Oil Consumption In 400H Between Service Intervals

[katzjamr]

I have a 2006 400h with 77,000 miles maintained at the dealer using Castrol Synthetic blend that i provide. (that was my dealers standard oil from day one until they changed to a bulk oil). I provide the oil when they service the vehicle. For the last 10,000 miles when i check my oil at about 4,000 miles into an oil change i am half a quart down. I think most manufacturers would say this is normal, however if i keep this vehicle long term i am worried about it increasing consumption. Is anyone seeing oil consumption between service intervals? and if so how much. The car is garaged at night and there is no oil leaking or blue smoke. One of my concerns is that if this was not a synthetic blend i feel the consumption would be more like a quart every 4K. And yes i am having it serviced every 4 to 5k per the maintenance schedule. What is your experience with your hybrids regarding oil, thanks, dave

[RX400h]

Dave,

I change my oil every 5000 miles or so and have only recently started using synthetic 5W-30. I check the level every so often and have never seen it as being "low". However, no engine "consumes" no oil at all. Sometimes people will think this after checking the dip stick but in reality, there is always some moisture/particulates/fuel that add volume to the oil. My Corvette has been babied since new and yet it uses a quart of synthetic every 3000 miles or so. Your Lexus is obviously doing much better so why worry?

....my 2 cents.

[lenore]

You know i had a RX300 that used zero oil between changes. It had 188k miles when I sold it...My new to me RX400h I am not sure, I swear it has gone down just a little. I may change the pcv valve to make sure there is no back pressure when i do the my first oil change...The car is at 91k miles right now. I am going to put in 0-20 synthetic and I have no idea what is presently in the car...

[lenore]

My 400h seemed to use a little oil between changes, I changed the pcv valve last month and guess what, no oil change....The level is staying right up to the top...

[Jim Nazium]

Zero Oil Consumption on my end, my RX has 44,000 pampered miles. Personally, an engine that burns oil is not necessarily a bad thing. Better Lubrication LOL. (FWIW: Most Alfa Romeo's that had sweet DOHC All Aluminum Engines like sucking back 3/4 - 1+ quart(s) of oil in between each oil change, and it was completely within factory specs.. 8 litre oil pans if I remember correctly.)

Personally, I think the greater problem with the Hybrid Engine, is the constant cycling of the Gas Engine. Unless your oil CAN get hot enough, the oil gets contaminated with Fuel and as such, contaminates the oil quiet easily. Every time I change the engine oil, I find it smells like "Gas" much more than any other vehicle that I have owned.

I find the upside down oil filter to be a poor design choice. I like the fact that the dealer service maintains proof, without any doubt, as per the fact that the vehicle was serviced according to Lexus. Yes, I know it's a 100 dollar oil change. What I do at home, is once I get the vehicle back, I drive with the dealer oil for about a week. I then drain the oil at night, while the engine is still hot and let it sit with the oil drain plug removed overnight. The next day, I drop in synthetic oil. I usually buy synthetic oil that is on sale and stock up when necessary. I like to use the 0W/20 stuff, if I can find it, during the Cooler Days from Autumn - Winter - and through to the cooler days of Spring. I have a lot of trouble finding 0W/20 (in 4.4 or 5 litre jugs), so the next best choice (and it says so on the oil filler cap) is 5W/30. But, during the hotter months, I will swap the oil out for 5W/40 or 5W/50, especially when I have the vehicle all loaded up and travelling about in stop and go city traffic.

Cheers,

MadloR