Recommendations on when to change oil after head gasket change

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Oct 16, 2002
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Joplin
I had to change out the head gasket on our old Camry and sent the head to a machine shop for resurfacing. I tried to be careful to avoid getting contamination down the oil drain holes when cleaning up the block surface but there is always a lot of crud around when you are scraping the surface of the old gasket material.

When I get it all back together what would be a good plan on the next oil change. Some examples might include:

1. On first start of the car, just let it idle 10 minutes and then change the oil and filter (that is sort of my thinking for now)
2. Drive it for 50 to 100 miles then change oil and filter.
3. Change out the old oil before first start (seems to me it needs to be run at least a few minutes to wash out any small contaminates that might be in the head area)

Open to other idea's or what you tend to do after the head has been off of the engine. I'd rather due just the one oil change before putting it back into service unless really beneficial to do more than one.
 
After the initial start-up, the cooling system had to be bled. After bleeding the cooling system, I performed an oil and filter change.

Another oil and filter change was performed after a few hundred miles, IIRC.
 
If the oil doesn't look like a chocolate milkshake, then it's pretty safe to run it up to temp, check for leaks or other signs of continued head gasket leaks before changing it. If this were my car I would change it at that point as you have a pretty good chance of coolant contaminating the oil.
 
I’d do it after about 10 minutes of running. But yes if their is nothing in it you can run it up to temperature and everything.
 
I would (have) just run it for 10 minutes or so on the existing oil, washing out contaminants.

Refill with clean oil and a decent filter and then change in a few hundred miles (200 to 400). Then proceed as normal with your preferred long-term oil and filter.
 
I would run it to full temp plus 10 minutes (and a few stabs of the skinny pedal) and then change the oil/filter. This will help wash any loose particles from the repair process down into the pan. Look closely at the drained oil for any signs that your new gasket is leaking, mainly a milky or clouded quality. If all seems good, I would run the new oil to full interval, but keep a close eye on things during that time. I've found the blotter test to be very helpful with the condition of the used oil in my engine... not as good as an analysis, but still helpful.
 
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