Those Who Do 3K/3Mo OCI's Check-in

[akuska]

I'll argue the contra here. I like extended OCIs with synthetic for the following reasons:

- I live in a condo (no place to change oil)
- The engine bay is so cramped I can't even see the oil filter, let alone be able to reach it easily if I did try to change the oil myself.
- VW requires specific grades of synthetic oil to maintain warranty coverage (which means $30 in oil and $15 for the filter), so DIY isn't that much cheaper.
- With a consumption rate of about 1 qt per 2500 miles, I'll put in about 2-3 new quarts of oil between OCIs anyway.
- I do a lot of highway driving.
- I've lived in Europe and know a lot of Europeans who follow longer OCIs (using ACEA A3-rated synth) with no ill effects and are astonished by our 3k intervals.
- Oils, even dinos, are a lot better than they used to be.

 

[Amkeer]

A 3000/3 month OCI is a complete waste of resources, time and money. Anyone that has spent any time researching this would understand this especially members.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner,2.7 liter, 4 cylinder, Mobil1 5w30 ODO 24900
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner,3.0 liter,6 cylinder, Mobil1 5w40 tsuv ODO 103800
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[opus1]

Count me in with the 3 month/3000 mile crowd, with some modifications.

My "work" car gets to the 3000-mile mark in about 3 months, so I tend to go by mileage there rather than time. 90% of that driving is stop-and-go for 6 miles each way.

My truck tends to get used only on weekends, and 90% of that driving is highway, so I generally go strictly by mileage there, and it takes 4-5 months to hit 3000 miles.

When I was doing my 110-mile, round-trip commute, which was 95% highway driving, I let the interval go to 4000 miles. Since I spent the weekends driving back out to the area to do house-hunting, that meant that I was changing the oil every 6-7 weeks.

All done with conventional oil and DIY unless it's really cold out or I have to take the vehicle in for some other service.

 

[unDummy]

Its funny, for those that I know who are stuck on the 3mo/3k addiction, NONE have sludge issues even with known sludge monsters.

Not everyone wants to use a synthetic or pay for a UOA. And, not everyone wants to buy products to extend their intervals or clean their poorly maintained dirty engine.

And, I fear that with those oil life monitors and less aggresive change intervals recommended by the owners' manuals, we'll see even moooooooore sludge monsters in the future.

Having to replace an engine is a waste of money, time, and resources.
An extra 1 or 2 oil changes a year, IMO, for the typical owner, isn't a waste.

 

[wpwren]

I do 3K mile OCIs on all the cars in my family, they all get M1. My 97 854R gets 5w30 when it's on the road during the season. My 94 855T is getting an ARX treatment right now and then it will be going on M1. My college student son's 99 Saab 95 gets the same as the R. My wifes' Lexus that sits in the garage all the time excluding her running the kids around is the only car that has a time frame included in the OCI, 6 months. I've been doing 3K OCIs for as long as I can remember. It gets me under the cars at a good frequency for spotting whatever. 3K works good for me for my reasons above and beyond the oil's ability to avoid break down at some higher mileage OCI.

 

[Zaedock]

labman
member # 1158
Icon 1 posted February 16, 2006 07:43 PM Profile for labman
"4 As long as you get the engine warm once in a while, you burn off the water and fuel. What about the glycol? No engine is perfectly sealed. May be worse with the aluminum heads on either an iron or aluminum block common now. Yes, I could sample the oil for a UOA. Or I can spend $10-12 on an oil change."


I disagree with that, but keeping on topic, I run 3K changes depending on the weather and uses. I usually run 4-5K changes in summer (excpet in my Jeep, which gets beat pretty hard).

 

[Ray H]

3,000 miles regardless of time (9 mos on my UOA posted last week). Now using TropArtic 10w30, and my stash of several old SuperTech 2808s and a boatload of WIX-made "Castrol" 3985 oil filters (way oversize for my Hyundai 2.7L V6) bought for $2.00 each when K-mart was cleaning out unmoved product three years ago. Cheap car, cheap oil, cheap filters, freakin' cheap-A$$ owner.

