How is Toyota breaking in our engines at the factory?

I went to get my first , 5,000 mile, service at the dealer. I read through the report they gave me and saw they didn’t change the oil. The tech said they don’t need to until 10,000 miles.

He said that Toyota found the people were not breaking in there engines correctly so they now break them in at the factory.

Is this true? If so, how are they doing it? Does anyone know?

 

Hmmm....

I was told 5000 miles. Why wouldn't Toyota break their engines in as planned in production?

I'm not buying this.

 

That tech has a line of bull. Modern automotive engines don't require break-in. Tolerances are more precise and piston rings are hard. Present OEM thinking is there is no need for early oil change due to break-in. Like every other manufacturer, they start them up, drive it into a test booth, run the performance tests, drive out to parking to await transport.

 

To answer your question, my understanding is break-ins are a thing of the past. Though Toyota states in the manual that you should drive a certain way for a certain mileage early on.

The owner's manual outlines the service schedule, and you'd hope the dealer would follow what's in there as well. That being said, it's up to you to remind them exactly what needs to happen.

The manual states that if you've towed, repeatedly driven less than 5 miles each trip, or other examples of "severe service" then your oil should be changed within 6 months or 5k miles. Otherwise, it's 10k miles or 1 year.

In this particular case, the dealer can't know whether your driving would fall under the severe service schedule without you telling them, right?

 

It's worth noting that if your truck is covered by the "Toyotacare" maintenance period changing your oil before the 10,000 mile interval is on your dime. Local dealer just told me this 2 days ago when I had mine changed.

 

5,000 mile oil changes if your vehicle is flex fuel

10,000 interval for non fly fuel engines.

 

Directions to nearest station selling "fly fuel", plz.

 

I changed mine at 2500 and the oil was BLACK.

 

The intern whose job is to move the vehicles from final assembly to the parking lot outside takes it for a joy ride. That's how your brand new engine is broken in.

 

At 5,000 mine was black as well but why wouldn't it be black after 5,000 miles? I looked through the filter and there were tiny flecks of metal all in there. Again, probably normal.

 

Just before my 20000 mile service, the oil in my truck still was light on the dipstick. Oil was changed at 10000 per manual. Don’t overthink this people.

 

Engines still require break-in. As good as machining has gotten, things still need to seat and wear in. Fact is, most vehicles, aside from higher performance vehicles, don't get a short interval for their first oil change.

 

Flex fuel Tundras were discontinued at some point, and I though this was on the 2020 model year.

Edit:

 

When I bought my 2018 I read the manual indicating no oil change til 10000 miles. being old school I hatted the thought of waiting that long. Back in the day 500 mile first change then 2000 mile changes after that were the norm. So at about 1000 miles on this truck I could not wait and changed the oil. now at 30000 miles and three 10000 mile oil changes later all is good. Truck runs great no oil usage so I will wait another 10000 even though it still bothers me.

 

Synthetic oil has worked wonders in this aspect. Here's a video with a good explanation of why it can go longer. Should be time stamped to the pour test. Listen to his explanation until at least 6:45

https://youtu.be/tYkg0oDUXs8?t=331

 

anyone know the reason why? Does it still apply if all you use is regular fuel? I only fuel up my FFV 5.7 with top tier at Costco...

 

YES. Yes I do. If you have a Mama Toyota flex fuel engine that is designed to run on full blown E85 then Toyota MUST assume that you will be running nothing but E85 when they set their service intervals. They have to cuz they can't know any different. So it goes like this:

Flex fuel engine is designed to run on E85 and therefore Toyota recommends engine oil change every 5,000 miles. E85 is HARSHER than regular gasoline (including E10).

Non-flex fuel engine is designed to run on regular gasoline (up to E10) and therefore Toyota recommends engine oil change every 10,000 miles.

Now. IF YOU DO NOT run E85 in your Mama Toyota flex fuel engine then by that funny little logic reasoning called "deduction" you can arrive at the understanding that you can change your engine oil every 10,000 miles---------in your flex fuel engine.

Oh. Look at the time. Class dismissed.

 

Ethanol collects dirt requiring the oil to be changed more.

https://www.carbibles.com/what-is-flex-fuel/

EDIT: After looking into this more, it's not dirt, it's acid...

"Manufacturers may recommend more frequent oil changes when running E-85. If you live in an area where E-85 is readily available and cost effective, you may be using it every day. If so, your local dealership may suggest you change your oil more frequently. Their reason? Acids formed during ethanol combustion can reduce the lubrication properties of motor oil, therefore requiring more frequent changes."

And finally this guy says it's all BS and that modern oil has enough detergents to fight the acid...

https://tundraheadquarters.com/oil-changes-running-e-85/

 

What if I drive a Papa Toyota?

 

Welcome, 1st post!

 

While this is true, to maintain your warranty you still have to perform your oil changes at the recommended intervals. If you don't; they may attempt to deny warranty claims.

 

Yup. Yet we get report after report after report that Toyota dealerships will not do flex fuel engine oil changes at 5,000 mile intervals.

Good thing Toyota engine warranty claims are very very few, far between and rare.

 

They will do them at 5k from everything I have heard. There are some that try to push that the Toyota Care only covers 2 oil changes and try to charge after that, but I've not heard of any dealership refusing to do a 5k oil change regimen.

 

Did you just assume that Toyota's gender?

 

Maybe you guys have a different definition of break in than I do but my owner's manual describes a break in period. No sudden acceleration for a certain distance (500 miles?), no towing for 1000 miles. Can't remember what else exactly.

 

Guess I'm special, I haven't paid for oil change yet with "Toyotacare". Just had my second oil change at 10k.

 

I agree. That’s a “break in” period.

 

When buying my 2020, I specifically asked about the "Toyota care" free maintenance and the 10,000 mile oil change intervals. I was told that Toyota will pay for two oil changes, but they could be done at 5,000 mile intervals if wanted.

I do my own maintenance and don't trust any shop with it. I could tell several stories of oil changes done by shops (including dealers) that had outcomes that ranged from filler cap left off, to complete oil loss and engine destruction resulting. I changed my Tundra's oil at 3,000 miles in August and will change again sometime in the spring. After that I may do once a year oil changes as I only expect to drive my truck 6,000 to 8,000 miles per year.

 

You are correct, it depends on how "break-in" is defined.

Old school engine "break-in" consisted of a deliberate plan of constantly increasing and decreasing vehicle speed from the slowest safe speed on highways up to 60-70 mph for the first few hundred miles. Purists have a parallel "break-in" plan for "bedding the brakes" on performance cars that most manufacturers don't even suggest. Toyota's "break-in" recommendations in the Owner Manual, basically suggesting to "take it easy for the first thousand miles", bears no resemblance to what was accepted as necessary in the mid-twentieth century.



Have you ever witnessed the breaking-in of a racing engine? On the test dyno, they essentially start it up, give it a few minutes to wear in the valve train, then they run it right up to max rpm to find out the horsepower. Granted, race engines don't have to last as long as your truck's engine, but it will have to survive for a few hours of extreme distress.

 

Changed my oil @ 500 kms , filter had trapped a lot of metallic "break in" pieces , I was happy to get that out of my engine , Towed my 6000 lb travel trailer @ 1000 kms , Then changed the oil again @ 3000 kms, , Since then I change the oil every 7000 kms ( 5000 miles ) Oil is cheap , I figured Id treat the engine as best as I could . Its all personal preference . Now my 2019 has 42000 kms , engine oil is barely dark when I change it