If the dip stick shows full then I'd leave it.

 

Nope, as long as it’s between the dots you’re good.

 

When did you check the oil level?? After the change, or the day after??
ALways check the oil level after driving the car a bit (then letting it sit a bit, too).
Toyota rarely gives improper information.

 

Normally, the distance between the dots is 1 Qt, or maybe 1 L. So if it is "between" the dots but on the low side that extra 0.8 qt could bring it to the full mark. I haven't changed mine yet so I can't say with certainty.

 

If it is in the middle of the lines you are fine, but always check after sitting for a while in a level surface.


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5.8 qts

 

Do you have slight grade where you measuring?
5.8qt IMO is pretty small sump for 3.5 ltr. I think Toyota does it to warm up oil to operating temperature as fast as possible and with that lower consumption. I would personally keep it at MAX all the time.


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When you change oil and filter the filter will hold some oil in it. So 5.8 quarts is probably correct. If you add just 5 quarts, then run the engine for a minute or two the filter will fill up. Check the oil a few minutes later and the level may be below full.

 

This is what I do, I add most but not all of the oil, plenty to be safe to start/run and then check it again, some times 20-30 min later or the next day. After a fresh change, my goal is as close to the top dot without being over.

 

Yes, 5.8 is the correct amount as others have said it will being the oil up to the correct full level.
I’ve changed my oil and filter about 17-18 times since I bought my Highlander and the dealer stopped doing the free oil changes.
The more oil in the engine (as long as you don’t over fill it) is a good thing for the engine.
My other car has a 4.4 liter V8 and takes 8 quarts!

 

I'd go by at max 1 inch over max. Or rather, my car takes 4.8 qt. As long as I am NOT using an extra oil bottle I am okay.

 

If you have a ~6 quart capacity and you only need ~5 quarts to fill it fully, YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

As always, and yes for most its beyond rocket science, the amount of oil you need depends on how much you drain out, and/or how you use the dipstick.

Checking the oil level is in the owners manual. Read and follow the procedure in your owners manual.

 

I have had my 2018 Highlander for not very long but I have done two oil changes. Both oil changes I changed the filter with oil change. In both cases when I added 5 quarts of oil after the oil change and the oil level was fine. I say it was fine because the oil level was between the two dots on the dipstick.

The owner's manual says to add 5.8 quarts when you change the oil and the filter change. Yet I only added 5 quarts and am still between the dots on the dipstick. Do I need to add that extra 0.8 quarts? Any information would be appreciated.

Question: Did you drive you HL on to a set of ramps (front wheels only) for the oil change or just changed the oil &filter with your HL parked on the flate surface?
If you changed the engine oil with your HL parked on a flate surface, you may not have drained all the old oil...

 

Why not buy enough oil to properly fill it to the full mark? If you had to buy air for your tires would you only fill them almost to the proper pressure to be penny wise and pound foolish?

You can either buy one quart container and reuse it and just buy 5quart or 6 quart jugs in bulk so your will have enough oil. Good thing you do not own a Cadillac or a Mercedes or a Diesel. 5.8 quarts is nothing. The old Tacoma 2.7 3RZFE was just under 7 quarts if I remember right.

Your shorting the engine by almost a full quart. So your not even starting with the actual volume of oil Toyota says they designed the vehicle to have new at each change. I understand that is just a recommendation but it is not some random thing.

So as you drive it your starting with 1 less quart at each oil change. As it dumps blow by from combustion into the oil being down 1 quart from the start means that your concentration of contaminates will automatically be higher than normal before you even have fuel dilution or oil consumption added to the problem. Your rate of depletion of additives and TBN and contamination are all amplified as the volume of oil is lowered. This is especialy true as oil change intervals are pushed out longer and longer that is why the North Star engines had what 11+ quart sumps. A Cummins in a Dodge 1 Ton is around 4 gallons of oil if I remember correctly and those are between 5.9 and 6.7 liter engines.

I understand that it is not convenient and that oil by the individual quart is more expensive than by the 5 quart or 6 quart jugs so just by more than 1 jug at a time. Most oil companies will tell you that oil is functionally fine to sit for 2 years on the shelf before you use it. I have used oil much older than that and I just make sure I shake it up well before use.

I am sure someone could do the math to tell you at what point your shorting the engine by 1 quart of oil as a routine would cause prematurely wear with your usage with the right data but that guy is not me! LOL So it is the classic question of do you want to drive it for 18+ years with no issues or do you want to drive it for 2-3 years and flip it and make it someone else problem?

If I drained a quart of your blood out and made sure to keep draining routinely so you were always 1 quart of blood lower than ideal I guarantee your body would suffer for it in short order and in just a few years a lot of diseases would develop in your body and your body has the ability to heal itself an engine is not self healing.

