First oil change for 4th gen 2024 Tacoma -- do yours ASAP

[26wx]

The Car Care Nut advocates for earlier oil change intervals due to the turbo. I'd be interested for someone to run a UOA after the engine is broken in a little to see if fuel dilution is an issue with these engines. That's something that would definitely make me opt for like a 5k mile OCI. But not all engines need to abandon a 10k mile OCI. The NA 4.0L V6 in the 4R can easily do 10k mile intervals...it's a port injected engine that's easy on oil.

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[Trocious]

I think doing 10k oil changes is probably fine if you aren't doing things that make it hard on your engine. I'll still be doing them at 5k as that's what I see as cheap insurance. And I work from home so I have a lot of short trips to the store and don't get a lot of highway miles.

I trust Car Care Nuts' expertise on this topic:

 

[Kdbradley85]

Unless you refuse to change the oil at all, an oil-related turbo failure is most likely very low on the list of potential issues. You have to remember this engine has been in use for several years and, for the most part, has been reliable (not that I've been checking). Ten thousand-mile oil changes are not a big deal with the advances in oil technology and engineering. Remember when a vehicle was considered end-of-life at 100,000 miles? Now you can double that. I change the oil in my Tundra once per year, as I never hit the 10K mark. Quality oil and filters will go a long way regardless of the mileage.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a45954715/2024-toyota-tacoma-engine-explained/

I work in construction. While I don't do much, if any, towing, I do drive off-road quite a bit in muddy and dusty environments. I believe you're right about 10,000 mile changes being fine for the most part, but honestly, I feel more comfortable changing my oil more frequently, and it's not a difficult task. I also get the satisfaction of knowing that it's done correctly (I plan on only using OEM filters and oil). Certainly, changing the oil more than once per year will do more good than harm, no? I do find it odd that Toyota recommends breaking-in the engine, but still recommends the first oil change at 10,000 miles. Maybe I'm being paranoid! It's my only vehicle, and I use it every day, so I think $60 for a case of oil and a new filter plus an hour or so of my time is well worth it every six months or so. Thanks for the response and sharing the info!

 

[WKTJR1]

I work in construction. While I don't do much, if any, towing, I do drive off-road quite a bit in muddy and dusty environments. I believe you're right about 10,000 mile changes being fine for the most part, but honestly, I feel more comfortable changing my oil more frequently, and it's not a difficult task. I also get the satisfaction of knowing that it's done correctly (I plan on only using OEM filters and oil). Certainly, changing the oil more than once per year will do more good than harm, no? I do find it odd that Toyota recommends breaking-in the engine, but still recommends the first oil change at 10,000 miles. Maybe I'm being paranoid! It's my only vehicle, and I use it every day, so I think $60 for a case of oil and a new filter plus an hour or so of my time is well worth it every six months or so. Thanks for the response and sharing the info!

Well there you go. Severe service include those conditions. Now you can justify it.

 

[JimDandy902]

I just did my first oil change at 4100km and approx. 3 months.

The oil itself looked good but I did notice some small metal flakes at the bottom of my oil drain pan. I cleaned this plastic oil pan prior to removing the drain bolt on my Tacoma. I know the photo is not great but this is me, looking down into the plastic oil pan after pouring the approx 5 litres I got out of the truck into a waste container. I stopped just before the pan was empty as I wanted to see what was located. I noticed a number of gold flecks some small, but a couple at least 1mm large.

I'll be doing another oil change at the 8,000km (6mo) mark. I'm hoping this is just usual break in wear, I haven't noticed any difference in the truck since new or any strange sounds.

Given what I found, I'm happy I did the oil change early.

Please let me know if you experience similar...

Update, I cut open the oil filter, same gold flakes found in the pleats of the filter.

 

[entropy]

I work in construction. While I don't do much, if any, towing, I do drive off-road quite a bit in muddy and dusty environments. I believe you're right about 10,000 mile changes being fine for the most part, but honestly, I feel more comfortable changing my oil more frequently, and it's not a difficult task. I also get the satisfaction of knowing that it's done correctly (I plan on only using OEM filters and oil). Certainly, changing the oil more than once per year will do more good than harm, no? I do find it odd that Toyota recommends breaking-in the engine, but still recommends the first oil change at 10,000 miles. Maybe I'm being paranoid! It's my only vehicle, and I use it every day, so I think $60 for a case of oil and a new filter plus an hour or so of my time is well worth it every six months or so. Thanks for the response and sharing the info!

Yeah I plan on doing my first oil change at 500 miles and then 1500 or 2000. Then every 5000 miles after that. Overkill? Maybe, but who gives a crap when you consider how much these trucks cost.

 

[Osprey]

Did my first oil change yesterday. Wasn't too bad. Had to remove two skid plates, but whatever. I did note that when I pulled the drain plug, there wasn't a crush washer installed from the factory. Not a huge deal as it didn't leak or anything. It has one now.

 

[Tacomanoob]

You bought a limited trim and are complaining it didn’t come with an off road skid plate? It’s mostly for dampening noise I would assume on a “luxury” trim

You figure the limited should have better options and not flimsy.

 

[maxx075]

You figure the limited should have better options and not flimsy.

The Off Road "skid plate" isn't much better.

 

[JED]

Did my first oil change yesterday. Wasn't too bad. Had to remove two skid plates, but whatever. I did note that when I pulled the drain plug, there wasn't a crush washer installed from the factory. Not a huge deal as it didn't leak or anything. It has one now.

Did mine yesterday at 1800 miles and was surprised at how dark the oil was. I strained the oil through a screened funnel and found no contaminates.
Really wish the drain plug orientation was perpendicular to the ground. I suspect it was done to better protect same.

 

[TacoFreak]

Really wish the drain plug orientation was perpendicular to the ground. I suspect it was done to better protect same.

The drain plug on my Tundra is the same way, and that means you can not really drain out all of the oil or anything that settled to the bottom of the sump. Sometimes I raise the driver's side and a fair amount of oil drains out.

It may be to protect the drain plug, but that seems like overkill since most of these 4th gens have some kind of under engine protection.

 

[rchrds]

I'm considering doing a change myself, curious if there is a way to get record on Carfax?

I have several of my service records (done by me) on carfax.
If you are logged into a browser, under your vehicle, select service history along the top, then Add Record on the left. You can enter all the info there.

Though it shows up on the my vehicle page, i've heard self-maintenance doesn't show up on CARFAX reports. Don't know if that is true, I've never asked for one on my car.

 

[WaitingToo]

Thanks! Another reason to love this forum.....

 

[JustAnotherDingus]

Yeah I plan on doing my first oil change at 500 miles and then 1500 or 2000. Then every 5000 miles after that. Overkill? Maybe, but who gives a crap when you consider how much these trucks cost.

this is my planned interval as well. For work I drive all over the place all day, from vendor to vendor , which means a lot of short trips on surface street and in city traffic… often with a heavily laden vehicle. (my current record is 1000 miles in a week and I do not want to ever hit that again lol) plus I often am on dirt roads over the weekend. Definitely fall under heavy duty cycle. It’s not overkill if you use the crap out of your vehicle imo.

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