MikeB139

so I changed the engine oil and filter this weekend and was shocked by the drained oil.
It was almost black and had a bad smell to it...

Since the dealer told me they changed the oil (as is stated on the invoice) I assumed they did. Now I’m not so certain anymore. It’s been a bit over 16.000km (10k miles). Manual says every 15.000km.

Is that normal after, supposedly, 10k miles?

They also put the filter on WAY too tight!

ukrkoz

Oh yeah. You did NOT know that filter WILL be overtightened?
As of oil... The only way to know for sure is to send it to that Blackstone or whatever it is, for analysis.
It is said, that oil color, by itself, is not determinant to oil quality.
Also, it depends on what oil they used. Some burn faster.
Why don't you take oil change business into your own hands and follow YOUR schedule? I'd say, for quality conventional oil, 5 000 miles is good. For very good synthetic, like Amsoil, I did 12 000 miles on our RX300. I now simply use O'Reilley brand full synthetic on our 12 RX and follow minder. But it comes up every 6 000 miles, not 9 K.

lexsc4

I never go to the dealer for oil change unless they are complimentary.

I use mobil 1 high mileage synthetic and OEM toyota filter on my wife 08 RX350 with 125K miles. Change out the oil every 7.5K no matter what since my wife do a lot of city driving and idling while waiting to pickup the kids. 5-quarts jug at walmart $25 + 2 quarts of Walmart Supertech synthetic at $12, oil filter $5 and $10 labor charge by my mechanic (watch him do it, takes him less than 15 minutes for the job) Total cost ~$50.

Oil always comes out black, but I am not worried about it since the engine still sound/run smooth.

ToledoRX

10k miles is the far end of oil change intervals unless the dealer used a high quality synthetic oil (which I doubt they did). Usually with conventional oil, the oil change intervals is 5k miles and maybe 7.5-8k miles with synthetic oil.

Also, you really can't tell the quality of the oil unless you send it to a lab like Blackstone to have it analyzed. So yeah, keep you oil change to a shorter interval and make sure to change it every 6 months regardless of the # of miles since the last oil change.

MikeB139

Thanks for all your anwers!
Yeah, having the oil analyzed is a bit too much for me.
I'll change the oil one extra time half way, around 5k miles and have a look at the color and smell. Can't hurt to do an extra oil change to be sure.

@ukrkoz I knew it would be tight, but not THAT tight. Almost broke my wrists man...

@lexsc4 The car was bought with a "full service" including oil change, or so they said. I doubt it.

@ToledoRX I only use full synthetic on all the cars (Shell Helix Ultra ECT 5W-30). Since more than 90% of my driving is on the highway with cruise control on (and everything is flat as a pancake over here (in The Netherlands) it's not taxing on the engine. It's a 45 mile commute to work, so the engine is always warm.

Nice suprise: my car has an oil catch underneath the filter. I didn't know that was on these engines (RX300).

ukrkoz

Well, now that I have your attention..
If you plan on doing short run oil change - 5K you say - at about 4500 miles pour can of Seafom into the engine. Then drive on it and then buy 2 oils - cheapest one you can find in your weight and then whatever quality oil you trust. Then drain oil, pour in that cheap one, run engine for about 15-20 minutes, occasionally revving to 2 000 and holding there, for about 10 seconds. Then drain that oil - it'll come out black like tar - and replace everything.
You just flushed and cleaned everywhere oil goes.
Done dozens of times on all of my cars.

lexsc4

"lexsc4 The car was bought with a "full service" including oil change, or so they said. I doubt it."

Sometime you just need to make your own judgement.

Case in point, last month my wife's 08 RX350 120K miles had a low huming noise during drive, took it to the dealership to had it checked out, $140 later the dealer service department told me that the front transfer case needs to be replaced and the whole transmission needs to be dropped, Job cost $6-7,000, told them I will chew on it and maybe it is time for a new car. The next day, I took the car to 2 different transmisssion shops and both said it is the left front wheels bearing. Had both front wheel bearings replace and now the car is hum-free.

When my 2017 ES350 hits 5K miles, the dealership refuse to provide me the Lexus complimentary 1st oil change, told me the oil change is at 10K miles. Took it to my mechanic and had the oil changed, the oil came out pitch black and watery thin. Glad I spent the $50 and listen to my own judgement.