5k OCI- does oil choice really matter?

[ChrisD46]

With DI fuel dilution during the winter and short trips you might not even be able to make it to 5,000 miles.

Great point - I saw a you tube video of mechanics comparing what they saw in 5,000 mile versus 3,500 mile OCI’s in engines with over 100K miles and there was a difference in engine cleanliness (it’s not always sbout temsing TBN in an OCI) as even extending oil changes up to 5,000 miles started seeing varnish in some areas of the engine that likely would not be there with a 3,500 mild OCI - that goes double for a TGDI / GDI engine . My Hyundai 2.4L GDI engines oil is flat out nasty by 3,500 miles / 6 month OCI when I change it .

 

[02zx9r rev2]

The simple thing to do if someone does a lot of short trips is to just take the car out for a 50+ mile drive once a week. Problem solved.

Do we know for sure this solves the problem?

I had mentioned that a ways back about taking a good long highway trip once a week to burn off moisture and fuel and Doug Hillary was calling me out asking if I had any data that shows that, as he had seen me mention that several times (as had there people) and I don’t have any data or proof of that.

Does anybody? Just asking is all

 

[ChrisD46]

With some engines, 5k miles is definitely long enough for there to be cleanliness differences based on what oil was used. Pictures have been posted throughout the years showing 5k mile OCIs and a decent amount of varnish. Piston/ring deposits are a big problem for many modern engines due to direct injection, turbos, piston rings high up on the pistons, etc.

*With Kia / Hyundai engines , a 4K mile OCI is the “new” 5K mile OCI (lol !) … Seriously , Doing mixed driving in a large metropolitan city of 3+ million people ensures my 2.4L GDI engine has pretty well chewed up good synthetic oils by 3,500 miles - I add 1,000 miles to the traditional 2.0L MPI engine in the fleet for 4,500 mile max OCI’s now . Being under each vehicle for their oil changes , then using my eyes and nose right on through recycling the actual oil tells me the OCI’s I run are about right . Blackstone can say: “Keep on truck’n - you still have a TBN of 2.0 left” and it won’t change my OCI opinion .

 

[ChrisD46]

Do we know for sure this solves the problem?

I had mentioned that a ways back about taking a good long highway trip once a week to burn off moisture and fuel and Doug Hillary was calling me out asking if I had any data that shows that, as he had seen me mention that several times (as had there people) and I don’t have any data or proof of that.

Does anybody? Just asking is all

I believe a “good interstate run” every 1 to 2 weeks is good to get the oil up to temp and help cook off moisture … But it won’t change my OCI schedule for mixed driving in a large metro area.