Break-in

[Critmonkey]

I’m not going to die on a hill here. Do what you please. This is just my suggestion to follow the manual.

Your 10k rated oil is not going to oxidize right at 10k or less. There’s no need to change it earlier, even if there’s particulate in the oil. Just my 2 cents.

If you’re having that much worry about break in particulate in your oil it’s not going to be an oil problem lol.

 

[Critmonkey]

Here is some great advice from a Toyota engineer.
Start watching at 6:28.

David was a production engineer who conducted evaluations and supply chain monitoring and consulting. He is not a chemical engineer or automotive engineer specializing in engines. Albeit, he is a great resource on YouTube, but he's not a be all end all. Like my peers here, he recommend shorter oil change intervals. That's totally fine to do, but if someone can show me data to back why the V35A-FTS engine needs shorter oil change intervals than what it says in the manual, I'm not convinced.

 

[NoriGreen]

Some more great info from this guy.

"It's not because I'm smarter than Toyota, it's because we have different objectives." - that's a great statement.

Critmonkey, point here is not every service interval but just that first 'break-in' interval as that's the topic of this thread. An interval from 80k-90k is not the same as 0-10k.
Can the engine handle it? Yeah, but if I want to get 250,000 miles out of it and pass it down to my kids I'm going to do what I can to help that.

Auto manufacturers design to get through the warranty. They aren't concerned with what happens after that.

The manual doesn't say wash and wax the paint, or store indoors, but yes, that will also help prolong the life of the vehicle.

 

[Gunner]

Totally agree with you NoriGreen!

 

[rangertrace]

Not GX related, but back in my Texas Highway Patrol days, when we'd pick up a new patrol car in Austin, we were told to break it in like it was going to be driven. So we would take them to 120+ numerous times on the 200 mile trip home. Those cars get driven hard and idled for days. Didn't seem to hurt them.

 

[Gunner]

This is the way we would break in a diesel tractor on our farm in Kansas growing up. (Per my Dad who was a "dumb farmer" with a college education from KU and a air force pilot in WWII, (Captain) I know a diesel is different than a gas engine but I do believe the "hard break-in" did help with the overall performance and longevity. I've done it with our 2010 Limited 4Runner and it has done very well at 272,000 miles with no issues.

 

[sschreib]

Does anyone know how to reduce the amount of engine braking when letting off the accelerator? When on the highway and you want to coast, it often aggressively engine brakes (activating rear lights). It makes me nervous, since it can be strong, but also looks like I am brake checking people behind me for no reason. Is there any tricks to changing the level?

 

[rangertrace]

Does anyone know how to reduce the amount of engine braking when letting off the accelerator? When on the highway and you want to coast, it often aggressively engine brakes (activating rear lights). It makes me nervous, since it can be strong, but also looks like I am brake checking people behind me for no reason. Is there any tricks to changing the level?

I think that is one of the safety features that can be turned off. My wife commented on it today.

 

[sschreib]

I think that is one of the safety features that can be turned off. My wife commented on it today.

I figured it out! It was in the Driver Assistance menu as a toggle. Much better now!

 

[ianmcall]

Manual is available online. Resources

 

[sschreib]

Oh man I’m glad you said this. Was wondering myself. Glad its something that can be turned off

 

[killy]

View attachment 2989

This is interesting. Someone should forward that screen to the tflt guys to adjust for their tow test that they weren’t happy with the decel performance on.

 

[F90Guy]

David was a production engineer who conducted evaluations and supply chain monitoring and consulting. He is not a chemical engineer or automotive engineer specializing in engines. Albeit, he is a great resource on YouTube, but he's not a be all end all. Like my peers here, he recommend shorter oil change intervals. That's totally fine to do, but if someone can show me data to back why the V35A-FTS engine needs shorter oil change intervals than what it says in the manual, I'm not convinced.

