40k mile OCI pics

[Lubener]

I am sure there had to be some make up oil, adding some additives back in that soup. I cannot figure out your reasoning. Everytime you went to pick up a penny you saved, a dollar bill fell out of your back pocket. Maybe you saved $150 dollars on oil changes, but it did occur to you that maybe you wouldn't have to look for another car had you maintained it.

 

[pitzel]

Originally Posted By: B320i

Good candidate for a UOA?
What's the sump capacity? If you added 4L of make-up oil that


Overall system capacity is ~4.5L.

Quote:

Do you do lots of short runs, or a lot of highway runs?


Mostly short runs, with the occasional very long highway (ie: 500 mi) highway run.

Quote:

If you're on the highway for long periods, and very few cold starts, a OCI of this long wouldn't be entirely inappropriate, provided the oil is holding up adequately.


It gets lots of cold starts. At -20C and often quite a bit lower in Canada. I rarely use the block heater (figure that if I can't get it started at the origin, I won't have any chance at the destination!). I don't 'warm up' or idle either. Even on the coldest (-35C) days, 10-20 seconds at the most until I'm into gear and driving.

The relative lack of heat might be on my side, as it rarely idles in traffic for anything more than a couple minutes at street lights or stop signs, even in the summer.

Originally Posted By: 19jacobob93

Looks fine
Varnish doesn't do much harm if any at all, I've seen car engines with 700,000km+ on them doing 15-20k OCIs on bulk dino and varnish didn't stop them from getting to that mileage!


Yeah brand new cranks are darker-metal, so its really just a light coating of varnish.

 

[pitzel]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
Maybe you saved $150 dollars on oil changes, but it did occur to you that maybe you wouldn't have to look for another car had you maintained it.


Not too sure how I could have stopped the rocker panels from rusting from the inside out, as happens on this era of GMs. But if you figure each oil change would cost me $50 (cash outlay on supplies + a modest amount for my effort), I've saved roughly 8 oil changes (w/7500 mile interval), or 23 oil changes (w/3000 mile interval) for between $400 and $1150.

Apply a 10% discount rate to such "cashflows" (ie: what a decent investment portfolio has returned since 2004), and you're looking at double those figures.

 

[pbm]

I had a 3.1 in my Buick and it was a very good motor which wasn't particular about oil. Whoever designed the LIM (with only 4 bolts and a [censored] plastic IM gasket) should be shot, or at least FIRED. These engines could run a long, long time but needed an (expensive) LIM gasket replacement as maintenance.

PS: I admire your nerve but I wouldn't put that oil back in to the motor. Give it some fresh oil.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: pitzel
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Thanks for sharing, but I'm really scratching my head at saving the old oil and the plan to refill it. Why not add some fresh oil and go another 40k?


Will probably have to add a quart to make up what I couldn't recover. But why waste otherwise good oil?

Don't you think that you're being awful presumptuous in your assumption that the oil you drained is still serviceable? Only a uoa would tell you that.









Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
That is not a very healthy looking motor.



Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high

Lots of caked on varnish.



So? Varnish doesn't mean diddly. Having a "clean" engine only makes people feel good about themselves.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: pitzel
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Maybe you saved $150 dollars on oil changes, but it did occur to you that maybe you wouldn't have to look for another car had you maintained it.


Not too sure how I could have stopped the rocker panels from rusting from the inside out, as happens on this era of GMs. But if you figure each oil change would cost me $50 (cash outlay on supplies + a modest amount for my effort), I've saved roughly 8 oil changes (w/7500 mile interval), or 23 oil changes (w/3000 mile interval) for between $400 and $1150.

Apply a 10% discount rate to such "cashflows" (ie: what a decent investment portfolio has returned since 2004), and you're looking at double those figures.


But ... had you changed the oil every 3000 miles, it wouldn't have rusted out!

Cars don't wear out where I am; they rust out.

 

[Y_K]

Originally Posted By: pitzel
.. .. if you figure each oil change would cost me $50 (cash outlay on supplies + a modest amount for my effort), I've saved roughly 8 oil changes (w/7500 mile interval), or 23 oil changes (w/3000 mile interval) for between $400 and $1150.

