Amsoil & short trips?

[medic]

I have always driven at least 20 or more miles to get to work - one way. I am using Amsoil and take advantage of extended drains. Getting the engine up to operating temp was never an issue.

Now, I will be starting a new job soon and will only be driving 3 miles or less to work. I live in an area that has very cold temps in the winter (I don't think we have hit anything above 15F in the last 2 weeks) and gets about 20 days above 90F in the summer. I will be doing a 20 mile drive (one way) at least twice a week. Needless to say, I doubt I will hit 1,000 miles per month.

Now, the question. Can I change to a 1 year OCI with a new filter at 6 months and still be safe, or should I do something else?

 

[Patman]

I would take a longer route to work to warm up the engine more. Seriously!

 

[csp203]

Change your oil more often. Its cheeper than driving the extra miles. Changing the oil vs frequent long trips (for the sake of the oil) also saves wear and tear on the rest of your car (plus the cost of gas, tires, shocks, you get the idea). I would much rather be sitting on my couch than driving the car just to warm up the engine. (especially when its 5 degrees outside). With amsoil or any oil , just run it every 6 months to be safe IMO.

 

[msparks]

quote:

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Originally posted by medic:
I have always driven at least 20 or more miles to get to work - one way. I am using Amsoil and take advantage of extended drains. Getting the engine up to operating temp was never an issue.

Now, I will be starting a new job soon and will only be driving 3 miles or less to work. I live in an area that has very cold temps in the winter (I don't think we have hit anything above 15F in the last 2 weeks) and gets about 20 days above 90F in the summer. I will be doing a 20 mile drive (one way) at least twice a week. Needless to say, I doubt I will hit 1,000 miles per month.

Now, the question. Can I change to a 1 year OCI with a new filter at 6 months and still be safe, or should I do something else?

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What kind of vehicle do you have? What oil are you running.

I did this on my F150 before I put the by-pass filter. Some days I would only drive 2 miles to take my daughter to school or pic her up. I ended up with 18 months on the oil and about 10,000. The oil was still doing okay. I do admit I didn't do as many filter changes as I should have.

 

[Doug C]

I also drive less than 10 miles to-from work daily. I plan to change my oil (Amsoil S2K 0W30) when the GM Oil Life Indicator indicates a change required. Even though it may last longer, I feel more comfortable in changing anyway. Hopefully, I can convince my wife that I need to buy a Corvette in order to 1) get a hotter running engine to get the oil hot and 2) save gas by the Corvette getting better mileage than the Tahoe.

Maybe by this time next year! I'm thinking a C3 or even a C4 but she wants me to get one with air-bags... does that mean a C5?

Cheers, Doug

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Maybe by this time next year! I'm thinking a C3 or even a C4 but she wants me to get one with air-bags... does that mean a C5?

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Air bags came out during the C4 style, in 1990 to be precise. But you can tell your wife that the C5 is a much safer design overall, plus if you get a 99 or newer, it has active handling, which means if the car starts to slide sideways, it will correct itself through the individual application of a single wheel's brakes at a time. Very cool.

 

[needtoknow]

I'm also in a similar situation with Amsoil 0W-30. One of the vehilcles sits most of the time and is driven about twice per month. I live in NC-USA and when it is driven it is driven far enough to get to full operating temp. This is my first Amsoil use and I don't know with this small usage and the oil sitting in the pan most of the time whether or not that 1 year/oil 6mth/filter change number is going to be enough. I do know that if I need to change the 0W-30 every 6 months then the price is just not worth it. I was going to do a UOA at six months to get an idea.

 

[KW]

My wife and I drive less than a mile from work. We drive to work home for lunch back to work then back home again. The way our schedules work out this happens seven days a week. We do try to go out for Sunday drives of 50 miles or more just to let the car stretch it's legs a little. In doing this we have been able to go 5000 miles or 6 months easy on M1. We had a great UOA with the M1 and are now trying Amsoil to see how it goes.

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by msparks:
What kind of vehicle do you have? What oil are you running.

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'97 F-150, 4.6L, 130k miles. I'm currently running Amsoil 5w-30 (ASL) with a Motorcraft FL-820s filter.

I'm at 9000 miles on the current fill and was hoping to change it a 15k. I now know that, unfortunatly, this will probably get changed before that. I can't turn down a $14k / year raise to keep a good extended OCI UOA.

[ January 31, 2004, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: medic ]

 

[Spector]

quote:

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Originally posted by needtoknow:
One of the vehilcles sits most of the time and is driven about twice per month. I live in NC-USA and when it is driven it is driven far enough to get to full operating temp. This is my first Amsoil use and I don't know with this small usage and the oil sitting in the pan most of the time whether or not that 1 year/oil 6mth/filter change number is going to be enough.

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I have two similar, one gets about 11,000 miles/year (0W30)the other under 3000 (10W30) Amsoils. Both go annual oil changes and the 3000 miler I don't change the filter. I do try to hit operating temps when started but the UOA have been fine on both at the one year mark. I would do a UOA at the one year and if it works don't worry about it.

 

[therion]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman:
I would take a longer route to work to warm up the engine more. Seriously!

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Yup! i have 3 miles to my school. So i usually take the highway around and it takes 15 miles. Then the motor is warmed up so i am saving my oil

 

[Dick in Falls Church]

My mother's 1965 Ford saw little mileage after Dad died. I changed her AMSOIL about 3 times in 14 years, because I knew it had been reformulated.
Did change filter a couple of times, when I remembered to bring one with me.
Currently have 2 cars which see little running--including the one my wife uses to go as much as 3 miles. Change yearly and don't worry about it.