What happens if you do not change oil/filter on a LS430 when you should?

mikaelse · August 26, 2021

Reason for the question is that I am contemplating taking a roadtrip to look at a LS430 that the owner says that he has not serviced much last 10 years. Filter a few times and motoroil once. He has probably driven 80k miles over ten years. Now at 130k total. He says motor sounds ok and does not use any oil really.
He has kept paint and interior in good shape .

What happens to a sevice neglected LS430 that may have done 40k miles and 5 years on same oil twice?. Cool climate and driven year round.
The car is priced reasonably low and buyers seem to hesitate as you may expect.
Is this engine bound for the scrapyard soon or could it be ok?
Are there any LS430 specific tell tale signs too look for. Valve tick, blue smoke ?

Is it worth the trip?

Bykfixer · August 26, 2021

A long time ago my company issued me a Chevy S10 that had 6,000 miles on it. It used 2-3 quarts in a 3 hour journey when driving on the interstate due to rings not seating properly. I needed that truck to get to and from my home each weekend.

I bought the cheapest 10w50 high mileage oil Wal Mart sold at the time by the case. After a few weeks it used less and less oil. I did not change the oil or filter for 50,000 miles. At around 45,000 it had stopped using any oil. At 125,000 miles it ran like new and did not burn a drop of oil.

I would never reccomend anybody ever do that but my point is the Toyota made engine is probably fine. But if you choose to buy it use a synthetic blend of high mileage oil, not pure synthetic. The high mileage oil has additives that help prevent worn out piston rings and valve seals from leaking.

Me, personally I'd pass on that one. Bottom line here; if homey didn't even change the engine oil, he probably didn't maintain brakes, change coolant, and certainly not the timing belt.

Last thing you want is a great looking car all broken down in your driveway.

To add: the reason oil manufacturers reccomend mileage or time intervals is not to sell more oil. The interval is reccomended due to condensation building up in the crank case from heating and cooling. If dude drove it 5 days a week that would mean a heating and cooling engine at least twice each day. Many do not realize this but you can check the oil filler cap for a milky substance. If that is present the crank case has had water in it for a while. Smell the dipstick for gasoline smell to determine if that has damaged piston rings and intake valves.

Done.