If you jack up your car please please please please use stands. Things happen and cars fall. Also when putting in the new filter make sure that the gasket is there and make sure the gasket from the old filter is removed. No gasket or double gasket = bye bye engine.

As for Scion not being all uppity about oil changes - we're just more laid back. No one is going to yell at you that your way of doing it is wrong. Different people prefer different oil/filters/intervals and I think people here just give their opinions and preferences, rather than getting into a yelling match over who's system is better

 

Isn't clockwise righty-tighty? is this thing left hand threaded or what? I took my car to have an oil change done (a sin i know no flaming plz) and the bozo's drained my oil and then couldnt unscrew the cartridge.
Them:"hey who did you last change?"
me: "uh, toyota"
Them:" well it musta been hulk who put your cartridge in cuz, uh, we cant get it off"
me (thinking): RU F'n SERIOUS?!

so they gave me some a free refill of dino oil and here i am nervous to try and take off the cap my self. These guys had it up on the lift with all kinds of leverage and couldnt get it off? serously?? I'm glad that they didnt strip it or break it, but, now i'm nervous to attempt it myself and when i read this post above i thought i might be missing something. If i attempt this i want to definitely start cranking on it in the CORRECT direction to get it off. so which is it?

 

yeah sometimes the cartridge housing is on there hella tight. if that happens i suggest getting a ratchet with a really long handle (for leverage) and use the fist tapping technique. use your right hand to pound the left hand that is holding the ratchet (or vice versa). this will be similar to a impact guns action and it will loosen the cartridge easier than if you were to just pull with all of your might on the ratchet with both hands. and it is counterclockwise motion to take off. clockwise to put on for the housing.

 

Your first paragraph is all truth.

As for the yelling match... come on, it's fun!

Over in TDI land, sending oil out for analysis is very common. "Oil wars" are also common over there, but mostly because VW's oil specs are pretty tight... you cannot go to any auto parts store I know of to buy oil for a VW TDI. You pretty much have to mail order it or hope your local dealership has it in stock. Believe it or not, many VW dealerships don't even carry the type of oil that TDIs need.

 

Well very very glad I do not own a TDI then

 

I stated that I had been busting my knuckles trying to remove the cartridge running clockwise to illustrate my own stupidity. You definitely do it counter clockwise. I just couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the cartridge off, and it's because I was turning the wrong way!

My pain and frustration for your amusement!

 

Thanks to everyone for the previous pages of great info!

I just went around town outfitting my first oil change on my 09 xD. According to the maintenance manager, Walmart will not be carrying the oil filter, even though the computer has it loaded(Fram). Advance carries Purolator for $7.80, but were out of stock. AutoZone carries STP for $5.70. Toyota dealer sold me a case of ten for $44.50. You do the math...

Also did some reseach on synthetic oils. It seems people like Mobil1 a lot. They advertise 15000 miles between changes. A lot of people on the Internet (I know ;-) change the filter at 5,000 miles but change the oil at 10,000. I don't drive the car real hard, so I might try the synthetic and follow a 5/15 after the warranty period.

Also, according to Mobil, we should get better gas mileage using 0w20 instead of 5w20. It only gets around 20 degrees here during the winter, so that shouldn't ba a problem.

What else, some guy running a v8 claims to have never changed the synth oil in 300,00+ miles and the engine still looks brand new. He did have an additional (better) filter installed so the filtered oil gets filtered again by the 2nd filter. He changed the regular filter every 5000 miles and the secondary every 10,000.

I tend to believe him because many people do seem to think the synth doesn't break down, it only gets dirty, which is why it needs to be changed unless filtered. On the other hand, any engine, no matter how tight, is going to have some blow-by the rings and gasoline must contaminate the oil to some extent, I would imagine causing some weakening or breakdown...

Man, I hate it when I buy something that FAILS to work.

Do NOT buy: Performance Tool brand #W54066 65mm cap filter wrench

 

While I do favor extended oil change intervals (with the proper type of oil), extreme OCIs must be thoroughly examined before taking them at face value. Many diesel truck owners extend their OCIs to 25,000-50,000+ miles. However, this is usually done with a bypass filter and frequest oil additions. Bypass filters are unlike a conventional (full flow) filter in that not all of the oil pumped out of the sump goes through it. Most bypass filters take a small amount of the oil from the oil sender port, filter it to a very low micron rating, then return it to either the valve cover or the oil pan.

