Are Longer OCIs A Bad Thing?

[Mustang Man]

I have been thinking on and off about this for quite awhile now. Under ideal conditions, longer OCIs are probably a good thing. But what about the not so ideal conditions?

For example, suppose a normally driven car has a fuel injector that is leaking just enough to where fuel is diluting the oil enough to slightly compromise it and therefore cause engine wear (the injector not being bad enough to trigger an error code). Now running an oil 15K or longer, I can see how the wear would become worse because the owner has the impression the oil is fine for 15K, etc. The injector has more time to get fuel into the oil and would have more time to weaken the oil.

Imagine the engine finally dies and the owner thinks, "Wait a minute. The oil manufacture will warranty this as I registered my vehicle on their website and I have all of my oil change receipts." So they go through the process and the oil manufacturer runs an UOA and finds the fuel dilution. I would imagine they would say something like, "Sorry. You had a bad fuel injector. Your vehicle manufacturer will have to warranty it. Oh. You are outside of the original warranty? Sorry."

Now the same example with an OCI of 10K or less, isn't it a good thing that the oil is getting freshened up more often? The fuel dilution is less as there is a shorter time between oil changes.

Therefore, I would think longer OCIs can potentially be a bad thing if conditions are not ideal. And not everyone feels that they need to send an oil sample in during each oil change to get it analyzed.

 

[jorton]

Your oc ideas sound very sensible. Synthetic blend is the ideal type of oil to run in your climate and it can't make 15,000 mile oci anyways, so if you did run a blend you wouldn't need to debate extended oc if it sounds uncomfortable to you.

 

[willix]

Thats a very pessimistic point of view. You better play it safe til' you can get a grip on it.

 

[The_Eric]

IMO, if you have an injector sticking bad enough to cause fuel dilution, you'll have a CEL. So if you have that then you should know what's going on and head the problem off before it's a major issue.

 

[pavelow]

I won't go past 5K miles. Oil and filters are cheap and I plan on keeping both of my vehicles for quite a long time..... so I want the engines to be as "clean" and "durable" as possible. If anybody says that is overkill and wasteful considering the oil and filters I use, you are more than welcome to have the drained oil and used filters, just email me an address and the stuff is yours for reuse. lol

 

[Trav]

Long OCI are not for all engines.Look at some of the sludge fiascos,on the other hand some engines i see that have had long OCI by neglect not choice and seem no worse for it.
5K seems reasonable given the price of oil verses the cost of a engine.

 

[demarpaint]

Under the right conditions, in a sound, problem free engine extended drains are fine. I wouldn't do it though, I'm a severe service driver, and if a problem like a sticking injector should pop up 1/3 to halfway through an extended drain I would want that bad oil out.

I've been here a long time, read all about extended drains, and I have to agree with others who have said they are not for everyone. JMO

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Mustang Man
I would think longer OCIs can potentially be a bad thing if conditions are not ideal.

Correct. Your best OCI depends on how well your car is working, among many other things.


Originally Posted By: Mustang Man
And not everyone feels that they need to send an oil sample in during each oil change to get it analyzed.

Clearly. You're right that people shouldn't be trying to extend their OCIs willy-nilly; they should only be doing it if they are keeping track of things.


That is why the scenario you described is essentially one of gross neglect: someone extending his OCI without bothering to keep track of how his car is doing. That's a big risk, and the oil company shouldn't be responsible for it, so of course they wouldn't honor a warranty on it.

 

[Samilcar]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
IMO, if you have an injector sticking bad enough to cause fuel dilution, you'll have a CEL. So if you have that then you should know what's going on and head the problem off before it's a major issue.


Also, if you're extending the OCI you should probably also be tracking (and recording) gas mileage at each fill up. An injector sticking that bad would hit gas mileage hard enough that it would throw a red flag.

 

[tig1]

I've been doing 10K OCIs for 32 years in all types on engines. Carburated Chevy and Dodge engines in the 70s, 2 ltr diesel engines of the 80s, fuel injected Ford engines for the last 20 years, in all types of weather from Maine winters to hot Ill. summers. Never had an engine fail or even show any kind of wear.

