First oil change

Yes. Only the Toyota directed service intervals are free under the included 2 year/25k mile complimentary maintenance.

An oil change at a dealer will run you about $100.

 

I have not heard of doing this before. What is the process to send an oil sample to Amsoil? Do you have a link or something? Thanks in advance.

 

Blackstone Labs is probably the most famous for oil testing. They're process is pretty straight-forward. They'll send you a kit for free. You just pay $30 for the results. I used them when my Taco hit 200k miles. It was interesting to see the results and how it predicted internal engine wear.

• Blackstone Laboratories: https://www.blackstone-labs.com/

• Amsoil does testing too. You prepay $35 for the kit with them. I've never used them, but here's the link for their kit: https://www.amsoil.com/p/oil-analyzers-test-kit-postage-pre-paid-oaippkit/

To be honest...I don't think I would spend the money to test oil on a brand new engine. I'm not sure it'll tell you very much, but I'm not here to tell you how to spend your money. hehe. If you do it, you should post the results. The results will either be really interesting...or super boring on a brand new engine.

 

thanks.. my Toyota parts department is hot garbage at their jobs..

stupid question. Where is the oil filter located on this truck? I was looking under the hood but didn’t see it.

 

Like mentioned below. With Amsoil, you prepay for the kit and simply collect a small sample of oil (Via dip stick pump, quick drain plug crack or oil filter. You send it back in the bottle and prepaid label packaging. You provide vehicle specs as well as oil used info. They send you a report with various readings and their interpretation of the results. First couple of reports will be "boring" but as you gather more data, you can start seeing how the oil is doing and if any abnormal wear is detected in your samples. I had an 05 Silverado I sold with 218k miles and a clean bill of health for the last 100k miles thanks to those reports. Was also able to tell exactly how long I should use oil for until the wear protection started to decline. I also used it in my wife's 2016 RX 350 and we found out it only needed an oil change once a year. Also included those reports when we sold it and the new owner really appreciated it.

I've used both and I like the Amsoil report better. Blackstone has gotten some bad results before and they arent as consistent as Amsoil, but they are the most popular for sure.

 

Skip to 2:00

 

Amen. Anything turbocharged is 3000 mile OCI in my book.

 

Bottom of the engine toward the front. In a more traditional spot than past years that have the cartridge style oil filter.

Check out Tim's video from Pickup Truck Plus SUV Talk when he walks the undercarriage of the Tundra. He points out the location at about the 2:10 mark in the video.

https://youtu.be/7Si3X_PW8yI

 

Amsoil raised their prices. For a case of 4, 1 gallon jugs w/ preferred customer account - from $168 to $186. $18 increase.

 

Super Tech $3.00 per quart as of this morning.

 

You keep up with that schedule and you aren't going to have those 2 cents for long.

 

I inquired about this on my '21 which is used for towing much of the time. Yes, the 5k tire rotation and oil change were free. But, you aren't going to get any more oil changes before the freebees run out.

 

Holy shit. I paid $138 for 4 gallons of my oil, I guess you could say $20 or so for shipping, but I ordered a ton of oil so it's hard to say an exact shipping cost for just the engine oil

 

1st @ 500miles
2nd@ 5000
Every 5k after. So simple for both peace of mind and engine health.
And of course the best way is to do it yourself! It's easy and less than 30minutes of your time.

 

Costs about the same when I fill up my tank every 2 weeks vs one oil change every 6 months. I dont get why people cheap out on the engine's "blood" when its pretty much the most important maintenance item.

 

Agreed the problem is the average Joe doesn’t have a place to dispose of the old oil

 

Also haven’t done it in the new tundra yet but the majority of my previous vehicles the cost of the oil and filter were about the same as the cost of me taking it somewhere to get changed. Probably 30 different places to get my oil changed within a half hour drive of me including dealerships big box and local places

 

That can be solved by searching ‘Household Hazardous Waste Facility’ in your location.

 

I like to do my own oil change. Only cause as a technician myself. I don’t trust other to do it. Many times I have cars come in with loose oil filter or drain plug. Stripped bolts. A lot of it comes from my local Firestone that it became a joke in my shop if a car come in with no oil and it’s most likely from Firestone. Even the insurance guy that Firestone sends knows everyone in the shop.

Also most auto parts store will recycle used oil for free. There’s autozone or advance basically everywhere around me so I usually take it to them.

