Choice for short trips; Conventional vs Synthetic

Pennzoil motor oil
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wolf_06

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I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.

I've been told that 5w20 would be good for this application, and that's what my car calls for.
The problem is, should I stick with dino and change more often, or a good synthetic gr III oil and change it once a year.

I dont have DI engine, but I have concerns about fuel dilution and condensation.

What do you guys think?

My choice for dino would be quaker state green, Valvoline conventional, both 5w20.
For synthetic, I have pennzoil platinum 5w20 right now, but it got dark really fast.
 
An oil getting dark quickly is not necessarily a bad thing. How many miles are on your vehicle? It may be that the PP is cleaning out some light deposits. Synthetics, in general, have better cleaning/detergent abilities than conventional oils. When I bought my Focus, I bought it with only 20,000 miles, yet I had no idea on the prior maintenance history. Even though it was quite new/low mileage, the PU I used turned the oil dark quite fast. I mean it was really black after 4000 miles. Every oil I've used since has not done this. But again, I'm assuming the PU did some gentle cleaning, which is a good thing.
 
I'd use conventional and change it more often. Then you know for sure the state of the oil in the sump rather than guess.
Unless you can take it out for a weekly high rpm run to evaporate the fuel from the oil. I'd be using conventional right now due to the fuel intrusion I'm experiencing however -35 morning starts have been substantially less laboured with AFE in the sump.
Lesser of 2 evils......
 
I have 3 cars in the "home fleet" driven by the kids that do low kms and short trips most of the time. It is -38C this morning here. I do a fall and spring change with Pennzoil Platinum and OEM filters. Well worth it for my peace of mind and well worth the $30 as a DIY and taking advantage of WM sales prices.
 
Originally Posted By: wolf_06
I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.

I've been told that 5w20 would be good for this application, and that's what my car calls for.
The problem is, should I stick with dino and change more often, or a good synthetic gr III oil and change it once a year.

I dont have DI engine, but I have concerns about fuel dilution and condensation.

What do you guys think?

My choice for dino would be quaker state green, Valvoline conventional, both 5w20.
For synthetic, I have pennzoil platinum 5w20 right now, but it got dark really fast.


Stick with the 5w20 PP and have no issues. Just take the car for a freeway ride once a month or two. You will get the tan "shaving cream" on your oil fill cap. But it will burn off with a freeway ride. The PP has enough TBN to get you through a 5000 mile oil cycle.
 
we went with syn at the non-severe interval for use that is roughly 5 block commutes many times per day. UOA indicated it was fine, and 150k miles later, no issues.

But we based it upon UOA, not speculation.
 
Originally Posted By: wolf_06
I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.

I've been told that 5w20 would be good for this application, and that's what my car calls for.
The problem is, should I stick with dino and change more often, or a good synthetic gr III oil and change it once a year.

I dont have DI engine, but I have concerns about fuel dilution and condensation.

What do you guys think?

My choice for dino would be quaker state green, Valvoline conventional, both 5w20.
For synthetic, I have pennzoil platinum 5w20 right now, but it got dark really fast.



The PP is probably getting dark fast because its cleaning or condensation is an issue.

If it were me, I would do a severe service interval of 3 months with a dino like Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional. And still probably get a used oil analysis.

Taking it for a drive on the weekends will help a lot!!!
 
Originally Posted By: The_Jake
Originally Posted By: wolf_06
I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.

I've been told that 5w20 would be good for this application, and that's what my car calls for.
The problem is, should I stick with dino and change more often, or a good synthetic gr III oil and change it once a year.

I dont have DI engine, but I have concerns about fuel dilution and condensation.

What do you guys think?

My choice for dino would be quaker state green, Valvoline conventional, both 5w20.
For synthetic, I have pennzoil platinum 5w20 right now, but it got dark really fast.


Stick with the 5w20 PP and have no issues. Just take the car for a freeway ride once a month or two. You will get the tan "shaving cream" on your oil fill cap. But it will burn off with a freeway ride. The PP has enough TBN to get you through a 5000 mile oil cycle.



5k would take years in this car. NO OIL can contend with that much condensation and fuel dilution.

Stick around a while, you might learn something
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover

5k would take years in this car. NO OIL can contend with that much condensation and fuel dilution.

Stick around a while, you might learn something


No need to be nasty. But if you know an oil service interval on any car would be five years OR one year. Maybe I should have been more clear about that.
 
Originally Posted By: electrolover

If it were me, I would do a severe service interval of 3 months with a dino like Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional. And still probably get a used oil analysis. Taking it for a drive on the weekends will help a lot!!!

+1
No real benefit to using a synthetic in this situation. I recommend Pennzoil Conventional 5w20. Get it changed every 3 months (4 months MAX) regardless of the miles.
 
Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: electrolover

If it were me, I would do a severe service interval of 3 months with a dino like Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional. And still probably get a used oil analysis. Taking it for a drive on the weekends will help a lot!!!

+1
No real benefit to using a synthetic in this situation. I recommend Pennzoil Conventional 5w20. Get it changed every 3 months (4 months MAX) regardless of the miles.


Disagree. As mentioned, we fond that using a syn oil, we could easily go 1 year non-severe service on a severe short trip schedule. Its worked fine for 150k now. That's three less oil changes a year, and Pennzoil Conventional or any conventional aint exactly cheap anymore...
 
Originally Posted By: wolf_06
I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.



Synthetic is custom made for your scenario. You'll gain way more than most people would by using it.

Synthetic thrives over conventional in extreme cold. In fact it outperforms conventional to a greater extent as the OCI
progresses. Simply because synthetic is way more stable. Conventional degrades faster and that degradation is amplified under short-trip, arctic temperatures.

If everyone ran a car under those circumstances you'd never see another synthetic vs conventional thread on here again.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: electrolover

If it were me, I would do a severe service interval of 3 months with a dino like Pennzoil Conventional or Quaker State Conventional. And still probably get a used oil analysis. Taking it for a drive on the weekends will help a lot!!!

+1
No real benefit to using a synthetic in this situation. I recommend Pennzoil Conventional 5w20. Get it changed every 3 months (4 months MAX) regardless of the miles.


Disagree. As mentioned, we fond that using a syn oil, we could easily go 1 year non-severe service on a severe short trip schedule. Its worked fine for 150k now. That's three less oil changes a year, and Pennzoil Conventional or any conventional aint exactly cheap anymore...


You didnt go in blind either. Without used oil analysis, a 3 month oci is the safest way to go.

But im all for monitoring it and adjusting the oci accordingly
 
Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
Originally Posted By: wolf_06
I'm a short tripper, less than 3km a day most of the time, cold weather, -25 today.



Synthetic is custom made for your scenario. You'll gain way more than most people would by using it.

Synthetic thrives over conventional in extreme cold. In fact it outperforms conventional to a greater extent as the OCI
progresses. Simply because synthetic is way more stable. Conventional degrades faster and that degradation is amplified under short-trip, arctic temperatures.

If everyone ran a car under those circumstances you'd never see another synthetic vs conventional thread on here again.



Agreed in the fact that syns perform better at low temps. But it wouldn't be wise to go longer than 5 months without analysis in such an extreme situation.
 
Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
If everyone ran a car under those circumstances you'd never see another synthetic vs conventional thread on here again.


I run cars in those circumstances (and worse) each year, and I haven't abandoned conventional because of the weather.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
If everyone ran a car under those circumstances you'd never see another synthetic vs conventional thread on here again.


I run cars in those circumstances (and worse) each year, and I haven't abandoned conventional because of the weather.
wink.gif



May the force be with you Garak.
 
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