6 Months Since Last OCI

[Mr_Luke]

I have three 5 qt jugs of NAPA FS 0w20 and 4 qts of ST FS 0w20 in my current stash.
I was thinking of running this fill of ST FS until Spring but I kind of think I'll do an OCI before Winter, with the last of my ST FS.
Then probably do an OCI and run NAPA oil in the Spring, and possibly run NAPA oil for 12 months, or get ants in my pants again and change it 2x a year.
I realize I may be recycling good oil that has at least 6 months of running time left in it, but 2 OCIs a year seems like a hard habit to break.
I drive about 4k miles a year.

 

[atikovi]

Peachy

 

[Krieg]

what else?

 

[FordMan59]

It took me years to break the 3K mile OCI habit and go to 5K mile OCI. In the last 2 years I've started doing 7500 mile intervals on conventional oil and don't regret the change. The oil still looks good and feels good and delivers great gas mileage even at 7500 miles. I may or may not be getting slightly more wear but I ran an old oil burner/leaker I had 31K miles without an oil change back in the 90's and the oil I was topping it off with was oil I'd drained from my better cars at oil change. I sold the car to friend that needed cheap transportation after just getting married. He drove it harder than I did and drove it at least 1-2 more years before junked it because it wouldn't pass emissions testing that had just went into effect in that area.

 

[Zaedock]

I changed the oil in my Jeep trail rig 3 1/2 years ago.

 

[Donald]

Draining 14 QTs of oil from a diesel will quickly break the 3K OCI habit.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Got 18 months and 600 miles on my oil

 

[blupupher]

So you are changing your oil @ ~ 2,000 miles?

I am at 15 months/3,300 miles on my F150 right now, not sure when I will change it.

 

[DriveHard]

At 4K a year, I would do yearly changes at best. 0W-40 Euro spec oil in everything I run (not under warranty) 1 year or 10K miles, whichever comes first...

 

[DGXR]

If you're only driving 4k per year, are you short-tripping the car a lot? Does your engine and oil get up to full temp regularly? If not, that may be reason enough to stay with the 6 month OCI.

 

[FordMan59]

I changed the oil in my Jeep trail rig 3 1/2 years ago.

I think I changed it in my '97 Ford Escort in the summer of 2017 and it's just now at 2K miles. That's the only car I have that I didn't go to 7500 mile intervals on. Even 5K mile intervals are several years apart.

 

[Mr_Luke]

If you're only driving 4k per year, are you short-tripping the car a lot? Does your engine and oil get up to full temp regularly? If not, that may be reason enough to stay with the 6 month OCI.

Yes, I do lots of short trips around town.
I'm still honestly not sure if I'll OCI at 6 or 7 months or wait until Spring for a 1 year OCI.
It's been 6 months as of right now.
Sorry if I bore any of you with this drama.

 

[Merek]

Nah you're fine, I would do yearly changes myself and seems like you're using good quality synthetics so you'll be just fine.

 

[SevenBizzos]

4K a year? That seems like 18-24 month minimum OCI to me.

 

[BLND1]

Why not? Seems like a fine plan to me.

 

[Mr_Luke]

Yes, I do lots of short trips around town.
I'm still honestly not sure if I'll OCI at 6 or 7 months or wait until Spring for a 1 year OCI.
It's been 6 months as of right now.
Sorry if I bore any of you with this drama.

Hey Mr Luke, do you realize the oil you're running is rated for up to 10k miles?
(Woops, I'm talking to myself again.)

What I should do is run the oil until Spring. Then I'd feel like an OCI was more appropriate.
It still seems to do a great job of lubricating my engine, and I'm sure it will still be doing a great job in the Spring.
It's taken me some time to wrap my brain around better quality oils.

 

[Mr_Luke]

The ST FS oil in my current fill is rated for up to 10,000 miles, and they now have a higher tier oil that's rated for up to 20,000 miles. Geez, and my last OCI I had 1800 miles on the oil. I need to stop throwing away such good oil. At 6 months into this oil fill of ST FS, I now have 2,762 miles on it. So in 6 months I might have about 5500 miles on the oil, at 12 months in. That's where I should do my next OCI, not now. I think it's time that I finally break my 6 month OCI habit. This 10k oil can darn sure take me to 5500 miles over 12 months. There are people here who would run this oil for 24 months at 5500 miles a year.
When I got the car 1/8/2020 it had fresh Conoco Philips FS and I only ran it a few months before changing it to Castrol Edge, and then I drained the Edge at about 1800 miles and added ST FS. I did this because I was enjoying changing my oil and getting a feel for these oils. Now I need to run this good oil longer and get my money's worth for a change. 12 months / 5500 miles would make much more sense than some of my recent OCIs.

 

[Donald]

Got 18 months and 600 miles on my oil

Is this a car on the road or a riding lawn mower? 600 miles in 18 months!!

 

[demarpaint]

23 months and 2400 give or take miles on my Rubicon. Oil gets to full operating temp on the highway just about every time I drive it. I have no plans on changing the oil. If warranty isn't a concern and it gets a good drive 20 minutes or longer when you use it I'd probably change it based on miles and not time. A UOA or two will take any guess work out of the equation regarding how long the oil can go.

 

[Krieg]

OP, what exactly is your question?