Oil Change strategy / 5k km per year

[AlanCanada]

Buick Century 2003 / 3.1 L V6

5k kilometers per year.

What kind of oil service regiment would you put this vehicle on? It's in Southern Ontario, Canada.

My grandfather uses the car to make short trips to the grocery store. He was considering synthetic with extended change interval, but he's concerned about sediment or the detergents in the oil waning. Right now he's on a 5000 km change interval w/ Dino oil.

 

[SuperDave456]

I would stick with Dino. Unless he is having problems with cold starts in the winter no need to go to synthetic.

Just be sure it gets warmed up once a month or so to help burn off/ boil off any condensation.

 

[deven]

Well 5000km a year X 10 years is 50,000km. The motor won't die in 10 years, heck he might want a new car by then. Follow what SuperDave456 said.

 

[demarpaint]

Those short trips are hard on oil, and in a cold climate even harder. If I were using dino I'd do two 6 month OCI's or run a synthetic for 1 year. A nice drive once or twice a month will help burn some of the moisture and excess fuel out.

 

[Hermann]

Describe short trips. One mile is a lot harder on the oil than a 5 mile trip.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, one thing is assured, he can go down in weight. He's never seeing 100C oil temp.

 

[AlanCanada]

His trips are between 1 and 5 miles, but he averages about 3 miles. Once a month he takes the vehicle on a short highway trip, about 16 miles. He keeps the car indoors in his garage which is insulated, but not heated.

 

[Craig in Canada]

I'd do a once per year OCI in the spring (get rid of fuel dilution and moisture from the cold conditions in the winter).

As for choice of oil, I don't know the engine well enough to get specific. I'd probably run something syn in it - it's a couple of quarts once a year and it gets cold enough in our area to notice the benefits I think. You can probably find a nice low-VII 5W30 syn that'll keep things nice and clean to boot.

 

[StevieC]

Any quality SM rated oil and a good filter is more than fine for 5K KM's (3K miles) with short trip driving. A good run once and a while would definitely help things though...

 

[Rand]

if it was me I'd pick something with a high tbn and go once a year oil changes.

0w30 or 5w30

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

Originally Posted By: AlanCanada
Buick Century 2003 / 3.1 L V6

5k kilometers per year.

What kind of oil service regiment would you put this vehicle on? It's in Southern Ontario, Canada.

My grandfather uses the car to make short trips to the grocery store. He was considering synthetic with extended change interval, but he's concerned about sediment or the detergents in the oil waning. Right now he's on a 5000 km change interval w/ Dino oil.


Pick a quality synthetic, one year easy.

 

[sangyup81]

Is he currently changing his oil twice a year? Once a year either on Cheap Synthetic (Walmart Supertech Full Synthetic or whatever is on sale) or Pennzoil Yellow Bottle regular. 0w-30 or 5w-30 if they don't have what you're getting in 0w-30

 

[Drivebelt]

I agree with StevieC.

Conventional motor oils have improved by leaps and bounds in the last 15 years. Modern conventional motor oils like 5W-30's with the latest SM/GF-4 rating are made from synthetic like ~ 99% pure Group II(+) base oils. They offer substantially better performance than the old Group I based conventional oils we were using in the 1970-80's for 3k miles oil changes. You could run these Group II based oils double, 6k miles, and still get better performance than those old oils.

You can run these GII oils 5k miles (8000km) or more in some pretty severe conditions and still get the same performance as synthetics in terms of engine wear (longevity) and cleanliness.


I would have no problem running a 1 year 3k mile (5k km) oil change.


Here is a 8794 mile OCI on Castrol GTX 10W-30 … BITOG and the TBN was still 4.4, lots of life left in the oil.

Here are some pictures of a valvetrain with 110k miles using 5W-20 conventional at 7500 miles changes … BITOG That's an oil made with Grp II(+) base oils like 5W-30s.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Hermann
Describe short trips. One mile is a lot harder on the oil than a 5 mile trip.


IMO a short trip is anything under the time it takes the oil to get to operating temps and burn off the contaminants. So that could be 20 minutes of engine on time or longer. For the prices I've paid for dino oil with some of these specials, then factor in rebates and coupons, I'd stick to 6 month OCI's on dino or 1 year on synthetic oil. Edge cost me Under $3 for 5 qts and a Pure One filter, some of the dino deals were unheard of. The engine is being used under "severe service", so I'd probably follow the OM for severe service. Old school yes, safe than sorry, yes.

If the OP wants to be 100% certain he could run a UOA. For me for $3 for an oil change I'd drain the oil as I mentioned and still sleep well. YMMV

I've worked on friends cars that were driven exactly like the OP's car and they were a sludged up mess after a few years of 1 year OCI's on dino oil.

 

[pitzel]

XD-3 0W-30.

Change every 5 years.

Keep an eye out for coolant leakage or ingress into the oil.

 

[Audioquest]

Buy Motomaster Formula 1 Synthetic when it is on sale at Canadian Tire. Change it once a year with a high quality filter.

 

[OilGuy2]

Well its made by Shell and that is a good sign. Canada presents an entirely different environment with special requirements. It appears that Canadians like it a lot. Probably a type III with a type V ester that bonds to metal. Motul oils do that and they certainly cost more than $4.49 a bottle. Don't consider $29.99 for a 4.4L jug a bargain however. $4.49 isn't bad at all.

Check for a VOA and read the MSDS and Product Information from Shell Canada. I think I will too.