This is why your new engine’s first oil change should be at 25 miles. This is the oil I just took out of my 
25-mile factory-new engine. See the swirly, metalflake effect? That’s exactly what it is – flakes of metal. As the cylinders and pistons get acquainted and new cam meets new followers, there’s an initial period of “fitting in” that results in millions of tiny metal particles.
This is normal, and to be expected, but there’s no sense driving around with this stuff in the engine. Next oil change is at 300 miles, and after that every 3,000. (You can ignore the black appearance of the oil. In reality, this oil is nearly transparent, but the photo is taken at night and it is in a black container. The interesting part is the reflective flecks of metal in the oil.)
George, I enjoyed your tale of the VW bug. It brought back many memories of Ez. For years he was a Bug owner and our last one was a used ‘69 I think. We had bought a new one after we were married—the others were all used. At any rate, I always enjoyed driving the bugs. Now I’m getting used to my new Prius—got it just the night before I left on my trip to Janine & Jason’s in PA, so I am still getting used to it, and need to do some manual reading yet! I only got 43.7 MPG on the way out and haven’t been able to figure out the mileage on the way back since I can’t find my one gas purchase receipt!—disgusting! Also the oil thing got me thinking about the Prius. Ez always used synthetic oil and I was thinking I should tell Dennison Toyota to change the Prius to synthetic. Fred Groves (our long-time mechanic & friend of Ez’s) also says synthetic is good. What is your sense of that?
If you and Chris would like to check out the Prius sometime, I’d be happy to let you take it for a spin.
Cars—-they are such a pain to me!!!! That was always Ez’s category to manage and take care of!
Sue
A Prius! That is so cool.
My information is that synthetic oil should not be used until the car has 1,000 miles on it, to allow the rings to seat properly. After that, it is preferable to regular oil.
Yeah, cars are a pain, which is why you should always get a car that you enjoy as well as being practical. To compensate for the hassle that every car is to own.
What is logic for 1000 miles cap? “Engine set in, or cake in” does not make any sence. “No pain no gain” theory does not apply here, instead “lower friction saves money at gas pump”. Why not to switch over from begining?
It is true that synthetic oil maintains its viscousity even at higher temperatures which could easily breakdown the mineral oil (conventional).
In crowded city environment I would like to change oil at 3000 mile intervals, to be safe and, to have an automatic flush out of fine solid particles that mix with oil from air used for combustion.