MZ-3FE hybrid version easy on oil

[UncleDave]

The reduced power version thats in the lexus RX400H continue to amaze me on how clean it runs.

I've never owned a vehicle so (visibly at least) easy on oil and clean running.

With a belt vs chains and no di pump, one big cam gear and everything else on a roller it just hums.

I havent bothered to leak it down at 130K it gets the same MPG as when I got it at 20K.

At 10K miles it has used no oil in this sump. Combo mixed city and highway driving.

It is running the "cheapie" baseline Idemitsu 0W-20 gf-5/ SN not the moly or eco pro formulation,
a fram ultra on its second OCI, and a magnetic drain plug that hasn't been pulled out in 5 years as I do topside changes.
I ran several microgreen sumps on to 20K on 2 filters.

The vehicle has had a steady diet of 3-5K changes early on - moving to 7500 the last few.

Look at this....

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Interesting.

 

[The Critic]

One of my customers had a 2008 RX400H with the same engine. It drank 1-1.5 qt of 0W-20 between 5K services. It had just over 150K before he traded it for a Model 3.

His was the only 3MZ that drank oil. All of the others I've touched have not experienced consumption.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by The Critic
One of my customers had a 2008 RX400H with the same engine. It drank 1-1.5 qt of 0W-20 between 5K services. It had just over 150K before he traded it for a Model 3.

His was the only 3MZ that drank oil. All of the others I've touched have not experienced consumption.


Did he have its service history? I wonder if it always drank or was abused.

Seems today 1.5 @5K Passes as normal in lots of rigs.

I wonder if it would still pass its SULEV smog rating in California with consumption like that

UD

 

[CR94]

Oil darkens unusually slowly in my Prius, too. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or bad. Either very little black contaminate is formed, or it's formed but not picked up by the oil. Same with three different brands of oil, so far.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by UncleDave
Originally Posted by The Critic
One of my customers had a 2008 RX400H with the same engine. It drank 1-1.5 qt of 0W-20 between 5K services. It had just over 150K before he traded it for a Model 3.

His was the only 3MZ that drank oil. All of the others I've touched have not experienced consumption.


Did he have its service history? I wonder if it always drank or was abused.

Seems today 1.5 @5K Passes as normal in lots of rigs.

I wonder if it would still pass its SULEV smog rating in California with consumption like that

UD


5K services done at the dealer, most of it on the dot.

 

[UncleDave]

Seems I got a " good one" and he a "bad one".


UD

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by CR94
Oil darkens unusually slowly in my Prius, too. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or bad. Either very little black contaminate is formed, or it's formed but not picked up by the oil. Same with three different brands of oil, so far.


The comparatively low output in both of these mills likely plays a part - the engines just don't make that many beans leaning on the electrics to complete the oomph package.

Effectively the hybrid runs some % less than the standard rig contributing to the cleanliness.
In LA traffic this thing is on the battery a fair amount of time and with its well-executed, no interruption in AC or power auto start-stop all those minutes at lights add up.

Auto start stop rigs that kill the AC are horrible out here.

On a highway run the battery does jack but maybe a bit of hill assist, but the cvt keep the revs pretty low for a given speed.

I clock about 1MPG better than the Rx300/350 at the same speed on the freeway, and way better in town.

all in all one of the better vehicles Ive owned.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by The Critic
One of my customers had a 2008 RX400H with the same engine. It drank 1-1.5 qt of 0W-20 between 5K services. It had just over 150K before he traded it for a Model 3.

His was the only 3MZ that drank oil. All of the others I've touched have not experienced consumption.

I'm thinking oil consumption is a common scourge with Toyota hybrids. Common on the 2nd/3rd gen Prius.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by UncleDave
Originally Posted by CR94
Oil darkens unusually slowly in my Prius, too. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or bad. ...

The comparatively low output in both of these mills likely plays a part - the engines just don't make that many beans leaning on the electrics to complete the oomph package.

