Changed the Oil and the Usual Oil question (Synthetic) Revisited

First Oil Change for the Scion (By me, anyway)

Whoever did the last one used a Genuine Fram OF and tightened it to the
max! I did MUCH better; I used a Bosch! (Hey...dealers are closed on
Sundays!)

At any rate, in the Scion (if you look through the Tips and Easter Eggs I
posted) you can set the interval for the "Maintenance" light to start
flashing to tell you when to change the oil again. I set the reminder to,
I think (if I read it correctly) 3000 miles. It is set at the factory to
start flashing at 4,500 miles as a 'Reminder', and stays steady at 5,000,
the factory recommendation for oil changes.

So, I was wondering. If I set it to 4,000 miles, it should start flashing
at 3,500, which I think would be a good interval to change the oil. I
believe it had Synthetic in it before (the oil was a reddish brown, and
not black) and I put in Castrol Syntech at the recommended weight.

Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
recommends 5,000 miles, eh?

"Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
news:BTMWg.1872$HP.1623@trndny08...[color=blue]
> First Oil Change for the Scion (By me, anyway)
>
> Whoever did the last one used a Genuine Fram OF and tightened it to the
> max! I did MUCH better; I used a Bosch! (Hey...dealers are closed on
> Sundays!)
>
> At any rate, in the Scion (if you look through the Tips and Easter Eggs I
> posted) you can set the interval for the "Maintenance" light to start
> flashing to tell you when to change the oil again. I set the reminder to,
> I think (if I read it correctly) 3000 miles. It is set at the factory to
> start flashing at 4,500 miles as a 'Reminder', and stays steady at 5,000,
> the factory recommendation for oil changes.
>
> So, I was wondering. If I set it to 4,000 miles, it should start flashing
> at 3,500, which I think would be a good interval to change the oil. I
> believe it had Synthetic in it before (the oil was a reddish brown, and
> not black) and I put in Castrol Syntech at the recommended weight.
>
> Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
> think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
> recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]

500 miles, whether conventional or synthetic, will not make a difference.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:04:33 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]

With short intervals like this between changes, and with normal
driving conditions, I don't think you'll see any difference other than
price between "dino" oil and "synthetic" oil.

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:24:37 -0500, Ray O wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
> news:BTMWg.1872$HP.1623@trndny08...[color=green]
>> First Oil Change for the Scion (By me, anyway)
>>
>> Whoever did the last one used a Genuine Fram OF and tightened it to the
>> max! I did MUCH better; I used a Bosch! (Hey...dealers are closed on
>> Sundays!)
>>
>> At any rate, in the Scion (if you look through the Tips and Easter Eggs I
>> posted) you can set the interval for the "Maintenance" light to start
>> flashing to tell you when to change the oil again. I set the reminder to,
>> I think (if I read it correctly) 3000 miles. It is set at the factory to
>> start flashing at 4,500 miles as a 'Reminder', and stays steady at 5,000,
>> the factory recommendation for oil changes.
>>
>> So, I was wondering. If I set it to 4,000 miles, it should start flashing
>> at 3,500, which I think would be a good interval to change the oil. I
>> believe it had Synthetic in it before (the oil was a reddish brown, and
>> not black) and I put in Castrol Syntech at the recommended weight.
>>
>> Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>> think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>> recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>
> 500 miles, whether conventional or synthetic, will not make a difference.[/color]


Yeah, I know. I've had the 3,000 mile engrained in me since I was 17, but
then again, I have gone 4,000, 5,000 even 7,000 miles between changes
(Toyota's Recommndation USED to be 7,500 miles!) and still managed to rack
up over 250,000 on two Toyotas, and over 170,000 miles on another.

But, I'm suggesting diong this as de rigeur...

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:52:10 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>
>Yeah, I know. I've had the 3,000 mile engrained in me since I was 17, but
>then again, I have gone 4,000, 5,000 even 7,000 miles between changes
>(Toyota's Recommndation USED to be 7,500 miles!) and still managed to rack
>up over 250,000 on two Toyotas, and over 170,000 miles on another.
>
>But, I'm suggesting diong this as de rigeur...[/color]

I see that even Click and Clack are now recommending 5000 miles.

[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3076-2005Mar26.html[/url]

Stuart Krivis wrote:[color=blue]
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:52:10 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>>
>> Yeah, I know. I've had the 3,000 mile engrained in me since I was
>> 17, but then again, I have gone 4,000, 5,000 even 7,000 miles
>> between changes (Toyota's Recommndation USED to be 7,500 miles!) and
>> still managed to rack up over 250,000 on two Toyotas, and over
>> 170,000 miles on another.
>>
>> But, I'm suggesting diong this as de rigeur...[/color]
>
> I see that even Click and Clack are now recommending 5000 miles.
>
> [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3076-2005Mar26.html[/url][/color]

How long before they realise that the rest of the World are at 15000 miles
and are now moving rapidly to 20,000 and even 30,000 mile oil change
intervals.
Toyota has been at 10,000 miles here for around 10 years now. The trend
setters are GM/Vauxhall/Opel, VAG [volkswagonaudigroup] Mercedes and BMW.
All others are following as their technology allows.
I don't know of anyone that changes their oil at less than 5000 miles or one
year. Even back in the early 1980's VW/Audi had 10,000 mile intervals while
others had 12000 mile/1 year intervals, all on mineral oil. No problem.

