mdpresco

So I had the oil changed in the Lexus today. My wife left the car at the Toyota dealer while she went to work. As soon as she got on the road she called me about the hesitation problem. It happened the last time the oil was changed and cleared up after a few hundred miles.

I want to purchase a can of Toyota Engine Oil System Cleaner and change the oil again. I see it available on Canadian Toyota dealer sites but nothing in the U.S. My local Toyota dealer has never used or heard of I t. It is not on Amazon or EBay.

So where can I buy it? Is it a dealer only item? Is there a part number?

roadfrog

Hmmmm.....interesting. I bought mine at the Toyota dealer near me. I just assumed it was available all over North America. That's very odd.

mdpresco

After the last episode I went to the dealer and discussed the problem with the service advisor. He had never heard of it. I'll go to the parts counter and ask for it.

Since I am the third owner an have 77,000 miles on the car, he would not recommend going full synthetic oil. They have been filling with 5w-30 "bulk oil". Your thoughts?

satiger

iTrader: (1)

You could call local Toyota / Lexus parts to find out if they have any in stock.

Alternately you could try but I believe this goes with gas.

As far as synthetic oil, I switched to synthetic on ES and GX at around 90k and never looked back (now they are 254k and 138k respectively). I heard the same comment from then Toyota technician but asked him to proceed with synthetic.

mdpresco

My wife talked with the parts counter at the local Toyota dealership. The parts person told her "my manager will not let us order it"! I would have wanted some face-to-face to understand why. They didn't want to help.

Could be liability to them if not used according to the directions. I'll call Lexus parts or another dealership.

The hesitation issue is going away. After driving 600 miles tomorrow it should be gone. I will not need it until the next oil change.

roadfrog

As already echoed here, I would not hesitate to switch over to synthetic. I did it at 65k miles. I now have over 100k miles, and have had two used oil analysis' done by Blackstone Labs. All reports were positive.

Doublebase

I think it'd be fine for you to switch over to synthetic...most here use it. Whatever you do, don't go to a synthetic "blend", it's a waste of money. There are no regulations on a synthetic blend - they actually can just put a small percentage of synthetic in and call it a blend, and charge you for it.

It's interesting that you have been using a 5w30 conventional oil in the car, I wonder if you switch over to a full synthetic if the hesitation issue after an oil change would stop. How's the heavier weight treat your car? any difference in fuel economy?

mdpresco

Mileage? Highway is around 29, city about 25mpg. After comments I plan to switch to the synthetic.

I switched to Mobil synthetic with our ES 300. It now has 180,000 miles and doesn't burn oil between changes.

Doublebase

Well that's pretty good, doesn't sound like the 5w30 hurts your fuel economy any.

roadfrog

FWIW, I've been using TGMO 0W20 full syn for nearly two years and haven't had hesitation issues since switching and using the Toyota Oil System Cleaner. I'm tempted to try a heavier weight oil, but I'm hesitant in case it jinxes me and returns to the hesitation I once experienced.