Effectively the hybrid runs some % less than the standard rig contributing to the cleanliness. ...
On a highway run the battery does jack but maybe a bit of hill assist, but the cvt keep the revs pretty low for a given speed.
How does that hypothesis square with the phenomenon of carbonized oil gumming up the rings? If the pistons are so cool, that shouldn't happen.

On uphills, the "revs" of the Prius engine are actually pretty high for a given forward speed, for the very good reason that engine torque is so low relative to the car's weight. Battery charge does not normally drop on long uphills, so the engine is doing essentially all the work. Yet, the oil looks very clean.

 

[Job]

That's light color, but I have noticed the thin layer on the stick, if sort of dark red, looks black as coal in a jug.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by UncleDave
Originally Posted by CR94
Oil darkens unusually slowly in my Prius, too. I'm not sure whether that's a good sign or bad. ...

The comparatively low output in both of these mills likely plays a part - the engines just don't make that many beans leaning on the electrics to complete the oomph package.

Effectively the hybrid runs some % less than the standard rig contributing to the cleanliness. ...
On a highway run the battery does jack but maybe a bit of hill assist, but the cvt keep the revs pretty low for a given speed.
How does that hypothesis square with the phenomenon of carbonized oil gumming up the rings? If the pistons are so cool, that shouldn't happen.



never seen that phenomenon with the mz3-fe

 

[mehullica]

3MZ-FE is the correct engine code

 

[Oro_O]

Originally Posted by UncleDave


The vehicle has had a steady diet of 3-5K changes early on - moving to 7500 the last few.

Look at this....



You are about 15 years late to the game.

We have a 2002 1mz-fe powered ES and the dipstick is only slightly darker after 7,500 miles. I also never add oil in-between changes. It will generally work down about a pint - halfway between "full" and "add" on the dipstick, in 7,500 miles. The car has 310k miles on it and this pattern has not changed in 200k miles. This is basically the exact same engine as you detuned 3mz-fe, besides bore dimensions.

The Toyota "X"mz-fe is a superb engine, despite the mass delusion of sludging (never documented on non-abused engines). Kinda like the unintended acceleration that killed Audi in the '80s (Actually not "kinda like," but rather exactly like).


Quote
It is running the "cheapie" baseline Idemitsu 0W-20


You lost me there. No "cheap" Idemitsu AFAIK, but I guess you were joking. I like the brand and it goes in the transmission, though not in the engine given the "wonderland" of cheap, good engine oil we live in within the USA vs other places. ATF, not so much.

So while this is in fact impressive, it's just par for the course for this engine for more than two decades, hybrid or not.

hybrid or

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by mehullica
3MZ-FE is the correct engine code

noted - late night post and writing

UD

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by Or
Originally Posted by UncleDave


The vehicle has had a steady diet of 3-5K changes early on - moving to 7500 the last few.

Look at this....



You are about 15 years late to the game.

Quote
It is running the "cheapie" baseline Idemitsu 0W-20


You lost me there. No "cheap" Idemitsu AFAIK, but I guess you were joking. I like the brand and it goes in the transmission, though not in the engine given the "wonderland" of cheap, good engine oil we live in within the USA vs other places. ATF, not so much.

So while this is in fact impressive, it's just par for the course for this engine for more than two decades, hybrid or not.

hybrid or



Which game do you speak of? "Extend the sump" game?

To me anytime I can fill a sump with a brand name group III for a 20 it seems cheap - Especially so at 10K a sump.
The other idemitsu formulations start in the 25- 30 dollar range.

UD

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by UncleDave

The other idemitsu formulations start in the 25- 30 dollar range.



There's two Idemitsu formulations, the "regular" stuff which is price-competitive with the "premium" OTC synthetics like PP, M1, Edge. The second line is Zepro which is D1G2 compliant except for the high-moly 0W-20 and 0W-16/5W-40 grades.

I've used them both, I have no complaints and a problem child engine(Subaru FB25) is somehow drinking less of the Idemitsu than PP/M1?