savala88

I have the 1st gen with 209,000 miles its time for an oil change, what is the best kind to use?? yes this will be my first oil change, some people have told me it doesnt matter what brand I get as long as its synthetic, other people have told me it does matter.


Does it matter or not? what kind should I use and is there any specific filter I should use also?

thanks in advance

edtbjon

Use OEM filters and a decent oil. It is not so important which brand/type of oil. What is really important is to change the oil pretty frequently (say every 5000-8000 miles or twice per year, whichever comes first). Go see your nearest Lexus or possibly Toyota workshop and get the correct filter plus a new washer/gasket for the oil draining plug. Check http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lubri...oilchange.html for detailed instructions.
This subject have been discussed in quite a lenghty thread, which you will find if you search for e.g. "oil synthetic" on this sub-forum. There you will find all the different opinions on synthetic or not, which brand etc.

My opinion on this is: E.g. the newer Audi's have very long intervals between oil changes, combined with high output turbo engines. These engines require very special synthetic oils and the engine warranty is dependant on using these oils and nothing else. The 1st gen. Lexus V8 is indeed a sophisticated piece of machinery, but with quite low output/cubic inch, so "any good oil" will do.

//Björn

027922

Living in MN where winters are very cold, I like using syn. oil - gives me easier cold starts and also gives me slightly better mpg over dyno. oil (5 - 10%). I change every 5k miles. With you living in CA, cold weather is less of a concern. Using dyno vs syn continues to be a raging debate with proponents of either. More important I believe is change interval - I would not go beyond 5k miles. Enjoy your LS.

mpatrizio

On older, high mileage cars, switching to Synthetic after a lifetime of conventional oil use, can lead to oil leaks. They Synthetic particles are smaller so they find the leaky points faster and easier. As the seals get older it's a natural occurrence. I had it happen on my older BMW and I've been pondering going to full synthetic on my '98 LS.

I'll probably go for a synthetic blend for the next oil change, and if there are no leaks, I'll go full synthetic next.

FWIW, I've also read that you need to do a complete drain of the oil when switching. Meaning leave the car draining oil for hours or overnight. Personally, I don't buy this.

027922

With 209k miles you might have oil consumption or leaking problems. My LS, with 118k, did fine with the switch. If you choose syn., to save money, since syn. oil is expensive, I would buy the oil and filter at Costco, Walmart or equivalent and either DIY or go to an independent mechanic for the change. I don't recommend Jiffy Lube or that type of place. FYI - a dealer will charge >$100 for an oil change.
As far as "complete" draining, there is no need to leave a car drain for more than a few minutes for a complete change.

thebeeguy

As long as its a Synthetic oil that is name brand (not that Coastal crap or no name brand stuff) you can't really go wrong. Even so, all the name brand oils claim they are "better than other brands because *insert some additive here*", just stick to a name brand, regardless of what "special additives" they have and you can't go wrong.

Oil filters, I've usually stuck to Mobil 1 or K&N oil filters. Never had a problem, don't think I ever will. I've HEARD that FRAM filters are garbage, I've never researched the subject because quite frankly I don't care, I don't use them anyways.

If you switch to Synthetic and develop some oil leaks, don't change the oil type back to conventional, fix the leaks! I've had a few customers come through my shop saying that when they switched to Synthetic, they sprung all kinds of leaks and blah blah blah, but these are the same customers with 100K+ miles on their car, ALL original gaskets, oil pan leaks, valve cover leaks and such, prior to the switch. Yes, the Synthetic change may have made the gaskets leak worse, but the bottom line is, its leaking because of a bad gasket, so fix it, don't band-aid it with thicker oil or other types of witchcraft, you DO want your car to last right?

I change my oil every 5000 miles with Synthetic, I wouldn't feel right changing it any later. Even if the factory says you can go longer, my car has a lot of miles on it, and it's just cheap insurance to me.

A lot of newer cars (Audi's, Mercedes, BMW, etc.) can go a lot longer between oil changes, most of it has to do with the fact that they hold more oil, in fact, the typical BMW/Mercedes engine holds 7+ quarts of Synthetic oil. Even though they use a Cartridge type oil filter instead of the usual "spin on canister" filters, its the same thing, without the can that the filter sits in.

You also have to look out for the tricky oil commercials. For instance, the Castrol Syntec commercials. They always claim "Our Castrol Syntec oil outperforms the leading conventional oil blah blah blah" Well DUH! They are comparing their SYNTHETIC oil to the leading CONVENTIONAL oil, of course their Synthetic is going to outperform, they're comparing apples to oranges here...