2023 Tundra Oil Change Interval

I always feel comfortable at 5k.

 

I don’t expect the engine to have a catastrophic failure due to lack of lubrication when an extended drain interval is used. For example a spun bearing or something of that nature is pretty unlikely. Modern oils will still lubricate well enough to keep parts like that alive since they enjoy priority oiling within the system and have dedicated oil passages to feed them oil.

What I do expect, and have observed with 15,0000 mile/1 year OCI’s is lots and lots of varnish in the engine where oil isn’t being force fed. Cracking open the valve cover for example and finding everything aside from the surfaces of the cam lobes covered in mahogany colored oil varnish and gunk. I expect the oil control rings on the pistons probably aren’t moving as freely as they should and the engine will be using oil. The cylinder bores are probably also scuffed a bit and the corresponding piston skirts will be too. These were on vehicles with full service history running Castrol Syntec specifically called for by BMW.

Sure the engines made it past the warranty period, but the 2nd owner sure wasn’t happy about it.

An oil analysis is nice don’t get me wrong, but it’s only telling you about the condition of what actually drained out of the oil pan. All oils will show some degree of breakdown in high heat areas and smoke a bit leaving varnish if you allow them to run too long.

 

Yeah, I don't care either when or where people change their oil. Under the conditions listed by Toyota which included towing, uber driving and excessive idling then you should change your oil every 5k miles, I agree. I however do not and have not been doing any of those with my truck. It is a hybrid and a full synthetic oil can last a longer time than blended and or organic based Dino oils. I change it a little early than suggested because I have found that from analysis oils with 7-8k miles is the sweet spot for where they start to break down or sheer. They then tend to not offer the same cold start protection and wear protection. The wife's explorer timberline 2.3 liter turbo 4 ford app gives the percentage of oil life remaining. It specifies synethtic blend oil every 5k miles, we run synthetic and extend that out to the same 7-8k miles. As I stated before the sports car I have gets a fresh synthetic oil change every 6 months and that mileage could be 20 miles to 100 miles. Regardless I do believe in oil changes but from the research and tons of hours I spent on bob is the oil guy this is what I came up with. I will say I have owned 20 plus turbo vehicles and have never had one fail on me yet, posting many hundred of thousands of miles on them.

 

The other thing you will learn from CarCareNut and watching some of his engine tear downs is that even if oil is changed within 10,000 mile intervals and the oil molecular structure is still good, the contaminants that accumulate can over time foul these low tension piston rings. Some motor models seem to be more susceptible than others but for the minimal additional cost to do 5000 mile oil change intervals it is simply not worth pressing the issue... if you plan to keep your truck long term, anyway.

 

And how can we not link to the legend himself!
https://youtu.be/TJhFAwFv-O0

 

Sorry! here is another good one that shows the damage done to cylinder walls and such on a 2AR-FE 4 banger.

THIS Popular Toyota Engine is Getting in a Habit of Consuming Oil. Let's Find Out Why - YouTube

 

It's not really 50% more. Remember the stipulation for severe use, which most of us fall into. Short trips and time are major factors. And about diffs, trannies, and xfer cases? No, those are different animals. Without the contamination products from combustion they are much more stable and don't require anything more than the standard intervals for most of us. Now if you tow heavy... like you pulling cows and huge round bales... that might be a little more frequent, especially for the tranny.

 

Yep. Euro you should probably plan on dumping diff and t-case fluids at about 1/2 the listed interval. Also don’t buy the bullshit about the transmission being a lifetime fill, at least not if you tow or do a lot of stop and go driving.

 

That says it all

 

Ok now what about pecan?

 

Ah so its similar to subaru? My subaru has to use the OEM filter too. I wasn't aware toyota has issues with non OEM filters. Any reason why?

 

I think I am just giong to get a fumoto drain valve and do my oil changes every 7500!

 

I'm 100% convinced not to go past 5K miles between oil changes.

