Change M1EP after 1000 miles of winter driving?

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Oct 17, 2015
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505
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MN
I know I'm overthinking this one.

I changed our Prius with M1EP 0w20 in Sept. I only drive about 1000 over the fall/winter. If I wait until next Sept, I will have less than 10k on the M1EP. But I usually change my oil right after winter is over (due to the cold short tripping). Normally I change the oil annually at about 7-8k miles in May, but I'm off my normal oil change schedule.

I hate throwing out perfectly good M1EP after 1k miles, but I also like to get rid of the short-tripped winter oil with all the condensation that gets in. What should I do?
 
You should really change the oil every 6-8 months with any oil. Especially on on vehicles that do not get driven much.

Have you considered switching to a cheaper oil like Supertech, Valvoline or QuakerState so it would be easier on the wallet?
M1EP makes a huge difference for cold starts at -20F. Cheaper oil makes a big loud noise. The cold flow on M1EP is just way better. Also, I always get it on Walmart rollback with a rebate, so it it is pretty reasonable. And the Prius only takes 4 quarts.
 
Is there condensation on the cap? if not put a decent amount on a paper towel and start smelling it for fuel. If you get a trace of it just go on a decent drive that's about 40+ minutes. I wouldn't dump it.
 
Toyota's recommendation - Servere would be 5k/6 Months.

Mobil 1's recommendation - 20k/1 year with a disclaimer, follow your owner's manual.

So it depends how you interpret it.
 
I know I'm overthinking this one.

I changed our Prius with M1EP 0w20 in Sept. I only drive about 1000 over the fall/winter. If I wait until next Sept, I will have less than 10k on the M1EP. But I usually change my oil right after winter is over (due to the cold short tripping). Normally I change the oil annually at about 7-8k miles in May, but I'm off my normal oil change schedule.

I hate throwing out perfectly good M1EP after 1k miles, but I also like to get rid of the short-tripped winter oil with all the condensation that gets in. What should I do?
Well for starters in MN I hope you're changing your oil in a garage. If it was my choice this oil would have had at least 3K on it minimum before an OIC. Next I'd find a cheaper oil like QSFS at $22.97 a Jug and move my OCI to April/October or maybe just October depending on my yearly milage!
 
There is an electronic testing device designed for testing the amount of water concentration in brake fluid that is the size of a large pen and it runs on one AAA battery.

I own one of those and I also bought the test strips to test the level of copper in the brake fluid and those test strips have another end on them that you can you use to test your antifreeze. However one of the things I found is that there's an additional use for that test pen with the ability to test water concentration in brake fluid. And that is you can also test the water concentration in your engine oil. Since it's a good idea to own one of these in the first place so you'll be testing your brake fluid and they're not that expensive you could pick one up on Amazon and use it to also test the amount of water in your oil.


OP, I understand that we're talking about a hybrid vehicle here, so that's a whole different ball game then most vehicles when it comes to worrying about short tripping it or even medium dripping it like driving a 20 mi because if that engine never kicks on what the heck good is that going to do as far as trying to drive the water from condensation out of the oil !!!


I think getting one of those electronic test pens would be a really good idea to figure out what percent of water you have going on in your oil. They only show you whether it's 0 one or two percent of water in the oil but that's the low numbers that you want to know about. If it's too or greater it will indicate that and you know that you've got a decent amount of water to be worrying about. But if it's really low like zero or one percent then just keep using it. Anyhow it's nice to get some actual data to look at with a test device like this when you have questions about what's going on with your oil.
 
M1EP makes a huge difference for cold starts at -20F. Cheaper oil makes a big loud noise. The cold flow on M1EP is just way better. Also, I always get it on Walmart rollback with a rebate, so it it is pretty reasonable. And the Prius only takes 4 quarts.
There is plenty of videos showing cold flow of other oils being just as good and in many cases better than Mobil 1 EP. Check out Youtube videos showing it. Although to me personally cold flow is not an issue. .
 
