AS for particle size, I understand that particles smaller than the film thickness of the oil are unlikely to cause damage.
Air filters are more important than oil filters.
Far more abrasive material coming from the outside world than generated inside a healthy engine.
So, this is a new Toyota Avalon Hybrid for which they recommend 10k oil (even with severe service).
It seems ALL Toyota’s are going to the 10k oil change. My 14 Highlander has a 10k oil change recommendation. I too don’t trust the 10k oil change interval yet…I know 5k works…so that’s what I’m sticking to.
@Bing
In a lake, not really a problem. The traffic can wiz by you at less then 10 mph. Out at sea, yup. The currents can take you some where you don’t even know the language.
“AS for particle size, I understand that particles smaller than the film thickness of the oil are unlikely to cause damage.”
Does anyone really know the thickness of the oil film under the piston rings?
^The Shadow knows!
As controlled as modern manufacturing processes are, and as powerful as modern design software is, I’m willing to bet that the engine designers do… but you’ll never ever get that info. That’ll be deep in the proprietary details of the design package, well out of sight of us.
Besides, with only that data alone you’d be hard pressed to guess what the maximum particle size should be. The filter designers would have to have this data, but I doubt you’d ever get it from them wither. You can get their filter rating in microns, but that isn’t the same thing as the maximum engine tolerance.
I’m guessing, of course.
Oil film gets gets pretty thin on a cam lobe too.
Toyota Avalon hybrid and severe service ? How severe service do these things get ? A late rainy night sojourn to a nearby latte tasting festival ? You use these things for nothing you could possibly break your nails doing…
How about a bunch of 1/2 mile trips to the grocery store, the library, and church? Although “severe service” may bring up image of towing, mudding/offroading, or lots of dusty driving, frequent short trips are probably the most frequent form of severe service. The engine and oil never get hot, allowing for the buildup of moisture.
@cwatkin That’s right! Oil companies call that the “Aunt Minnie” test for sludge formation.
My late father-in-law did not like the way the paper boy delivered the morning paper. So, instead, he fired up his V8 Mercury Grand Marquis which had sat outside all night without a block heater and drove to the nearest 7-11 about 1/2 a mile away, bought the paper and then drove home.
He would not listen to my explanation that this was very bad for the engine, especially since he never left town and his only long drive was to the Legion, about 6 miles away once a week.
Luckily the car rusted out before the engine seized up.
How about 1/2 mile trips ? Severe ?
That’s exactly what a hybrid is made for. You should be in electric drive most of the time and the gas engine is cycling on and off all the time regardless. Toyota does the engineering and the Prius reliability has proven it’s worth under stop and go conditions where the motor is going on and off all the time when used as a taxi. Still…10k oil changes and your latte favorite should be a bigger concern then worrying about it. If you feel better changing your oil more frequently because it makes you feel better, fine. There are just so few severe conditions a hybrid with minuscule ground clearance that isn’t rated to tow much if at all and is made for stop and go conditions that the normal person can put one through. When people buy hybrids, they buy them for what they are to be used for, or should. Now, if your teen son wants to use one for ice racing, some one needs to have a talk with him.
Sorry @Docnick, you are talking about a hybrid, not a V8 Grand Marquis that was made as a highway cruiser. Hybrids are meant for short trips and stop and go driving. Get a plug in, that’s what I would do, and hardly ever run the electric motor !
How about 1/2 mile trips ? That's exactly what a hybrid is made for. You should be in electric drive most of the time and the gas engine is cycling on and off all the time regardless.
Most hybrids won’t shut off the engine until it’s up to temp. It, effectively, isn’t a hybrid for all those 1/2 mile trips. Heck, come wintertime, hybrid mileage drops dramatically because it’s simply too cold for the engine to turn off at all! I spent several winters trying to cajole my mom into sporting a radiator blind on her 2010 Fusion. (Never could convince her about the MPG improvement–she was worried about overheating the engine…something I told her would never happen, given sufficient driver diligence.)
In a hybrid, you are not in charge of what motor is being used. @menajoe75fan is exactly right. It decides and short trips functions are determined by the computer and it’s not the same in all conditions. Don’t worry.
Ah, but does it do it on a cold engine? I was to understand the ICE DOES NOT SHUT OFF until up to temp. It was that way on the Fusion, and that was built with Toyota-patented technology.
I could drive the Fusion a mile at 40 MPH with the engine shut down…provided the coolant needle was in the middle of the gauge! Short of spoofing the ECU with a bogus coolant temp reading, that Avalon is running for the duration of that 2640’ trip.
An engine block heater is the obvious solution her, as well as a brisk trip in the country every now and then.
Mercury did a run at Daytona in the 60s where the did a hundred thousand miles at a hundred miles an hour with a bunch of Comets. I wonder what their oil regimen was like.
I missed this car was a hybrid. Either way, I would still be mindful of oil changes. I doubt the engine ever gets fully hot.
As for the cars run at 100mph in the 1960’s, I bet that oil was nice and broken down after that abuse. I have a pressure washer and this has a very hard working engine when the pump is engaged. I ran it some with conventional oil at first to make sure the engine broke in and you could see that the oil was starting to break down after very little use. I now use synthetic and change it once per season. It never looks too bad.