jewel

So I'm right at 5k miles since my last oil change but I have a vegas trip coming up next week. Should I do the oil change this weekend, or wait until I come back from vegas?

First time I will be doing an oil change on my car
What other fluids/things should I check before I head out on my trip? All of my services have been done by lexus in the past.

Also, how do I know how much oil I've poured in? The DIY says 6.7 quarts, and I plan on buying 2 5 quart jugs from costco... do i just eyeball it?

drftsoarer

iTrader: (3)

I would do it before because isnt the point to put in clean oil and filter BEFORE you drive a long distance. There are many oil change threads covering exactly what to do.

shadowman

iTrader: (2)

Oil containers now should have indicators of how much oil is left. You can use it to determine how much oil your poured into your car.

I know this is true for Castrol, Valvoline, Penzoil... some even has a clear window to show you how much is left. There's a mark on the side to tell you how much you is left so you know how much was poured in.

jewel

gotcha, thanks

also, where do you guys buy your oil?
5w-30 for is350 right?

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

you should do it before. Your oil may last longer than 5k miles, but your filter wont. Theres a huge debate on which type of oil to use, it ranges from 5w-30, to 5w-20 all the way to 0w-40. Use whatever you feel like its best for your car. I personally use 5w-30 because its the most readily for me (full synthetic royal purple of course)

pfdaxe

iTrader: (8)

I had to laugh....Does your filter blow up after 5000 miles?

It's advised and recommended to replace your oil and filter around 5k for synthetic in these cars and I would change it before making a trip.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Of course it will.

There's plenty of UOAs posted from folks who have gone 7500-10000 miles on the OEM oil and filter with no problem at all.


no it isn't... that's the factory recommendation with conventional oil.

And as I mention, UOAs have proven that even that is quite conservative.



Anyway- to the OP... assuming you haven't been doing severe-duty driving (lots of short trips where the engine doesn't get to run at operating temp, lots of idling, etc), and assuming the trip is only going to be 1000 miles or less, I'd just wait.

I've yet to see any UOA report on a 2IS that suggests changing the oil or filter under 7500-10k miles was ever needed, even on conventional oil.

pfdaxe

iTrader: (8)

My synthetic oil is very dirty after 5k. That's my time to change. Of course. I drive my IS hard with high rpms. Plus, the AZ heat doesn't help. I change my Toyotas' synthetic at 6k and that's when it starts to shows dirty. I wouldn't go 5k with dino oil with any of my vehicles. I tend to go by what my oil looks like rather than seeing how far I can go between changes. For dino, it's always around 3-4K and synthetic around 5-6K. The manuals and recommendations are all basic guidelines anyway....And I work for Toyota/Lexus and I think we change them even more frequent

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

You can't tell if oil needs to be changed by looking at it. That's what UOA is for.

Here's a buncha experts who apparently know this-

Motor Oils and Engine Lubrication Book: Motor Oil Engineers
He goes into more detail on why this is something suckers think is relevant, you might wanna read it... The author is an SAE engineer who has literally written a book on engine lubrication.

What were your qualifications again?

Don't believe him?

How bout folks who make motor oil?
Synthetic Oil Darkening in Color be Changed
and it goes on and on...

Motor Oil Myths and Facts
Color of Engine Oil
Most also go on to mention used oil analysis by a lab is the only way to really know what's going on in a sample of used oil.

And as I mention, all the folks doing that, with much longer OCIs than you, get great results back from the lab. It's almost like they know something you don't.


I mean, it's your vehicles, so do what you want... but you're completely misinformed about why you're doing it and that there's any benefit outside of your imagination from doing it.

You're pouring money down the drain changing your oil way too often... (which you almost certainly are with those change intervals).