A couple of UOAs would give you a good baseline. That is what I do with all of our new vehicles anyway. I pick a couple of oils that I would like to run and compare them over an OCI of 5 or 6K. Then I'll settle on an OCI of 50-60% of the mileage, which has been 6K across several new vehicles.
3k vs 5k Synthetic OCI
- Thread starter picklyrickly1073
- Start date
Gosh. Even if I was obsessive about it, I wouldn't even think about changing oil until I saw 5k miles.
Couple things:
How about actually posting this video you keep mentioning so we can review it and give feedback.
You’re willing to spend an extra $26 on “early” oil changes for the lifetime of the vehicle based solely on YT videos, but you are not willing to spend $35 once on UOA? What sense does that make?
Why are so worry about this? I would sell the vehicles before I’d let them eat my lunch like this.
How about actually posting this video you keep mentioning so we can review it and give feedback.
You’re willing to spend an extra $26 on “early” oil changes for the lifetime of the vehicle based solely on YT videos, but you are not willing to spend $35 once on UOA? What sense does that make?
Why are so worry about this? I would sell the vehicles before I’d let them eat my lunch like this.
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Is one UOA enough? This is a genuine question since I'm considering doing my first uoa
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Mentions 3000-3500
(This isn’t a “big” youtuber) 3000 intervals
Says cut them 1/2-1/3
They seem useful but what’s to say if the car doesn’t have dilution now that it won’t in the future. So you end up in this loop of constantly paying for UOAs instead of potentially paying to change oil prematurely. I’d do one or two here but that doesn’t mean that in 50k miles everything will be the same
One is a great start! Post it here, if it's good and your driving pattern remains the same you can hold off on a second UOA for a while.
I think you are creating a false dichotomy to help support the conclusion you want to be true, to be honest.
You don’t have to do them all the time to create a plan. My Toyota showed signs of dilution so I started doing an annual UOA to check on dilution and create an action plan for the future. Don’t make this more complicated than it actually needs to be.
Valvoline Restore & Protect
I read on hear, quite a few people recommending Valvoline Restore & Protect engine oil. With it just coming out, do you have any significant evidence of the claims it makes? I have read on other forums where it has quieted noisy engines, looking through the valve cover is cleaner, another one...
bobistheoilguy.com
‘21 Toyota Sienna Hybrid / A25A-FXS / 80,700 miles / Pennzoil Platinum 0w20 / 5,600 miles
Winter run of 5,600 miles from Dec ‘23 to Mar ‘24. OA lists oil as PP 0W16 on report but it is actually PP 0W20. Previous data from Dec ‘22 to Mar ‘23 is with PP 0W16 for 5,000 miles. Viscosity stayed around 7.0 cst @100c this time which is about the range I was hoping for going up. The Toyota...
bobistheoilguy.com
‘21 Toyota Sienna/ A25A-FXS / 55,000 miles / Pennzoil Platinum 0w16 / 5,000 miles
Oil level went this OCI. First time this has happened. As suspected there is fuel dilution. Maybe from the abnormally cold winter weather and recent short tripping. Going to take it to the dealer before the 60,000 mile Powertrain warranty is up so I can get the event on record if nothing else...
bobistheoilguy.com
If you want to trend, no. If you need to check on something you suspect to be happening such as coolant intrusion or dilution, yeah.
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You’re overthinking it by 2,000+ miles.
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I’m not against 5k intervals, happy to have the time to do other things. appreciate the out, ordered a few test kits
Triple_Se7en
$50 Site Donor 2024
Not once have you mentioned what viscosity / grade of oil you're using.
You should be thinking about soaking-up fuel dilution. Increasing oil thickness right now is your #1 concern. Your OCI length bats 2nd.
Don't put watery oil in your engine and steer into 5k OCIs with the fuel diluter you have purchased.
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I’m not blindly putting thicker oil into my car because people here say so based on generalizations that my car has a problem people don’t know it has. How can you tell me my #1 goal should be to thicken oil if you don’t know what I’m using now
Good move, and another reason for a UOA. If you have a problem like fuel dilution, coolant in the oil, elevated wear metals, high silicon, etc. odds are the UOA will show it, along with how the oil is holding up in your vehicle.
# 1 his only criteria was how long you want to keep the vehicle which has little to do with when you should do change the oil. So granny with the Corolla and Mr Lead-foot with the Corvette at track are on the same schedule based on nothing but time of ownership. This one is a non sequester.
#2 he said 3-5000 miles because he does this and does not care what other people say. Once again, not much in the way of criteria engine type, driving habits, weather, etc.
# 3 he said 1/2 to 1/3 related to 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 mile intervals but really didn’t give a criteria. Then he landed on just do 5000/6-month if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You just took these videos and ran off the deep end with them. If you wanna do 3000 OCI go for it. But this all much ado about nothing IMO.
I’m exactly in the same boat as the OP. My wife’s 2008 Pontiac Solstice 2.0T DI Ecotec was GM’s first DI turbo engine ( starting in 2006 ) and are known to have carbon deposits accumulate on the back of the intake valves. I do use BP 92 octane fuel. Bought used in February of 2023 with 32,000 miles now currently at 34,800 miles so driven less than 3,000 miles in the last 14 months. After reading about fuel dilution and LSPI on some DI engines, the first oil change I chose the same Mobil1 EP in the 5w30 flavor . After a 150 mile drive the rear facia seems to accumulate a slightly sooty film so I’m considering doing a UOA on the next oil change in the next week or so, but with the short oci I too am straddling the UOA fence.
It's a pretty harmless suggestion, the only downside is a tiny increase in fuel consumption.
Fuel dilution usually reaches steady state within ~1k miles, so changing the oil more often doesn't really help with that. It's just something you have to live with. You can address the reduced viscosity by going up to a 5W-30 if you want. Taking longer trips and using a block heater in cold weather will also help reduce dilution.
The OLM on these Hondas will typically recommend an OCI of ~10k miles in mostly highway driving, so even 5k is very conservative. I'd base your OCIs on a percentage of the OLM, and change it no sooner than 50%, and no later than 20%. A good oil filter can safely be used for two OCIs with frequent oil changes.
The OLM on these Hondas will typically recommend an OCI of ~10k miles in mostly highway driving, so even 5k is very conservative. I'd base your OCIs on a percentage of the OLM, and change it no sooner than 50%, and no later than 20%. A good oil filter can safely be used for two OCIs with frequent oil changes.
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Instead of driving 3 miles directly to work every day, I take a 75 mile scenic route just to mitigate fuel dilution.
Absolutely not. Pull some in-service samples at your target mileage, then make a decision based on data, not a guess or from emotions. Whether it’s fuel %, insolubles, soot, viscosity, or TBN/TAN, at least the decision will have a bit of actual reasoning behind the decision to dump the oil.
I’m not a Mobil fanboy by any measure, but I’m almost certain that even AFE will happily surprise you with its results at 5-7k.