You said you won't die on this hill yet you're arguing for the sake of arguing. For one, shorter intervals are not AGAINST the manual. Open up your booklet and see what it says for each 5k interval towards the bottom, change oil for heavy use. Before you say well its heavy use, doesn't matter, the point is manual says change oil every 5k. Regardless if its heavy use or light use 5k oil changes are good to go and not AGAINST the manual as your main argument is. The bare MINIMUM is a 10k interval. If the people here were saying they want to change at 12 or 15k then yes they are going against the manual.

There are plenty of oil analysis videos and the common consensus, from different automotive mechanics, engineers, youtubers is that for longevity 5k interval or 6 months is the golden standard. I used to be like you and say 5k interval is a waste of money, but when multiple different mechanics and engine builders with years and years of experience preach change your oil, change your oil, change your oil, as they stand over a block filled with sludge, I listened.

Yes you'll be "fine" with 10k intervals, even David explained that there 3 different guidelines for NEW vehicles. If you plan to keep your car 3-5 years, 10k intervals is fine, you won't have issues, 2 or 3rd owner might. For people that will keep 7 to 10 years, 5k/6months is okay. But if you buy this vehicle and plan to keep it until the wheels fall off for 10+ years, David recommends 3k/4k intervals with filter change every other time. I think 3k is a bit excessive.

5k and 12 month is my sweet spot, as I drive very little some years.

Lastly V35A-FTS is a very complex engine, and needs meticulous maintenance to be reliable. Toyota reliability does not mean neglect the car and it will last, with these new turbo engines, if you take care of them they will take care of you.

My BMW and my Mercedes required break in oil service at 1200 miles. So i disagree with oil change at 500 miles, its too early. Arguments that 800-1200 is the sweet spot, after which you can start at 5k miles. Yes the GX550 is not high performance, i'm no engineer, but all are ICE engines, with oil, spinning metal and two turbos. Something tells me GX will have similar factory deposits as an AMG engine.

 

[F90Guy]

Manual is available online. Resources

View attachment 2987

The turbo cooling is very peculiar, I haven't seen this as a requirement since the 90s turbo cars where you had to idle the car after each drive. In fact my first turbo car a 2004 WRX manual stated you don't need to idle the car, as the coolant will cycle through even when the engine is off. It is conflicting as continuous drive of 62mph or more, which is literally every highway in the US, should be at fairly low rpm with a 10 speed, with zero turbo boost. Its not the same as turbos continuously spooling going up steep hill and race track driving.

This is a good indicator that V35A-FTS needs meticulous care

 

[JPE]

The turbo cooling is very peculiar, I haven't seen this as a requirement since the 90s turbo cars where you had to idle the car after each drive. In fact my first turbo car a 2004 WRX manual stated you don't need to idle the car, as the coolant will cycle through even when the engine is off. It is conflicting as continuous drive of 62mph or more, which is literally every highway in the US, should be at fairly low rpm with a 10 speed, with zero turbo boost. Its not the same as turbos continuously spooling going up steep hill and race track driving.

This is a good indicator that V35A-FTS needs meticulous care

I noticed that in the owners manual too. While I have at least a 6 minute drive back to my house from high speed highways (well within the "drive for 1 minute at lower speeds" comment in the owner's manual) when returning from a trip, I have to keep in mind that lower speeds for at least a minute are necessary if I take the major highways to a destination. I have 147 miles on my GX that I picked up on Friday. I'm going to change the oil at 1,000 miles. Then I'm going to replace it every 6 months or 5k miles. I very rarely do 5k miles in 6 months - more like 2k to 3k every 6 months.

 

[F90Guy]

I noticed that in the owners manual too. While I have at least a 6 minute drive back to my house from high speed highways (well within the "drive for 1 minute at lower speeds" comment in the owner's manual) when returning from a trip, I have to keep in mind that lower speeds for at least a minute are necessary if I take the major highways to a destination. I have 147 miles on my GX that I picked up on Friday. I'm going to change the oil at 1,000 miles. Then I'm going to replace it every 6 months or 5k miles. I very rarely do 5k miles in 6 months - more like 2k to 3k every 6 months.