Apply a 10% discount rate to such "cashflows" (ie: what a decent investment portfolio has returned since 2004), and you're looking at double those figures.


and putting the old oil back is akin to reinvesting dividends and saves environment.. humankind would progress much quicker, if we learned eating fertilizer straight, instead of spreading manure on the soil

 

[Pontual]

Ziebart it and change your oil for 300k miles.

 

[badtlc]

Looks terrible considering the make up oil used. Obviously it is hurting the motor but if it makes you happy, go for it! Testing is fun.

 

[WiskyBadger]

You should also cut the oil filters open to see what they are catching. My guess is there's some sludge in them.

 

[Astro14]

Of interest would be the condition of the pan, the heads under the valve cover, and the oil filter.

But visual condition of the oil is not definitive. I would be interested in what a UOA says about the metals content and the TBN. That would tell you how well the oil is doing, not the "it wiped off easily" test...

 

[IndyIan]

I have known of a few people that buy old rusty cars, and just add gas and oil until the brake lines rust out or something expensive breaks 2-3-4 years later. There's not much sense sending a perfect motor in a rusty car to the crusher I suppose, but I think this strategy is pretty much over with more cars having a 280hp V6 instead of the old 150hp ones.

 

[goodtimes]

If you did 10K changes, 5L each with the make up oil, that would be two extra changes at 20K and 30K. Let's say $7/L oil cost, so $70 more for the two changes. Minus the two extra qts you needed to add anyway, leaves $56 saved. Divided by 6.5 years is roughly $8.50/year saved in your pocket, not knowing oil cost exactly. Plus the two extra $10 filters, so roughly $12/yr saved or $1/m in your pocket.

 

[donnyj08]

i'd like to see under the valve cover. Bottom ends generally stay cleaner as there are no pools of oil which sit on hot iron and get a chance to coke.

I would be surprised if there isn't some sludge in the crevices of the heads.

Please change the oil and do not pour that fill back in, i believe that engine has earned a $50 oil change for hanging on under abuse.

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: pitzel
But let this be a lesson that there's nothing wrong with 40k mile oil changes in engines for which it is appropriate.


utter hogwash.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
Originally Posted By: pitzel
But let this be a lesson that there's nothing wrong with 40k mile oil changes in engines for which it is appropriate.


utter hogwash.
It's the stingy man.....who pays the most.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Thanks for posting these pictures. You should have started a thread asking people what they would see in these pics before you actually posted them. I am sure most members would have predicted far more visible sludge. Looks far better than I thought it would have and I don't think dino oil would have fared as well.

Although this is not proof of anything, it gives me more confidence in the longer OCIs I have been using. Your OCI appears to make perfect sense with this car and it's intended use. [I wouldn't re-use the old oil]

 

[Kuato]

Good point, Wobbly. If the pics had been posted without comment on the kms driven, responses might have been different.

pitzel is the second BITOG member running 40k OCIs; it sure would be nice to see a UOA on that oil!

 

[friendly_jacek]

that reminds me synlube. oil for life. the only catch is being diligent with filter changes and replenishing consumed oil. those top-offs serve as "continuous" oil change.

it's not a bad idea for a beater with some minor oil consumption.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: pitzel
I will, although it likely will be junked for other reasons prior to that. But at least there will be a bunch of $$$ saved in my pocket from not doing a bunch of (probably) unnecessary oil changes.


Bunch of money saved? Lets do the math.

$40 - Synthetic oil change with a new oil filter
$15 - three quarts of synthetic makeup oil
$12 - two additional oil filters at 15k mile intervals
$5 - one quart of oil for lost oil when changing oil filters
____________________________________________________________________

$72 - total cost for 40K miles for synthetic oil and filters




$20 - store brand conventional oil with a filter every 10K miles
____________________________________________________________________

$80 - total cost for 40K miles for conventional oil and filters



So basically over the course of 40K miles, you saved a WHOPPING $8 dollars with this ridiculous experiment vs changing your oil every 10K miles with conventional oil. And if you are going to argue that an 40K mile oil change interval with synthetic is better for your engine than a 10K mile interval with conventional, I will HIGHLY disagree with you.