How many do 10K OCIs

[stranger706]

Both our vehicles call for 10,000 mile OCI, which I follow.

2012 Ford Escape 2.5 using PP 0w20
2014 Toyota Sienna 3.5 using TGMO 0w20

I would use any name brand synthetic for 10,000 miles in a clean engine.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: ls1mike

I have to wonder how much does varnish hurt? I would not want to have it, but if it doesn't sludge has anyone proven discoloration is bad for an engine?

Quote:
As sludge and varnish build up inside the engine, it can restrict the small oil passages that deliver oil to the crankshaft bearings, increasing the risk of oil starvation and bearing failure.

LINK
The author doesn't mention which is more restrictive between sludge and varnish; he just says they both contribute to oil flow restriction through the oil feed passages. I might write to that guy and ask him to be more specific.

For this particular example, this seems to be an engine design issue and not necessarily one related to OCIs although improper maintenance and extended OCIs exasperates the condition.

Note this:
Quote:
Lubrication issues, oil sludging, coolant leaks, overheating and low-mileage engine failures have plagued this engine family from the get-go.

And this:
Quote:
These engines run hot, and with a PCV system that barely flows enough air to pull moisture out of the crankcase, it doesn’t take long to create an oil sludging problem.

Based upon this it would seem that a very low OCI with a synthetic **might** prevent the varnishing/sludging. However, I do not see an engine design flaw like this as a poster child for a rationale as to why 10K OCIs should not be used on properly designed and maintained engines. The trend from all of the OEMs is to extend the OCIs and I can see in the near future where 10K will be the norm and not the exception.

 

[Redpatches]

My Prius runs 0W-20 and calls for 10K intervals but so far I have gone by the severe 6 month/5K interval just to be safe.
I may at some point switch over to 10K interval but not yet. The Odyssey can run either 5W-20 or 0W-20, but will continue to 6 month intervals as the VCM engine is supposedly hard on oil.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Clevy

Show me just 1 engine failure that was due to varnish, just one.


I don't care if it causes engine failure or not, I don't want the stuff on my engine.

The next time your wife complains about pee on the toilet, just tell her it's not harmful to the porcelain.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
I do not buy into sensationalism. Sorry if varnish has that much of negative effect in your engines operation than you have a engine that is too finicky and I do not want a finicky engine.


Agreed. The idea that a little varnish will cause harm, or the idea that someone is actually bothered by the fact that an engine may have a little varnish on the inside is downright silly.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4

The next time your wife complains about pee on the toilet, just tell her it's not harmful to the porcelain.


That's a false analogy, and utterly irrelevant to the discussion. You're grasping at straws as you attempt to defend your position.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

That's a false analogy, and utterly irrelevant to the discussion. You're grasping at straws as you attempt to defend your position.


I'm not trying to defend any position, Geez, are we at war here? I'm just asking for somebody to give me assurances that if I go 10,000 miles on Mobil 1, I won't have any varnish. And by the way, I think the analogy is perfect.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
And by the way, I think the analogy is perfect.

How? Do you take off your valve cover, pull your pants down, and sit on your engine? I hope you don't deposit anything...

 

[fdcg27]

Nice, and with the way you use your cars, with what must be a lot of highway miles, given total miles on each, I'd expect the same with almost any API SM/SN oil on the same drain intervals.

 

[Mystic]

First thing you do when you buy a new car you check the owner's manual and see what it says you have to do in terms of oil quality and oil change intervals to maintain your warranty. The last new car I bought was a 2003 Saturn Ion so I don't know what the new car manuals say today. But for severe service my manual said 3000 mile/3 month oil changes. I think most people who own a car should completely ignore any normal service requirements. About the only people who meet the normal service requirements are travelling salesmen not towing a trailer and driving on nice highways without excessive dust.

Oil is cheap compared to a new engine. I would never go over 6000 miles with a synthetic oil. 6000 miles or six months would take me halfway through the year. And oil changes every 6 months/6000 miles would probably keep the engine cleaner.

What does driving 10,000 miles on one oil change or 15,000 miles on one oil change achieve? I can brag about it here?

Now maybe the new cars today allow 10,000 mile oil changes. That is fine. Just make sure you check the oil level and don't let the oil get too low. And if the oil is extremely dark at say 6000 miles what is wrong with an oil change? And remember the difference between severe service requirements and so-called normal driving.

Before you attack me personally for what I have said consider what I have said and explain how it does not make any sense. It sure makes sense to me. I will take the 6000 mile oil change with a new car and the cleaner engine.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Nice, and with the way you use your cars, with what must be a lot of highway miles, given total miles on each, I'd expect the same with almost any API SM/SN oil on the same drain intervals.


The Focus gets about 35% hyw and 65% local. The Fusion is about 50-50 as we use this car for our trips.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Mystic
First thing you do when you buy a new car you check the owner's manual and see what it says you have to do in terms of oil quality and oil change intervals to maintain your warranty. The last new car I bought was a 2003 Saturn Ion so I don't know what the new car manuals say today. But for severe service my manual said 3000 mile/3 month oil changes. I think most people who own a car should completely ignore any normal service requirements. About the only people who meet the normal service requirements are travelling salesmen not towing a trailer and driving on nice highways without excessive dust.

Oil is cheap compared to a new engine. I would never go over 6000 miles with a synthetic oil. 6000 miles or six months would take me halfway through the year. And oil changes every 6 months/6000 miles would probably keep the engine cleaner.

What does driving 10,000 miles on one oil change or 15,000 miles on one oil change achieve? I can brag about it here?

Now maybe the new cars today allow 10,000 mile oil changes. That is fine. Just make sure you check the oil level and don't let the oil get too low. And if the oil is extremely dark at say 6000 miles what is wrong with an oil change? And remember the difference between severe service requirements and so-called normal driving.

