25,000 mile OCI roll call

[ericthepig]

This should be a short thread -

So, who's done it ?

First up - Me. EricthePig. Did it in 1995. '88 Mazda 323 (sump 3.8 qts). Amsoil 10w40. Amsoil filter chged at 6mo. Took right at about 1 yr. Sold the car last yr, running great.

 

[Burt]

No UOA? How much make up oil?

 

[willix]

not present

 

[ericthepig]

That was 1995. iirc I had bought an extra qt for makeup, but I don't remember having to use it except for the filter chg.

I did this one 25k OCI, and I did several over 15k, all in the mid-1990s. Amsoil 10w40 and later M1 15w50 (yrly mileage went way down after yr 1999-2000).

No UOA. But, it did 40mpg in its prime. It was doing 38mpg when I sold it (w/ 215k miles). That, imo, says more than a UOA.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: willix
not present


Not present here either.

 

[stenerson]

I've done about 30K on a leaky vw jetta. Added about a quart of oil every week. LOL!

Other than that I've done 15K on wife's caravan, one year m1 15w50.

 

[ericthepig]

btw - my text may not have been clear. I did Amsoil ~1994 to ~1996. Then to M1 till around 1999. Dino and HMs since then (had a small leak with M1 - it came to a complete stop within one OCI on dino - never to return. And started having startup smoke around 2000 that the HMs essentially completely resolved - recommend them for valve seal issues!)

 

[fsskier]

Our last two cars (Wifes 1994 Escort Commuter Car and my 3.1 Litre Lumina APV extreme use tow vehicle) used Mobil 1 OW20 and 20K+ annual oil changes, and arrived at 300K miles with engines that:

Seem like new, quiet, smooth, burn no oil, look clean through the filler holes, etc.

I would not try this on any of the known sludge motors.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: fsskier
Our last two cars (Wifes 1994 Escort Commuter Car and my 3.1 Litre Lumina APV extreme use tow vehicle) used Mobil 1 OW20 and 20K+ annual oil changes, and arrived at 300K miles with engines that:

Seem like new, quiet, smooth, burn no oil, look clean through the filler holes, etc.

I would not try this on any of the known sludge motors.


I'm assuming most of that was the more robust 12 tbn SL 0w20?

 

[fsskier]

Assume that ALL of it has been whatever Wally World has on hand.

The API service classification has advanced several times over the years. I buy it as I go, and never stock up. Both cars would need a couple of qts added to make the full 20K interval.... actually with annual oil changes it was usually past 20K, each year at about Thanksgiving.

 

[Jim Spahr]

I don't believe in 25k or even 20k mile OCI- we are talking about miles and not kilometers, aren't we? I called the BMW service dept. and they recommend 15k OCI for their car's oil and filters. I assume the BMW folks are using their brand of synth. oil and filter. I find it hard to believe that any synth. oil or filter would make it to 25k! I was glad to see eric did change the filter more frequently. I do remember Mobil 1 oil when first introduced talked of 20k and 25k mile OCI. That was a ploy to justify their higher cost. Mobil 1 soon backed off this claim. I bet there are many Audi 1.8T owners who wished they had used a much shorter OCI than the factory rec. 10.5k!

 

[Scott_Tucker]

I think it depends on the engine. Turbos are harder on oil that naturally aspirated engines. I have a friend who changes his oil every 25000 mi on his Toyota truck and has 180k. He changes the filter twice within that interval. It's totally doable but really depends on the engine. BMW factory oil is Castrol synthetic.

 

[ericthepig]

Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
I don't believe in 25k or even 20k mile OCI- we are talking about miles and not kilometers, aren't we?


Yes, it was miles.

And I wouldn't repeat (now) what I did (then). 3.8 qt sump !

My best friend and I met an Amsoil rep at a conference (unrelated to oil) circa 1993. The rep weaved his tale of PAOs & OCI efficiencies. At the time I was running 500 miles/wk (hiway commuting and a lot of city). I caught the oil bug right then and there while listening to that rep. Been fascinated ever since.

My friend became an Ams. rep after that fateful mtg. He has done one yr OCIs every year since 1994 (on Amsoil - probably in the 15k mile range). He took an '84 VW van out to 350k miles (also had a bypass filter - the van is still sitting in his (rural) yard - has been for a few yrs - non oil related issues). And he took an '85 Jetta to around 300k miles (also strictly 1 yr OCIs) - got rid of it just a few yrs ago - no oil problems.

 

[tig1]

Changing oil filters and topping off will greatly extend any OCI.

 

[fsskier]

Agreed, although I no longer see any advantage to changing the filter early. 50 Years ago, I had cars that filled their filters full of a sludge like material clear to the top of the pleats.
a 57 Dodge comes to mind, also several Ford "Thunderbird" V8's
They also stacked up sludge clear to the top of the valve springs, when you pulled the valve covers off it was amazing!!! And, they still ran well.
In the early 1960's Ford began the 6 month, 6,000 mile change oil interval and published a list of oils approved for this service. All the refiners got on board, the old MS classification gave way to service SC, with an immediate upgrade to SD for the longer service intervals. SE followed soon in the early 70's to greatly improve high temperature breakdown.

Since that time ( I have cut apart filters all my life) the sludge in the filters has virtually vanished, indeed after 25K miles now I only find a few particles at the bottom of each pleat in the filter.

So, why change more often??

 

[ericthepig]

Mobil1 states that regardless of filter used, no filter chg is necessary when running EP to 1yr/15k. They apparently agree with fsskier.

 

[tonycarguy]

Yeah BMW's 15k OCI is one of the longest in the industry (at least in the US). But the OCI is spec'd and tested for that. They can get away with it because they have large oil capacities -- eg., 7 qts for a 3.0L engine. I wouldn't run 25k unless I had a 2L engine with a 12 qt sump.

 

[tropic]

'93 Ford Escort, ~34K mile OCI on Pennzoil SL dino. This wasn't a case of pushing the envelope; it was plain old neglect. When the oil was finally changed during a valve cover gasket replacement, I saw that the oil filter media had collapsed. Curiously, compression was still great at 247K miles when the car was retired due to extensive electrical problems.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: ericthepig
Mobil1 states that regardless of filter used, no filter chg is necessary when running EP to 1yr/15k. They apparently agree with fsskier.


The last time my friend changed his oil it was at my place. He does 15K with M1 5-30EP, and had 15.5K OCI this time. The oil looked great and afterward we cut the filter(M1 filter) apart and I saw no grit or sludge in it at all.

 

[fsskier]

Anybody with one of the known sludge motors on here...... do you cut your filters apart??? Do you find lots of sludge in them each time???

This could be an early warning that you have a sludge motor that cannot tolerate (perhaps even regular service intervals) long intervals, and perhaps should try a synthetic with emphasis on higher breakdown temperatures.