frubalup

So I've been reading about breaking in new vehicles online and it seems like there isn't much to do other than just driving it normally with varying RPMs and staying under 5000RPMs. Another thing I seemed to find in a lot of articles is getting an early oil change to clean out the residual metal flaking from the engine.

Can anyone here advise me on this? I'm due for my first complimentary servicing (1600 km) and contemplating whether I need to get that oil change now or should I just wait until the 16000 km service.

fastnoypi

http://lexus2.custhelp.com/app/answe...k-in-period%3F

frubalup

Thanks for the link, it sounds about right. If someone could just answer the question of the oil change now that would be great! I called in to get an appointment for the service and told them I'd like an oil change as well and got an awkward response because the first oil change isn't normally until 16000 km . Now I'm just waiting to get some recommendations here and possibly call back and get them to cancel the oil change if it seems unncessary...

RXOwner

IF they are using synthetic oil here in the USA the first oil change is at 10,000 miles.

Lexus will change you oil early but will charge you for it.

sandy14

I've always had my first oil change at 10,000 miles. Never had a problem, in fact I've never had anything more than regular service and a couple of tires replaced. Been driving Lexus cars for 15 years.

kitlz

frubalup, in the US, Lexus changed to synthetic oil/10K oil change intervals for the RX back in February 2010. There's been a few 3RX members who have done it sooner and even had the oil analyzed. No issues were found. If it gives you peace of mind, by all means change it.

fastnoypi

out of habit my first oil change is about half the miles of a regular scheduled oil change. Often there is debate of the manufacturer using a break-in oil as the first factory fill and letting the detergents 1600km is barely anything and i would argue the oil is hardly broken in. You should be equipped with 0w20 oil which is recommended for 10k miles oil change intervals. I would debate with your dealership if 1600km is too early for a first oil change. Closer to 5000 miles is more reasonable.

frubalup

It seems a couple of posters may be confused as to what my question was. I am the one that is contemplating getting the early oil change (after reading articles that recommend changing it early to get rid of residual metal flakes from the new engine). The dealership did not tell me I had to do it.

I am just wondering if anyone else has come across this at all either. It seems that most people are not doing it and still not having problems in the long run either. I guess it would just come down to my own peace of mind since it would be nearly impossible to tell whether it actually prevented any damage or not since it would likely be negligible to begin with.

RXOwner

" residual metal flakes from the new engine" are not a big problem in today's engines. I would do what Lexus say to do but if you want to change early, it will not hurt your engine either.

NRX

^^^^^ what s/he said! Just follow the manufacturer's schedule.

dfc350

I haven't heard of the 5000 rpm limit but here's what Toyota recommends:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ml#post9293052

sderman

I'm picking up my new RX on Saturday from a dealer about 70 miles from home. Since it is mainly highway driving it's hard to vary my road speed by much. But I'm wondering whether the above quoted Lexus recommendation is really saying that you should vary your engine RPM during breakin. So, I'm thinking that for the trip home to occasionally manually down shift just a bit to bump up the RPMs slightly. Any thoughts on this?

ggebhardt

A 70 mile drive is not going to make that much difference. Just vary when you can and enjoy your new vehical.

sderman

Thanks for the well wishes. Understood the distance isn't great. But still interested in the thoughts of any auto engineers/lexus techies out there as to why Lexus recommends varying the speed during breakin and is this really because of the need to varying the engine RPM. Perhaps to help better seat the piston rings or something like that. As an aside, I have been exclusively driving Lexus vehicles for 18 years now (3 ESs, 3 RXs) and when faced with even a 20-30 mile highway trip during the breakin period I did do some mild downshifting, varying the engine speed but still keeping it under about 3,500 RPM. And in all these years I never once had to top up the oil level.

bootman

Car makers run their engines for quite a bit before we actually get them in our hands.
So feel free to 'drive it like you stole it"