Old Toyota Sienna - Deferred Oil Changes?

[Number_35]

This is regarding my friend's daughter and son-in-law's 1st-gen (1998 - 2003) Toyota Sienna van.

My friend and his son-in-law pulled the starter motor and had it rebuilt locally.

I did the reinstallation (not bad at all - accessible from above), and checked the fluids while under the hood.

I thought the oil cap and the limited area visible under the cap looked pretty sad.

They've only had the van for about a year, so its maintenance history prior to that is unknown. It's got 24x,xxx km on it (so about 150,000 miles).

What do you think? Short (5000 km/3000 mile) OCIs for a while, using a good synthetic?

 

[gfh77665]

I would use ST SYN with 5% MMO, then ST SYN with 10% MMO, then ST SYN with 20% MMO. 3000 mile interval each.

Then I would go to Valvoline Restore and Protect for the duration of ownership. It will very likely be fine. Another 150K miles would not surprise me at all.

 

[CarLuver]

those years were known for sludging up the engines. i would just keep changing oil at 3k and see if it clears up.

 

[daves87rs]

Would change it more often, for sure!

 

[The Critic]

The area under the oil cap is a baffle. The baffle always looks nasty, even in well-maintained engines.

 

[Wireman1987]

This is regarding my friend's daughter and son-in-law's 1st-gen (1998 - 2003) Toyota Sienna van.

My friend and his son-in-law pulled the starter motor and had it rebuilt locally.

I did the reinstallation (not bad at all - accessible from above), and checked the fluids while under the hood.

I thought the oil cap and the limited area visible under the cap looked pretty sad.

View attachment 246499
They've only had the van for about a year, so its maintenance history prior to that is unknown. It's got 24x,xxx km on it (so about 150,000 miles).

What do you think? Short (5000 km/3000 mile) OCIs for a while, using a good synthetic?

Run this
https://www.stp.com/product/super-concentrated-high-mileage-engine-flush/

Followed by 3,000 mile oil change intervals. Run a high mileage oil brands with fancy bottle jive lingo won't solve problems.

 

[02SE]

The area under the oil cap is a baffle. The baffle always looks nasty, even in well-maintained engines.

This.

 

[charbaby]

The area under the oil cap is a baffle. The baffle always looks nasty, even in well-maintained engines.

YUP! ^^^
We had this same 3.0L V6(1MZFE engine) in our 2001 LEXUS RX300 and it looked the same even with proper OCI's.
It's just the baffle under the oil cap that looks this way. Our engine didn't have any sludge.

 

[BISCUT]

Known sludger and unknow history over 150k would have me doing 3k with decent filter and cheapest synthetic I could find. Cut and inspect the filter and use that as a window into the condition of your engine.

 

[KrisZ]

It’s a waste of synthetic oil to use on such an old car with such short OCIs and a waste of money IMO.
I would use the cheapest dino and 3k mile OCIs, that’s 5k in Canadian units, so a nice round number to remember.

 

[kschachn]

The area under the oil cap is a baffle. The baffle always looks nasty, even in well-maintained engines.

The nastiness is a coating. Why they did this I do not know, but that black substance is there from the factory. If you work at it you can remove some of it and this lends to the widespread excitement about it being sludge, which it is not.

As noted the only way to assess the engine condition is to remove the valve covers, especially the rear one. The gaskets are probably leaking anyway. Taking off the oil pan is another good indication but that's more work.

 

[Fair enough]

They can go to toyota.com and create an account and get the service records done at Toyota by their vin. Also the delivered equipment it has.
I see this is in Canada, not sure if it is the same as US.

 

[Bill7]

This is regarding my friend's daughter and son-in-law's 1st-gen (1998 - 2003) Toyota Sienna van.

My friend and his son-in-law pulled the starter motor and had it rebuilt locally.

I did the reinstallation (not bad at all - accessible from above), and checked the fluids while under the hood.

I thought the oil cap and the limited area visible under the cap looked pretty sad.

View attachment 246499
They've only had the van for about a year, so its maintenance history prior to that is unknown. It's got 24x,xxx km on it (so about 150,000 miles).

What do you think? Short (5000 km/3000 mile) OCIs for a while, using a good synthetic?

I would run SuperTech High Mileage Full Synthetic 5w30 at 5,000 mile / 6 month OCI, and at each oil change do an engine flush with STP Super Concentrated engine flush ($5.99 US at Amazon/Walmart).

Molakule on BITOG had confirmed in a previous post that the ingredients in this STP engine flush don't hurt the oil seals, so it's very safe to use.

I have had good experience with this STP engine flush. Right before the oil change, after adding it and running for 15 minutes, the used oil comes out looking really dirty, so this flush really does some cleaning.

 

[The Critic]

It’s a waste of synthetic oil to use on such an old car with such short OCIs and a waste of money IMO.
I would use the cheapest dino and 3k mile OCIs, that’s 5k in Canadian units, so a nice round number to remember.

Though, for the extra $2/oil change for synthetic (ST, for instance), it isn't as bad as it sounds.

 

[KrisZ]

Though, for the extra $2/oil change for synthetic (ST, for instance), it isn't as bad as it sounds.

OP is in Canada and the price difference is greater over there. But may not be as big anymore. It used to be roughly twice for synthetic, not accounting for discounts and rebates.

 

[Bill7]

Though, for the extra $2/oil change for synthetic (ST, for instance), it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Yeah, the SuperTech High Mileage Full Synthetic (Dexos 1 Gen 3) is only $18.64 for a 5 quart jug.
I can't think of any reason to ever use conventional or synthetic blend (which is mostly conventional oil).

 

[tcp71]

our 2005 3.3l has the same baffle and looks the same. It has never had a more than 5k mile oil change and always full synthetic. It's just they way they look.

N

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[Nesterenko]

I have had good experience with this STP engine flush. Right before the oil change, after adding it and running for 15 minutes, the used oil comes out looking really dirty, so this flush really does some cleaning.

Keep it simple. This is the way to go. First OCI
after this should be short, then dump oil and filter and your good to go. 5w30 Super Tech oil
and filter at Walmart along with the flush. One stop shopping.

 

[NJMike]

Also change PCV valve. OEM only.
Is that an OEM oil filter cap?

 

[BISCUT]

It’s a waste of synthetic oil to use on such an old car with such short OCIs and a waste of money IMO.
I would use the cheapest dino and 3k mile OCIs, that’s 5k in Canadian units, so a nice round number to remember.

I don't see much of a cost difference between lower priced synthetic compared to a blend. I rarely, if ever see conventional in my area; overwhelming blend. What's the cost difference in your area?