I got myself a 2010 TCH and the guy at the service department at the Toyota Dealership told me to use 0w oil exclusively and that I would only need a change every 10k miles.

Is this true?

 

Look down 5 posts below this one.

 

Yes it is.

I believe that Toyota changed this for most all of their vehicles in 2010.

 

Thanks for confirming

 

does this hold true for <2010s?

 

Larry,

I think that Toyota is in the process of issuing a TSB on the later model hybrids (and others) that if synthetic oil is used, the OCI can be extended to 7,500 miles. The 2010's and up are set to go to 10,000 mile OCI's. I have not seen that TSB yet but as soon as it shows up, I will post it here.

As for the 0W-20 going to 10,000 miles, 5W-20 will also as long as you run synthetic oil. They did that simply because 0W-20 only comes as a synthetic while 5W-20 can be had as a synthetic or as dino oil. As soon as they said synthetic 5W-20 was OK, someone would try to run regular 5W-20 oil in the engine and we would be back to square one again....

 

Are oil filters designed to last that long?

 

I would like to point out however, that for example my car uses about 1 quart of oil for every 5k miles driven, so on 5k schedule I didn't really have to add much oil between changes, with 7.5-10k schedule I would need to add at least one quart if not more, I would imagine others would face similar situation? I also just noticed couple days ago, looking at TCH technical documents, that our engine has direct oil injectors, pumping oil directly into cylinders to improve oil lubrication of pistons. To me that explains why my car burns oil. Now I'm not big expert, but this is first time I've seen direct oil injection into cylinders to improve lubrication. Is this something common, new, or just in TCH? I always thought oil was scavenged from the bottom and there was no active system to lubricate cylinders, but it seems TCH has one, unless I misread schematics. Anyone knows more about it?

 

Larry,

To answer your question first, yes oil filters are designed to last that long (in some cases to 20,000 miles or more). 40 years ago when I started working on cars the oils were not as good as we have now, lead was still in gas, engines had carburetors and CNC machine tolerances were unheard of. The internal tolerances allowed in engines were 2 to 3 times “looser” than we have now. This allowed the oil to get very “dirty” in 3,000 miles or so.

Times have changed, modern synthetic oils, improved filters, closer tolerances, clean burning fuels, computerized engine management systems and fuel injection have allowed the oil change intervals to exceed 20,000 in some cars (check out a European Volkswagen OCI some time…)

As long as you run a GOOD filter and oil, you will not have a problem. I happen to use Mobil 1 filters but others that are just as good (IMO) are Puralator Pure One, Wix, Napa Gold (re-badged Wix) K&N and Amsoil. I’m sure there are others out there as well.

 

Pete,

The direct oil injectors are on the bottom of the piston and serve several purposes. They help cool the piston and reduce wear on the cylinder walls. The engine does not “burn” any of that oil unless the piston’s wiper rings (oil control rings) are not working correctly.

Any engine will use a slight amount of oil as they are run. It is the owner’s responsibility to check the oil in the engine EVERY time they fill the tank at a minimum. I take time out every Saturday morning to do a fluid check; tire pressure check and general “look over” of each car to see if any safety issues have cropped up (busted shock/strut, serpentine belt that needs to be replaced, suspension still tight, etc.).

I do that not only to make sure MY family is safe but YOURS also. It scares the hell out of me knowing that people get in a car and drive not knowing if the tires are OK, the brakes work, the steering components are OK, etc. If you don’t know how to do those checks, read your manual or stop by your neighborhood mechanic and ask them to show you how.

The life you save might be my families or mine….
.