The addition of a bypass filter usually adds at least another quart to the oil capacity of the engine. Also, every time either filter is replaced, more oil must be added. Oil must also be added due to burn-off, evapopration, and leaking. This helpd to replenish the additive package, renew viscosity, and restore the TBN value of the oil. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the same oil in the engine after 50,000 miles. Some of it will be original, but much of it will have been replaced.

Having said that, most European cars are recommending 10,000 mile or higher OCIs. Even my van, which has a very small engine and a very large load rating, is rated at a 10,000 to 25,000 mile OCI. The MErcedes ASSYST computer monitors driving habits as well as the pH of the oil and tells me when to change the oil. This is usually between 15,000 to 17,000 miles... and it sees some pretty rough use.

Anyone who wants to extend OCIs on their Scion (or any other car/truck) should really look into the best oils available for their engine. I would recommend Mobil1 as a bare minimum. Red Line and Amsoil make even better engine oils. Look for oils that are not only "synthetic", but have a base stock of 'polyol ester'. These are the true synthetic oils, or class IV synthetics. Many of the store-bought synthetics are class III oils, which are actually made from crude oil. Class III oils are better than non-synthetics, but not as good as class IV oils. Yes, they are more expensive, but you are only going to change your oil half as often or even less.

For the truth about what is going on in your engine, you can use an oil analysis lab such as Amsoil or Blackstone. It only costs about $20 to have a lab analysis done. Once you get some data back from the lab, it is going to help you determine how long you can go on an oil change. After that, you might want to have an analysis done from time to time just to see if there are any wear metals that are getting too high (which might point you towards a looming bearing failure or a camshaft that is wearing prematurely), fuel or water contamination in your oil (ring damage, head gasket), or high silicon levels (poor air filtration).

The bottom line is that 5,000 miles is a very short OCI for a modern engine with good oil.

 

The primary reason I do such a short OCI is to keep the vehicle in warranty (getting Nomex on just in case). Keeping with the 5k mile/3 month (or is it 6 months? have to look at the manual again) and documenting will give the stealership one less reason to deny your claim. You could argue that I could just cook the books, but you should look under your car every now and then so you know what it's supposed to look like and to see if something doesn't look right.

Now once the warranty is out, I'll probably stretch that interval out (though I'll still be under the car to make sure things are looking right).

 

That's some good info. I think I'll use the cheaper mobil1 until the warranty is out, and go with the red line after.

 

I just bought a 65mm 14 flute filter wrench from Advanced Auto Parts and it doesnt fit.

 

here is an odd one. I changed my oil tonight, new filter, o-ring, pan washer, 4.2 qts of oil, etc. Went to reset the "maint req." light and following the instructions, I couldn't get it to reset. Finally figured I would take it by the dealer to see if I was doing something wrong, but tried one last time, but this time putting it on "trip A" instead of ODO. this time it reset. Very wierd.

 

Yeah, I had to look up the reset for the xD. It's different from the tC. Weird indeed.

 

$26.95 and I don't have to touch a thing...... And he checks all fluids, tires, vaccum's etc.

 

I just sent a sample of Amsoil off to blackstone with 10,000 miles on the oil. I did however change the filter and top off the oil at 5000 miles so that will affect the results a little. If people are interested i'll post the results when i get them.
I'm hoping to be able to get about 15,000 intervals when all is said and done.

 

Just got my report back from Blackstone. Looks great! The car has about 17,800 miles on it, and the oil has about 7,750 miles on it. I did not top up at all.


Basically, my oil is still going strong at 7,750 miles. Wear levels are about the same as 2ZR-FE engines with only half many miles on their OCI. I'm looking forward to the next change, since I'm switching from Mobil-1 to Red Line.

Oh, and about 10% of the miles on that OCI were towing a trailer! Anyone who says towing a trailer is hard on these engines can chew on that.

 

How was it changing the filter without draining the oil? Messy? According the my oil report, it doesn't look like it'll need a filter change during a 10k OCI, though.

 

Actually it wasn't that bad had a little more drained out of the filter housing than normal, but not much. I was a little worried that I would pull the housing off and everything would drain. I had to add about 1/2 quart to make up for what I lost changing just the filter.

Still waiting on the report from blackstone, hopefully it will come soon.

 

I just shared this post with a coworker who is originally from England, he said that in Britain/Europe oil changes are suppose to be done once a year or every 12,000 miles... and that Renaults recommended oil change service is once every 2 years or 24,000 miles...

 

I'm hoping that I can safely extend out to a 20,000 mile change interval with the sampling. Then I'll only have to change my oil about every 9 months.