How Often To Change Oil In Prius

Engine oil is 1 of the most misunderstood parts of the automotive industry. There are tons of voices all competing for your attending. Through the myths and half-truths, it is difficult to sympathize what oil to use, when to modify information technology, and who to visit for an oil change.

My goal here is to explain a few things that will shed some calorie-free on when y'all need to change your oil and why. I also will point out why nearly consumers change their oil as well often.

When Should I Change The Engine Oil In My Toyota Prius?
This question is not a simple ane. I have been part of many debates with people on this bailiwick. The short respond is to modify it as per manufacturer recommendations.

And so why are places like Wal-Mart and Jiffy Lube (the veritable bottom of the butt for oil change places) telling owners to modify oil at iii,000 to 5,000 miles? I volition give you a hint, information technology is to avoid a lawsuit or to have to supersede an engine.

blank oil bottles

Places such as the mentioned cannot control how the consumer uses the car. With this unknown variable behind the wheel, these oil change places try to "play it safety" rather than educate their consumer base.

When having a customer render sooner than what is recommended by the manufacturer, the car engine's chances of having issues become downwardly significantly. From a business standpoint, this makes sense.

This question is not an easy ane to answer considering every car on the road sees unlike drive patterns and conditions. Meaning that your oil change volition be unlike from your neighbor's fifty-fifty if you have the exact aforementioned vehicle.

The reason why comes from a case written report I learned from dealing with oil change intervals. There were ii exact delivery vans. Both ran nearly identical mileage on the routes. Each van had oil sampling done at the time the mileage interval was due.

Van 1 had fewer miles on it only showed that the oil was beyond ready for a change. Van 2 had more miles, but the sample returned, indicating the oil was still in a usable state. How could this be? How does a van that has more miles driven have oil that is in far improve status? The answer was not in the oil brand but in how the van was used.

Van 1, the driver would shut the van off at every stop, and in Van 2, the driver left information technology running. Both vehicles used the exact same oil and filter the but difference was the engine run time.

Why does this brand a difference, and what role does information technology play when you lot need to change your Prius engine oil. I am getting to that right now.

When oil is heated and cooled repeatedly, it significantly shortens the life of that oil due to the shearing outcome the oil goes through on startup. When the oil heats upwardly and stays in the prime number "operating temp" range, it volition concluding much longer.

So, how often should you change your engine oil on your Prius? What fashion of driving practice yous practice is my question to you. Suppose the motorcar is driven on the highway. In that instance, well-nigh often, your engine oil will last more than the recommended interval by the manufacturer.

Conclustion
The key to long oil life in your Prius (or whatsoever other automobile ) and when to alter it is 100% based on your driving habits. Aye, your "ain't req'd" light will come on and tell yous information technology is time, but unless you are sampling your engine oil, yous volition never really know.

Consumers alter their oil too often considering 99.9% of them never practise oil testing. Fast lube places will always tell you that changing your oil is "inexpensive insurance" because they are selling you an oil alter. Changing your oil more than ofttimes does not hurt your Prius, just it certainly does non help your wallet.

An excellent synthetic oil filter and oil that meets the API specification for your Toyota Prius is all you need. If you lot have farther questions or want to know more about engine oil, look at my YouTube channel for the video version of this article.

I am happy to give my opinions to anyone who wants to know more about engine oil, merely be prepared to hear about it. Cheers all for reading, think Today's Take a chance is Tomorrow's Story. I look forrad to seeing you lot in the following article.

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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Engineering from Weber State Academy. Peter tin be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter. Notice his page on Facebook at Certified Auto Consulting. Read more than of Peter's stories at Toyota news coverage on Torque News. Search Toyota Prius Torque News for more in depth Prius coverage from our reporter.