Technically, is it alright if I were to drain the oil from the pan , and replace it with the same weight 5w-30 oil , but different brand (going from quaker state- to Mobil clean 5000) ..... yet leaving the filter alone for another 3K miles(car currently has 2K miles) ? There will be a little left over oil in the filter.... but other then that, any issues ?

You can mix any oil with any other oil that you want.

sure no problem but why in the heck would you leave the same filter? there uder $5 heck you can get a super tech oil filter from walmart for $2.50 i bought 6 for that price i should have purchased a case

Toyota schedules the first 3 oil changes every 5K miles. In reading what some people have been saying about the first 2-3K miles (possibly having more fine metal shavings in the oil- given the engine is starting to be broken in) , I figure dump the factory oil now @ 2200 miles, and put new 5w-30 in for the remaining interval of 5K miles. Also, the indicator light on the odometer side that says "service Engine" comes on every 5K miles, right ??!! Not so sure if you remove the oil-filter, if it then resets the "Service Engine light" ???? Is there a sensor at the oil-filter.. so when removed, it relays that info. to the onboard obd-2 computer ???

no there is no sensor on the oil filter LOL - you have to reset the "service engine" light by hand - it lights up every 5000 miles on its own

Gotcha ! Thanks

The filter can be removed and drained then put back on - just watch the gasket and have another handy should the gasket fail. It will not get clogged with break in metal particles - engines are built really clean by world standards.

sure no problem but why in the heck would you leave the same filter? ...Probably because the filter only has 2000 miles on it, is a mess to change compared to the oil alone, and there is no reason to get rid of the 1/4 quart of different oil that is in the filter.

Actually there really isn't a reason to change the oil that soon either and since it is really good oil anyway you may as well run it longer. My dealer recommended 3600 miles before changing it and it came out pretty clean at 3700 miles - it was not very dirty or thin and almost no sediment in the drain pan either - yeah drain it into a clean pan to check for junk in the oil. Absolutely correct on the filter too - no need to change it but it contains about 1/2 a quart.

sure no problem but why in the heck would you leave the same filter? ...Probably because the filter only has 2000 miles on it, is a mess to change compared to the oil alone, and there is no reason to get rid of the 1/4 quart of different oil that is in the filter.

yeah i agree i always spill a bit of oil when removing the oil filter but still the majority of the metal flakes , dirt , and junk are trapped in the oil filter not the oil it self - well to each there own its your ride do as you wish and i gave a buddy of mine a hand changing the oil on his ride its a 04 nissan sentra 1.8 and it only takes 2 8/9 quarts of oil thats nuts

... (The filter) will not get clogged with break in metal particles ... ... the majority of the metal flakes... are trapped in the oil filter...There are no metal flakes or break in particles or dirt at all, according to this 2005 autopsy by a dealer mechanic who is a SL member:
... customer come in the other day with an Xa for their first oil change at 6500 mi. I changed the oil and saved the filter. After letting the filter drain, I opened it and took the element out and put it in an ultra-sonic cleaner with some acetone to see exactly what if anything was in it. After 3 hours I took the element out and poured the acetone in a glass jar. A few hours later, anything that was in there would have surely settled out and could be easily seen in the jar. There was nothing in the jar. Inspecting the element with a magnifying glass revealed no visible debris... my experiment turned up nothing...
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59333&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

They may be very small metal particles that can only be trapped by a neo-magnet attached to the filter - as was told to me by Miro at Synlube, which is why he had me run 3 neo-magnets on my original oil filter for 100 miles before changing to Synlube. The particles are so small that they pass through the filter and stay suspended in the oil. I still have the filter and can cut it apart to check for deposits where the magnets were mounted.