Should I change the oil?

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Mar 12, 2014
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791
Location
Bay Village, Ohio
Long story short, I lost my serpentine belt (it was a month old) while on the interstate. I noticed it fairly quickly when the power steering went and the battery light came on, but the temp gauge was already up to about the 3/4 mark (not into the "red" yet). The split second I noticed that, I shut it down - that whole diagnosis process took about 5 seconds once I noticed something was off.

I smelled the oil fill tube and dipstick, and nothing seemed to be burned.

The oil has ~4000 miles on it, and the OCI for the truck is 10k miles. It's a 2016 4Runner with 115k miles, and I have run Kendall GT-1 FS 0w-20 since the factory fill. Should I change it?
 
Btw Turing the heater to full blast can quickly cool down an engine to a safe temperature before shutting it off. You never overheated so no worries.
 
Originally Posted by ToadU
Btw Turing the heater to full blast can quickly cool down an engine to a safe temperature before shutting it off. You never overheated so no worries.

I haven't had a vehicle overheat in three decades. But in those years, I always preferred using the Defrost setting, over the heat setting, to help cool off the engine. Reason-being I could hear what I thought was the compressor turning on, using the defrost setting and that compressor sound was absent using the heater setting in vehicles of three decades ago.

Not sure if the same M.O. exists today, with our more modern engines and electronics. No need to change the oil here. But I would - only because it's already seen 4k and you seem accustomed to long OCIs. All engines need an earlier-than-normal bath / engine cleanup, once in a while.
 
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Interesting. Probably varies by make of vehicle. I tend to drive American made vehicles and all of the ones I have had I could run the heat With -or- without the AC compressor. I am a huge fan of Saabs and can't remember if this was true for my Saabs. I had a couple if Maximas too. Can't recall either. My wife like European makes but I hardly ever drive her SUV. Will check and see. Interesting.
 
>>But I would - only because it's already seen 4k and you seem accustomed to long OCIs. All engines need an earlier-than-normal bath / engine cleanup, once in a while.
Totally disagree. I've never seen a single owners manual or service bulletin at my service shop suggest this. An-earlier-than-normal bath is another one of those old wives tales and urban oil legends. Gut feelings. Totally not necessary. Waste of money and resources accomplishing nothing.
 
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Odds are, if the serpentine came off, the water pump quit too. Idling with the heater on in an attempt to cool is likely worse than just shutting down. [This being a 4Runner it's "conventional" and not like some timing belt setup with the water pump driven by the timing belt.]

I don't think you have to worry here. Idiot gauges tend to dampened and will lie to you, but a couple of minutes without cooling flow at something other than full engine load shouldn't hurt anything. 5 seconds of running sans belt should almost count as a non-event.
 
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Originally Posted by ToadU
>>But I would - only because it's already seen 4k and you seem accustomed to long OCIs. All engines need an earlier-than-normal bath / engine cleanup, once in a while.
Totally disagree. I've never seen a single owners manual or service bulletin at my service shop suggest this. An-earlier-than-normal bath is another one of those old wives tales and urban oil legends. Gut feelings. Totally not necessary. Waste of money and resources accomplishing nothing.

No wives tale. I've kept clean engines for many decades. First and last owner of many vehicles.
In all this time, I've kept a clear dipstick at 1000 miles Methodology of an OCI. Usually just amber color to 2.5k at least.
If you prefer dirty, that's your M.O. But you will never convince me I've wasted a dime.

My Hyundai GDI will challenge me to a fight. It gets sooty / carbon-black, more rapidly. Looks like it will be full synthetic changes at 3K. It may even require a Fram Ultra filter to keep clean.
 
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Originally Posted by supton
Odds are, if the serpentine came off, the water pump quit too. Idling with the heater on in an attempt to cool is likely worse than just shutting down. [This being a 4Runner it's "conventional" and not like some timing belt setup with the water pump driven by the timing belt.]

I don't think you have to worry here. Idiot gauges tend to dampened and will lie to you, but a couple of minutes without cooling flow at something other than full engine load shouldn't hurt anything. 5 seconds of running sans belt should almost count as a non-event.


Oh yeah, water pump wasn't working, and yes, it's a timing chain in the 4Runner, so I shut it down and popped the hood to release heat. I figure I was probably about 20-30 seconds without the belt.
 
Color of oil on a dipstick is a poor indicator of oil quality. It's akin to dowsing and the divining rod. My service center has fleet contracts to service and repair police, city, school busses and all kinds of other fleet vehicles. I use the absolute cheapest oils and filters and other fluids meeting spec and follow OEM change intervals. Same for my fleet of tow trucks. Insane mileage and abuse is the norm for most of these vehicles. Never have or see any oil related issues.

It may make you feel good but the reality is you would have the same exact longevity and results using cheap fluids meeting specs and following the OEM service intervals. You have proved nothing. The absence of problems and a "clean stick" doesn't prove anything.
 
