Tech Exchange Article Disagreement

[97ToyCar]

3,000 Miles is your Father's Oil Change?

Have a 5S? You damn right it is. Or else.

How many 5SFE's got junked because they coked up and starved for oil? 7,500 mile changes? 12,000 mile changes? Not me. It's rare that mine sees over 3,500. I also use the YZZ1 filter for more filtration. That engine is uber reliable, and I have 189K to prove it. Yeah, lately I have replaced the rad, stat, fuel pump gasket (still smells like gas, hell if I can figure that one out), and tires, all normal wear items.

The oil gelling plagued both the 5S and the 6. I don't blame Toyota. I blame owner's who failed to change their oil in a timely fashion.

You can blame the EPA for their stupid CAFE standards, which pushed Toyota to make the engines run harder and hotter, which equals less emissions, and increased gas mileage.

Is it slow? Yup. So what? Especially with the A140E. I don't care.
Bet I'll run circles around you at the gas station. I regularly get 30-32+ on the interstate.

But I run about 55-60MPH. You can pass me, just don't hit me while you do it.

The 5S is tough. Just keep it cool and oiled, and they will soldier on for many, many hundereds of thousands of miles.

Just my 2 cents worth. I love the 5S. Wouldn't drive anything else.

[LostSouthernStar]

You sound exactly like me my friend! My 5s-fe had to be replaced, because as you said, the owners didnt take care with the maintenance on it. Now it has 11,000 miles(157,000 on car itself) and running like a brand new vehicle.


I drive 55-60 mph as well and average 32-36 on the highway, depending on my route. I love my Camry and wouldnt trade it for anything! Sure it may go from 0-60 in 9 seconds but so what! Fuel economy is more important then speed...if you want speed, go buy a Corvette.


Keep on movin' fellow Camry drivers!

[deadrx7conv]

Too funny. But articles like that are what many use as 'facts' for their vehicles, and then they wonder why they have to trade-in after making the last payment, and get stuck in the eternal lifelong car payment habit.

My 5sfe runs on synthetic and an oversized filter. The synthetic shouldn't have the temp issue that cooked and coked mineral oil that assisted the issues with the 2.2/3.0.

My last VC removal showed a spotless head at 140k miles. Not sure why it was a called a certified sludge monster with an extended sludge warranty. Didn't need it!

[fenixus]

I like it in here, "smells like TN spirit"

hell yeah, 5s-fe is a tank and very good for MPG .. unless you try racing it hehe (I don't except my avg speed on hwy is a tad higher, but trying to let the old habits go)

I'm with deadrx7conv on using synthetics on 5s-fe (and 1mz-fe for that matter) though. why change the oil every 3k miles / 3 months when running "ole good dino" if you can switch to synthetics and run longer intervals. I change oil once or twice a year. I also do the Used Oil Analysis every OCI to see if all is good (always has been so far).

[97ToyCar]

I would go with a synthetic, but I'm concerned that with 189K, that I'll have oil seal leaks. What about the blends? I prefer either Valvoline or Castrol.

My dad was a Quaker State man, but I stayed away from it because it was a paraffin based oil. I was told that was bad news back then. I'm sure things have changed by now.

[fenixus]

Castrol makes decent blends, however they can't seem to make a decent pure synthetic LOL

I think Walmart's SuperTech line carries a blend also. They make decent oils, forgot what plant was making them, bu it sounded all right.

I like Mobil1 when going with synthetics, reasonably priced, can get them everywhere and they have specs published on their website.

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by 97ToyCar

You can blame the EPA for their stupid CAFE standards, which pushed Toyota to make the engines run harder and hotter, which equals less emissions, and increased gas mileage.

Wrong!

"The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) are regulations in the United States, first enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1975,[1] and intended to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks (trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles) sold in the US in the wake of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpora...e_Fuel_Economy

[Chris Crash]

Damn how are you guys getting 32-33 MPG? My highest since the engine and trans swap is like 30...usually more around 27 or 28 though...

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Damn how are you guys getting 32-33 MPG? My highest since the engine and trans swap is like 30...usually more around 27 or 28 though...

That's my mileage as well. Better mileage with long flat runs in hot, less dense air, like in TX and FL.

[bdy0003]

Actually...

For us Gen 3 guys, we have the oil cooler (delete in Gen 4) so the book tells us to change every 7500 miles. Oil cooler will prevent the degradation of the base oil overtime. For me, even though it depends on driving conditions, etc... I would still change the oil at 5000 miles regardless of the generation (most don't race or climb hills with our 5S-FE). 3500 is overkill esp with the modernized additives package.

