Top off or get an oil change?

[hockeyfun1]

2001 Ford Ranger 2.5L 165k miles. I want to keep the truck for awhile since I hear they last. Is my method ok or should I just get an oil change... My method:
Put Penzoil Platinum Synthetic or Mobile 1 High Mileage Synthetic (both are 5w30) in and use a good filter (usually Mobile 1, K&N or whatever is from the $25 to $30 oil+filter special) and then run the truck for about 4500 miles. At that point, I'm usually down anywhere between .5 to 1 quart. I get a new bottle of the oil I used, and then add between .5 and 1 quart (however much it's down), and then run it another 2000 to 3000 miles or until it's down about a quart again.

Or should I just get an oil change at 4500 miles when I'm usually down a little bit?

Never did an oil analysis.

 

[Dakota1820]

i would top off.

 

[Voltmaster]

just top it off if you dont haul too much or drive 30+ miles city all the time.

 

[Brons2]

With the high quality synthetics you are using, I would top off and keep going.

You can also do a used oil analysis with TBN to try to determine the best interval for your truck.

 

[hockeyfun1]

If I do the analysis, do I do it at 4500 miles when it's the original oil, or do I do it at 7500 miles when I'm about to get it changed, even though I topped off at 4500 miles?

These are also mostly highway miles. Maybe 70% highway and 30% urban. I drive about 40,000 miles a year between this truck and my Subaru Legacy.

 

[skyship]

Originally Posted By: hockeyfun1
If I do the analysis, do I do it at 4500 miles when it's the original oil, or do I do it at 7500 miles when I'm about to get it changed, even though I topped off at 4500 miles?

These are also mostly highway miles. Maybe 70% highway and 30% urban. I drive about 40,000 miles a year between this truck and my Subaru Legacy.


You should do the UOA after the 7,500 miles to see if that OCI is OK and ask for the TBN to be included for the first one. The fact you topped up the oil is recorded with the results, but it does not mean you can't do a UOA just because the oil was topped up.

 

[jjcom]

I'd say you're in good shape with what you're doing. If you're interested in extending the oil out further, I'd do a UOA. But you're using excellent synthetics, under highway driving for about 7500 miles per oil change. I'd keep doing what you're doing.

 

[LeakySeals]

Thats about where I am. One more topoff, then change when its down the next quart. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the replenishment allows me to go a little farther.

 

[tig1]

You can easily run the oils you are using for 10K, so top it off.

 

[Texan4Life]

+1 for top off

 

[Roadkingnc]

Yes top it off and run it for 10k

 

[CharBaby]

Remember, that when topping off(especially when using a good name synthetic), that you are adding some new additives back to the oil...Which is good! Also, that you are using oils that can go the distance already(beyond 5K miles).

So yes, add the 1qt and keep going to, Oh IDK, 7500 miles? And then change the oil! It's hard to say wheather 7500 or 10000 miles is correct without a UOA.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I would discontinue synthetic and change to a top dino like Pennzoil yellow bottle. Use Purolator Pure Ones or Classics and change the oil every 5K.

 

[hockeyfun1]

I don't have time for 5k intervals. I'd be in the shop getting an oil change an average of once a month if that was the case.

 

[OrdnanceMarine]

Can you know what to do without doing a UOA? What you're doing "sounds" okay but everything is a guess at this point. It sounds like time is very important to you so why not pull a sample while it is in service at the 6500-7500 mile range and decide whether this is a good time or if you can indeed go further. My concern with going a lot of miles on an older engine that consumes oil (and I don't think your consumption is even close to bad as it is) is that you're building up insols and those are getting trapped in your oil filter and you might not have enough oil filter capacity to keep it from plugging up. Again, I don't think you can really know without some analysis and why not do the analysis at a point where you can still decide to continue running the oil if there's money still left on the table?

 

[hockeyfun1]

Yes, I will do an analysis at the next change. The consumption doesn't seem terrible on this. My 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara (was a V6 2.7 I think) would be down over a quart of dino oil at 4500 miles when the vehicle didn't even have 15k to 20k miles on the odometer. The dipstick would literally be dry. Switching to synthetic did nothing. Car got totalled when some idiot rear ended it. I wasn't a big fan of that vehicle anyway.

 

[TFB1]

Last OCI in my MGM with 5W-30 M1 Extended Performance, I topped off at 5Kmi them ran another 4500+mi before I changed it, that was four days short of one year...