Originally Posted by ToadU
Color of oil on a dipstick is a poor indicator of oil quality. It's akin to dowsing and the divining rod. My service center has fleet contracts to service and repair police, city, school busses and all kinds of other fleet vehicles. I use the absolute cheapest oils and filters and other fluids meeting spec and follow OEM change intervals. Same for my fleet of tow trucks. Insane mileage and abuse is the norm for most of these vehicles. Never have or see any oil related issues.

It may make you feel good but the reality is you would have the same exact longevity and results using cheap fluids meeting specs and following the OEM service intervals. You have proved nothing. The absence of problems and a "clean stick" doesn't prove anything.

I'm not sure who decides what oil & when to change, at your facility. But if you prefer high profits and dirt, that's you - not me.
No high profit margins in my backyard / garage. My stuff stays clean.

So carry-on, enjoy the filth.
 
It amazes and entertains me all of the craziness I see on here.
36.gif


At best most of the extreme procedures people invent and convince themselves are necessary and somehow beneficial and most of the additives people choose to use are a waste of time, money and resources. At worst they are harmful to their vehicles.

A 3k oil change interval boggles my mind. It's so unnecessary on so many levels. I would literally take your oil at 3k miles and put into any of my vehicles and continue to run it. I'd have no problem with it going into my wife's Range Rover.

The amount of wives tales and urban legends is truly unbelievable to me.
 
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Originally Posted by ToadU
It amazes and entertains me all of the craziness I see on here.
36.gif


At best most of the extreme procedures people invent and convince themselves are necessary and somehow beneficial and most of the additives people choose to use are a waste of time, money and resources. At worst they are harmful to their vehicles.

A 3k oil change interval boggles my mind. It's so unnecessary on so many levels. I would literally take your oil at 3k miles and put into any of my vehicles and continue to run it. I'd have no problem with it going into my wife's Range Rover.

The amount of wives tales and urban legends is truly unbelievable to me.


Don't forget, vocality does not mean majority. It is hard to size up a group that says little when the only measurement tool is number of responses.
 
>> No high profit margins in my backyard / garage. My stuff stays clean.

So carry-on, enjoy the filth.
Profit margins are the sole reason for being in business.

Not sure what "enjoy the filth" means!!?!?! I don't take used oil and roll around in it or something like that. Oil isn't seen, touched or anywhere around you from using a vehicle.

Oil is supposed to look dirty. It's supposed to have soot and contaminates suspended within it. That's the main purpose for its existence.

It's not even possible to keep oil looking clean in a diesel. It goes into a diesel amber and 30 seconds after starting the vehicle looks dark. Color means nothing and is a poor indicator of anything.

At my service center I have tried ethically to convince some of our regular customers 3k and other oil changes intervals more frequently than spec'd by the OEM are a waste of their money and resources. If they insist we change it for them of course. Their money. Might as well be in my cash register.

Your Obsession with a certain color of a oil or how it appears on a dipstick is a waste of your money, time and natural resources. Totally your right to do that so carry on. It's just accomplishing nothing.
 
Originally Posted by ToadU
>>But I would - only because it's already seen 4k and you seem accustomed to long OCIs. All engines need an earlier-than-normal bath / engine cleanup, once in a while.
Totally disagree. I've never seen a single owners manual or service bulletin at my service shop suggest this. An-earlier-than-normal bath is another one of those old wives tales and urban oil legends. Gut feelings. Totally not necessary. Waste of money and resources accomplishing nothing.

Sitting in a coffee shop while the engine idling for a half hour could also be considered a waste of money and resources.
I seem to recall that you recently posted doing just that.
 
Yes, it absolutely is excessive to idle my truck. The difference is I get something in return for my expenditure. An ice cold or warm—depending on the season—truck to get into. So there is a benefit from my expenditure. There is no benefit from a 3k oil change or changing oil so frequently as to never have it change colors. That's a zero benefit in the longevity and operation of the vehicle.
 
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Originally Posted by ToadU
Yes, it absolutely is excessive to idle my truck. The difference is I get something in return for my expenditure. An ice cold or warm—depending on the season—truck to get into. So there is a benefit from my expenditure. There is no benefit from a 3k oil change or changing oil so frequently as to never have it change colors. That's a zero benefit in the longevity and operation of the vehicle.


A remote starter would be a happy medium to accomplish this without excessive run time, especially in your case since cooling is pretty quick.
 
You need to check why the serpentine belt gave out other than it is old belt or subpar quality belt.

May be, something wrap around by the belt has a bad pulley.
Water Pump pulley, alternator pulley, P/S pulley, Crank Pulley, AC Compressor pulley/clutch, etc.
If it overheats, may be the water pump pulley or impeller is/are bad.

Belt breakage usually is not caused by bad oil. LOL!!
 
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Originally Posted by ToadU
It amazes and entertains me all of the craziness I see on here.
36.gif


At best most of the extreme procedures people invent and convince themselves are necessary and somehow beneficial and most of the additives people choose to use are a waste of time, money and resources. At worst they are harmful to their vehicles.

A 3k oil change interval boggles my mind. It's so unnecessary on so many levels. I would literally take your oil at 3k miles and put into any of my vehicles and continue to run it. I'd have no problem with it going into my wife's Range Rover.

The amount of wives tales and urban legends is truly unbelievable to me.


This here +++.
 
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