Cheap synth overkill for under 2000 miles in 4 months?

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stamford, CT
It's a short tripper. 7 miles one way,7 back end of day.but sometimes drive another store afterwork, 3-4 miles one way,then back. Calculate I'm doing 126 miles weekly. Would a cheaper synthetic,like fram or super tech be overkill? Or a waste ? Times I've used conventional,not synth blend the oil just looking at it was fubar.thick black dead.the engine you could tell puttered* fresh oil, it was brought back too life..
I know the synthetic is much better,but does everyone here think it's maybe not necessary? How about the intake with conventional? Would it be much dirtier,than with synthetic? Just curious ..
Every oil change ,recently I used synthetic,6 months and 3400-3700 miles and intake cleaner. But this post is about dino and my mileage and time on it. And.i park car outside.no garage so it's and oil iare baked in summer 97 degree F temps,stop n go on heavy side...that's why the dino looked how it did when I used it few years ago.

it's exposed too bring cooked
 
Short trips are far worse than long mileage hauls. The oil never gets hot enough to get rid of condensation. Especially in cold weather.

If you can't get it out for a long run at least once a week, to get the oil temperature up, and keep it up, changing it more often is your best bet.

And no, you're not wasting your money. You'll benefit from using a high quality synthetic oil.
 
Just follow your manual's recommendation. Six month changes sound right. Conventional oil will be fine unless you can get a deal on synthetic. Seven mile runs in the summer is enough to burn off any condensation. I would pass on those six month intake cleanings as it is not needed.
 
For your use I would stick with synthetic - its such a small price difference. I do still run chevron supreme that I bought before the price went up in my lowest mile vehicle - mostly because I am using up a stash, but it doesn't see stop and go, and I will switch to full syn once I have used up what I have. Syn for you is likely worth it for no other reason the CT cold start temps. Never gets much below freezing here either, another reason why I haven't worried about it.
 
Why would you go to conventional/semi-syn when your a short tripper, like I am too (10 miles) $4-8 more for better oil. My small turbo car gets thrashed with performance driving goes back and forth from almost no fuel dilution to high fuel dilution. I have done multi yearly wear test at Polaris Labs who can actually tell you somewhat accurate figure and I have better reports then average. Run syn oil at 4,000 miles like others have suggested and don't worry a bit. If I can do it with a Hyundai no less that are known to be hard on oil. My car being thrashed daily in Minnesota winters you can do it with yours with ZERO issues.
 
I'd stick with cheapest synthetic meeting your vehicle spec over dino for short tripper. If you are indeed in Stanford CT no need to sweat the few days of summer that reach 97F. Worry more about the many days in the teens, 20's, and 30's and the short tripping.
 
My advice it to change your every 6 months or 3K miles. I'd stay with a less expensive synthetic and once I changed I would try
and stay with that brand.
 
You haven't mentioned what the application is; I'm going to assume that your vehicle is not a known sludge'er or other type of problem engine. That being acknowledged, then I'll say this ...

The best way to know if you "need" a synthetic is to run some UOAs. Run some baseline testing with convenstional oils and then try some of your other choices. See how the oils hold up.

I think you'd be surprised how well today's "normal" oils hold up, especially given how you intend to do shorter OCIs. I suspect you'd not gain any benefit from a syn in the type of use you describe. It's very easy for an OEM to say "severe service" requires this and that; it's merely print on a page to them.

I've seen a lot of UOAs and honestly, with few exceptions, the "need" for syns is way over-hyped, especially for shorter OCIs like what you describe.
 
Seems the oil change interval is more important that the syn or blend of the oil. Do todays [syns] show less wear than the semi syn blends we are now getting when using off the shelf oils?
 
You haven't mentioned what the application is; I'm going to assume that your vehicle is not a known sludge'er or other type of problem engine. That being acknowledged, then I'll say this ...

The best way to know if you "need" a synthetic is to run some UOAs. Run some baseline testing with convenstional oils and then try some of your other choices. See how the oils hold up.

I think you'd be surprised how well today's "normal" oils hold up, especially given how you intend to do shorter OCIs. I suspect you'd not gain any benefit from a syn in the type of use you describe. It's very easy for an OEM to say "severe service" requires this and that; it's merely print on a page to them.

