Synthetic Oil Change Help!

[AznMechanic]

I currently have a 2005 Rx330 with 42xxx mileage. I need to get an oil change done but I'm not sure if I should go to a shop or do it on my own.

I know how to do oil change on my car but I dont know if it will void my warranty.

How much do you think I should spend at a shop for synthetic oil change?

How often should I do oil change on my car with synthetic oil?

I dont know if I should use Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, Royal Purple or Pennzoil Platinum. :(

Also what kind of oil filter do you recommend?

Please help me decide!!!

Thanks! :D

[lenore]

Any of your oils listed will be fine. Use a Toyota filter, if not use Wix (also in Napa Gold). Your filters can be purchased through your local Toyota dealership or online thru many different sites. I tend to stay away from Fram filters, though in my past I used them all the time on other vehicles. Good luck and be assured if you do it yourself, at least you will know it is done right....

[AznMechanic]

I just bought the Castrol Edge and NAPA Gold oil filter so i dont have to worry about oil change for a whole year! =]

I will post how well the oil performs and if it actually lasts 15kmiles or a whole year!

We drive only 10k miles a year tho

[sali47]

I currently have a 2005 Rx330 with 42xxx mileage. I need to get an oil change done but I'm not sure if I should go to a shop or do it on my own.

I know how to do oil change on my car but I dont know if it will void my warranty.

How much do you think I should spend at a shop for synthetic oil change?

How often should I do oil change on my car with synthetic oil?

I dont know if I should use Mobil 1, Castrol Syntec, Royal Purple or Pennzoil Platinum. :(

Also what kind of oil filter do you recommend?

Please help me decide!!!

Thanks! :D

Hello!

I have an 06 gs 300, rwd, i have always bought the oil filter and air filter from lexus and used mobil 1 - 5w-30 (non synthetic oil) and taken my car to a reliable shop where the mech's are experienced.

My car doesn't require synthetic, however, if yours does, you can buy that oil from walmart and take it to a reliable place along with the proper filters from lexus.

Hope that helps

Ali

[SKperformance]

DIY oil changes will never void a warrenty , just keep all receipts from parts bought,.

[AznMechanic]

So yesterday we got an oil change.

I bought my own oil Castrol Edge 5W-30 oil and napa gold oil filter and went to monro so they can do my oil change.

They charged me $15 so i guess it was worth it rather than me doing it.

I was hoping that i dont have to change the oil for a full year because Castrol Edge guarantees 15000miles and napa gold oil filter can last 10000miles and we drive around 10000miles a year.

Please tell me if i can let it last for a year or should i change it after 5000miles?

Also my fluid lvl was low so i called lexus and schuduled a check up and i asked then what oil they use and they use CONVENTIONAL OIL and they charge you $100!!!!!!!

Also when i looked inside the engine with taking off the gasket where the oil goes in, it was black so i guess sludge formed cuz i was letting conventional last 5000miles every time! DUMB LEXUS!!!!!

They are trying to make your vehicle get engine sludge i swear!

Thats why im going to be using Pennzoil Platinum next year after the 10000miles on Castrol Edge cuz Pennzoil Platinum clears out you sludge at the first oil change XD

[lenore]

in your case I would use synthetic and never go past 4000 miles.....It just is not worth the savings in money....

[code58]

in your case I would use synthetic and never go past 4000 miles.....It just is not worth the savings in money....

Lenore- I just went out and bought stock in Castrol this morning after reading your post. LOL! I have changed my own oil my entire life (used to do it for a living in the dealership when I was a kid (teens)), because I don't, in general, trust anyone else. I have changed oil and filter every 3k mi. from day one and still do, though the quality of oil has improved dramatically. Still use conventional (Castrol) in the Camry and Motorcraft Semi-synthetic in the F-150, and have never had a trace of oil problems in all of those years. Having worked in Fleet Transportation the last 12 of those years where they had a standard practice of changing EVERYTHING in the Fleet at 5k mi. (I didn't work in the mechanical end, was just close to them), and seeing the occasional engine torn down, I can tell you, todays CONVENTIONAL oils do a great job even at 5k mi. I am a firm believer in preventative maintenance and synthetic oils but 4k mi. synthetic oil changes is overkill in my opinion (a true understatement) unless you only drive the vehicle 2 mi. to the market as a general practice. Your contributions are always tremendously appreciated Lenore, keep it up!

