Checking oil on a brand new 2023

With a number of engine issues reported I am being hyper-vigilant with every aspect of my new Tundra (100 miles on the clock now).

Dealer told me to come back at 5k miles for a tire rotation and 10k for the first oil change.

I realize the oil is perfectly clean at this point and thin, but I had to check it 5 or 6 times before I got something that looked like a good reading. I did follow the manual that said to wait 5 minutes for all oil to return to the bottom (waited about 15 minutes to be sure)

The first photo you was my best attempt where you can clearly see it's full, the others are less conclusive despite my best attempts to get a good light for the picture.

It would be the stupidest thing ever if for some reason the engines weren't full of oil before being delivered to customers, but with 10k mile oil changes, it was just a wild theory I had about these failures. I am sure one of the techs would have picked up on this, but an easy check nonetheless when I only have 100 miles.

Has anyone else noticed it's somewhat difficult to check the oil level?

 

I still have the same issue, even after the oil has acquired some color. The dipstick never has a crisp level line, it is always smeared and hard to read, no matter how long it sits. It's like the dipstick tube doesn't fully drain and instead retains some oil that smears and fouls up the reading. I don't get it, but there it is.

 

As long as it is above MIN, the engine is fine. It can be often fine even when the oil is not registered on the dipstick. Don't overthink it and keep between MIN and MAX

 

I agree, so is it actually full? I almost want to drain and weigh it, but that's just being paranoid I think.

I bought the 10/125 and I am sure the perfect amount of oil is put in during the factory process, but this will make oil changes a bit tougher at the very least.

 

I have new owner syndrome, this is by far my most expensive non-house purchase in my life, I am overthinking everything

 

Who knows. The capacity is 7.7 qts but most times you don't really drain 100% so maybe the strategy should be to just refill with ~7.5 qts. and not try to overanalyze it or try to get it "perfect". My mom's Mazda CX-5 does this same thing and I HATE it. I can change the filter and do the physical drain and fill process in less time than it takes me to keep checking and tweaking the level. And still never really know where it is. I have never seen this issue in all my years until the CX-5 and now Tundra.

No, you are not really overthinking. It is usually an easy thing to refill with just a bit less than the specified amount and to dial it in by adding whatever is needed. But not when you can't read the dipstick like on our Tundras. I guess if it is wet, it is good.

 

Toyota knows they dropped the ball with engine oil dip stick on ttv6 Tundra, it’s difficult at best to get a consistent reading.

 

Did we lose the best engineers in 2020-2021?

This just doesn't seem like a toyota anymore. In some good ways (the tech), but also in some bad ways like this one.

 

As a fellow hyper worry man let me save your life.

Check dip stick, unsure about where the oil falls, take picture, go to edit settings, fuck with the different levels, (exposure, saturation, etc) until you can see a distinctive line, then reap the rewards

also I’d recommend always using the side with the raised bumps, as I found the other side on mine to consistently become smeared during removal

 

Appreciate the tips!

 

Take a piece of course Scotch Bite, and scuff the shine off the dipstick at least a bit above the full dimple.

Then thoroughly clean the abrasive and metal particles off of your dipstick with some brake clean, solvent, or even hot soapy water. It will be much easier to see the oil level after that.

 

or just change the oil at every 5k and dont worry about it

 

Sure, as long as your truck isn't burning oil. But it's a Toyota so it won't right <blinders on>?? But, no worries, you won't be able to tell if it is anyway unless the problem gets so bad as to blow smoke or have the dipstick go totally dry. This dipstick is just another example of a simple thing that Toyota hosed up. No, it's not the end of the world, but WTF?

 

Yes, but it will still just be a big smear.

 

yeah 6 months later and we only hit 2924 miles (just checked the toyota app, picked up 23-feb-23) and i did the oil change at 1500 miles

 

Difficulty reading the dipsticks on Toyotas has been a thing for years, especially with low weight synthetic oils, not isolated to just the 3rd Gen. I’ve found that some vehicles are sensitive to correct readings and being on level grade.

All three of our last Toyotas had to be parked in the garage for correct readings. The slight slope on our driveway would swing the readings from min to max.

If it’s keeping you up at night, just start changing the oil yourself and know the correct amount is there.

 

yeah its been the issue across most models of toyota, not just the tundra.

had the issue with the tacoma and the daughters rav4 and son's camry when he had one.

 

Interesting. My 2009 Tacoma did not have this issue at all. Maybe that was a 3rd gen thing.

 

we had a 2016 tacoma. it also could be a combo of old age eyes.

didnt notice it on the 2012 tacoma

 

Naw, not for me. I have the same eyes now as I did in January with my Tacoma. That dipstick always had a nice crisp level mark.

 

lol i was talking about my old a$$ eyes. they have gone to crap the since i turned 50+

 

My old ass eyes are older than your old ass eyes! But I have always had good vision.

 

ive had to wear glasses since junior high. and the thickness hasnt gone down either. plus astigmatism doesnt help. using no line bi's now and that helped (especially with driving)

but close up focusing is a royal pita now even with bi's.

 

For reference, it was our RAV4, 2.5 Gen Tundra and 2 Gen Sequoia that had issues checking oil level. I have no experience checking oil on a Taco.

 

Someone here calculated that the failure rate was only 5% and that was decent for a three year old design.

 

You would imagine some smart dude from MIT woulda invented a dipstick that changes color by now, come on Toyota.

 

This has been an “issue” with Toyotas for many years.

I always check my oil by pulling the dipstick out, wiping it clean, reinserting it, then pulling it out again to check the level. What can I say? I’m old and set in my ways. This is how my father taught me to check oil as a little kid more than 40 years ago.

That said, if I simply pull the dipstick out and check it before reinserting it, I find it’s much easier to read. You might have to flip it over and look at the other side, but as long as the engine hasn’t been running recently there should be a clear level.

If I insist on doing it the way I always have, after wiping the dipstick clean I wait a few minutes before reinserting and then also get a clear level.

I think the dipstick tube is very narrow, and when you pull the stick out it drags some oil up into the tube. It takes a few minutes for that oil to drain back.

 

The thing to be careful with here if you are old school like me is to not overfill. My standard practice is to fill about 1/2 qt short, run the motor, let it settle, then look at the stick and see what you need to add to top it up. If you can read the dipstick this is usually super easy to see if you need 1/3 qt, 1/2qt or whatever and top it off in one quick pour. But on the Tundra all you get is a smear and if you keep adding oil and looking for that clear level line you will overfill. I did this on my mom's Mazda CX-5 that has this same issue the first time I changed her oil and after clearly adding too much oil over the spec I drained some out. Just said to myself "that's not right".

So, this Tundra... and the CX-5... get filled to spec and that's it. <hands over eyes> see no evil dipstick.

 

5%?? "Someone here" is terrible at math!

 

I'll be happy if that's the case. I'm not rooting for it to blow up, but I'm certainly hoping it doesn't decide to blow up out of warranty.