Originally Posted By: JoelB
I disagree that something is wasteful just because you didn't use it to the bitter end. There is value to some people in using things within their limits, and not always pushing it (peace of mind i suppose). To me a good UOA is a good UOA, you don't always need to ring out every penny. Oil is cheap.
How do you define "bitter end"? Would that not be where some product or equipment is used to a point of actual damage? Not a limit of self-imposed fear-mongering, but actual data-driven proof of degradation?
I have run dino oils out to 15k miles in a few different applications, including soccer-mom mini-van abuse, and yet the UOAs came back fine. I continually run 10k miles on RK dino oil (about as inexpensive as you'll ever find retail), and yet the UOAs are fine.
If I can run dino oils REPEATEDLY and SAFELY out to 15k miles, where is that "bitter end"? And if syns are "better" than dino oils, just where is the end of bitter?
5k miles on Amsoil?
Whether you recognize it or not, that is WASTE.
parshisa has a decent plan. Take a few UOAs, extend as indicated, and continue. If fuel dilution is the concern, that is an INPUT to the wear. The RESULT is wear metal data. As long as that is not affected, continue on with caution.
We so very often hear the "cheap insurance" argument bantered over and over and over again.
If a "normal" product can go well past your intended use, it's not "cheap" to use a more expensive product in an ever-shorter duration.
It is waste.
Allow me to quote myself from another thread:
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
I love making analogies, because it often illuminates the obviousness some folks seem to overlook.
At the end of your work day, upon arriving home, you might want a beer with dinner. All you ever plan to consume is 12oz (because that's your self-imposed limit), but you buy 16oz bottles of beer because it's "cheap insurance" in case you want a bit more. Fine - so your selected product (16oz) already has the potential to cover your "overage" concerns. Typically, you just toss out 4oz every night. So then does it make sense to buy a bigger vessel (24oz or 40oz), if all you ever do is consume 12oz? Even if you went over your "normal" usage of 12oz, you've got 4oz in reserve with your typical 16oz product. Why buy an even larger beer that you're just going to throw away the unused portion, because of your self-imposed limit?
My point? Dino oils can EASILY cover out to 10k miles in most applications. So using a syn for 5k miles is not "cheap". It's "waste". In fact, even a dino oil changed at 5k miles is waste; it's just less wasteful than using syns at that duration.
The most irritating thing about the membership of this site is that MOST of them double down on waste. Not only do they over-buy and under-utilize their lubes, but then they willfully ignore the data they paid for, by eschewing the information in a UOA, and sticking with their emotional "It's cheap insurance" mentality.