Regards, Roger

[code58]

in your case I would use synthetic and never go past 4000 miles.....It just is not worth the savings in money....

By the way Lenore, to a point, I do agree with your comment on savings. In time past, there simply wasn't a problem with sludge even with oils that didn't hold a candle to todays oils, except when they were abused. I did help an adjuster clean the oil return holes out on a Chevy 6 cyl. (sludge). This particular (major) insurance company at that time had a policy of keeping their cars 50k mi. and NEVER ONCE changing the oil !!! Just add!! Their bean counters figured out that it saved them a couple hundred dollars per car in that 50k mi. ! That's truly scary, but true!

[lenore]

I agree Code58, the oil is diffinetely better, However the conventional oils used may not hold up as well on this imze engine if the changes are done at 5k and their commute is only 3 or 4 miles. That is what happened to my poor neighbor....Had all changes done at Toyota, at 5k miles and he he massive sludge at 50k miles. We figured the poor engine passage flows and the failure of the engine to really bake out the moisture caused the sludge. It was terrible....My wife commutes everyday, however I have always used synthetic blend till 100k miles than switched to full synthetic...we are at 161k and knock on wood still running great. This 1mze engine seems to have some hot spots, particularily the firewall bank of cylinders, the passages on the cylinder head looked oK, but there were lots of ridges to stop oil from flowing back into the crankcase. I think commute, type of oil, and temperatures have a lot of effect on this engine. As always, I respect your opinion, and wish you the best of days....

[code58]

I agree Code58, the oil is diffinetely better, However the conventional oils used may not hold up as well on this imze engine if the changes are done at 5k and their commute is only 3 or 4 miles. That is what happened to my poor neighbor....Had all changes done at Toyota, at 5k miles and he he massive sludge at 50k miles. We figured the poor engine passage flows and the failure of the engine to really bake out the moisture caused the sludge. It was terrible....My wife commutes everyday, however I have always used synthetic blend till 100k miles than switched to full synthetic...we are at 161k and knock on wood still running great. This 1mze engine seems to have some hot spots, particularily the firewall bank of cylinders, the passages on the cylinder head looked oK, but there were lots of ridges to stop oil from flowing back into the crankcase. I think commute, type of oil, and temperatures have a lot of effect on this engine. As always, I respect your opinion, and wish you the best of days....

Being the curious type, I have still to decide in my own mind all of the why's of engine sludgeing. I can see why some do it and yet there are other times when the history would give no explanation for it. I have done some reading in the past, on Toyota sites, before T/L took responsibility for the problem and you could not make sense of why some did it at such low miles, and they had always been serviced at Toyota dealers. I am a firm believer in synthetic (though I've never used it), just that using top quality oil and filters and changing at 3k mi. (all my life), I didn't feel the need. I let my wife's Camry go to 4k one time because it was SO CLEAN at 3k, but have since gone back to 3k. I have no intention to extend beyond 3k. It is not as well known as the Toyota sludgeing but there are other cars in the last 10-15 yrs. that have also had unexplained sludgeing problems. I have not yet used the German Castrol (Syn.) but have used Castrol for MANY years and trust it.

I love to hear others opinions and experience (especially knowledgable and intelligent).

Have a great weekend Lenore-

Roger

[code58]

I agree Code58, the oil is diffinetely better, However the conventional oils used may not hold up as well on this imze engine if the changes are done at 5k and their commute is only 3 or 4 miles. That is what happened to my poor neighbor....Had all changes done at Toyota, at 5k miles and he he massive sludge at 50k miles. We figured the poor engine passage flows and the failure of the engine to really bake out the moisture caused the sludge. It was terrible....My wife commutes everyday, however I have always used synthetic blend till 100k miles than switched to full synthetic...we are at 161k and knock on wood still running great. This 1mze engine seems to have some hot spots, particularily the firewall bank of cylinders, the passages on the cylinder head looked oK, but there were lots of ridges to stop oil from flowing back into the crankcase. I think commute, type of oil, and temperatures have a lot of effect on this engine. As always, I respect your opinion, and wish you the best of days....

