Any truth to this time limit oci are outdated?

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Nov 19, 2023
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Heard blackstone is telling some customers that modern synthetics ocis are primarily mileage limited rather then replace at set time interval. Any truth this generalization?
 
Heard blackstone is telling some customers that modern synthetics ocis are primarily mileage limited rather then replace at set time interval. Any truth this generalization?
Sure, as long as you’re not short-tripping it. But there’s no issue leaving oil in the sump 2 or more years on a rarely-used car.
 
Heard blackstone is telling some customers that modern synthetics ocis are primarily mileage limited rather then replace at set time interval. Any truth this generalization?
Since they have 10s of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of sample reports where their customer's provided oil samples with how old it was, i'd say what they are saying is more valuable and intelligent vs antidotes.
 
Sure, as long as you’re not short-tripping it. But there’s no issue leaving oil in the sump 2 or more years on a rarely-used car.
I'd agree with this.

If you're starting it up, driving it 5 miles and driving it home 5 miles and never getting it to full temp or very rarely getting it to full temp, I've got a hard time believing no time limit. Especially with some of our big oil diluters.

I'll say they are smarter than I am in this regard, but it sounds like a sweeping generalization and the most important thing to remember is...

YMMV


There are too many different conditions to account for in a generalization.
 
Heard blackstone is telling some customers that modern synthetics ocis are primarily mileage limited rather then replace at set time interval. Any truth this generalization?
I short trip a DI engine. IMO oil is toast due to fuel, engine starts protesting and clattering very loudly, so I change at 6 months - Sping and late Fall - which is a bit over 2k miles interval.

I will have a Blackstone UOA on may last OCI - maybe in a month. Almost forgot to mail it out.
I am sure they will say it's fine - "try 6000miles", LOL

It will be for a beloved - and hefty - 10W30 "syn".
 
Heard blackstone is telling some customers that modern synthetics ocis are primarily mileage limited rather then replace at set time interval. Any truth this generalization?
It is in the sense being that historically drivers routinely put on more than 12k/mile a year and the typical interval is some figure under that. The time interval set by automakers is typically 1-year (ex, Lesser of 10k miles or 1yr). In a post-Covid world I suspect more oil changes are trending ever so slightly towards the 1-yr interval because people are putting less miles on their vehicles.

It's also true that modern synthetics don't oxidize as quickly so you could easily just go based on miles alone regardless of how many years it takes you to get there.

Another thing is that the OLM isn't purely mileage driven.
 
I don't let the time bother me so much, I want to go at least 5k miles before changing. I just did both my Civic's about a month ago and if I had waited until Jan. it would've been 5 yrs, the 97 had 5k and the 99 was 6,447. They do sit around a lot but when I get them out they do get to stretch their legs so to speak.
 
I remember reading about this several years ago. The author of the article said that the mfr. was concerned about the integrity of the oil filter canister on cheap filters. After a year they had supposedly seen some of them start to rust.

OTOH, I bought a Chevy DuraMax diesel from a woman whose husband had died. She let it sit in a pole barn for 4 years. I changed the oil, took a sample and the lab said I could have gone another year on the old oil. Your engine, you get to pick.
 
I've convinced many a boat and car owners to stop wasting money on the once-a-year spiel and explained in detail about oil and what makes it go bad, including how acids form. Most of these people were retired and don't drive that much or hardly use there boats anymore. I've also explained the must-start-it-once-a-week-spiel and what your actually doing when you start it and let it run but don't use it and instead explained about the battery. (and the electronics and AC).

there's a neighbor near me that starts and revs-up his outboard motor (on land, in his back yard) once a week. i'm sure he's convinced it's something great. He has no idea. I chuckle every time i hear it.
 
So you "heard" that Blackstone is making an OCI recommendation based on the oil base stocks rather than being based on the UOA results?
yup was reading the slickdeals amazon oils thread/measuring contest and someone made the claim. Its devolved into jeeps being trash last i checked.
 
Perhaps have a think about why the ODIs are set the way they are. Distance-based is fairly obvious but time-based...? Well there is some truth that an oil can continue to degrade over time, especially one that is contaminated with acids and other oxidation products. But the timescale over which this would become a problem is going to be longer that a typical 1 or 2 year ODI, so why else have a time-based ODI?

Perhaps to get the car in as an opportunity to check over other aspects, perhaps to find other items that need attention (tyres, brake fluid, brakes, exhaust, software update etc). But also to have an opportunity to get face time with the customer and upsell some other product or service.
 
A well designed OLM should account for driving conditions but might need to be reset if stretching the calendar …
 
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