Unsober1

So I went to the blackstone website, roadfrog posted link, and I love the responses in the FAQ part. If any of you are wondering when is the best oil change intervals or how often each of us should push it, please go read his link. He lays it out on what WE should all do.
The only thing I would like to add is, driving conditions have a lot to do with oil changes. It you drive on dirty roads, change your oil often. The car needs air, an there isn't a filter out there that catches everything

Devh

That's for being a bit lazy after the oil reminder light comes on. The car has 120k now. Pennzoil Platinum is well regarded on Bobistheoil guy and it has plenty of oil analysis to back it up.
Most modern oil will do just fine but the most important thing about Synthetic oil is the value because it saves you from doing frequent oil changes, increased gas millage and it ends up being more economical in the long run with clean internals. Most of an engines issues when it gets older is due to varnished and sludge . Using Synthetic is a no brainier in a modern car.

You know what shortens engine life, taking it to one of those quick lube places.

Devh

I disagree, Most air filters are quiet efficient except for the K&N type. As the air filter gets dirty it gets even more efficient at trapping particles. If conditions are so dusty then the worse thing that will happen is that you may need more frequent filter changes.

I agree that driving conditions can effect the oil quality but that is only if the car sees more more frequent shorter driving intervals.
These days oil is well formulated and the engines are well regulated to keep oil in the peak of it's range.

roadfrog

Absolutely.

If you're getting high silica counts (sand), you're likely running a K&N filter. The more clogged a filter gets, the better it filters, until the engine can't produce good power because it's TOO clogged.

I'm stunned that people still run K&N's.

Devh

I have actually seen one case where one of my forum members got a report of high silica from a Blackstone analysis and it turned out that member installed his filter incorrectly. Once it was corrected all was well again.
Anytime someone suspects a bad head gasket I have always advised them to get an oil analysis first to confirm antifreeze in the oil because it's quick and doesn't involve tedious diagnosis with a leak down tester.
It's pretty amazing how much you can diagnose from an oil analysis so it points you in the right direction.
The only thing I don't like sometimes is the generic comments from the guys that analyze the reports because they only catch the obvious stuff. If you learn how to read them then you can get an even better idea.

Devh

I found some good information to share and back up my own research and conclusions.

This is pretty much sums it up and it isn't an article, it's a paper.

http://papers.sae.org/2007-01-4133/

10-15 % lower friction then fresh oil is significant. This means that frequent oil changes can create more wear on your motor.

R Z

A very nice read here. Got me to thinking about what oil was put in the car when the dealership did the oil change before I picked it up. I called the service department and she told me they used standard 5w30. So, should I have an oil change at 3000 or still wait?

roadfrog

I'd change it, but that's only because anything but the 0w20 messes my engine up. 5W30 is NOT the required oil and the dealer should change it out for free.

R Z

keep in mind, this was the oil change done by the Toyota Dealership who sold me the car. They did their due diligence on the car before selling it.

CRowe14

Now, see this was my line of questioning...
As I stated before, I purchased my car from a GMC dealer who did the oil change before I purchased the car, and i'm nearly 100% sure they didn't put Toyota 0w20 in there...
Im not suffering any issues, but should I wait until the 5k mile interval to change out, or take care of it this week and place some type of additive in there for safe measure?
FYI: If I wait for the 5k interval from when it was changed out, I have another 2500+ miles to go before a change is due, and that probably wont be for another 3 to possibly four months.

DiggerJim

I have a Rav4 as well (2012) and the cap says 5W-20/0W-20 and they did an oil change and the sheet the service lady gave me had x quarts of 5W-30 and I made them change it again. The service guy said that's their go-to oil and I said I'd be okay if they wanted to give me an extended warranty on the engine because I wasn't going to be arguing with someone 3 years from now when they argued I hadn't maintained it per the Toyota recommendations. They didn't want to do that so they changed it (or said they did) to 5W-20.

I'm willing to bet almost everyone does 5W-30 on almost every car out there because it's the one most often speced and with low change intervals it really doesn't matter but when you're trying to protect your warranty and not give them a weasel-out, it matters.

7milesout

CRowe - My opinion is that it is not likely that what they put in there will do any harm. It will protect your engine. As well as 0W-15, or 5W-20? ... Probably. My opinion is that it's not the weight of the oil that would be the concern, it would be the quality. However, your mpg will suffer likely an unmeasurable amount. But it could be barely measureable, hard to say.

In addition, my opinion is ... why take a chance? And if you have the inclination, do it yourself. The first time will take longer than future ones, so be prepared to take a while. Once done, your lubrication system will be in good shape.

CRowe14

Thanks 7, great advice. I'll be looking into doing this, this week, if not this weekend.

R Z

Now the thick plottens . . . I called Lexus here in town. I got the nice lady in service who I have spoken to on numerous occasions. She looked up the history for me. The reason my change oil light is coming on is the dealership did an oil change at 50,000 miles which was back in June of 2014. I got the car with 52000 miles in October, so based on their sales prep sheet, I "***-umed" the oil was done at 52K. So that makes sense since it's now 5000 miles since the last oil change.

I was informed that the standard oil for an 08 LS460 through Lexus is 5W30.

roadfrog

Sigh. No it is NOT.

Due dilliigence for most dealers is saving money by way of an unsuspecting consumer.

The correct oil for an 08 LS (such as mine), is 0W20 or 0W30. Neither of which is what they used.

If you're happy with their answer to you, then so be it. I would not be and thus, have them cahnge it out to what Lexus requires for your car.

Will it harm your engine to have the heavier oil in your car (never mind that it doesn't have the required additives in it)? Meh....maybe not. But I can tell you that the VVT-I systems in our LS's are very particular. Severe hesitation, rough acceleration, etc can be caused by the wrong oil.