Being the curious type, I have still to decide in my own mind all of the why's of engine sludgeing. I can see why some do it and yet there are other times when the history would give no explanation for it. I have done some reading in the past, on Toyota sites, before T/L took responsibility for the problem and you could not make sense of why some did it at such low miles, and they had always been serviced at Toyota dealers. I am a firm believer in synthetic (though I've never used it), just that using top quality oil and filters and changing at 3k mi. (all my life), I didn't feel the need. I let my wife's Camry go to 4k one time because it was SO CLEAN at 3k, but have since gone back to 3k. I have no intention to extend beyond 3k. It is not as well known as the Toyota sludgeing but there are other cars in the last 10-15 yrs. that have also had unexplained sludgeing problems. I have not yet used the German Castrol (Syn.) but have used Castrol for MANY years and trust it.

I love to hear others opinions and experience (especially knowledgable and intelligent).

Have a great weekend Lenore-

Roger

[artbuc]

I have not yet used the German Castrol (Syn.) but have used Castrol for MANY years and trust it.

Have used nothing but Castrol for over 40 years. I once worked on a DuPont estate and saw cans of Castrol in the garage. I thought to myself "Wow, this Dupont guy is really, really rich because he uses foreign oil. No Quaker State for him!" Also, I thought about extending oil changes to 4-5k to save a few bucks, but I just can't do it. I am programmed to change at 3k and I guess it will always be that way.

[RX in NC]

I've used Valvoline conventional oil for more than 35 years in all of our vehicles. My normal oil & filter change interval is 5,000 miles in all of our vehicles although I have occasionally gone 6,000 miles when circumstances required it (having legs in a cast from football-related surgeries). We both do a lot of highway driving so I believe that a 5,000-mile change interval is just fine for us. Never had an engine failure in any of our vehicles, oil-related or otherwise....

Our recently-acquired 2005 Jaguar S-Type recommends Castrol 5W-30 conventional oil throughout the owners manual and even has the Castrol logo imprinted on its oil filler cap. Jaguar and Castrol apparently have an entwined relationship that goes back 60 years or more. So I'll stay with Castrol in the Jaguar and should be doing my first oil & filter change on it next weekend. Jaguar's service schedule shows a 10,000-mile oil & filter change interval even with conventional oil. So any owner is certainly within his/her rights to do that and will remain under warranty. But I'm going to stay with my tried-and-true interval of 5,000 miles. It's still relatively inexpensive when you do it yourself and why increase your risk of sludge by pushing conventional oil to 10,000 miles? No thanks....

[AznMechanic]

I've used Valvoline conventional oil for more than 35 years in all of our vehicles. My normal oil & filter change interval is 5,000 miles in all of our vehicles although I have occasionally gone 6,000 miles when circumstances required it (having legs in a cast from football-related surgeries). We both do a lot of highway driving so I believe that a 5,000-mile change interval is just fine for us. Never had an engine failure in any of our vehicles, oil-related or otherwise....

Our recently-acquired 2005 Jaguar S-Type recommends Castrol 5W-30 conventional oil throughout the owners manual and even has the Castrol logo imprinted on its oil filler cap. Jaguar and Castrol apparently have an entwined relationship that goes back 60 years or more. So I'll stay with Castrol in the Jaguar and should be doing my first oil & filter change on it next weekend. Jaguar's service schedule shows a 10,000-mile oil & filter change interval even with conventional oil. So any owner is certainly within his/her rights to do that and will remain under warranty. But I'm going to stay with my tried-and-true interval of 5,000 miles. It's still relatively inexpensive when you do it yourself and why increase your risk of sludge by pushing conventional oil to 10,000 miles? No thanks....

The Castrol Edge is full synthetic and it guarantees up to 15000miles or 1year and i used napa gold oil filter which is made by wix

so i was wondering if i should let it last a year or change it after certain miles