 

[Patman]

I used to be a 3k/3month person, even for a little while after this board started. But after experimenting with different OCIs and getting UOAs done, I can clearly see that my engine wear does not get worse with longer intervals. In fact it might even be a little better! I have no problems going 9k or longer on my oil changes now. A long OCI like that would've caused me to lose sleep a few years ago but now I don't worry about it one bit. I also don't believe that time is as big of a factor as a lot of people think. I'm hoping to prove that point this summer when I finally change the oil in my mom's 2001 Golf. She bought the car in the summer of 2004 and I immediately changed it over to GC. She's driven only 6000 miles since then and I still have not changed her oil (it has needed one quart of top up though) So by the time it hits the two year mark the oil will probably have about 7k on it. She does do a lot of short trips, but every once in a while I borrow her car and give it a good long highway run. The UOA is going to be very interesting!

 

[Turk]

For 25 years I changed my own oil & filter at 3k, driving 25-35k a year. NEVER had an engine problem!

After coming here though, it looks like I can easily go longer, especially with the synthetics.

I'm up to 5k with PP, got me nervous, so I drained the GMC truck and put in M1 EP hoping to go 7.5 - 10k. If I start losing sleep (I know I will...) I'll drain 'er early.

So, count me as a convert.

 

[Tim]

I spend over $5,000 per year for gasoline for two vehicles.

Spending and extra $60 or so per year for 2 extra oil changes per vehicle won't even register on my meter.

Like so many, I look for an excuse to crawl around the vehicle, wipe things down, etc. Oil changing is cheap therapy for me.

 

[Turk]

Er, a "dipping my toes in" convert...

 

[BoDuke26]

10-4 the cheap therapy thing! sometimes u just wanna go out in the garage with a 6-pack and change some oil!!

-Bo

 

[akuska]

"unDummy," if the oil manufacturers and quick lube places had managed to get "2 month, 2,000 mile" OCIs ingrained in the American psyche, they would be selling 50% more oil changes, and you could (would?) make exactly the same argument about sludging as you are now. For most drivers, a 5,000 OCI would work just fine, even with a sludger and even with conventional, and certainly with a syn blend. Group II+ oils are virtually synthetic now.

I suspect that a lot of people with sludging issues don't check their oil levels, and thus are running a quart or two low much of the time. I further suspect a lot of them forget the interval they are on. It seems to me 5k would be easier for the average driver to remember than 3k (easier math).

There needn't be an extreme between 3k and 15k OCIs.

 

[ARB1977]

I used to be a 3K kinda guy but now im at 6 month regardless of milage, usually under 7500 miles. Thats was before i bought my truck.

 

[RichR]

Well I'm on both sides of the fence on this one.
I have a sludge prone Toyota that gets the 3k or less treatment.Short city trips.
Then we have a newer one that gets the 5k treatment.Short trips also.
Then I have a V8 Tundra that gets the 8-9k treatment.This one gets some highway miles.
OCI all depends on the engine and the usage.

 

[Islander]

I do 3K/3mo oil change intervals with Pennzoil dino. I do it myself so the additional expense over longer intervals is not an issue for me. Also, I use it as an opportunity to check things out under the hood and under the vehicle.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I'm now changing the oil just as I get gasoline. That is when I feel I need to. It's kind of like shaving and showering.

 

[Axe Man]

The Sportage has always been on a diet of Castrol GTX. It's rarely driven now so it stays on 3K OCI's.

The Civic and Taurus get M1 so they go 6K.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

3K is all I've done with my 94 Caravan since I bought it new 12 years ago. It has tasted every major brand of oil -- seeing mostly yucky Fram filters until 1-1/2 years ago & still running very strong for a 4-Banger. Of all those brands, I always thought it did it's best work/consumed less with Castrol GTX.

 

[wavinwayne]

I've been in the 3/3 habit for a while with my wife's Expedition; but I've sworn to go 5k miles this time around. I'm running Havoline synthetic & a MC FL820S filter, so it should be a trouble-free 5k miles.