degilmer

Is this a good combo? Live in Phoenix, AZ. Mixed highway/city driving. I'd change about every 4-5K miles. Would you recommend a different filter that is recommended for longer life than the stock? Thanks. I don't want to be spending over $7 for an oil filter.

70K Miles -- 2002 ES 300 and I live in Phoenix, AZ. It will be driven approximately 10-12K miles a year.

yeldogt

How many miles on the car ?

If you do a normal amount of driving and will be changing your oil twice a year it makes little difference. Using synthetic oil and changing it at 4-5k is a waste - although you can often get some synthetics at favorable prices.

From your numbers I am not sure what filter that is - but any filter construction will last six months.

If you lived in a damp climate -- drove short distances -- and only put 4k a year on your car things would change.


I get my maintenance parts from Irontoad.com -- they are a dealer. Oil filters are less than $5.00 brake pads are $45.00 a set -- air filters $14.00 - wiper inserts -- rotors etc. I order once or twice a year for both my ES 300 and 330 and I always have what I need. The shipping is reasonable - no tax.

Amadauss

I would disagree with the oil changing not a smart move every 3 thousand when using synthetic. Changing any type of oil often is the key to a longer lasting engine. Have 3 cars all with a great deal of miles, 1999 Lexus ES with 236K, Infiniti J30 1997 with 179K, and a Jag S type 2000 with 85K, and all get synthetic every 3months or 3K, which ever comes first. I also got a great tip from a mechanic that suggests putting a quart of Tranny fluid in the oil about 100 miles before changing. Claims the heavy detergent in the fluid helps clean the engine better. I do this and everything works great.

PS I even use synthetic in my lawn mower

degilmer

Amadauss - your results in longevity speak for themselves. Have you always done the quart of tranny on the vehicles you listed before oil changes? I think I'll go with changing every 4K with above mentioned oil & filter and 1/2 quart of tranny fluid 100 miles b4 oc. What ATF do you add b4 oc? Is there a problem with overfilling when adding a quart of ATF to full crankcase?

yeldogt

I'm not trying to convince anyone -- but knowledge is power as they say.

The misinformation about oil is legendary. I'm sure you can find someone who believes two thousand miles is the only way to do it. People did 3k oil changes back when the dino oil was thick, engines had points and leaded gas in the tank.

Between my family and my company we operate 20 cars -- and many of the older ones have well into 200K miles on them. Cars will regularly go this distance with out major component failure -- especially the engine. I have not done 3k oil changes for at least 20 years.

But -- can't think of any damage it will do -- except to you wallet.

And please, whatever you do, do not put transmission fluid in your engine -- this can do irreparable harm ...............Amadauss has been extremely lucky.

Amadauss

On the tranny fluid, I was told this by a certified jaguar mechanic who has been giving information on a similar web site for years and is very trusted in his knowledge and credibility. Has helped me more then once on numerous occasions. He suggested putting the tranny fluid in about 100 miles before you do the oil change. I was somewhat skeptical myself but he claimed it is among other things a detergent and it will help in the cleaning properties of the engine. Not meant to be left in there for an extended period, under one hundred miles, but I have done it several times and it could be me but the cars run great. This is not to say, someone could do it on my reco and their engine fails for whatever reason and I get blamed. I am not encouraging anyone to do this. All I can say is I do it and have not had any issues.
On the issue of having the 20 cars, I am curious are they more highway driven then city? I think in many cases when you hear about a car with 200,000 miles and more running great, I would guess 8 out of 10 were used on long trips and driven a lot of highway miles. Our Lexus has 238 thousand and most of it is highway driving. If driving city and stop and go for the most part not changing it every 3 thousand is wrong. I don't want to make the oil companies richer, god they already are, but I just feel changing at the 3 months or 3 thousand has got to have some better odds not to have issues down the road then letting it go longer.