My engine survived 15-20k mile oil change intervals w pics
#1
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My engine survived 15-20k mile oil change intervals w pics
I bought an 2004 RX330 AWD 2 months ago from a lady who's idea of maintenance is a Jiffy lube oil change every 12-16 months which is 15-20k miles. The only saving grace is she used penzoil synthetic. Prior to Jiffy lube, she was bringing her car to the dealership with last service at 100k. I got the car at 188k miles. She also only did 1 air and cabin filter and ATF change since he dealers. Breaks were done at a tire store. I have all the receipts.
I brought all the services up to date at my local toyota Indy shop which includes fixing a coolant leak under the intake manifold. They had to remove the valve covers to remove the intake manifold. The mechanic was expecting to see an engine full of sludge and gunk given the mileage between oil change but he was shocked to see such a clean engine. The claims of 15k mile oil change intervals using synthetic oil does have some merit. I will start using a high mileage synthetic oil like mobile 1 high mileage with 10-15k change intervals.
I brought all the services up to date at my local toyota Indy shop which includes fixing a coolant leak under the intake manifold. They had to remove the valve covers to remove the intake manifold. The mechanic was expecting to see an engine full of sludge and gunk given the mileage between oil change but he was shocked to see such a clean engine. The claims of 15k mile oil change intervals using synthetic oil does have some merit. I will start using a high mileage synthetic oil like mobile 1 high mileage with 10-15k change intervals.
Last edited by LSBen; 11-02-14 at 01:07 AM.
#5
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Another picture. This was a $600 dollar repair to replace a $20 hose. At least I know the engine is clean and won't leak oil from the new gasket. Seems to burning a quarter quart of oil after 2k miles.
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#8
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+1 on a thanks for posting. Engine looks pretty clean for 15K intervals.
I wonder if the 1 qt per 2,000 miles is due to the longer intervals? Our RX330 with 190K doesn't use a drop in 5,000 intervals (1 qt synthetic, 4 qts conventional)????
I wonder if the 1 qt per 2,000 miles is due to the longer intervals? Our RX330 with 190K doesn't use a drop in 5,000 intervals (1 qt synthetic, 4 qts conventional)????
#10
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My 01 LS430 with 149k miles doesn't burn oil. But she gets new oil every 5K miles, just plain conventional oil. Will switch to synthetic high mileage oil now that I see how clean an engine can look
Last edited by LSBen; 11-02-14 at 10:49 PM.
#11
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It looks to be one hell of a car for $4000. As for oil change intervals, ever since owning an es300 that was notorious for sludge, i have been paranoid about oil change intervals, for the ES i did every 3k, and now every 5k. That being said, 15K seems ridiculous to me, but I know BMW requires an oil change ever 10k miles, I'm assuming Mobil 1? So i guess these synthetics really can go much longer.
#12
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The only conclusion that I can draw from this is that Synthetic oils do not sludge or gunk like conventional oil, so all the marketing hype is true. As for brands, I assume it applies to all. In my case, Penzoil worked on my RX330. But since Penzoil doesnt sell a high mileage full synthetic, I'll be going with Mobil 1 High Mileage synthetic on the next oil change. I have regular Mobil 1 in there now from my recent service since that's all the shop had for synthetic.
Last edited by LSBen; 11-02-14 at 11:48 PM.
#13
The only conclusion that I can draw from this is that Synthetic oils do not sludge or gunk like conventional oil, so all the marketing hype is true. As for brands, I assume it applies to all. In my case, Penzoil worked on my RX330. But since Penzoil doesnt sell a high mileage full synthetic, I'll be going with Mobil 1 High Mileage synthetic on the next oil change. I have regular Mobil 1 in there now from my recent service since that's all the shop had for synthetic.
#14
I hope this user checks the dipstick on a regular basis. Oil can get contaminated in many ways and 'assuming' the oil is synthetic is not wise, IMHO. I'll stick with self-changed 5000 mile intervals using the cheapest synthetic from Walmart.