When is the best time to check your engine oil to get a good reading?

[daring dragoon]

Np engine oils are very good. Radol for the older cooling systems again a great product. The Dex/Merc spec transmissions again a good product.
They have a catch all CVT which I have no direct info about but given it is red and looks and smells like Castrol's CVT fluid I want to believe it is rebottled Castrol.

20w-50 is still relevant just not for engines manufacturerd after 1990 where engine tolerances became tighter and thinner oils was required to reach and lubricate moving engine parts.

As your engine wears and oil burns off you can graduate to thicker viscosity oils so there is less burn off and reduce further wear.

will the 20w50 cause a sluggish performance over the thinner oils? asking cause i used to use a full synthetic mobil 1 (5w30) in the serena and last service the mechanic use a red bottle valvoline 20w50 and the car loose power imo. can it be the oil? change the oil or change mechanic?

[Dave]

The thicker oil will cause sluggish performance. The engine has to work harder to move the thicker oil and thus a loss in power. Some also believe too thick an oil will also cause premature wear as the oil isn't reaching or even quickly enough where it should be flowing to.
Some mechanics believe as the engine ages you should use a thicker oil and yes it is true to a certain extent for an engine not cared for i.e. oil changes too long and not on time.
However unless you mentioned to him the oil is burning off then there is no need to up the body of oil.

[daring dragoon]

thanks

[rollingstock]

A little advise, if you burning oil and have no discernible leaks, change your pcv valve. I realise most persons don't change these at all. If they stick close can cause blow by, if stuck open can cause oil to burn off in the intake and foul intake valves

[Zalos]

Ngl it have real ppl using np diesel oil with nothing but praises. And after taking a look of the spec sheet like the viscosity at operating temps and tbn numbers etc it trading blows with amzoil inno

I know recently NP had updated the specs on their lineup. Can't comment on how good it is now vs other brands

[daring dragoon]

What about transmission oil? How often do you change it an how often do you check?

[Dave]

The more expensive the oil, the more often it needs changing.
Dexton/Mercon spec oils last forever.
All depends on driving habit and the vehicle plus what preventative measures employed in the transmission.

[david12]

I change mine based on the manufacturer recommended interval or maybe even before that (maybe 40k). I pop bonnet maybe every 3-4 weeks and just do a general check. Like topping up washer fluid, checking oil and tranny level (if you have a transmission dipstick), checking coolant etc.

forgot one key thing....
blinker fluid; make sure to check that as well

[rollingstock]

I use OEM sp3 fluid, I change once a year.

[agent007]

When manufacturers say lifetime, all they meaning to say is during the warranty period. For a Toyota RAV4 doing 50,000kms, we were told by TTTL that the K111 can go past 80,000kms before the fluid requires changing. When the warranty was over, the vehicle was doing 60k kms so I took it by a transmission guy and he drained the fluid and changed the filter. The fluid came out black and burnt. We refilled with the appropriate genuine Toyota fluid and the transmission felt different from that same evening. The reverse gear had like a 1sec delay when selected but after the fluid change, when selecting reverse, it was instant.

The K111 in a 2012-2019 RAV4 2.0 is a CVT unit with a 7-speed manumatic mode. I have a similar story to tell with a new Xtrail CVT I had. I would say change your CVT fluid every 25k kms or once every 2 years to be safe. Our RAV4 fluid wasn’t touched in 5 years which in hindsight was wrong of us to ignore that long. Thankfully nothing happened.

[kamakazi]

There usually isn't anything regarding the replacement of transmission fluid in the owners manual; most just say Inspect, whatever that means.

I usually just drain and refill around 20000kms which is about 4quarts out of a system which has a capacity of around 10 quarts.

Regarding the checking of engine oil
Normally done when the engine is cold because it is convenient. My only exception to this is when refilling after an oil change in which case I let the vehicle run for about a minute and then check the oil 10 minutes or so after it is switched off.

Synthetic oil isn't really for me, my slow driving and my 5000km oil changes.

[daring dragoon]

https://youtu.be/adaoDiDo1rA

guy on you tube is saying to remove the pan and filter to properly change transmission oil. is this how it should be done and do mechanics do it ?

[*KRONIK*]

https://youtu.be/adaoDiDo1rA

guy on you tube is saying to remove the pan and filter to properly change transmission oil. is this how it should be done and do mechanics do it ?

Thats dependant on mileage

If the vehicle was getting regular drain and refills from the start, it really isnt necessary

When i bought my van used @80k kms
The tranny fluid was black, we dropped the sump and changed the filter etc.
Filter was clean, magnets in sump were barely dirty.
I didnt regretting spending close to 1k for a new filter and extra fluid for the peace of mind.

Now i do regular drain and refills every 20k kms and old fluid is almost same as whats going in.

So it will vary from situation to situation....