When hot- my oil needle is around 1.0 - 1.3 at idle in park and sometimes near " 0 " when in drive, IF the engine temperature is above 80*C. If it is below 80*C, it is around .5 (halfway between 0 and 1 ).

Definitely worrysome, but according to the owners guide- it should be around .3 . I am assuming this is when idling in drive when hot? When I accelerate, by 1500 rpms- it is back up to around the 2.8 - 3.0 mark, when the temp is above 80*C. When the outside temp is above 65*F, it usually goes around 85*C. I need a new tank cap, because the seal is broken and I have a high fluctuation of engine temperature. On the highway- it is often around 50*-60*C and in town it will often stay around 60*-70*C.

I need to change out the green coolany anyway very soon, but that is another story.

I am hoping that new oil and a MB filter (rather than the cheap one on it now) will stop that. My uncle said that the MB filters have an "anti-drain back" valve, but the cheap ones do not? I do not know if this is true, but it may explain why it was not doing this with the old filter. I know that the Toyota filters have anti-drainback valves, but I do not even know if they were necessary on the MBs, due to different design? I am clueless.