Oil Change Interval: 5,000 miles or 10,000 miles?

New there would be haters in here

 

I'm not a hater at all. Just stating that you are full of poop.

Seriously, 5MPG more by running 91 octane. Thats over 100 more miles per tankful. No way possible.

 

There are haters everywhere. Water off the duck's back, man.

 

* Other (please explain in thread)

I go by the book. It just so happened that for the first 30k, when I got free changes through ToyotaCare (or whatever its called), I was all interstate miles with no towing, short drives, or offroading. Since then, it's changed every 5k because that's the dealer maintenance schedule. Works out because now I typically do shorter drives and some offroading (when I find the time).

I've got 65k trouble free miles and have never had to take it in for warranty repair. I've also done a fair amount of modifications, mostly added weight.

Maybe I just got a good vehicle. Maybe the engine blows at 70k because I did 10k changes for the first 30k miles.

I try to take care of it per the manual and suspect it will last a long time. After nearly 14 years of being in service, if people followed the manual and were having catastrophic failures, this forum would look like the jeep forum.

I say stop worrying so much

 

I will buy 91 octane for the next year if you agree to buy for the next year when I don't get an extra 5mpg

 

my wife has put premium in my 4runner multiple times because her dipshit dad always told her it was better.

no. It doesn’t change shit.

 

I'd have to go from 16.5 avg to 21.5 avg. That's as good or better than I was getting before putting on the rack, bumper/winch, sliders, skids, lift, larger tires, etc. Just a purely bullshit, or dumbshit claim

 

If running 91 could actually improve fuel economy by 5 MPG, Toyota would have made that the recommended octane. There's no way they would have passed up on being able to advertise 21/24 MPG.

You say up to 5 MPG, sometimes. Have you done back to back tanks full of regular vs mid-grade in the same circumstances and gotten 5MPG better with mid-grade? Or, are you just comparing your worst fuel economy with regular against your best with mid-grade?

 

Mid-grade is my favorite grade of gasoline: not good enough for cars that require premium, and no benefits for cars that can run regular. Completely useless.

 

I will be using any grade gasoline that contains no ethanol. The ethanol is much more damaging to your engine than the small change of octane.

 

Oops per-tank……

 

Lol cmon man

 

Frankly, I’m not in a position to render an opinion based on experience with the gas mileage issue.
However, I have heard of other people saying that their gas mileage improved once they got out of California and got decent gas. But there never was a mention of how much of an improvement they had.
Now here in CALIFORNIA, the winter blend gas is out, and we can expect some decrease in mileage. Just what we don’t need with the rising gas prices.

 

And now the OCI thread morphs into MPGs.

 

I've really only heard of issues developing from ethanol being used in engines that sit unused a lot, like boats and recreational vehicles. I've actually been using E15 in the 4Runner whenever it's available (and cheaper than regular) and so far I don't have any issues.

I have a gas station 5 minutes from me that sells ethanol free premium, but it's really not worth the cost. However, I would use it if I still had a fishing boat, or if I got an ATV or something like that.

I also have been using the pre-mixed Husqvarna fuel in my chainsaw, and I don't believe I'll ever switch.

 

I would partially agree with this. E15 is premature death to small engines like lawnmowers and trimmers, so much so it voids the warranty for some brands. I have several smaller engine expert contacts (one owns a John Deere dealership and the other owns a small engine repair shop) and they strongly advsie against ethanol blends. There are plenty of reports and studies about the detergents found in E15 and what they can do to an engine.

My point was a relative one. E15 versus ethanol-free is more harmful than regular versus premium fuel. It seemed like a reasonable comparison in the 1,000th thread about 5K versus 10K oil changes or regular oil versus synthetic, etc. I was not saying E15 would irreparably damage the 4.0 V6.

 

We can't get synthetic oil. Unless you're thinking about running a different viscosity than stock, in which case be prepared for 7 more pages of bickering.

I was just saying that I don't think it's harmful in vehicles that get used regularly. Although, I have also heard of it being hard on seals in older vehicles.

 

Lol

 

What hasn't been asked here is how mileage is being determined. Distance traveled divided by gallons to fill is the only accurate method. I've seen people talking MPG numbers and gains then they say, "Well, that's what the dash display says." One person was claiming to average 23 MPG in a 4th Gen V6 because that's what the truck's computer said. Nope. I have a 4th Gen and have tracked my mileage using Fuelly for almost 30K miles. Lowest was ~13 (offroading all day), highest was ~22 (interstate all day with a tailwind), and the average is ~17. The dash display typically shows 2+ MPG more than actual.

Your observation supports the theory that midgrade only exists because marketing studies showed that people presented with two choices usually take the less expensive, but will take the middle option when three are offered. Add the people who think 93 does some good in an engine designed for 87 and the oil companies have a nice additional revenue stream.

 

Commuting a ton of miles every day is not one of the criteria for severe driving according to the manual. It relates to lots of stop-and-go, idling, dirt roads, towing and low temps.

 

One of the criteria is continuous high-speed driving for over two hours. Another is dusty roads. I don't know how fast he was going and how far. I also don't know what the road conditions were. None of us do.

If he was not meeting the criteria for severe conditions, everyone with a Toyota using that engine should be worried as hell if they do 10K changes. Since his engine showed severe wear, it's only logical to conclude that the 10K was not suffucuent lubrication (hence he should have been using the 5K schedule.)

If you don't agree, great. Free country for the moment.

 

I've seen at most a 1mpg increase and I'm not convinced that it's a real increase. The 4runner has regularly used about 15.7 mpg over the past 30k. The past 3k I've been running 91 octane and have seen mid 16s. Could be seasons, could be tire pressure, could be the fuel. I do see about a 4-5mpg gain when driving in Oregon where most speed limits are 55-60mph (where I drive) as opposed to the 65-70mph here in Washington. I have found a big drop in efficiency when averaging over 60mph as opposed to under it

 

It’s per tank I misspoke,but I do get a big drop as well over 75MPH

 

I once ran 93 octane as it was all the gas station had. Did not notice a single difference in fuel economy which I always monitor.

 

If 93 octane did nothing, that should put the premium fuel helping MPG argument to bed...kinda.

 

I've seen arguments that it takes several tanks for the computer to make, and stick with, adjustments based on knock sensors. I don't know if those claims are accurate or not.

I don't run 91 because it's about $1 more per gallon here than 87. I've always run 87 and was getting damn good mileage at first, avg 20+ with all highway driving. Now my driving is more back roads and around town so I expected it to go down but the weight and tires I added probably made the biggest difference. It's dropped at the rate I expected based on mods and driving type.

You may get better mileage out of 91 but at over $20 extra per tank for that (at least here), I seriously doubt it drives any type of fuel savings. Unless you're purely concerned about how much you're burning, and if that's the case, buy a tesla

 

Hmm...that does seem reasonable.

Tesla, lol.

 

So we're at 7,500?

 

Life is a compromise...

 

I'm still at 1K or every month.