1.5 year OCI?

[Klutch9]

Our 2011 Fusion 2.5L barely gets driven nowadays. Not just because of the pandemic, but in general. The yearly OCI is coming up next month, and it'll be around 6,000 miles. Owners manual specifies a 1 year/10k oil change. If I give it another 6 months it'll be around 8 or 9k miles. I know it's fine but I'm just looking for further input. When the car is driven, the trips are usually longish so the engine oil reaches operating temperature frequently. The current oil filter has a silicone adbv so no worry of it failing. Oil is Harvest King synthetic. Discuss.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by Klutch9
When the car is driven, the trips are usually longish so the engine oil reaches operating temperature frequently.


That right there is the key to being able to go past 1 year oil changes. I've done it a few times and see no ill effects.

 

[pbm]

The 2.5 is known to be easy on oil and if it's like the one in my Escape it has a large, 5.7 quart, sump so it should be doable.
I'd probably go 3 extra months rather than 6 because I'd think about it too much....

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted by pbm
The 2.5 is known to be easy on oil and if it's like the one in my Escape it has a large, 5.7 quart, sump so it should be doable.
I'd probably go 3 extra months rather than 6 because I'd think about it too much....


Sump is 5.3 quart.

 

[E150GT]

I'm on year 2 with my oil change on the truck

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by Klutch9
Our 2011 Fusion 2.5L barely gets driven nowadays. Not just because of the pandemic, but in general. The yearly OCI is coming up next month, and it'll be around 6,000 miles. Owners manual specifies a 1 year/10k oil change. If I give it another 6 months it'll be around 8 or 9k miles. I know it's fine but I'm just looking for further input. When the car is driven, the trips are usually longish so the engine oil reaches operating temperature frequently. The current oil filter has a silicone adbv so no worry of it failing. Oil is Harvest King synthetic. Discuss.


CHange oil and get a UOA on it.

 

[Chesterr]

I know a lady in Germany who has not changed oil in 150k miles but does top off ....engine runs a little rough, oil is black but it keeps going

 

[czbrian]

I go at least 2 years on my rarely driven trucks. I would go for the distance instead of worrying about the time since it does get the longer runs when you do drive it.

 

[zeng]

Go for it , whether next 6 months is summer or winter .

 

[CT8]

Sell the car.

 

[daves87rs]

I've done yearly or bi-yearly in my Cavalier for years with no issues....as long as she gets those good warm ups you are good yo go!

 

[FCD]

I've gone 2 years several times, on conventional oil, no problem.

 

[demarpaint]

You'll be fine, I've gone a lot longer than that. With the current Coronavirus outbreak, and living in a US hot spot I have a feeling I'll be pushing a two year OCI, in one vehicle, possibly two.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted by E150GT
I'm on year 2 with my oil change on the truck


The 4.9 Liter (300 cube) straight-six in your Ford truck won't care about the oil as long as it isn't pure sludge. It's very hard to hurt those engines.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted by Chesterr
I know a lady in Germany who has not changed oil in 150k miles but does top off ....engine runs a little rough, oil is black but it keeps going


As long as it isn't pure "short tripping" and the oil filter gets changed once every few years, it might go a long time.

I really haven't seen anything that says "time" kills oil.
My old Farmall "H" has a sump full of 15W-40 from about 15 years ago.
It only gets used about 2 hours a year, at full operating temp. The oil looks great, I see no need to change it.

 

[mightymousetech]

Originally Posted by Chesterr
I know a lady in Germany who has not changed oil in 150k miles but does top off ....engine runs a little rough, oil is black but it keeps going


Sorry, I call [censored] on that one.

I have seen three new cars where the owner did not know they needed to get a oil change. The motors were seized on all three between 40 and 50k km. So around 30k miles.

 

[caprice_2nv]

Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Originally Posted by Chesterr
I know a lady in Germany who has not changed oil in 150k miles but does top off ....engine runs a little rough, oil is black but it keeps going


Sorry, I call [censored] on that one.

I have seen three new cars where the owner did not know they needed to get a oil change. The motors were seized on all three between 40 and 50k km. So around 30k miles.


I've seen a 2005 Impala go from 190,000kms to 300,000kms on the same oil before the oil filter rusted out and started leaking. This was on cheap bulk conventional oil and that car ran like new. (I drove it nights as a taxi driver for a couple months). That's close to 70k miles on the oil and filter. A new engine is going to be less tolerant of missing oil changes. They have break in metals in the oil. The older engine was likely leaking and using a bit of oil so it got top ups every now and then.

This cab company treated all their cars this way and only rarely had to replace engines. Luckily most were gm 3800s or Ford 4.6.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I would change it but that's just my way of keeping things in good nick. I live in a Covid-19 hotspot and will have plenty of time to do some oil changes.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I would do a spill and fill leaving the filter.
I would sleep better.

 

[circuitsmith]

I'd go over a year (maybe two) if not many short trips, but I'll never go over 5,000 miles unless the sump is big, or it's 100% highway driving.