 

[Norm Olt]

TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN! When your gas mileage goes South like kids on Spring Break you know that something is wrong. When a check engine light goes on it is time to investigate as well.

When the car stops running it can be too late, Baby!

Originally Posted By: Samilcar
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
IMO, if you have an injector sticking bad enough to cause fuel dilution, you'll have a CEL. So if you have that then you should know what's going on and head the problem off before it's a major issue.


Also, if you're extending the OCI you should probably also be tracking (and recording) gas mileage at each fill up. An injector sticking that bad would hit gas mileage hard enough that it would throw a red flag.

 

[mechtech2]

If you have a mechanical problem, long or short OCIs are not the answer.

 

[Mustang Man]

In that example scenario, I was trying to be minimalistic on the leak. I am sure it would throw MPG off a little but perhaps not enough to raise a red flag.

 

[Paulson]

I'm running 10K or 9500 mile OCI's on my vehicles now days... run synthetic and have great filters.

 

[Jim_Beverlin]

I started using Mobil 1 in the late 70's and consistently ran 12K - 15K between oil changes. In 2003 I switched to Amsoil and have run Chevrolet 4.3L V6's, a Ford SOHC 4.0L V6 and a Chrysler 3.7L V6 with zero problems going 15K to 23K between changes.

However, I do not exceed one year between oil changes and send in oil samples for evaluation every 6 months.

The three (3) Chevy 4.3L Vortecs ran over a total of 450K miles using either M1 or Amsoil.

 

[rclint]

You can also have a tire go flat, or wear out faster after say half of the tire life. If the tire has a nail in it or something wrong with it, and you may not see it it could become a breakdown leaving you stranded... So should we change our tire at half life or less ? I know this is not 100% representing the oil, nor does changing tires have much to do with changing the oil as you can get a visual etc, however my point is that the chance does go up for both that a problem could occur.

I think if we follow or manufactures OCI that everything would come out great, you get the best bang for you buck, I also think the manufacture has done much testing to come up with the OCI, and that there is built in safety even for the non sever service. We can go to far either way with oil change..I for one think the manufacture OCI for non severe service fit 90% or more drivers.

 

[Mustang Man]

Yeah if one is wanting to do 15K+ OCIs, I would think they would be crazy not to run used oil analysis. Every 6 months sounds like a good idea.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: tig1
I've been doing 10K OCIs for 32 years in all types on engines. Carburated Chevy and Dodge engines in the 70s, 2 ltr diesel engines of the 80s, fuel injected Ford engines for the last 20 years, in all types of weather from Maine winters to hot Ill. summers. Never had an engine fail or even show any kind of wear.


I never heard of anyone doing 10K miles OCI's in the 70's with the Carbureted cars...I did not even hear of 5K mile OCI's back then...Looks like it was out there for a few.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: tig1
I've been doing 10K OCIs for 32 years in all types on engines. Carburated Chevy and Dodge engines in the 70s, 2 ltr diesel engines of the 80s, fuel injected Ford engines for the last 20 years, in all types of weather from Maine winters to hot Ill. summers. Never had an engine fail or even show any kind of wear.


I never heard of anyone doing 10K miles OCI's in the 70's with the Carbureted cars...I did not even hear of 5K mile OCI's back then...Looks like it was out there for a few.


Yes, your right. It was a huge leap to go from 2000K OCI(what I was doing with Valvo dino) to 10K OCI in the 70s, but the engines performed great none the less.

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: tig1
I've been doing 10K OCIs for 32 years in all types on engines. Carburated Chevy and Dodge engines in the 70s, 2 ltr diesel engines of the 80s, fuel injected Ford engines for the last 20 years, in all types of weather from Maine winters to hot Ill. summers. Never had an engine fail or even show any kind of wear.


I never heard of anyone doing 10K miles OCI's in the 70's with the Carbureted cars...I did not even hear of 5K mile OCI's back then...Looks like it was out there for a few.


Mobil 1 used to guarantee extended drains (regardless of manufacturers recommendations) and Amsoil isnt a new fly-by-night company no matter how you feel about their marketing and their refusal to seek API approvals for most of their oils. Both were available during the 70's.