Huw

Stuart Krivis wrote:[color=blue]
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:04:33 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>[color=green]
> >
> >Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
> >think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
> >recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>
> With short intervals like this between changes, and with normal
> driving conditions, I don't think you'll see any difference other than
> price between "dino" oil and "synthetic" oil.[/color]


I tend to agree on this one. Unless youre thrashing the crackers off
your car or do extended heavy duty work, id rather use dino.

Huw wrote:[color=blue]
> How long before they realise that the rest of the World are at 15000 miles
> and are now moving rapidly to 20,000 and even 30,000 mile oil change
> intervals.
> Toyota has been at 10,000 miles here for around 10 years now. The trend
> setters are GM/Vauxhall/Opel, VAG [volkswagonaudigroup] Mercedes and BMW.
> All others are following as their technology allows.
> I don't know of anyone that changes their oil at less than 5000 miles or one
> year. Even back in the early 1980's VW/Audi had 10,000 mile intervals while
> others had 12000 mile/1 year intervals, all on mineral oil. No problem.
>
> Huw[/color]

Dont think ive seen a car with >12K mile intervals, but then i dont
hang around new models. New stuff must be improving a lot to be able to
stop the contamination of oil by combustion byproducts, especially with
the recirculating of exhaust gas being so commonplace now.

The interval depends on the car and the use. Mine, as standard, has a
Toyota specified 2750 mile interval if used harshly, 5K if not.

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 20:33:06 +0100, "Huw"
<hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Stuart Krivis wrote:[color=green]
>> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:52:10 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>
>>>
>>> Yeah, I know. I've had the 3,000 mile engrained in me since I was
>>> 17, but then again, I have gone 4,000, 5,000 even 7,000 miles
>>> between changes (Toyota's Recommndation USED to be 7,500 miles!) and
>>> still managed to rack up over 250,000 on two Toyotas, and over
>>> 170,000 miles on another.
>>>
>>> But, I'm suggesting diong this as de rigeur...[/color]
>>
>> I see that even Click and Clack are now recommending 5000 miles.
>>
>> [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3076-2005Mar26.html[/url][/color]
>
>How long before they realise that the rest of the World are at 15000 miles
>and are now moving rapidly to 20,000 and even 30,000 mile oil change
>intervals.
>Toyota has been at 10,000 miles here for around 10 years now. The trend[/color]

As they say in the article, usage patterns in the US are different, so
that may account for some of the difference. They also note that 7500
miles is Toyota's recommendation, but they err on the conservative
side and say 5000.

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:29:12 -0400, Stuart Krivis wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:04:33 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>>Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>>think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>>recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>
> With short intervals like this between changes, and with normal
> driving conditions, I don't think you'll see any difference other than
> price between "dino" oil and "synthetic" oil.[/color]


That's why I want to shove an extra 500 miles between changes! ;)

"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:e18cf$452bbe80$44a4a10d$21536@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue]
>
> "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
> news:BTMWg.1872$HP.1623@trndny08...[color=green]
>> First Oil Change for the Scion (By me, anyway)
>>
>> Whoever did the last one used a Genuine Fram OF and tightened it to the
>> max! I did MUCH better; I used a Bosch! (Hey...dealers are closed on
>> Sundays!)
>>
>> At any rate, in the Scion (if you look through the Tips and Easter Eggs I
>> posted) you can set the interval for the "Maintenance" light to start
>> flashing to tell you when to change the oil again. I set the reminder to,
>> I think (if I read it correctly) 3000 miles. It is set at the factory to
>> start flashing at 4,500 miles as a 'Reminder', and stays steady at 5,000,
>> the factory recommendation for oil changes.
>>
>> So, I was wondering. If I set it to 4,000 miles, it should start flashing
>> at 3,500, which I think would be a good interval to change the oil. I
>> believe it had Synthetic in it before (the oil was a reddish brown, and
>> not black) and I put in Castrol Syntech at the recommended weight.
>>
>> Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>> think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>> recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>
> 500 miles, whether conventional or synthetic, will not make a difference.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/color]
This reminds me of an ancient story my late father used to tell. He worked
at
radio station WOC in Davenport, Iowa in the mid-1920s and there was a
fellow on the staff named Peter MacArthur, who walked with crutches.
He checked his oil and found it a quart low, so he dutifully put in a quart
(all of 30 or 35c
at the time) and immediately noticed that it had been 1020 miles since his
last oil change.
(for you younger readers, 1000 miles was the accepted time between changes,
and there
were likely no oil filters in those days of yore).
So poor Pete went directly to the gas station and had an oil change,
draining out and
throwing away his precious new quart of oil.