I also live about 5-7 minutes from a highway, which should be enough to "cool" but highway driving is not very strenuous, in fact its less strenuous then city driving. That section is very poorly written, you're okay with high speed driving of constant speed of 60mph, but continuous 60mph+ driving is where you need to 1 min idle otherwise you might damage your turbos . My takeway is do the idle only if you have to immediately stop after race track session (which WHY in a GX??) or continuous WOT driving through twisty roads, going up 7 steep miles to Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, key point doing an immediate stop. No need to turbo cool after highway, especially when your destination a few minutes away.

It feels like a check the block thing, because of some possibility of oil cooking in the turbos if certain conditions are met. I wonder if the dealers are warning the new customers about this, I guarantee 99% of who buys GXs don't read the manual, cause oil cooking can be a big deal.

Easy fix is having an actual temp gauge, and telling "if it reads above XXX degrees, drive slow or idle the engine until it falls below XXXF before shutting off". If it was a big deal they would do that instead deciphering their word garbage.

 

[JPE]

I also live about 5-7 minutes from a highway, which should be enough to "cool" but highway driving is not very strenuous, in fact its less strenuous then city driving. That section is very poorly written, you're okay with high speed driving of constant speed of 60mph, but continuous 60mph+ driving is where you need to 1 min idle otherwise you might damage your turbos . My takeway is do the idle only if you have to immediately stop after race track session (which WHY in a GX??) or continuous WOT driving through twisty roads, going up 7 steep miles to Eisenhower tunnel on I-70, key point doing an immediate stop. No need to turbo cool after highway, especially when your destination a few minutes away.

It feels like a check the block thing, because of some possibility of oil cooking in the turbos if certain conditions are met. I wonder if the dealers are warning the new customers about this, I guarantee 99% of who buys GXs don't read the manual, cause oil cooking can be a big deal.

Easy fix is having an actual temp gauge, and telling "if it reads above XXX degrees, drive slow or idle the engine until it falls below XXXF before shutting off". If it was a big deal they would do that instead deciphering their word garbage.

Agreed, ultimately it's not the MPH, it's the RPM and boost that heat up the turbo. I picked up my GX this past Friday and can tell you that my dealer made absolutely no mention of that section of the owner's manual. I might turn on the boost gauge display in my dash to see what kind of boost it's running during normal and aggressive operations.

 

[Jesse H]

Yeah because you’re going against what the engineers put in the manual. It’s backed by science. Chemical engineers and automotive engineers came to these interval conclusions. It’s just my opinion.

Executives, lawyers and bean counters as well.

I still base my oil change intervals on TBN oil analysis.

 

[Jesse H]

Not GX related, but back in my Texas Highway Patrol days, when we'd pick up a new patrol car in Austin, we were told to break it in like it was going to be driven. So we would take them to 120+ numerous times on the 200 mile trip home. Those cars get driven hard and idled for days. Didn't seem to hurt them.

They're also paid for and maintained by the state to be auctioned off after a predetermined expiration date. It almost doesn't matter how it's broken in. My city Tahoes aren't broken in either and most of them last long enough before they're replaced which is typically a shorter serviceable life than the average consumer.

 

[F90Guy]

Agreed, ultimately it's not the MPH, it's the RPM and boost that heat up the turbo. I picked up my GX this past Friday and can tell you that my dealer made absolutely no mention of that section of the owner's manual. I might turn on the boost gauge display in my dash to see what kind of boost it's running during normal and aggressive operations.

Yes as you drive along just keep an eye on the gauge to get a good sense of when the turbos are in full boost vs barely coming out of vacuum (0 PSI). You'll notice a pattern during city driving, accelerating from light to light, highway cruise with cruise control vs your foot. All my past turbo vehicle flat highway driving would always be 0 or barely above 0 PSI to maintain speed. Going up a hill on a highway, especially a long hill, yes they were at full boost cooking (no pun intended)

These are smaller than normal turbos compared to sibling engine in the Tundra so maybe why they caution of oil cooking, these thing get red hot faster than normal? Who knows. I'd be interested to see if the new Tundra or Sequoia manual mentions it.