Before you attack me personally for what I have said consider what I have said and explain how it does not make any sense. It sure makes sense to me. I will take the 6000 mile oil change with a new car and the cleaner engine.


You see, I have been doing 10K OCIs with M1 since 1978, so 10K is my normal. Also I have never had and engine problem caused by oil degradation. In 35 years look at all the resources I have saved.

 

[wtd]

My new 2014 Mustang GT recommends 10,000 mile changes or to go by the OLM. Part of the reason is the 8 qrt oil capacity.

I personally don't know if I could make myself do 10,000 mile changes even with a full synthetic.

Wayne

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Mystic
First thing you do when you buy a new car you check the owner's manual and see what it says you have to do in terms of oil quality and oil change intervals to maintain your warranty. The last new car I bought was a 2003 Saturn Ion so I don't know what the new car manuals say today. But for severe service my manual said 3000 mile/3 month oil changes. I think most people who own a car should completely ignore any normal service requirements. About the only people who meet the normal service requirements are travelling salesmen not towing a trailer and driving on nice highways without excessive dust.

I have a 50 mile one way commute on the freeway. This is normal driving. A lot of manufacturers don't even define "short trip" well, and for quite a few it's less than 3-5 miles. Anyone with a 6 mile daily commute in my area is a "normal" - especially if taken out for long weekend drives. Most drivers don't drive in "severe" conditions. Most are in between. That's what oil life monitors are for. The reality is that there's nothing magical about these numbers. They were designed to make the owner think the least about how often to service a vehicle. Additionally, they were designed to be conservative, or else you wouldn't be seeing these nice round numbers like 3000, 7500/3750, 10,000, or 5000.

No engine turns into a pumpkin just because it's gone over 5000/7500/10,000 miles after the last oil change.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Mystic
First thing you do when you buy a new car you check the owner's manual and see what it says you have to do in terms of oil quality and oil change intervals to maintain your warranty. The last new car I bought was a 2003 Saturn Ion so I don't know what the new car manuals say today. But for severe service my manual said 3000 mile/3 month oil changes. I think most people who own a car should completely ignore any normal service requirements. About the only people who meet the normal service requirements are travelling salesmen not towing a trailer and driving on nice highways without excessive dust.

Oil is cheap compared to a new engine. I would never go over 6000 miles with a synthetic oil. 6000 miles or six months would take me halfway through the year. And oil changes every 6 months/6000 miles would probably keep the engine cleaner.

What does driving 10,000 miles on one oil change or 15,000 miles on one oil change achieve? I can brag about it here?

Now maybe the new cars today allow 10,000 mile oil changes. That is fine. Just make sure you check the oil level and don't let the oil get too low. And if the oil is extremely dark at say 6000 miles what is wrong with an oil change? And remember the difference between severe service requirements and so-called normal driving.

Before you attack me personally for what I have said consider what I have said and explain how it does not make any sense. It sure makes sense to me. I will take the 6000 mile oil change with a new car and the cleaner engine.



+1

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Mystic
Oil is cheap compared to a new engine.

Sure, but who said that doing 10K OCI will require a new engine?

Quote:

What does driving 10,000 miles on one oil change or 15,000 miles on one oil change achieve?

It saves time and money. If it can be done safely, why NOT do it?

How did you decide that 6K miles is safe? Maybe 3K miles would have been even safer? Or maybe 1K miles? I mean, where do you draw the line?

I'm not saying that what you're doing is wrong, but by the same token you can't say that someone doing 10K miles OCI is wrong either. There are many factors that dictate the proper OCI.

In the end, we all do what helps us sleep better at night, and that in itself has it's own intangible value.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

How did you decide that 6K miles is safe? Maybe 3K miles would have been even safer? Or maybe 1K miles? I mean, where do you draw the line?


I've been doing 2000 mile OCI's. Take that and chew on it for awhile.

 

[Tomcat_80]

I dont know much, but in both of my older Toyotas I am doing 10k OCI'S with M1 5W30, and have been doin so for a very long time. I would listen to and or read some of our mod Dnewton's posts about waste and gettin the most out of the lube if its possible. I also believe what someone here said earlier that 10k OCI'S are going to be the future so I wouldnt be doing 3k OCI'S as that is a waste in my opinion.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I've been doing 2000 mile OCI's. Take that and chew on it for awhile.

You can do it at every fill-up if it makes you happy. What do I care.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I've been doing 2000 mile OCI's. Take that and chew on it for awhile.

You can do it at every fill-up if it makes you happy. What do I care.

You know it bothers you, you just don't wanna admit it. You'll probably be having
nightmares about it tonight. Golden clean oil getting drained out of the oil pan.

 

[Mystic]

I just don't understand the desire to take a motor oil to near exhaustion. Now it depends on how a person drives and weather conditions, dust in the environment, etc. So every car is unique. And there are differences between motor oils.

But even today motor oil is not that expensive. I know guys who can spend enough money in one trip to a night club to pay for an oil change. Two less trips to the night clubs and they can do two oil changes a year.

And I still remember seeing photographs of what an engine looked like (I think it was a VW vehicle) after the owner had done 15,000 mile oil changes with conventional motor oil. Those were some nasty photographs. I have seen a used car where the car looked good and when I checked out the dipstick the oil looked like black tar. I walked away from a good looking car in a used car lot when I saw that. The used car dealer had not even changed the oil and it looked like whoever had owned the car had rarely if ever changed the oil.

Sure a person wants to get their money worth out of the oil and oil filter. I would prefer to drain the oil when it still has some life left. And I would prefer to change the oil filter before it gets plugged up.

I remember a while back at this website it seemed like some guys were in a competition to see who could go the greatest time and distance on one oil change. That is not for me.