 

I prefer to follow the manufacturers recommendations. As a former employee of American Honda I can usually find the right people to speak with and Honda says no need to change oil early or add any additives so that's what I do. This isn't to say the recommended service intervals aren't always correct. Honda recommends a valve lash adjustment at 100,000 miles on the Element but some have found that to be too late. That's where the internet forums help.
I'm not going to say that changing the oil every one or two thousand miles isn't going to help since it will but the question remain how much and is it financially worth it?
I'm 65 and just this January had another person change my oil on a personal vehicle. That was the first freebee and I was almost 1,000 miles from home. Otherwise the maintenance is on me. It's a good time to spend some time under the vehicle looking for any other potential problem. Spot a dry rotted exhaust hanger donut? Get one on order and chance it next time.
I tend to take very good care of my vehicles. Not because it gets a higher price come resale but for reliability.

 

Manual states 5k if you live in climates that get down to 32F or mostly city driving. 10k is for long haul driving only.

 

I'm sure being a car guy you've built a motor or 2 in your day. I've put a ton of top ends in two strokes and can say that rings need time to wear in. The majority of my experience switching to hardcore antiwear Amsoil Signature series too soon could prolong the wear in and sealing of rings. For example a compression test of a fresh motor is not as good as one thats had a few heat cycles thats on a small engine. So in my opinion you could switch to an aggressive synthetic too soon. I use Toyota oil for the the first 20k miles then switch to amsoil. I'm not saying your way is wrong switching soon is definitely going to work it will just take a smidge longer to wear in. There's many ways to skin a cat just offering a different point of view.

 

Isn't the 3.5 Toyota direct/multi port? I was thinking your example of the ecoboost was the original 3.5 ecoboost was direct only and suffered greatly from fuel dillution which in that case it would be a good idea to change early. The toyota engine from what I understand doesn't seem to have an abnormal amount of fuel that gets mixed with oil. I agree on leaning towards the catious side if short tripping or towing.

 

Oil threads never gets old..

 

I think I may have a unique viewpoint. Sorry for the long post but here it goes.

I am a job shop machinist who runs a couple of extremely expensive machines that provide income for myself and my family. These machines need oil changes too and it is vital they keep running.

The machines I run have spindles turning up to 20k rpm and moving workpieces up to 800lbs on a path accurate to .0002 of an inch. To give you a reference a piece of paper is roughly .004 inches thick. With these machines I have made parts for the mars rover, Rolls Royce jet engines and all sorts of other things that need to be extremely accurate. This requires proper machine break in and maintenance. Maintenance includes lubricant changes. Even such lubricants as oil. And you know what I do to to make sure I can break in and maintain these expensive, sensitive machines? I do what the factory says. Nothing more or less. Be it spindle break in, way oil, spindle grease, oil filter or the spray can of pull stud goo.

I don't change the oil out early or break the spindle in slower than recommend. Doing what the manufacturer says works without my guess or feelings. It was engineered. I make money and the machines live a long time.

As for changing my vehicles oil and break in, I do what the factory says there too. I've never had a problem and put over 200k miles on my first tundra also over 200k miles on my tdi commuter car. Even my wife's little Corolla is about to hit 100k without needing to change the oil extra. I will say she didn't do the break in to well but that is what it is. I plan on doing the same thing with my 2022 tundra. If something fails, I will have done what I should to maintain my vehicle and my warranty should do the rest.

 

Man... What is it about telling our spouses about break-in periods, out of a sincere concern, that just seem to fly right out the window... However, they expect you to take it easy and break certain things in properly or it's an immediate 'flag on the play'!!!!

Anyhow, I spent a few years flying around in little MD500s so if you happened to have provided any parts for the RR engines that we went through (good God it seemed like we were always had one or two down for maintenance or an engine swap to have it rebuilt, etc.)... My sincere thank you, as we never had an engine fail, and I can attest that we routinely pulled power up and into the yellow on those things at least a few times each flight.

 

I made those parts in 2014. I can't what engine they went into but glad I could be of service! Just doing my job. Good you didn't have to go through the craziness of engine failure. Ironically, I do remember that the parts were for the oil system haha

 

Good day for a resurrection thread!

Came upon this doozy of advice when it comes to disposing old oil:

 

Toyota will service your car every 5000 miles or 6 months, but the included oil changes are only paid for at every 10,000 miles, at least that is what the service writer told me.

I had the oil changed at the 1000 mile mark and will at 5K 10k etc.

One interesting thing i did hear is that Toyota put the oil change at the 10k interval due to environmental regulations, is also about limiting the waste oil stream. Can't remember where i got this info from but it makes sense.

 

Why wait? Pump the oil out through the dipstick tube when it gets visually dark, show up at the dealership every 10k miles to replace oil&filter and keep your warranty.