What oil do Americans actual need for 3k OCI's?

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You do not get out much do you? I have lived in worked in many countries and cultures. Many change their oil @ less than 2K miles many countries due the poor design of the engines utilized there/ poor quality fuel/ severe driving conditions/Low mileage per year etc. This in South America/Central America and Russia/Eastern Europe....dont get me started on China/India "oil change habits".
But if it makes you feel somewhat superior to belittle fellow BITOG members by all means continue.
But your dead wrong about this 3K Oil Change being an American habit only. Dead wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: Joe90_guy
As an old oil formulator, I'm constantly amazed by posts from the US which say 'I change my oil every 3,000 miles'





Where are all these people changing oil at 3,000 miles? I can't find them.
 
Originally Posted By: shDK
It must be good times we live in. When grown men have nothing to fight about, but OCIs

I see it more as a cultural bias/slam statement that has nothing to do with OCI or oil. I also sense a baited/troll post so I will bow out.
 
Originally Posted By: Joe90_guy
I suspect this speculation will never amount to much but in the event that Mr Stumpy Fingers ever gets his hands on the levers of powers and trashes the entire US economy, this might be one way you can all save yourself a few bob whilst driving around looking for work...


Disappointed that you ended your post with a political jab.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: Ram01
3,000 mile oil may soon make a come with all these GDI engines coming to the market and stories about timing chains stretching


Why would oil change frequency affect timing chain stretch. That's a mechanical defect.


Most any conventional oil is more than capable of 3000 mile intervals.
Believe the chain "stretching" or link wear is caused by excessive shearing, & abrasive silicon & insolubles in the oil. I can think of a couple bad designs, too, some older Nissans & Mitsubishis didn't have the greatest chain guides.


My personal opinion is it has more to do with Cars that ended up 2 quarts low by oil change time and inadequate splash. The average motorist does not check oil between changes.
 
Originally Posted By: Joe90_guy
It's probably rooted in a well justified, deep seated sense of inferiority
that must be somewhat compensated by posts like yours? And you claim to be an oil formulator? Why do you bring politics in so many posts outside of off-topic area?
Unfulfilled sense of self-importance since your potty training days must be hard to live with..
 
Depends on the vehicle... An off-road Jeep rock crawling for days on end might get oil changed at 3K. So might a short-tripper. Most cars and light trucks that I know of go 4~6K between changes.

The State of California fleet management determined years ago that the optimum was 6,000 miles and filter every other. So that 10's of thousands of vehicles that have done that for a long time and many go to auction over 250K still running fine.

High performance and race motors are not to be treated this way because of use extremes or fuel dilution.

But, there is more to changing oil than changing oil. It's also when you crawl around under the vehicle looking at a lot of stuff, greasing zerks (my light trucks still take grease), checking brake pads, etc.

So it may be that the oil change is incidental to other work and is just a time/convenience thing and not mileage related... If that's the case, the incidental cost of the oil/filter is nothing compared to scheduling another day to do more work when you are already there ...

Most of my fleet runs HDEO and that is cheap enough that I don't worry about $4 a change cost savings... I get the OP's point, but the USA trend is to manage labor costs and time for services, not disposable service materials cost.

We all think the Euro trend to 10K changes is kinda nuts when we hear rumors of component failures for lack of even checking fluids on closed systems... It's that once you extend the OCI, the owner stops checking anything ...
frown.gif
 
Sulphur in fuel has some but by no means all the influence.

BTW, I don't think a good defense of 3k ocis is pointing out its 1k more than South America, China and India.
 
I do 5000km changes because my vehicles see plus 30 and negative 45 seasonally. Always short tripped and drove hard. But when they get good quality syn im not worrying when I forget and go 6000 ish km's.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
The 3,000 mile oil change hasn't been relevant for years. It's only pushed by chain repair shops and unsuspecting folks fall prey.


Old school mechanics bible:

1. Change oil every 3,000 miles.
2. Don't put conventional oil in an old engine.
3. Don't believe the thin oil hype.

They usually tell you they put 10W-40 conventional in every 3000 miles with a new filter and never have a single engine problem.

I never believed #2 could be accurate.. Until recently, when my opinion MAY have changed. Might have to have it repeat before I change my mind.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
How is it I miss all the fun discussions until they have run their life?
23.gif



Feel free to join in...the blood's only just started to flow!
 
Originally Posted By: TheOnlySarge
You do not get out much do you? I have lived in worked in many countries and cultures. Many change their oil @ less than 2K miles many countries due the poor design of the engines utilized there/ poor quality fuel/ severe driving conditions/Low mileage per year etc. This in South America/Central America and Russia/Eastern Europe....dont get me started on China/India "oil change habits".
But if it makes you feel somewhat superior to belittle fellow BITOG members by all means continue.
But your dead wrong about this 3K Oil Change being an American habit only. Dead wrong.


Sorry old bean but if you're going to argue, you really should master your facts first.

Yes there are countries that change their oil at 2k miles. The reason they do this is because their oils are garbage and they are utterly destroyed at that point. I should know because I formulated rather a lot of them in just those very counties you mentioned! SF/CC oils and the like made from garbage local Group I base oils containing just the barest sniff of DI. Also, as you correctly pointed out, they tend to run some awful fuels in some pretty awful engines.

Now contrast that with the situation in the US. Group I is almost gone now... deliberately done to death by the API and the base oil producers. Group II oils are de rigueur and Group III usage is climbing. DI treats for GF-5 oils, even the most lowly, are around the 10% mark which is easily comparable with European levels. Your gasoline is also pretty good quality and is full of nice additives put their specifically to keep those engines clean.

And what do so many of your kith and kin do with these oils which are works of art? You dump it at 3k miles! Bonkers. Waste on a vast scale! You should be thanking me as a true friend for being so honest with you..
 
So what would the HTHS of this 10W20 be ?

2.8/2.9 ?

I get the premise, and 3,000 miles on a bare bones oil makes sense, far more than 3,000 miles of M1, but as you've seen explaining rational process in an emotional "doing the best for my car" forum, let alone convincing the [removed]
 
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There are still those who never got the memo on improved oil quality and formulation as well as improved fuel formulations who practice 3K drains.
There are also those who believe that 3K drains will prevent varnish.
But there are also those who do 3K drains on low use or high fuel dilution vehicles.
Finally, we here live in the land of cheap motor oil. For what you pay for a cheap swill, we can run M1 and our cheapest oils that comply with current specs are less costly than you could dream of.
I can understand your being jealous of our good fortune in being able to buy good oils cheaply and to be able to afford to change them as often as we might please.
A trashed US economy does closely resemble a booming UK economy.
The difference is that everything is cheaper here, from motor oil to fuel to chicken, steak, fresh fish and toilet paper.
Lord help you should you vote to leave the EU.
The pain will be incalculable.
We don't need an EU. We're a large union all by ourselves.
 
So what percentage of the American motoring public changes their oil at 3k? Can I see the source of your data?

The small sample set I know follow their olm and they are all between 5 and 10k. I think the 3k people are getting less and less every year, but I am speculating.

BTW you don't have to act like such a tool.
 
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