 15w40. But I pored over the HPL line before I settled on this.

The Prado manual in several countries shows Toyota to be happy to let you run 20w50 in this engine. Toyota doesn’t seem to picky about thicker oils in this engine, so I figure why not try the thickest that I think makes sense for my geography?

For me it came down to a couple special things about this grade in HPL’s PCMO line:
— It passes 15w but has nearly identical density to their SAE 40. There’s almost certainly very little VII in this oil since higher VII treat rates drop density.
— I believe base oil viscosity matters when you consider something like the TDC and BDC piston reversals where the rings will go into boundary/mixed lubrication. Higher is better IMO.
— The flashpoint is one of the highest in the whole HPL line.
— It has very high density for lube oil. This means that it is transporting more heat since the mass flow through the engine will higher. This should make internal temperatures slightly more uniform and slightly lower.
— Since this vehicle sees a large fraction of short trip driving, I expect the thicker base oil to retain a thicker residual oil film and better tolerate the fuel dilution that accompanies frequent short trips.

We’ll see what the used oil analysis says soon enough.

 

[D1dad]

15-40 in the winter in Indiana? I’m sure it would start but that’s mighty brave. Heck, I didn’t even use 15-40 come winter time in my powerstroke and it was usually plugged in. I ran 5w just in case it was someplace where I couldn’t plug it in. The 1st year I owned the truck I realized real fast how thick 15w is at zero. The truck galloped and shook to the point that I thought the engine was going to grenade.

 

[Hohn]

15-40 in the winter in Indiana? I’m sure it would start but that’s mighty brave. Heck, I didn’t even use 15-40 come winter time in my powerstroke and it was usually plugged in. I ran 5w just in case it was someplace where I couldn’t plug it in. The 1st year I owned the truck I realized real fast how thick 15w is at zero. The truck galloped and shook to the point that I thought the engine was going to grenade.

The amount of courage it takes is basically zero. You just have to look at the data and trust it.

15w has an MRV of -25C. That's -13F. My part of Indiana basically never sees below zero with single digits being exceedingly rare. In fact, the 95th percentile for our location is well above zero.

Your experience with a 15w-40 mineral oil is not representative of a 15w-40 with premium synthetic bases and very little VII. Especially in a powerstroke where the super thick oil is trying to operating the HEUI injectors

I expect to hit my 10k OCI before this winter and the GX will be going even thicker on winter viscosity as I will be blending 50/50 SAE 40 and the 15w-40. My experience with both these oils says it's quite low in terms of risk. The 15w starts effortlessly well into the teens Fahrenheit. THe monograde starts fine down to the mid 20s.

The GX is always garaged and almost never stone-cold soaked overnight outside. And on the rare occasion that it is--such as Thanksgiving 2025 up in MN, it started just fine.

GTL and PAO oils behave very differently from petroleum oils in extreme cold because of the complete (PAO) or nearly complete (GTL) absence of paraffinic waxes in the base oils.

 

[cptbarkey]

I think you will have excellent results. The engine itself on that oil could probably go 20k as others have documented. I'm on my 3rd OCI of Delo XSP at 8k with heavy towing and zero issues. A gentleman here pushed that much further with his Scion several times with the same oil. I've posted a few UOAs before with Supertech, Total Quartz, and a few others. All basically perfect. I'm due for a spark plug change sometime soon and going in deep to proactively seal the valley area. Have fun.

 

[ESP9935]

I think you will have excellent results. The engine itself on that oil could probably go 20k as others have documented. I'm on my 3rd OCI of Delo XSP at 8k with heavy towing and zero issues. A gentleman here pushed that much further with his Scion several times with the same oil. I've posted a few UOAs before with Supertech, Total Quartz, and a few others. All basically perfect. I'm due for a spark plug change sometime soon and going in deep to proactively seal the valley area. Have fun.

Not unless you want to replace your LH primary timing chain tensioner at relatively low mileages.
No DOHC V8 with 4 cam phasers is an ideal long drain candidate, IMO.

 

[cptbarkey]

Not unless you want to replace your LH primary timing chain tensioner at relatively low mileages.
No DOHC V8 with 4 cam phasers is an ideal long drain candidate, IMO.

Really, and how do you know this?

 

[ESP9935]

Really, and how do you know this?

A sticking LH primary timing chain tensioner causing timing chain slap due to varnish build up on the tensioner piston is a very well documented issue with UR V8s on lackadaisical oil change intervals.