Side note: I just did the first oil change on my '23 Tundra at 1,450 miles. Used Mobil 1 0W-20 and OEM filter 90915-10010. I bought some new drain plug crush washers from the dealer, but ended up not changing it out. The damn thing was stuck on the oil pan with zero interest in coming unstuck. I tried prying it off with a flat head screwdriver, but no luck. I didn't go crazy on it, as I didn't want to damage the pan. I figured it would hold during this change, which it is just fine.

I've never owned a Toyota before, and I haven't seen the washer stick to the pan before. Any tips or advice to remove it from you long-time Toyota guys? Apparently the blue crush washers are used across many Toyota vehicles.

 

lol, on my 14 4runner, only fluids i have replaced from oem (excluding oil/filter)

1. all 3 diffs
2. coolant

thats it. i still have the oem brake pads at 95k miles.

i am looking into getting the trans, brakes (maybe spark plugs, but car care nut doesnt advise under 120k or mis firings) done this summer/fall.

 

well any canuck worth thier salt says "eh" anyway for most things

 

When I was selling my 2016 I took it to the dealer to get an oil change because the light had come on.
I pull in and mention I need the light reset, they mention recommended oil change is 10k and I only had 5k on it.

I had taken my truck to the same dealer for an oil change every 5k and not until I hit 115k did anyone mention 10k.
The stickers were always out 5k.

Not really sure the point, but if I had to believe someone in court, the dealership or Toyota, I would side with Toyota every single time.
But I am in my 50's and grew up with 3k oil changes and as much as I want to do the recommended miles, I cannot bring myself to drive 10k miles without changing the oil. That just sound bananas to me.

At 15k per year, that is 1.5 more oil changes than recommended per year, which is roughly $120, which is peanuts for most of us.
I like 5000 and I am sticking to it.

I did take my 2023 for an oil change at 1200 miles, it was $60 which surprised me.
My 2016 was $80 and I think the 2023 takes more oil.

 

Idk about issues or not, but car care nut recommends to use Oem filter because it supposedly was designed for your particular model and has correct oil flow specifications that your engine was designed for. Whether this matters or not idk.

Either way, it's best to do oil changes every 5k miles and Oem filter will work just fine for such short oil change intervals.

Basically, it's a Toyota, so you don't need to try be smarter than others and use other non Oem filters. If your engine won't go past 300k miles, it won't be because of oil if you stay with Oem. Just change oil every 5k miles, with any regular oil such as Oem or mobil1 and you'll be fine

 

I installed a Fumoto my last oil change, on 5000 interval. It's gonna make this job even easier and neater. Get the long nipple version.

 

I actually find it helps to use ramps. There is less room under the Tundra than the 2009 Tacoma I sold... and the TRD skid pan needs to come off the Tundra, which is easier if I have a little extra room to work. So, I use my set of Rhino Ramps. If I didn't have a front skid to remove, I'd just do it on the ground, though. But at least there is no need to take the extra time and effort to pull out and setup the QuickJack for oil changes.

 

Same. Have done one oil change since installing it and it makes it so much easier.

 

I installed a Fumoto on my first oil change as well. Every truck I’ve had since 2006 gets one. Clean and easy.

 

How does the dealership handle the aftermarket drain plugs? I'm guessing they've seen it all?

 

Too late, I’m coming over for beers , see you soon.

 

Which model Quickjack do you use? I have 5000TLXs which work fine for my Mustang and Tacoma but are too small for my Tundra. 7000TLXs?

 

I have the standard 7000SLX, not the extended one. I have not yet tried it with the Tunrdra but it worked fine on my old Tacoma with the truck/suv adapters. Not sure but I might need to get the extension kit.

 

What’s your owners manual say?

 

Thanks for sharing this. I plan on doing same after first and second changes for comparison.

 

Well don’t start another forest fire

 

should have added an “/S” after that lol. Have fun!

 

Speaking of oil changes, my truck is at 4540 miles and it started displaying “service due soon” message. I thought they have it programmed for every 10k miles ? Or is that something else ?