I'm considering using one of the 15,000 mile oils on the market. Doesn't matter the brand to me. However, I don't understand the FFV requirement for oil changes every 5,000 miles. I assume the FFV blocks are the same as the non FFV and basically the fuel system is the primary difference. Maybe I'm wrong. I've read through many of the oil threads but didn't see a discussion about this one topic.
The owners manual even recommends every 2500 miles if running E85. I can understand that... but....
What if you don't run E85. Should you be afraid of using a 15,000 mile oil change with some of the oils rated for that interval? What could possibly be different about the FFV 5.7 that would require a 5,000 mile change interval regardless of oil?
I have a 2011 FFV and I'm running Amsoil XL 0W20. I plan on changing it at 6 months which should be about 5-6K miles. I believe Amsoil says its good for 10K miles, but I'm going to get an analysis done and see how it is holding up. I do about 2K-3K miles of heavy towing a year, but don't run E-85 ever.
I have a 2016 Platinum with FFV. I am a very low mileage driver traditionally, but the dealer has me on a 6 month or 5,000 mile schedule. My first "free" service was at 3,000 miles. It will be closer to 5,000 on the second change. That's what they call for, so that's the schedule I will run with. FYI, my wife is a very low mileage driver as well. We changed her 2001 Trans AM's oil once a year using Mobile 1 regardless of mileage. Now she has a Honda Accord V6 Touring and they said to only change the oil when the car tells us to. For warranty purposes, I am going to follow the dealer's guidance and see no reason to do differently. I had similar experience with my previous truck, a 2014 Silverado 5.3L SLT. They changed the oil every 6 months regardless of miles using 0W-20. I followed their guidance and used their recommended oils - Mobile 1 was on their list. This is one area where I figure, what's a few extra oil changes compared to the possible warranty impact of not following stated guidance, so I follow the Owners Manual or dealer guidance and make sure I have all of the paperwork.
This is one area where everyone has an opinion and this is mine...I am not an engineer and don't profess to know more than they do.
Amazon has the Mobile 1 15,000 mile for 28 something for 5 quarts. As cheap as my local Walmart. Amazon has the filter for 8 something on Prime. Got it all lined up to change. I'll probably try it out and see what the test comes back as.
I bought one of those TopSider oil vacuums. Might be easy to use with the 0-20 weight oil. They have them on sale at Northern right now.
If you turn over your vehicle every 50~100k on the clock, probably not a big deal.
If you're one of us that keeps their vehicles until you have a half million miles on the clock, then the way I look at it, oil changes are cheap. Replacement engines are not. Toyota has the engineers that built this engine, I figure they know best when it comes to the best time to change the oil.
Don't go by any number posted anywhere...even in your owners manual. Take a sample and send it to Blackstone Labs They will tell you if your interval is ok or if you can extend it. I'd first do it at 75% of the manufacturers interval for your vehicle and then adjust from there. Well worth the 35.00. I do one at every change just to see the trend of what's going on inside my engines.
You can do it in your driveway for about half that..
I've been changing just the oil every 5k, and the Oil and filter every 10k. doesn't take long at all.. takes longer for the oil to drain than anything else.
The manual is written broadly to apply to the masses. It doesn't know how you drive, how much humidity or dust is in your air or other variables that affect oil quality. Get an analysis. Blackstone Labs
I have a mity-vac unit at work. Works pretty well for small engines, actually gets about as much oil out as draining from the plug. Not sure how well it would do by going through the dipstick. Worth a try, especially if you pull the plug after to see how it does.
I did the oil change and used the TopSider. Took a while and three extra sessions of pumping but it only left about 1/4 to 1/2 quart in the pan. It might have been that I had a slight lean to the passenger side. I used the 15,000 mile mobile one. Seems like the engine runs a little smoother. Maybe its just me. I did end up breaking the stupid oil filter housing when I put it back on. It must have been cracked all ready. It took a lot of effort to get it off. I imagine I'll have to use a pipe wrench to get it off when I change it next time. Will go with the metal replacement like most people use. There wasn't an O ring on the little metal plug on the oil filter housing. I reckon the stupid stealership left it off. Did look like it had seeped just a little bit around it. I'll drive for a while and have the oil tested after 10,000 to see how it holds up.
Hmm, $50 for an oil change versus $10k+ for an engine. I think I'd rather change the oil more frequently and not have to worry about it. $10k will buy a lot of oil changes.
Its more like $70 for the oil and filter with Mobile One 15,000 mile oil. That's if I do it myself. I don't think I'm going to choose to do 15,000 every time. I'm just more interested in if it can be done safely. I'll probably settle for a 10,000 mile change.
I just can't grasp the 5,000 mile change for the FFV. I can't believe the motor areas that receive engine oil are any different in the FFV versus the non FFV. I believe the 5,000 mile recommendation for the FFV is based on running E15 or higher fuel. E85 comes with a 2500 mile recommendation.
Personally I do 10k, with Mobile 1 and the OEM filter. But I go very easy on my engine, the mileage is bad enough I don't drive it like a sports car, and do lots of long distance trips where I'm freeway cruising at the speed limit to get that many miles.
I think more important than a couple thousand miles is using synthetic over conventional. There are a lot of old wives tales out there but real world experiments it's easy to see the benefit of synthetic.
On a side note does anybody ever use any additives? Personally I think they're the devil but decades ago I remember infomercials for this stuff and they still exist so at least they haven't been sued out of existence. http://amzn.to/2fLqUJC
I think more important than a couple thousand miles is using synthetic over conventional. There are a lot of old wives tales out there but real world experiments it's easy to see the benefit of synthetic.
I have done 2 Blackstone UOA's after Summer seasons of towing. One almost 7,000miles and the other over 9,000 miles.
Both reports were golden, in fact I recall the TBN of the 7k mile run being 8.1, practically like new condition and tons of lift left.
15,000 mile OCI is easily obtainable.
I change twice a year regardless of miles in this vehicle for towing purposes, as I do not run the same grade. Winter is 0w-20 and Summer is 5w-30 or 0w-40.
I only change the filter once a year, which has not yet been more than 15,000 miles.
Everything I run is M1 from Amazon and/or Walmart.
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