Cam phaser feed restrictions are an issue on pretty much every engine with VCT.

The UR is not as forgiving to extended drains as the old pre-VVT UZ engine was

 

[cptbarkey]

A sticking LH primary timing chain tensioner causing timing chain slap due to varnish build up on the tensioner piston is a very well documented issue with UR V8s on lackadaisical oil change intervals.

Cam phaser feed restrictions are an issue on pretty much every engine with VCT.

The UR is not as forgiving to extended drains as the old pre-VVT UZ engine was

Oh, I was hoping you would share this documentation, not just stating it. The focus and the implication of using HPL is typically this use case. OP has made several threads on the topic, so please take the time to help.

Also, Car Care Nut is an invalid source, for several reasons.

 

[ESP9935]

Oh, I was hoping you would share this documentation, not just stating it. The focus and the implication of using HPL is typically this use case. OP has made several threads on the topic, so please take the time to help.

Also, Car Care Nut is an invalid source, for several reasons.

Nice try shifting the burden of proof, but that’s not how logic works.

You were the one who claimed a 20k-mile drain interval on this platform was safe because "others have documented" it.
Your "documentation" was pointing to a completely unrelated Scion inline-4 and your own 8k interval. That is a textbook Proof by Assertion fallacy—repeating a claim doesn't make it data.

I laid out the exact mechanical architecture and failure modes of this specific platform: a DOHC V8 with 4 cam phasers, and the well-known vulnerability of the LH primary timing chain tensioner sticking due to varnish buildup when subjected to extended drains.

If you want a TSB or a metallurgy report to prove that engine oil breaks down, creates varnish, and jacks up tight-tolerance hydraulic tensioners and VCT solenoids, you can find those in any basic engineering textbook.

You made the positive claim that 20k miles is "documented" and safe for this engine, the burden is yours.

 

[cptbarkey]

I didn’t think I would find your source that quickly

 

[Hohn]

I don’t think anyone can support any blanket claims of acceptable drain interval without confining that claim to a specific oil and duty cycle. At the extremes, the tolerable OCI might be 4x at the high end what it is on the low end.

I’m going comfortably to 10k on my GX with superbly low oxidation value. There’s essentially no varnish being generated whatsoever, and that’s in a pretty brutal short trip duty cycle of 12.5mpg or so and lots of short trips.

I can see a possible duty cycle where 20k miles is absolutely attainable with superb engine cleanliness in a GX460. But it would have to be with a premium oil like HPL and an nearly exclusively highway usage between 55-75mph.

Different duty cycles and different oils, even 10k is excessive IMO. If I wasn’t running HPL I’d be on 5k OCIs with Restore and Protect 5w-30.

But I personally hate peeling off skidplates to change the filter, so I do 10k using oils with longer legs.

 

[ESP9935]

I don’t think anyone can support any blanket claims of acceptable drain interval without confining that claim to a specific oil and duty cycle. At the extremes, the tolerable OCI might be 4x at the high end what it is on the low end.

I’m going comfortably to 10k on my GX with superbly low oxidation value. There’s essentially no varnish being generated whatsoever, and that’s in a pretty brutal short trip duty cycle of 12.5mpg or so and lots of short trips.

I can see a possible duty cycle where 20k miles is absolutely attainable with superb engine cleanliness in a GX460. But it would have to be with a premium oil like HPL and an nearly exclusively highway usage between 55-75mph.

Different duty cycles and different oils, even 10k is excessive IMO. If I wasn’t running HPL I’d be on 5k OCIs with Restore and Protect 5w-30.

But I personally hate peeling off skidplates to change the filter, so I do 10k using oils with longer legs.

I agree with your point that under specific, extreme outlier scenarios; such as a dedicated hot-shot duty cycle with consistent highway mileage, extended drain intervals can be acceptable with the right lubrication.

My intent wasn't to argue that it's impossible, but rather to highlight that the UR platform generally isn't as well-suited to extended drains when compared to other engines that actually are well-suited for that kind of interval, such as the old pre-VVTi 2UZ-FE.

When looking at engine architecture and the inherent sensitivities in their actual systems, I believe there is a distinction to be made regarding which platforms handle those extended intervals with a higher margin of safety.

Of course, compared to a GDI/turbo engine, the UR is comparatively suited to extended drains, so everything here is relative.