Oil Change Frequency

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the frequency of an oil change but I'm asking anyway.

I work from home and the Tundra gets about 6k miles a year. Admittedly there are plenty of short trips as 90% of the places I go are within a 5 mile radius of my house. We do take it on trips so it gets a bit of highway, but nothing like my old commuter did when I had to go into an office.

CarFax is yelling at me to change it every 6 months, old school guys are saying synthetic is garbage (I just smile and nod), and I'm trying to justify how I need a full synthetic oil change after ~3000 miles. Sometimes less. Especially when the shop charges ~$100+.

 

I’m a 10k guy but I drive 18-20k a year. If I was in your shoes, I’d do whatever oil your heart desires (brand and weight) and change it every 5k or once a year. Those short trips are rough. Open her up on the highway and do an Italian tune up from time to time. My .02

 

106.9 MHz. It'll also get you a local classic rock station.

 

I agree with Jaypown.

Change it every 5k or 1 year, whichever comes first, with whatever synthetic brand you prefer.

Changing the oil and filter yourself is quite easy, and you know it's done right. Or, at least how you did it!

 

+2. I do my own oil changes but it is a pain having to remove/replace the skidpan every 5K, LOL... and yes I know there are replacement skids with oil filter 'doors', yet pricey...

 

Okay, I can be helpful, too. I agree with the CarCareNut's recommendation of 6 months or 5000 mi. I drive about the same mileage as you, so I typically end up doing it at 6 months. And there are plenty of horror stories on here (and elsewhere) of oil changes gone bad when left to a quick change place or the dealer, so I highly recommend doing it yourself. It's a lot cheaper that way, too (mine are typically under $40, but I shop deals on oil ahead of time).

 

Paging @hagrid

 

I like to do every 6k miles , get the tires rotated and then aligned as I got the Firestone unlimited alignment package , might be overkill but it works for me !

 

5k for me. I do it myself because the dealer hires idiots with impact tools.

 

Just cut a hole in yours, that’s all I did! Much easier!

 

It would help if OP could tell us when the truck had its first oil change. If the answer is any value greater than 10 miles then this thread is moot.

 

Send your oil in for sampling. Just because you don’t put a lot of miles on the oil doesn’t mean it’s good. Oil goes bad just sitting in the engine. Condensation for one and oil dilution from gas.

 

I sent my oil in to Blackstone and they said that I can ignore those time constraints in regards to oil: “Thanks for letting us know about the oil having 13 months of service. Calendar time won't cause the oil to break down, so you can rely on mileage to determine oil change intervals.”

If that’s the case then Amsoil Signature Series should last me 2+ years.

 

I've been changing oil for over 50 years and started using synthetics when Mobil 1 first came out. Back in those days, a 3,000 mile conventional oil change would still net you sticky lifters and gummed up valve covers.

Since that time, I've never heard a sticky lifter, or seen gummed up valve covers (with integral pcv plumbing), loose timing chains, or high oil consumption. Pretty much have adhered to 5,000 miles or 1 year oil changes...which ever comes first.

Not all engines are created equal. Some can easily go further than 5,000 miles on an oil change, others not so much. (A huge variable here is also how they are used). The only way to know for sure is to do a postmortem.

Oil analysis rarely catches engine damage before it happens. A case in point is a stuck oil ring that gouges the cylinder wall and you see high AI and Si or Fe in your next analysis. At that point, it's a bit late to be considering more frequent oil changes.

As for the $35 or higher oil analysis fee...it might be better served putting it toward another oil change.

As an FYI...this conversation seems to be revolving around the Tundra V-8. Imagine the additional abuse the oil in a twin turbo V-6 Tundra endures. Yet Toyota still adheres to 10,000 mile change intervals...at least for the purposes of the 2 year "free'' maintenance plan.

 

5k miles or 6 months. /endthread

 

Synthetics can easily handle 12 months...always have.

 

Thanks guys for the responses. Sounds like the consensus is 5k miles or 6 months. No use in pushing it beyond that.

@hagrid - Carfax shows it was "serviced" at the dealer with 9 miles on the odometer then again at 2900.

 

people are free to do whatever they like. I take advice from people who work on cars everyday of their lives like the car care nut who is a master toyota tech. Not just because youtube tells me to, because he has experience, explains why and most of all it makes sense.

All those claims of 12 months, or guaranteed for X amount of miles or X amount of time all have caveats and most of the time are only for perfect scenarios and marketing gimmicks. Yeah if you drive 300 highway miles a day straight, I would agree you meet the criteria for 10k oil changes, but not 1 year as that would turn into like 30k miles for your oil change, and vice versa if you only make short trips or drive 10 miles a day, 10k miles would take you years. Those 2 extreme scenarios are the reason why there is a mileage AND a time interval, whichever comes first. The fact is, you can drive 0 miles and idle your engine every day for hours and your oil would still get contaminated, even moreso than if you drove it. Everytime you run your car, fuel gets into your oil as does moisture, all of which degrades your oil from the moment it happens.

 

I drove a jetta TDI (diesel for those who don't know) for years and the commute was 50 miles/day. I abided by the recommendation of every 10k miles and never had issues. Didn't matter in the end - VW bought it back because a judge told them to haha.

 

We're only talking about 5,000miles or 12 months. Not 12 months unlimited mileage.

Some Toyota 4 bangers have had a notorious problem with high oil consumption as a result of poor piston cooling (oil spray, etc.). If 6 month oil changes make folks feel better...so be it.

This entire thread is dedicated to more oil changes...not fewer.

 

Every 5000 miles and I use 5w-30 without any problems. 225k+

 

I go at least 7,500 and sometimes to 10,000. I'm of the school of thought of a freshly drained engine cranking can do more damage than one with oil flowing freely (I know there can be 10-20% of the oil remaining when drained). I mitigate the number of times my engine has to do that by using synthetic (of course) and extending the miles between changes. With 8.5 quarts of oil circulating, I imagine it takes longer for iron to show up with unacceptable PPM.

Appears I'm in the minority here.

 

I was onboard for 10k/12mos with a good synthetic. This was supported by people reporting great results from their oil change analysis....Then I started reading about oil control rings fouling....back to the 5k bandwagon.

My tundra sees less than 5k a year so it's on the annual plan.

 

Hmmm. Hadn't read that. Which vehicles experienced oil control rings fouling?

 

Any with the low tension rings so most any Toyota from the past 2 decades. If a ring gets stuck from coked up oil deposits the engine starts burning oil a lot faster. Or so the internet says

 

There's quite a bit of information regarding 4 banger Camrys and "stuck" oil control rings.

 

So not as big a concern in our Tundras?

 

Normally do 5-6k it's all under $75 diy

 

The answer to this question has always been:

Read the manual.

Do what it says.

Simple, isn't it?

Dan

 

Not when it’s made complicated