Engine sounds different after first oil change

So I changed my oil for the first time at 2000 miles. Used Toyota 0W-20 and a Toyota filter. Installed fumoto valve while I was at it. No leaks, level looks good. Now, especially at cold start, the engine sounds quite a bit different than it did before the change. I’m not super concerned but I AM curious- had this been anyone else’s experience with this engine? Always fun getting used to the behavior of a new vehicle…

 

Different in what way?

 

Oil can affect the clappiness of the valve train in ANY car. You have ZERO to worry about. Just getting started in your case, on the mileage aspect.

 

Just a little more clackity. Coming from my Tacoma, where each oil change made the engine sound smoother and quieter, this change was a little surprise.

 

On a related note, as I go back over everything I did, I’m not sure I jammed my filter down onto the housing center piece like the guys in the YouTube videos- I just pushed it down gently. Would anything weird happen with the filter if it wasn’t fully seated on the housing before reinstalling? Doesn’t it press up against something inside? (TRD filter has a seal at the top, which makes me think this is the case)

 

They are noisy AF. Maybe you're just paying closer attention.

Otherwise, I'd double check the level, and not worry about it. These things make a tractor seem quiet.

 

Tightening the housing will seat the element if it's not quite seated.

 

Every time I see your screen name I see "Thatbadassguy" for some reason lol

 

For the longest time I thought he was just an ass man.. Then he made a post about playing the bass and I realized what his username actually was.

 

I assumed he's a fisherman. 0 for 2.

 

My buddies on Tacomaworld call me the Assman, so this seems pretty flattering by comparison.

 

Actually, it's both.








Edit:. Sorry for the off topic post OP

 

I see think the same every time I see that name . Too bad we’re not closer I could take you fishing for walleye and teach me some bass fishing tricks.

Back on topic of oil change I need to do on my 21 ORP sitting at 650 miles since last summer.

 

I used that handle on a local news website many years ago. Nobody got the Seinfeld reference.

 

My engine seems more quiet after my recent oil change. What came out looked much cheaper and darker than what went back in - Toyota 0-20 full synthetic.

YMMV

 

Factory fills come with the good stuff. Mazda moly oil is very highly regarded in their vehicles. Toyota isn’t shipping out new vehicles with crap oil.

 

On this topic (at the risk of starting a whole new crap storm of a thread lol) does anyone have solid knowledge about whether the factory fill differs in any way from what Toyota recommends for regular oil changes?

I've assumed that car makers long ago stopped putting special oils or additives in at the factory, cause they're just not needed on modern engines. But I do wonder about this regarding the wisdom of changing out the factory oil early, before the first recommended interval.

I've almost always changed the oil on my new cars after the first 1200 miles or so. But in my 4R I went to 5K and have been doing 5K ever since.

 

The whole "break in" sequence us old timers are familiar with is related to iron piston rings and heavy cross hatch honing in the cylinders. Modern engines use lower tension Moly rings (or something similar) and a much milder (both in depth and angle) cross hatch pattern in the cylinders. For all I know Toyota may even be using Nicasil coated cylinders which requires zero break in. All of that is to say, there is very little "break in" involved in new engines, unlike what we grew up with.

And to open another can of worms, I don't think a lot of people understand what "break in" means. It's only related to seating the rings, nothing else. Not the bearings, not the valves, or any other theories out there. It's seating the rings. And the only way you do that is by *loading* the rings against the cylinder walls by putting a load on the engine. That means the whole "baby the engine for 2,000 miles" myth is about the worst thing you can do.

Read or watch anything from high end engine builders and you'll see what I'm talking about. A brand new mega buck race car engine is broken in by loading the shit out of it on the dyno and making pull after pull. Once that's done and the rings are seated, change the oil and it's time to tune.

For cred, I have a super comp dragster that my buddy and I have raced for years; several decades of modifying personal street cars (currently a GT500); and believe it or not, I drag race a Yamaha jetski. Don't laugh - 4 cylinder, 4 stroke, fuel injected, supercharged and intercooled. I run 16 lbs of boost and tune with a laptop. You can burn as much money on a ski as you can on a car, believe me.

 

Change your oil at 10,000 miles unless an oil analysis says different.

 

Similar for airplane engines. Run them at full power for the first 50 hours.

 

It's sounds funny, but here's how I broke in the most recent engine for my ski for competition purposes. I put 300 pounds of weight into one of those floating tubes, or whatever you call them, that are used to tow kids around. After warming it up, it spent an hour doing high-load 0-50 mph runs on a nearby lake to seat the rings. It looked crazy doing that with nobody in the floatie thing, but the results were worth it. Best engine to date.

 

I waited until 500 miles then floored it and did whatever I wished, and changed the oil at 1000 miles.

 

To your point, I’ve always followed the break in recommendation to not drive for extended periods at the same speed, but have also been sure to put the engine under load, just for the reason you mention — to seat the rings. I rev up and down to put it under load and create back pressure. In both auto and manual transmission cars I’ll downshift to create engine braking.

While I couldn’t prove this is the best method, I’ve had a number of new cars that consumed no oil between changes despite being known for oil consumption problems. Eg BMWs and VWs. BMW motors are also known for developing valve problems if you only baby them. So on all my new cars I make sure to wind them out from time to time. Im not brutal, but I will take them to redline.

 

Or you tow.
Or you off road.
Or you do a lot of stop and go driving.
Or you carry heavy loads.
Or you drive at high speeds for extended periods.
Or you drive in extreme temperatures.

These are all reasons for more frequent oil changes, per Toyota and other manufacturers. Toyota specifically recommends 5k mile intervals in these kinds of situations. And the manufacturers have reasons to stretch the intervals even if that’s not best for you as a consumer.

Not everyone is gonna collect and mail oil for analysis and adjust their maintenance habits each time according to the results. For many people, especially those with the above kinds of use cases, it’s just simpler and safer to do it every 5k. Easy to keep track of that.

 

I agree with my esteemed colleague from Wisconsin, Mr. Derrière

I’ve also noticed the engine can be noisier some days more than others. Sometime clappier, sometimes refined. Somedays it has the faint supercharger whine, other days not. Weird, cant think of a good reason that would be. Never noticed any difference in performance though.

 

It's true. For the longest time. I was absolutely convinced that there was something wrong with my engine internally. Even now, I always make sure the radio is up so I never have to hear it.

 

I don’t dislike the sound of our 4.0, but it’s not really pleasing either. Someone on here once said it sounds like marbles in a washing machine or clothes dryer. It’s a pretty apt description.

The exhaust note at idle is decent.

 

It's just weird. I know it's fine, but I sometimes really miss my 2UZ that you could barely hear at idle.

Lol! Sometimes I find the noise soothing in a peculiar way. Other times, I'm like why the f*** does this thing have to be so God damn noisy?!

 

Guess it takes getting used to. Sounds like driving a manual transmission and the rookie driver fails to clutch down and change gears on time. My two cents.

 

I like to say it sounds like ball bearings in a ninja blender, I don't know if that's what you're thinking of lol.