New Prius, 1st oil change.

[montero1]

What are your thoughts on the first oil change? The manual says 7500. I drive miles round trip, probably around 575 miles per week. Currently have about 650-700 miles on it.


I've heard of changing the oil early, but I figure the engine doesn't run as much as a non hybrid. Also wasn't sure about going to synthetic right away, maybe sticking with petro until 10k or so.

I've heard both sides of the argument as in leave the break-in oil in as long as possible, vs. get the break-in metals out as soon as possible. I've also read that it depends what type of metal the cylinders are made out of as to whether it's good to go to synthetic right away, and that Corvettes and other cars come with synthetic, yet it could make other cars oil-burners for life.

 

[dcoyne78]

I changed the oil on my new 2004 Prius at 1k to synthetic. At 85k things look very good. Check by analysis with Dyson Analysis. I discovered a fuel dilution problem at 65k which Terry Dyson helped me get sorted out. RLI Biosyn 0w20 PCMO has been working well for me. On my Prius the recommended oci is 5k, I am surprised it has changed.

 

[montero1]

Are you using 0w-20 because of the temps in ME?

Are you sticking to 5k OCI's?

What was your fuel dilution problem?

I had never heard of RLI, but read up a bit. What makes it more renewable than other oils, and from the looks of it, is used for racing?

 

[dcoyne78]

No, I use the 0w20 for optimum fuel economy. I started using the 0w20 at about 50k and have been doing longer than 5k OCIs since then, with oil analysis to guide. Initially I used Mobil 1 5w30 every 5k up to 50k with no oil analysis. Upon finding this site I tried Mobil 1 0w20 for 15k with uoas every 2.5k from Blackstone up to 10k and then every 2k. At 14k I tried Dyson Analysis because someone had seen fuel dilution and claimed this was common in Prii. Terry saw fuel dilution at 1.7 % which I had been missing in the Blackstone analyses, he recommended I change to the RLI oil which he had had success with in a high end Audi suffering from fuel dilution. I went 15k on my last fill with this oil with a 1 quart drain and refill at 10k to refresh the oil. I am currently running this oil a second time and am at about 5k, I will post my UOA at 10k. Link to last UOA is below.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/biosyn-0w20-15155-mi-oci-2004-prius-1-5-l.83089/

 

[Durango]

If your manual calls for 7500 OCI's then go by what it says. Using a synthetic oil will take you to that point pf miles without you having any night mares about it. Just select a good weight that'll save you more gas using that hybrid you have.

Durango

 

[The Critic]

Toyota requires every 5k or six months, whichever comes first, unless you bought an older model (2004 and older) that allows the 7500 mile intervals.

 

[montero1]

So should I leave the factory fill in up until the first recommended change, or dump it @ 1k?

 

[02zx9r]

i like to dump early, so 1500-2K is what i would do. Then if you wanted to run syn then go ahead, depending on your intervals if you are going to be sticking with 5K intervals syn is not needed. If going 10K then a syn is a good decision

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: dcoyne78
uoas every 2.5k from Blackstone up to 10k and then every 2k. I went 15k on my last fill with this oil with a 1 quart drain and refill at 10k to refresh the oil.


No offense, but you are paying for a uoa every 2.5K or 2K miles. Then on TOP of that, you go through the hassle of draining ONLY ONE quart of oil and refilling to "refresh" the oil.

You act as if oil is $500/quart. I think you should just "refresh" your oil by changing it out every 7500-10,000 (your choice) and call it a day.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Well said Bubbatime. PCMO is cheap. A UOA every 2 thousand miles isn't.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: dcoyne78
uoas every 2.5k from Blackstone up to 10k and then every 2k. I went 15k on my last fill with this oil with a 1 quart drain and refill at 10k to refresh the oil.


No offense, but you are paying for a uoa every 2.5K or 2K miles. Then on TOP of that, you go through the hassle of draining ONLY ONE quart of oil and refilling to "refresh" the oil.

You act as if oil is $500/quart. I think you should just "refresh" your oil by changing it out every 7500-10,000 (your choice) and call it a day.


You might have a point if he did this every OCI. If he is using this to establish that 15k is doable with no worries, he probably wont do a UOA again for a really long time. Then he'll probably catch up on $$$ spent with his 15k OCIs if he keeps the car long enough.

 

[dcoyne78]

That last comment is more or less correct. I was trying to do a test along the lines of the original oil life study, but using UOAs at every 2.5k instead of every 1k, probably will not recoup the money spent, but I feel confident that 10-15k intervals are very doable and that 5k oci is a waste of time and money. If you like changing your oil, it's fine or if you only drive 10k per year it might make sense as well. For me, I would have just run it 15k and then done a UOA had I not found a fuel dilution issue. Also I pull the 1 quart thru the dipstick, which is not that big an issue because I already needed the oil changer for my jetboat. I agree that draining a quart from the pan would have been a pain unless I had one of those Zumoto valves installed on the oil pan.

 

[buster]

I say go completely green and use the new M1 0w20!

 

[montero1]

I decided to go with the Amsoil 0w-30, 15k OCIs. I've done this every other vehicle I've owned, with no problems.

 

[dcoyne78]

I would pull a sample after 10k and send it to Dyson Analysis, the Prius is a known fuel diluter and 15k might be a bit much. Good luck and post the uoa if you get one.

 

[montero1]

What causes it to be fuel diluter?

 

[PF52]

Why is this in the Diesel section?

ADMIN NOTE: It isn't any more...

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Toyota requires every 5k or six months, whichever comes first, unless you bought an older model (2004 and older) that allows the 7500 mile intervals.


Mine's an '04, and it calls for 5k OCIs.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I do not think I would go with Amsoil 0W30 even the new SSO 0W30! I like Amsoil but seeing how you are going to try and do a double length OCI on a system that is known for fuel dilution I would go with their Series 3000 HDD 5W30! It is going to do a better job in this application. I would definately sample and see where you stand. Even their 5W30 might not be able to fend off the fuel dilution for that long.

If it where mine I would looking at SM dino oils and a 5000 mile OCI until I saw how my engine was going to behave. Plus since it start's and stops on it's own accord it will take longer for it to break-in and settle down then normal since not all miles driven will be on the petrol engine.

My point is that it would be prudent to do a few OCI's before you go trying to double the OEM recomendation. THen when you do go all synthetic and start up'ing the OCI you have a base line to judge from.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Toyota requires every 5k or six months, whichever comes first, unless you bought an older model (2004 and older) that allows the 7500 mile intervals.


Mine's an '04, and it calls for 5k OCIs.

I must have confused it with another Toyota model then, as I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the 04 Prius had a 7500 mile interval.