I follow the maintenance schedule in the manual while under warranty and try to do oil changes at the dealership a little sooner rather than later but not by much. Out of warranty I do my own oil changes at 10,000km. any sooner I think is a waste of money. The 5000km. oil changes were recommended when engines were carbureted and the gas didn’t burn as clean. Fuel and oil technology has come a long way since then. Mercedes Sprinter oil change intervals are currently 30,000km., that really messes with the old school guys heads. You cannot out engineer the Germans in my opinion.
Oil Spec for 2025 RAV4
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Priller
Well-known member
Depends how you define it, I guess. Is a loss of compression due to cylinder wear oil related? Turbo failure? Cam or lifter wear? Valves not sealing? None of these have happened to me personally, but I change my oil regularly. I do know second-hand examples of all of the above happening, though, especially with company trucks. Turbo failure is especially common.
It's not a straight line from one to another, but most mechanical component failures in engines could be at least contributed to by excess wear from either old or particulate-filled oil. Another factor with so many direct-inject motors these days is fuel getting into the oil from cold starts, especially with motors that only do short runs. The longer you leave it between changes, the more gas contaminates the oil.
It's less of a factor for the 95% of motorcycles that never see more than 50,000 kms in their service lives, but for something that you want to get 300,000 kms or more out of, I think it matters. Or maybe not, if the electronics fail first...
I’ve got a great mechanic that works mostly on European cars that tend to have long service intervals. He said the engines in those cars tend to have a lot more sludge buildup in them.Would that cause an engine failure in the average lifespan of a vehicle? Probably not.
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We lost a Cummins engine in a Peterbuilt tractor , third party analysis showed bad oil . It was Castrol , had been changed at regular interval and always with the same oil in the same shop . I had heard of ‘bad oil ‘ but had never seen it first hand . Castrol handled it very professionally and all parties were happy .
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