I've seen a lot of UOAs and honestly, with few exceptions, the "need" for syns is way over-hyped, especially for shorter OCIs like what you describe.
Marketing claims work well here.
 
You haven't mentioned what the application is; I'm going to assume that your vehicle is not a known sludge'er or other type of problem engine. That being acknowledged, then I'll say this ...

The best way to know if you "need" a synthetic is to run some UOAs. Run some baseline testing with convenstional oils and then try some of your other choices. See how the oils hold up.

I think you'd be surprised how well today's "normal" oils hold up, especially given how you intend to do shorter OCIs. I suspect you'd not gain any benefit from a syn in the type of use you describe. It's very easy for an OEM to say "severe service" requires this and that; it's merely print on a page to them.

I've seen a lot of UOAs and honestly, with few exceptions, the "need" for syns is way over-hyped, especially for shorter OCIs like what you describe.
What would you look at on a UOA to determine whether you needed a synthetic oil?
 
It's a short tripper. 7 miles one way,7 back end of day.but sometimes drive another store afterwork, 3-4 miles one way,then back. Calculate I'm doing 126 miles weekly. Would a cheaper synthetic,like fram or super tech be overkill? Or a waste ? Times I've used conventional,not synth blend the oil just looking at it was fubar.thick black dead.the engine you could tell puttered* fresh oil, it was brought back too life..
I know the synthetic is much better,but does everyone here think it's maybe not necessary? How about the intake with conventional? Would it be much dirtier,than with synthetic? Just curious ..
Every oil change ,recently I used synthetic,6 months and 3400-3700 miles and intake cleaner. But this post is about dino and my mileage and time on it. And.i park car outside.no garage so it's and oil iare baked in summer 97 degree F temps,stop n go on heavy side...that's why the dino looked how it did when I used it few years ago.

it's exposed too bring cooked
I am now semi retired and only drive about 2500 mi in 6 months of mainly short trips. I have been changing oil in Spring and late fall. I run a Good synthetic. No substitute for a good oil. It's worth the extra 'buck-a-month' over those 6 months !
Going to install some of that 10W30 QF FS to fight fuel dilution in the D.I. Ford. No want or need for 5W30 or 20.

It is worth taking a hour long sporty interstate highway ride once every couple months. Does wonders. - Ken
 
Manual says 3 months or 3000 miles . I was doing 4 months on dino and 1700 miles but the oil was FUBAR thick black.with synthetic it was dark but not all thick n black.
Am dino $6.99 quart. $30 5 quart.synthetic $7.99 quart.supertech cheaper
 
Manual says 3 months or 3000 miles . I was doing 4 months on dino and 1700 miles but the oil was FUBAR thick black.with synthetic it was dark but not all thick n black.
Am dino $6.99 quart. $30 5 quart.synthetic $7.99 quart.supertech
Seems conventional cannot hold up with what my driving. Mileage is .
 
If the conventional oil is API SP ILSAC GF6A, it's probably already a blend. Is your 7 mile trip stop-light-to-stop-light? At @2k miles and 4 months and the condition of your oil, as you stated, I think you have other problems with your engine. My trips around town are around 5 miles with very few stop lights with the ranger. OCI's are one year and about 3k miles. I've used cheaper synthetics and blends and oil comes out looking like a 3k oil change should.
 
Manual says 3 months or 3000 miles . I was doing 4 months on dino and 1700 miles but the oil was FUBAR thick black.with synthetic it was dark but not all thick n black.
Am dino $6.99 quart. $30 5 quart.synthetic $7.99 quart.supertech cheaper


You keep saying this but the color of the oil has nothing to do with it.


🎹
 
What engine are we talking about? I don't think I missed it. Might be a pretty important factor. Spidey sense guessing a Korean DI engine....just a guess as I'm feeling spicy! :ROFLMAO:
 
What engine are we talking about? I don't think I missed it. Might be a pretty important factor. Spidey sense guessing a Korean DI engine....just a guess as I'm feeling spicy! :ROFLMAO:
98 LeSabre it's a good condition. It's just over the years,it's all stop n go....conventional turned all thick n black. Engine wasn't liking it. Changing it,fresh dino,it lived it,ran so much better.but with group 3 synthetics, it was much more durable an oil. It wasn't in as bad shape as conventional
 
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