Newbie here, great forum! I’ve reading a lot about oils and the A25A-FXS engine used on my 23’ Lexus ES 300H. I plan to keep the car for long 12+yr / 100-200k miles; and will adhere to the severe driving conditions OCI of every 5k.
But I still have a few questions for the members of this forum about my specific engine/oil.
Below is more info about my driving style and current UOA:
But I still have a few questions for the members of this forum about my specific engine/oil.
- Is still 0w-16 recommended for this specific engine even if don’t live in colder climate? Winter is rarely below 50-70F and all year mostly between 70-100F. The USA owner manual recommends 0w-16 or 0w-20 for short interval when 0w-16 is not available. But other warmer regions owner's manual recommend 0w-20.
- Given that I have smelled fuel (faint) on the dipstick; but Blackstone UOA came back as < 0.5% Should I be worried and use 0w-20 to counter dilution? I still plan send a sample to OA on my next change to compare. But I have found that when BSL reports < 0.5% rarely goes above 1-2% when using the GC method.
- If I drive less than 5k a year, Do I still should change oil at 6 month? Based on a recent BlackStoneLabs study “Motor Oil Age Doesn’t Matter as Much as Mileage: Study”, my guess is that if I only do 5k miles in 2 years, technically the oil should be in similar wear-in condition as 5k in 6 months.
- Since it’s a hybrid, the engine is off when EV mode is active. Shouldn’t 5k of ODO use represent probable 3-4k of actual engine running/oil usage (less wear)? Maybe Toyota should also include an engine hour usage monitor.
- Do getting a better oil brand or performance filter will have a meaningful impact in wear in/metals? I think going there is just a case of "diminishing returns" and probably overkill since our engines are not high performance.
Below is more info about my driving style and current UOA:
- Driving Style: Slow acceleration and maximizing mpg; with the occasional hard acceleration for passing and every 1-2 month Italian tune-up (hard acceleration) for cleaning the valves. Currently a low millage driver; probably 5-8k a year. I use Normal or Sport mode for city driving and Eco mode in highway. I'm getting 44-48mpg for a full tack (After Refuel monitoring).
- Trips: Mostly garaged with short trips (8-20miles) 2-3 times a week and the occasional 1.5-2 month long trip of (150-200mi). Although I try to use EV mode when changing car on our driveway the mode is rarely available and the car is on for 1-3 minutes at most. Maybe that's the principal cause of possible oil dilution on my engine.
- Gas: I use top tier gas (Costco 90%+ of the time; or Shell).
- Oil: Lexus dealer included free oil changes for 4 yr at the recommended 10k/12mo interval. I pay for oil changes at 5k/6mo. I suppose they use OEM Toyota oil / filter since they are an authorized exclusive dealer.
- OA: Did my first break-in oil change at 1,300mi (4 months) and a second at 2,694mi (6 month service). I did a UOA for both and could see 50%+ drop in wear-in metals during the same ~1,300mi interval. My next oil change will be at the 12mo service in August and expecting to have no more than 7.5k ODO miles (<5k oil use). Will send samples to BSL & OA to compare, specially the fuel dilution %. Attached my last BSL report.