If I were you, I would either put on an oil cooler or switch to synthetic as others have mentioned. Make sure you change out the gaskets first esp if you live in a hot area or an area with a lot of plants that give off vapor or a depression in the earth...Can you tell I'm describing Los Angeles?

Originally Posted by 97ToyCar

3,000 Miles is your Father's Oil Change?

Have a 5S? You damn right it is. Or else.

How many 5SFE's got junked because they coked up and starved for oil? 7,500 mile changes? 12,000 mile changes? Not me. It's rare that mine sees over 3,500. I also use the YZZ1 filter for more filtration. That engine is uber reliable, and I have 189K to prove it. Yeah, lately I have replaced the rad, stat, fuel pump gasket (still smells like gas, hell if I can figure that one out), and tires, all normal wear items.

The oil gelling plagued both the 5S and the 6. I don't blame Toyota. I blame owner's who failed to change their oil in a timely fashion.

You can blame the EPA for their stupid CAFE standards, which pushed Toyota to make the engines run harder and hotter, which equals less emissions, and increased gas mileage.

Is it slow? Yup. So what? Especially with the A140E. I don't care.
Bet I'll run circles around you at the gas station. I regularly get 30-32+ on the interstate.

But I run about 55-60MPH. You can pass me, just don't hit me while you do it.

The 5S is tough. Just keep it cool and oiled, and they will soldier on for many, many hundereds of thousands of miles.

Just my 2 cents worth. I love the 5S. Wouldn't drive anything else.

[bdy0003]

I'm guessing most of these guys, including me, drive highway miles.

My commute is 35 miles one way, 5/95 city/highway and I avg 30-32. Normally its 27 for me.

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Damn how are you guys getting 32-33 MPG? My highest since the engine and trans swap is like 30...usually more around 27 or 28 though...

[fenixus]

my highest highway MPG is 28 ... but I usually maintain around 80mph ... so ... IF I drove AT speed limits (not in the left lane I guess) then MAYBE I should get over 30MPG during the long FLAT runs?
hard to compare NJ MPG with anything else, hills, traffic jams, fast left lane, etc.... won't even talk about the "city" driving in my area ... that yields 15-18MPG (lower one for V6 car, higher one for 4cyl) on short cold local runs and around 18-22 MPG on normal city distances with not too much traffic, lights, stop signs, hills, idiots, etc ... etc ...

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

Damn how are you guys getting 32-33 MPG? My highest since the engine and trans swap is like 30...usually more around 27 or 28 though...

[sam333]

Originally Posted by 97ToyCar

3,000 Miles is your Father's Oil Change?

Have a 5S? You damn right it is. Or else.

How many 5SFE's got junked because they coked up and starved for oil? 7,500 mile changes? 12,000 mile changes? Not me. It's rare that mine sees over 3,500. I also use the YZZ1 filter for more filtration. That engine is uber reliable, and I have 189K to prove it. Yeah, lately I have replaced the rad, stat, fuel pump gasket (still smells like gas, hell if I can figure that one out), and tires, all normal wear items.

The oil gelling plagued both the 5S and the 6. I don't blame Toyota. I blame owner's who failed to change their oil in a timely fashion.

You can blame the EPA for their stupid CAFE standards, which pushed Toyota to make the engines run harder and hotter, which equals less emissions, and increased gas mileage.

Is it slow? Yup. So what? Especially with the A140E. I don't care.
Bet I'll run circles around you at the gas station. I regularly get 30-32+ on the interstate.

But I run about 55-60MPH. You can pass me, just don't hit me while you do it.

The 5S is tough. Just keep it cool and oiled, and they will soldier on for many, many hundereds of thousands of miles.

Just my 2 cents worth. I love the 5S. Wouldn't drive anything else.

I agree, that article is Horse S%#T.

When reading posts, you can always tell who really works on cars!

[Jawadali]

How about a recommended time interval for changing the oil?

For example, my last oil change was at the end of August (at a Toyota dealer), and since then, I've only put on about 2000 miles on the car. By the time I get to ~3000 miles, It'll probably be the end of January or February, making it a 5-6 month interval (as opposed to the average of 3 months).

I think I remember reading in the service schedule that the oil should be changed every 6 months or 3000 miles (originally 5000, but revised down), whichever comes first. However, I'm not positive on this.

[uibalnme]

181k on my 5S, and I change my oil every 5k. Royal Purple 10w-30 in the engine, and Royal Purple Max ATF in the trans. I get 25 city, 35 hwy (70mph ave.), and ~28 mixed.