Best oil formula for short trip driving?

[martyi]

Although I make a 40 mile trip to town about twice a month, most of my driving is limited to a couple miles to the gym and about 10 miles to the grocery store once a week. I seldom put more than 10,000 miles a year. The car is a Honda truck, 3.5 V6 VETEC engine and is brand new.

I have pretty much decided to go by the oil life monitor for OCIs and, from all the good reports regarding 5W20 dino Havoline/Chevron's value and performance, I will go with that. That means an oil and filter change about every nine months or 6,500 miles or so.

But I'm just wondering, is there a formula or oil additive package to look for that is better for this kind of driving as opposed to high speed highway hauls? For example, is a lot of molly something I should consider? I think Havoline has a bunch of molly and so does Redline but Motorcraft and M1 do not.

While I'm at it, I live in Texas where it gets pretty hot. Is there an oil formula package that has certain ingredients geared to hot weather driving?

 

[TxGreaseMonkey]

I'd put your favorite 5W-20 full synthetic engine oil in it and move on.

 

[kingrob]

Try the motorcraft 5w20, then Havoline. See which one you prefer.

 

[JHZR2]

I like mobil1 for its ability to put up and protect well with severe, shhort trip driving, etc. itll do fine for the longer trips too.

Id say pick M1 5w-20 and go!

JMH

 

[mountravlr]

Short trips really require more frequent OCI intervals, due to the stress on the additive package. The TBN will likely drop sooner due to the engine not reaching max temp long enough to counter engine acids.

 

[blmqzjc]

quote:

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Originally posted by TxGreaseMonkey:
I'd put your favorite 5W-20 full synthetic engine oil in it and move on.

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Please educate me. Since the poster lives in a hot climate (Texas), why would you use 5W-20 as opposed to a 5W-30 or 40, or even a 10W-30 or 40? I thought thicker was better in the hot climates. Does this have to do with synthetic vs. dino?

Thanks in advance for explaining.

 

[Raven18940]

He's probably thinking the oil never gets up to operating temp so it won't thin out enough to matter. Personally, I'd put in 5W-30 for that climate, but I'm by no means a honda expert. I'm told the 5W-20 does fine in those things regardless.

 

[martyi]

Honda requires you to put in 5W20. It is all over their manual and in the engine compartment. Even the oil cap has big numbers showing you must use only 5W20. No doubt it would run just fine with other weights but while it is still in warranty I feel I should stick with 5w20 and see how it does.

But I'm still wondering, with all the different oil formulations out there for the same weight oil, if any contain things that should better protect an engine that does not get up to operating temps most days.

Texaco and Texas go together and always have, hand in hand. That is one reason why I looked at Havoline (along with glowing UOA reports). The thing that stuck out in their formulation was the rather high molly count in the VOA papers. That is why I mentioned molly before as it may be better for Texas heat but not sure if it is applicable to protecting engines driven in my situation.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

With your driving 'style' I recommend the 5W-20 oils. Most of you wear is in the warmup stage of operation and thin oils have been shown to reduce wear during the startup stage of operation.

 

[Raven18940]

Martyi, I'm struggling with a similiar issue with my brother's jeep. Oil grade isn't so important in this case (short trips) cause it never gets hot enough to become a 20 weight oil. There seems to be two schools of thought. First, cheap dino oil changed frequently, like 3 months or every 3000 miles, whichever comes first. Second, buy a good synthetic oil and change it every 6 months regardless of miles. An important component of each plan however is every couple weeks take the car on a long trip. This is to get is up to operating temp and boil out all the fuel and water that's become dissolved in it. Looks like you've already got that covered with your trips to town. Whatever you want to do is up to you and how frequently you want to wrench under the hood. But are you sure Honda recommends a 20 weight even in extreme heat? That sounds a little nutty to me, or you have a great oil cooler.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Raven

Changing dino every three months is not necessary. Same goes with synthetic for six months. In most parts of our country, you can go at least one year with synthetic & over six months with dino if the miles are slow to accumulate.

[ August 09, 2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Triple_Se7en ]

 

[benjamming]

I would recommend AMSOIL XL 5W20 for this. It's a very robust oil even though it is Group III. My wife drives our '02 Accord V6 short trips. It's on the 2nd OCI with this stuff. There have been several good UOAs in the last little while with the AMSOIL XL.

 

[Ugly3]

Just put in Mobil 1 5w20 and a Mobil 1 oil filter, and follow the OLM. The Honda will have a long happy life down in Texas.

 

[Raven18940]

quote:

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Originally posted by Triple_Se7en:
Raven

Changing dino every three months is not necessary. Same goes with synthetic for six months. In most parts of our country, you can go at least one year with synthetic & over six months with dino if the miles are slow to accumulate.

---

Guess I misunderstood the term "frequent" huh?

 

[Ray H]

The cold flow characteristics of 5W-30 and 5W-20 in Texas summer heat are so close as to be functionally equivalent. Even 10W-30 will flow easily in that environ. That kind of heat also qualifies as "severe service" in any owner's manual. If it were me, 10W-30 conventional and changed out every 3,000 miles. SuperTech or Valuecraft oil filter. In the winter, 5W-30.

THE ONLY REASON THE MANUFACTURERS ARE RUSHING WHOLESALE TO EMBRACE 5W-20 IS CAFE. If we're really, really lucky, 5W-20 may prove to offer as much protection after high mileage has accumulated as 5W-30. (No one with real-world driving experience really knows yet how engines will wear with this stuff over the
l-o-n-g haul. All we're doing here are making seat-of-the-pants projections based on blind faith in UOAs and the word of the auto manufacturers whose confidence in this mouse milk extends only as far as their engines' making it past the factory warranty.)

[ August 09, 2005, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Ray H ]

 

[Raven18940]

CAFE?

 

[Ray H]

Corporate
Average
Fuel
Economy

 

[Geoff]

The xw-20s need the moly because they thin out completely to boundary conditions right? I'd do Mobil 1 5w-30 given your usage conditions and follow your oil life monitor. They are pretty accurate these days from what I've read here.

 

[dagmando]

I can say that the Motorcraft 5w-20(Mazda dealer oil changes) is working fine in my wifes 03 Mazda MPV through this REALLY hot Chicago weather. She is the poster-girl for soccer Mom; all short trips running around our suburban town and probably stops/starts the van 15 times a day. When I had the oil changed at 5000 miles last week, I could still see through the golden brown oil to the "Safe Range" markings on the dip stick. I was quite impressed how "clean" the oil still appeared after 5K miles.

2003 Mazda MPV 3.0L 24-valve V6(Duratech); 25K miles

 

[z917990]

Martyi:

I use Mobil 1 5w-20 with Honda OEM filters in my 2003 Accord with the 2.4 litre 4 cylinder. The oil is changed at the dealership. I have a 100,000 warranty, so I use the viscosity specified by Honda and stick to 5 month/5000 mile oil change intervals, as per directions from Honda. I know that I could change the oil myself and probably extend the OCI, but I really do not want any hassles from Honda if, God forbid, something happens to the engine. After 100,000, I will probably switch to Mobil 1 5w-30. I have not done a UOA, but the evidence, both quantitative and anecdotal, seems to be the Mobil 1 is an excellent oil and can be found in many stores. Good luck and have fun with your new vehicle.

z917990