Now for the end of the story. One day Peter Macarthur noticed a job
applicant in
the office, and the young fellow was told there were no vacancies on the
staff, so he
left. Peter (on his crutches) went down the hall to the elevator where the
young man
was still waiting for the lift. He mentioned to him that while WOC had no
openings,
he had heard there was a spot open for a sportscaster on a Des Moines
station.
The young fellow thanked Pete and went on his way. Several days later, he
called
Pete to thank him again, saying he'd indeed gotten the job in Des Moines,
and would
be eternally grateful.
The young man was Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, and from then till the end of
Pete's life
he sent him a Christmas card each year with his thanks. And after Pete
died, Reagan sent
his widow a card each year as well. Whatever you may think of Reagan, he
did remember
kindnesses....forever.

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:26:20 -0700, mack wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
> news:e18cf$452bbe80$44a4a10d$21536@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=green]
>>
>> "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
>> news:BTMWg.1872$HP.1623@trndny08...[color=darkred]
>>> First Oil Change for the Scion (By me, anyway)
>>>
>>> Whoever did the last one used a Genuine Fram OF and tightened it to the
>>> max! I did MUCH better; I used a Bosch! (Hey...dealers are closed on
>>> Sundays!)
>>>
>>> At any rate, in the Scion (if you look through the Tips and Easter Eggs I
>>> posted) you can set the interval for the "Maintenance" light to start
>>> flashing to tell you when to change the oil again. I set the reminder to,
>>> I think (if I read it correctly) 3000 miles. It is set at the factory to
>>> start flashing at 4,500 miles as a 'Reminder', and stays steady at 5,000,
>>> the factory recommendation for oil changes.
>>>
>>> So, I was wondering. If I set it to 4,000 miles, it should start flashing
>>> at 3,500, which I think would be a good interval to change the oil. I
>>> believe it had Synthetic in it before (the oil was a reddish brown, and
>>> not black) and I put in Castrol Syntech at the recommended weight.
>>>
>>> Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>>> think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>>> recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>>
>> 500 miles, whether conventional or synthetic, will not make a difference.
>> --
>>
>> Ray O
>> (correct punctuation to reply)
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/color]
> This reminds me of an ancient story my late father used to tell. He worked
> at
> radio station WOC in Davenport, Iowa in the mid-1920s and there was a
> fellow on the staff named Peter MacArthur, who walked with crutches.
> He checked his oil and found it a quart low, so he dutifully put in a quart
> (all of 30 or 35c
> at the time) and immediately noticed that it had been 1020 miles since his
> last oil change.
> (for you younger readers, 1000 miles was the accepted time between changes,
> and there
> were likely no oil filters in those days of yore).
> So poor Pete went directly to the gas station and had an oil change,
> draining out and
> throwing away his precious new quart of oil.
>
> Now for the end of the story. One day Peter Macarthur noticed a job
> applicant in
> the office, and the young fellow was told there were no vacancies on the
> staff, so he
> left. Peter (on his crutches) went down the hall to the elevator where the
> young man
> was still waiting for the lift. He mentioned to him that while WOC had no
> openings,
> he had heard there was a spot open for a sportscaster on a Des Moines
> station.
> The young fellow thanked Pete and went on his way. Several days later, he
> called
> Pete to thank him again, saying he'd indeed gotten the job in Des Moines,
> and would
> be eternally grateful.
> The young man was Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, and from then till the end of
> Pete's life
> he sent him a Christmas card each year with his thanks. And after Pete
> died, Reagan sent
> his widow a card each year as well. Whatever you may think of Reagan, he
> did remember
> kindnesses....forever.[/color]


Cool, Mac! Thanks!

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:52:07 -0700, Coyoteboy wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> Stuart Krivis wrote:[color=green]
>> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 13:04:33 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>> >
>> >Since synthetic is supposed to be SO much better than Dino oil, I don't
>> >think going 500 over 3K is going to do too much damage, esp when Toyota
>> >recommends 5,000 miles, eh?[/color]
>>
>> With short intervals like this between changes, and with normal
>> driving conditions, I don't think you'll see any difference other than
>> price between "dino" oil and "synthetic" oil.[/color]
>
>
> I tend to agree on this one. Unless youre thrashing the crackers off
> your car or do extended heavy duty work, id rather use dino.[/color]


It didn't look like Dino oil when I drained it.

Of course, I ahd already purchased the Castrol Syntec anyway. I was
betting it was already on Synthetic, and figured, since it's the first
"new" car I've had in almost 20 years, it would be a good car to use
synthetic in!

On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:39:53 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>>
>> I tend to agree on this one. Unless youre thrashing the crackers off
>> your car or do extended heavy duty work, id rather use dino.[/color]
>
>
>It didn't look like Dino oil when I drained it.[/color]

How can you tell from the way it looks?

On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:42:43 -0400, Stuart Krivis wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:39:53 GMT, Hachiroku <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote:
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>
>>>
>>> I tend to agree on this one. Unless youre thrashing the crackers off
>>> your car or do extended heavy duty work, id rather use dino.[/color]
>>
>>
>>It didn't look like Dino oil when I drained it.[/color]
>
> How can you tell from the way it looks?[/color]

Instead of being a Golden *BLACK! ;), it was a Reddish brown, like bad
Tranny fluid.