My son has a 2006 4 cylinder Camry and is only putting on 3-4K per year while in school. He uses synthetic. Would you base oil change on mileage or time, and how many miles/how long an interval?
Synthetic oil change interval
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Originally Posted By: harthamm
My son has a 2006 4 cylinder Camry and is only putting on 3-4K per year while in school. He uses synthetic. Would you base oil change on mileage or time, and how many miles/how long an interval?
With mileage that low I would base it off of time. Some will say dump it at 1 year and some will say leave it in longer and get a UOA done.
My son has a 2006 4 cylinder Camry and is only putting on 3-4K per year while in school. He uses synthetic. Would you base oil change on mileage or time, and how many miles/how long an interval?
With mileage that low I would base it off of time. Some will say dump it at 1 year and some will say leave it in longer and get a UOA done.
Is it mostly short trips?
If so, I'd probably do annual changes but switch to mineral oil. No point wasting money on synthetic.
If these are not short trips, and you want to stick with synthetic, you might get away with changing it every 2 years.
If so, I'd probably do annual changes but switch to mineral oil. No point wasting money on synthetic.
If these are not short trips, and you want to stick with synthetic, you might get away with changing it every 2 years.
JHZR2
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Id go once a year and not worry about it. Just run M1. Pull a UOA to prove it to yourself if concerned...
I would go strictly based on miles, or on my car with an oil change light, whenever the light comes on.
every 5 years is good.....just kidding with that mileage I was use regualr oil and dump it at 3k personally.
Most European makers have switched to a 2 year recommendation, from the previous 'at least once a year'.
The change was driven by regulations, but it's more than changing the text in the owners manual. Long-Life oils have stronger and longer lasting additive packages.
Another element of extended change intervals is the lubrication system. BMW I6 and V8 engines have big filters and oil sumps that hold 7+ quarts. With twice the oil and 3x the filter area, an 15K-18K mile change interval looks reasonable.
At only 3K-4K miles per year, you do start to wonder if annual changes with conventional makes more sense than mileage based changes using synthetic oil.
The change was driven by regulations, but it's more than changing the text in the owners manual. Long-Life oils have stronger and longer lasting additive packages.
Another element of extended change intervals is the lubrication system. BMW I6 and V8 engines have big filters and oil sumps that hold 7+ quarts. With twice the oil and 3x the filter area, an 15K-18K mile change interval looks reasonable.
At only 3K-4K miles per year, you do start to wonder if annual changes with conventional makes more sense than mileage based changes using synthetic oil.
Originally Posted By: harthamm
My son has a 2006 4 cylinder Camry and is only putting on 3-4K per year while in school. He uses synthetic. Would you base oil change on mileage or time, and how many miles/how long an interval?
LOL! If it's the 2AZ-FE engine that my wifey's 04 LE has and we've been doing 8k OCI for the past 4 yrs, then well, you are "blessed" by putting syn oil in such application.
my wifey's camry now has over 142k on the odo and no oil consumption issues, no leaks, nada. Still passing the local emissions testing every 2 years (mandatory) while using either PYB or Qstate green 5W30.
Maybe I'm cheep but I don't see the benefits of using syn on this engine.
Q.
My son has a 2006 4 cylinder Camry and is only putting on 3-4K per year while in school. He uses synthetic. Would you base oil change on mileage or time, and how many miles/how long an interval?
LOL! If it's the 2AZ-FE engine that my wifey's 04 LE has and we've been doing 8k OCI for the past 4 yrs, then well, you are "blessed" by putting syn oil in such application.
my wifey's camry now has over 142k on the odo and no oil consumption issues, no leaks, nada. Still passing the local emissions testing every 2 years (mandatory) while using either PYB or Qstate green 5W30.
Maybe I'm cheep but I don't see the benefits of using syn on this engine.
Q.
I would not go beyond 1 yr. Your choice of a good dino or synthetic.
Go with a name brand Dino and change it once a year.
Depends on the use of the car. If all of those miles are long trips, say coming home for awhile, or going to the next town over or something along those lines, then once a year would be fine on the synthetic. My grandma puts about 5-6k miles a year on her car, but it's all highway when she drives, so I run synthetic in it and change it once a year.
Now if those miles are short trips, I'd run any name brand conventional and change it everything 6 months. Pennzoil YB, Valvoline WB, and Mobil Super 5000 are my go tos for things like that.
Now if those miles are short trips, I'd run any name brand conventional and change it everything 6 months. Pennzoil YB, Valvoline WB, and Mobil Super 5000 are my go tos for things like that.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Is it mostly short trips?
If so, I'd probably do annual changes but switch to mineral oil. No point wasting money on synthetic.
If these are not short trips, and you want to stick with synthetic, you might get away with changing it every 2 years.
Exactly my thoughts^.
Is it mostly short trips?
If so, I'd probably do annual changes but switch to mineral oil. No point wasting money on synthetic.
If these are not short trips, and you want to stick with synthetic, you might get away with changing it every 2 years.
Exactly my thoughts^.
I've found TBN in synths tends to wear down at 18 months, so I'd say 18 months max.
Originally Posted By: jjcom
Depends on the use of the car. If all of those miles are long trips, say coming home for awhile, or going to the next town over or something along those lines, then once a year would be fine on the synthetic. My grandma puts about 5-6k miles a year on her car, but it's all highway when she drives, so I run synthetic in it and change it once a year.
Now if those miles are short trips, I'd run any name brand conventional and change it everything 6 months. Pennzoil YB, Valvoline WB, and Mobil Super 5000 are my go tos for things like that.
I would've thought the opposite is true. I thought starting a cold engine was the worst thing for an engine and where synthetics really provide the greatest benefit. So lots of short trips around town it would be best to use synthetic. On the other hand long highway trips are relatively easy on an engine, fewer cold starts per year relatively speaking, so no need to go anything more than a decent dino oil.
Depends on the use of the car. If all of those miles are long trips, say coming home for awhile, or going to the next town over or something along those lines, then once a year would be fine on the synthetic. My grandma puts about 5-6k miles a year on her car, but it's all highway when she drives, so I run synthetic in it and change it once a year.
Now if those miles are short trips, I'd run any name brand conventional and change it everything 6 months. Pennzoil YB, Valvoline WB, and Mobil Super 5000 are my go tos for things like that.
I would've thought the opposite is true. I thought starting a cold engine was the worst thing for an engine and where synthetics really provide the greatest benefit. So lots of short trips around town it would be best to use synthetic. On the other hand long highway trips are relatively easy on an engine, fewer cold starts per year relatively speaking, so no need to go anything more than a decent dino oil.
Why jjcom is making that recommendation is due to short trips and not warming up your engine leads to fuel dilution.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Id go once a year and not worry about it. Just run M1. Pull a UOA to prove it to yourself if concerned...
+1
Id go once a year and not worry about it. Just run M1. Pull a UOA to prove it to yourself if concerned...
+1
I would use the "conventional" that is on sale and change once a year when the weather is nice.
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Why jjcom is making that recommendation is due to short trips and not warming up your engine leads to fuel dilution.
Ahh, thanks. Still, from what I've read synthetic is better for starting a cold engine. Several cold starts a day every day, might want to run synthetic and run a UOA after 6 months to see if fuel dilution is even a problem with that car.
Why jjcom is making that recommendation is due to short trips and not warming up your engine leads to fuel dilution.
Ahh, thanks. Still, from what I've read synthetic is better for starting a cold engine. Several cold starts a day every day, might want to run synthetic and run a UOA after 6 months to see if fuel dilution is even a problem with that car.
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