I know I'm overthinking this one.

I changed our Prius with M1EP 0w20 in Sept. I only drive about 1000 over the fall/winter. If I wait until next Sept, I will have less than 10k on the M1EP. But I usually change my oil right after winter is over (due to the cold short tripping). Normally I change the oil annually at about 7-8k miles in May, but I'm off my normal oil change schedule.

I hate throwing out perfectly good M1EP after 1k miles, but I also like to get rid of the short-tripped winter oil with all the condensation that gets in. What should I do?
Your warmer weather driving will get the moisture out (assuming you do enough of it). I wouldn't sweat it unless the oil reeks of fuel. My SRT oil is supposed to be changed every 6 months or something insane, I ran 13 months on the previous fill. At one point, with our old Expedition, we weren't driving it as much, so I went almost 2 full years between changes. Sold it with well over 200,000 miles on it. My M5 used to sit for the winters, so it went a year, or over, several times between OCI's.

If you are super concerned, you could have it tested. I agree with your concern though, it does sound wasteful.
 
I know I'm overthinking this one.

I changed our Prius with M1EP 0w20 in Sept. I only drive about 1000 over the fall/winter. If I wait until next Sept, I will have less than 10k on the M1EP. But I usually change my oil right after winter is over (due to the cold short tripping). Normally I change the oil annually at about 7-8k miles in May, but I'm off my normal oil change schedule.

I hate throwing out perfectly good M1EP after 1k miles, but I also like to get rid of the short-tripped winter oil with all the condensation that gets in. What should I do?
I’d keep running it.
 
I'd take if for a nice 30 minute or more highway run, and leave the oil alone. I short trip my van a lot all year long and have left the oil and filter for 2 years or more with no problems. Every once in a while I take it for a highway run. It's 35 years old, if there was a problem it would have reared its ugly head by now.
 
Agreed, “cold flow” is not an issue. Particularly not the way a YouTube video is demonstrating.
Yea because gravity based oil flow tests at -40F holds no ground right? if anything it is a better test on cold flow because it is not being pumped mechanically but instead is going purely based on the oil's capabilities.
 
M1EP makes a huge difference for cold starts at -20F. Cheaper oil makes a big loud noise. The cold flow on M1EP is just way better. Also, I always get it on Walmart rollback with a rebate, so it it is pretty reasonable. And the Prius only takes 4 quarts.
M1EP does NOT flow significantly better than other 0w-20 oils at -20 F. In fact, some "cheaper" oils may be less viscous at that temp. Noises are not an indication of how an oil performs. If an oil has the current API certification in the grade called for, you're good to go. Also, dumping the oil at 1k miles is ridiculous. Take it for a drive to evaporate the moisture.
 
Yea because gravity based oil flow tests at -40F holds no ground right? if anything it is a better test on cold flow because it is not being pumped mechanically but instead is going purely based on the oil's capabilities.
Pour Point was dropped as part of J300 exactly because it did NOT properly represent the oil's ability to be pumped, and its impact on cranking speed.
 
M1EP does NOT flow significantly better than other 0w-20 oils at -20 F. In fact, some "cheaper" oils may be less viscous at that temp. Noises are not an indication of how an oil performs. If an oil has the current API certification in the grade called for, you're good to go. Also, dumping the oil at 1k miles is ridiculous. Take it for a drive to evaporate the moisture.
If this is pre-revision EP, which is like 70% PAO, I'd like to know what "cheaper" oils are going to offer superior cold flow; have lower actual viscosity at extreme cold temperatures (CCS and MRV). PAO is without peer in dealing with cold temperatures, because it has no wax in it to allow wax crystals to form, which is not the case for other common bases in this sphere like Group II+/III/III+. The other advantage is that PAO doesn't require PPD's, so it has nothing that can degrade in service and cause it to slip a Winter grade.
 
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