Doublebase

I'm just planning on giving 5w30 a try because I do wonder about engine protection, shearing and I am losing a little bit of oil. I'm thinking if I lose less oil with the 5w30, I'll try to push my intervals out longer. I may wait until the weather warms up a bit (plus I just did a change using the 0w20 again because I got it for free). Come April I'll be trying Amsoil 5w30.

superdenso

I tried Mobil 0w30 with confounding results. The oil takes 5-10min to warm up and allow the car to perform. The mpg's are favorable (35+). Further, 5w30 seems to be the better performer. The mpg's were slightly lower, but the warm-up time was insignificant.

superdenso

the manual says this (2008):

http://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdriver...nual-search.do

Use Lexus approved “Toyota Genuine Motor Oil” or
equivalent to satisfy the grade and viscosity shown
below. 5w20 or 0w20 All climates.
The 0W portion of the oil viscosity rating indicates a characteristic of the
oil which allows cold startability. Oils with a lower value before the W
allow for easier starting of the engine in cold weather.
l The 20 in 0W-20 indicates the oil viscosity when the oil is at its operating
temperature. An oil with a higher viscosity may be better suited if the
vehicle is operated at high speeds, or under extreme load condition.

roadfrog

Just an update.

I am now at 6200 miles and have just had to add a qt of oil. So, I'm thinking this might be the magic number for oil change interval. Just for kicks, I might go another 3 or 4 thousand miles and see how the consumption goes.

Doublebase

Well that's pretty damn good, to make it 6200 miles on that weight of oil and only lose a quart is pretty impressive.

I think my comfort number is somewhere between 6000 and 7500, depending on the brand of oil I'm using. Right now I've been using cheap Carquest synthetic, so I'm not pushing it beyond 6000 miles (I add about a quart in that duration too).

Lexuslsguy

My 460 consumes a bit of oil but my 430 does not. I am now running 10k OCI's in my 430 without having to add any oil but 6-7k on the 460 and she drinks around a quart. Not sure why one vehicle does and the other does not. I guess it is the nature of the engine. Maybe DI is more prone to consumption.

Doublebase

There's probably two factors...oil weight and direct injection. Are you using 0w20 in the 430? I imagine you're using 5w30, which is thicker and less likely to shear to the point where it will slip past the rings and burn...or be used some other way. And the direct injection I believe puts a little bit more responsibility on the piston rings, oil and PCV system.

Either way it sounds like you have two great performing engines...one goes 10k miles without usin a drop (unheard of) and the other goes 6-7k with only using a quart (unheard of in most modern engines).

Lexuslsguy

I am running Mobile 1 ESP in both and yes 5w-30 for the 430. LS 400 and 430's never had any consumption issues that I'm aware of. Really amazing engines. I believe DI might be the reason why the 460 tends to use a bit.

Silverpaws

I recently completed a 4479 mile cross country trip in my '08 LS with fresh Pennzoil Platinum 0w-20 and never needed a drop of oil. Averaged about 28.5 mpg and car now has just under 45,000 miles.

lextout

I'm against extended intervals, doing it every 5000 gives you an earlier chance of catching a leak or anything out of the ordinary on the undercarriage/drive train.

Rhambler

Yeah GDI engines, by their very nature, typically runs leaner (i.e., much hotter) and under more pressure. I'm personally amazed we don't see more oil consumption issues in our engines, although I'm sure there are some.

Oil consumption is huge deal with European GDI engines, across all brands. There are in fact many lawsuits ongoing and/or resolved. Brand new Audis eating through a qt of oil every 1000 miles. BMWs, MBs, all have GDI and all experience more oil consumption problems than what I'm seeing here, at least anecdotally.

Just another drawback of GDI engines.

Doublebase

Penzoil had a nice interview on Bob's the oil guy recently, they talked about direct injection and the strain it places on the timing chain (of all things). DI engines leave more carbon soot in an engine's oil and it can wreak havoc on a timing chain...the soot gets in between the rollars on the chain and causes it to stretch. I always wondered how a chain like that could stretch, evidently that's a cause.

They also said that timing chain engines - like ours - do a number on the oil because along with the valve train, it shears the oil. The LS has a very busy valve train...multiple cams, multiple valves and cam phasers...add that to the chain and our oil takes a beating.

roadfrog

I messed up. I stated earlier that I added a qt at 6k miles. Wrong. It was 6k KMS (about 4k miles). Sorry guys.

Still....I'm pretty happy with that. Consumption has dropped dramatically from when I originally purchased my car.

Still trying to decide what my new OCI's will be. I'm leaning towards 10k kms (6k miles), or basically the point where I need to add oil.

Rhambler

Yeah, comparatively speaking, our cars are pretty tame for GDI engines in regards to consumption. While I do agree that some consumption is normal, having to add a quart every 1,000 miles or less is not, even though BMW and Audi considers that "within tolerances" and acceptable. That is not normal in my opinion, and I would be infuriated if I had to add a quart every 1,000 miles, which some brand new BMW and Audi drivers had and have to endure.

roadfrog

Not sure if I already mentioned this or not, but Consumer Reports recently did a report on the increased oil consumption found in new cars over the last several years, likely due to the increased use of DI engines. The worst offenders were Audi, BMW and Subaru. BMW and Audi both state that a qt every 600-800 miles as "normal", while Subaru states that 1000 miles is normal. Honda also has the issue. Lexus also uses the 1000 mile mark as normal.

Here's a part of the article:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...tion/index.htm