OCI, how hard was it to extend from 3K miles to..?

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wemay

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Recently found routes to work for my wife and me with significantly less congestion and am thinking of going full (mfr recommended) oci. For the Santa Fe Sport 2.0T that isnt sayning much since it's 5k miles. (normal service)

But the Sonata has a maximum of 7500 mile oci. (normal service)

How difficult was it for you to go from 3k or 5k miles in the past, to 7K plus?
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How about older drivers that started with 2k OCI's?


I'm one of them. The progression went from 2K miles, to 3K miles, to 5K miles. All severe service intervals.
 
I've finally extended my drain intervals from 3k to 5k but went through withdrawal symptoms. I was addicted to 3k but with the help of all of you here at BITOG, I was able to finally break my habit. THANKS!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: Kool1
...withdrawal symptoms. I was addicted to 4k but with the help of all of you here at BITOG, I was able to finally break my habit. THANKS!!!!


LOL... this is where i am. With an edit towards 4K...
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How about older drivers that started with 2k OCI's?


I'm one of them. The progression went from 2K miles, to 3K miles, to 5K miles. All severe service intervals.


thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: wemay
Recently found routes to work for my wife and me with significantly less congestion and am thinking of going full (mfr recommended) oci. For the Santa Fe Sport 2.0T that isnt sayning much since it's 5k miles. (normal service)

But the Sonata has a maximum of 7500 mile oci. (normal service)

How difficult was it for you to go from 3k or 5k miles in the past, to 7K plus?


If you have an oil stash, then I think it's harder to resist the extended OCI. If you have zero oil stocks in your hoard, and the sales aren't great then I think it's easier to extend your OCI.

Anytime I wanted to change it out early, I just visit Bitog to get my OCI attitude adjusted... ;-P

Regards, JC.
 
It was hard for me. It is really hard for me lately. I like to get under my vehicles and do work. I havent had to change oil on my F250 since August, and I am only at 2k. It may be almost spring before I get to 5k at this rate. I will probably change it at 4k just because even at a 4k interval it will be early february.
 
I find it comforting to do a UOA at some point to confirm how my oil is holding up for my vehicle under my conditions. I only do a few, one early (after break in) and maybe another one or two over the life of the vehicle. Unless one is troubleshooting a possible lubrication problem, there isn't much ROI doing many personal UOA's in my opinion. But, it can be a tool to confirm your OCI practices regarding oil condition if in doubt.

Having an OLM for the first time on my current vehicle made switching to a longer OCI much easier. I have guarded trust that the OLM is making adjustments for driving conditions.
 
I found going to 5k or OLM interval pretty easy since my '00 Silverado 5.3 kept the oil very clean looking even after 3,000 miles. Heck, even after 5,000 miles the oil still wasn't too dark, while my old '78 C10 305 would turn the new oil black in 1,200 miles. And to the old truck's credit, it still runs good and still turns the oil black and smells of gas with 337k. Those old GM V8 engines made me happy for many years, and aside from piston slap, my current truck runs almost like new with 254k and 5,000 OCI.
 
I found it very hard to go from 3,000 to 5,000 mile intervals. I'm finding it even harder to go by the OLM in my 14 Mustang GT. I'm currently at 5,900 miles on this oil change and that is the longest I've ever gone in any vehicle. The only thing making me able to accept it is that the oil is still pretty clear.

Wayne
 
Only vehicle that I ever changed the oil less frequently that 3K miles is my wifes BMW. The oil life monitor shows 15K intervals. I divided that by 3 and change it every 5K miles. I will change the oil and filter on my Challenger and Ram at least every 3K miles. The HD gets the treatment every 1K miles with Syn 3. Too far down the road to teach this old dog new tricks.
 
I've noticed that there are still many members who post on here who still follow out-dated or even antiquated rituals when it comes to maintenance, muddying the waters when new members ask questions about extended intervals and such. I haven't been here long compared to some, but I feel that things have changed since I joined, and not for the better.

GDI isn't helping matters regarding oil change intervals, and for good reason, but a shift toward excessive maintenance still seems prevalent in all regards. I actually feel really bad that I haven't sent out a sample of the used oil from my wife's Civic, because I have a feeling that it would look pretty good after the MM-indicated interval. For this reason I've at least shifted back to VWB, on sale, to save money.
 
Not that hard. In 1984, I went from 3K OCI to 6K justified in my mind because I was using Mobil One. Car went 238,000 miles before being totaled. It was almost all 55-65 mph highway miles, so in retrospect I wasn't being very daring even for back then.

With this car, I had the oil tested at 5K and then at 8,300 miles when the oil life monitor went off (The monitor on a Ford actually goes off at the 5% mark). Everything was well within specs and I still had plenty of Total Base Number (the addititive pack) in the oil at drain. So the oil life monitor is conservative. so I'm quite confident that I'm fine looking for a sale at the 20% mark and taking it all the way down if I don't find one. I decided the use the money I save on other maintenance items I might overlook otherwise. If you are inclined to be a little OCD when it comes to your car, why not at least spread the love around? There's plenty to do even with today's low-maintenance cars. Changing the differential fluid sometime before the recommended 150,000 mile mark is probably a more reasonable precautionary practice than an extra early oil change.
 
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Guilty as charged.

It was tough.

I'm up to 5,000 miles right now.

I let the wife's BMW go 10,000 miles while under dealer maintenance.

I can't get her to slow down long enough to change it myself.

Both M cars get intermediate changes.
 
Had no problem doing 7,500 on my wife's Volvo V70 turbo (using good synthetic) but I can't seem to stick with the 10,000/1 year OCI on the Prius (using TGMO/M1/PP 0W-20). I just do a 6 month OCI every spring/fall even though I know the oil could hold up longer. The VTEC VCM on the Honda is rough on oil so that is a 5,000/6 month OCI hands down.
 
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Not tough at all. Been using synth for 30 years.

Use synth in both vehicles and push them both to the max oci. Check oil level every 1k and top off as needed.

UOA with TBN can give you peace of mind.
 
It took a little while to set in and realize the facts. Before BITOG I thought my oil changes at 3,750 and 4K were stretching the boundaries of conventional oil. But now my thought is anything less than 5K is being wasteful.
 
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