So no your not going to cause catastrophic engine failure but if given enough time this practice would produce more heat, more deposits, more wear etc........

 

Unfortunately the OP has not responded to many member's questions above... We are not sure up to this point if the OP drained the old oil completely, even so, if he/she checked the oil level after the engine has been running for a few minutes or not (new oil has not circulated through the new oil filter)...

.......
If I drained a quart of your blood out and made sure to keep draining routinely so you were always 1 quart of blood lower than ideal I guarantee your body would suffer for it in short order and in just a few years a lot of diseases would develop in your body and your body has the ability to heal itself an engine is not self healing.

So no your not going to cause catastrophic engine failure but if given enough time this practice would produce more heat, more deposits, more wear etc........

Interesting analogy using human body & blood to engine & motor oil, on the 2nd day (draining a 2nd quart of blood) will put the OP in to hypoglycemic shock and organ damages

...... He would change the oil maybe 3 times over that 120K miles but he always kept them topped up with oil.

Likewise with MikeInNH, my one primary reason would never buy a used car is not knowing how it was treated by the previous owner(s) (without a thorough documentation on how it has been maintained, even that can still be iffy to how it has been driven --- i.e. been in an 007 stunt etc.)

 

I worked with a guy that had an uncle that would by Chevy full-size trucks with small block V8. He would drive them for 120K miles and then trade them in. Everyone was sludge up bad. He would change the oil maybe 3 times over that 120K miles but he always kept them topped up with oil.

 

A guy that works for me leases a new car every other year. He does ZERO MAINENANCE during that time period. This includes oil changes. Toward the end of his lease he's forced to add oil at least once a week due to excessive burning. He is one reason I'd never buy a used car off of lease.

 

IIRC my OM says it is 1.9 qts. between the dots. So when someone says their oil is between the dots, that is not a very precise statement.

 

The 2AZFE assuming it is level you can check the oil cold then start it and check it at idle and it will read the same. It only has 3psi of oil pressure at idle and is a low total volume of oil at idle as well. It has zero effect on oil level at idle.

Also on the 2AZFE and every other Toyota Engine I have owned or my parents have owned since 1975 the oil drained back down o the pan easily inside of a 1 minute or less. This assumes your engine is not sludge up and you have not modified it with oil restrictors for super high performance use where controlling the oil flow can build power. There are almost no modern applications that purposefully want to restrict oil draining from the head too quickly.

Usually on Toyota's starting with the 22RE I clearly remember that under the cam in the head their were little depressions like a bath tub under the cam lobs that never fully drained so that on startup the tip of the cam lobes all would dip in oil before they made it to the rocker arms. That said it had no effect on the totality of the head and drainage of the rest of the head. I can not remember if the 20R did this as well but I assume it did.

You would not believe on OHC engines just how much oil flows to the top of the engine. If it did not flow back fast you would empty the pan at high rpms and suck air into the system. Even on a modern pushrod engine the amount of oil pumped up to the top of the engine is massive. The idea of it taking a prolonged period of time for the oil to drain back is very out of date.

 

P.S. I have seen sludged up engines that had oil draining issues from the heads and it is not pretty what happens when you have all your oil in the head and none in the pan.

 

I have had my 2018 Highlander for not very long but I have done two oil changes. Both oil changes I changed the filter with oil change. In both cases when I added 5 quarts of oil after the oil change and the oil level was fine. I say it was fine because the oil level was between the two dots on the dipstick.

The owner's manual says to add 5.8 quarts when you change the oil and the filter change. Yet I only added 5 quarts and am still between the dots on the dipstick. Do I need to add that extra 0.8 quarts? Any information would be appreciated.

Don't get caught up in the capacity. Fill it until it is properly on the full mark and you are good. Sometime more or less will come out depending on temp and slope or time draining etc. Fill until it reads full but just be careful as new oil can be difficult to see on the dipstick sometimes and overfilling is worse than under-filling by .8qts.

 

I have had my 2018 Highlander for not very long but I have done two oil changes. Both oil changes I changed the filter with oil change. In both cases when I added 5 quarts of oil after the oil change and the oil level was fine. I say it was fine because the oil level was between the two dots on the dipstick. The owner's manual says to add 5.8 quarts when you change the oil and the filter change. Yet I only added 5 quarts and am still between the dots on the dipstick. Do I need to add that extra 0.8 quarts? Any information would be appreciated.

Between the dots is not full... In the middle is safe but it's better for the life of your engine to ALWAYS keep it as close to the full line as possible without going over it.🙂

 

This oil thread should die..
The manual says 5.8 quarts, not 5.0….RTFM.