Considering a slightly longer OCI

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Swift101

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Hey Everyone,

I'm thinking about extending my OCI to 4K, at least when the weather gets warmer.

Let me give you guys the break down-

On weekday mornings I let the car idle for 3 minutes and set off. I travel 26 miles to work one way, with about an average speed of 60 MPH. I'm assuming any condensation is burnt off during this time period.

On my way home from work things are little different. I hit more traffic and my average speed falls to maybe 35-40MPH. During the weekend I do a series of 18 mile trips and some short trip driving. The short trips are taken after I've driven on the highway.

I know the only way to tell is to get a UOA done, but I think my driving conditions aren't the worst.

-Thanks
 
I think if you do a UOA at 3500 miles you will see you can probably go to 5000 miles on those oils. Unless there is an unusually small sump in that engine. However if it is a turbo and 3500 is the manufacturers recommendation I would stick with it.

But a UOA is the only real way to know for sure.
 
You should safely be able to extend your change beyond the 4K. A UOA would substantiate that and help you dial in what would be a safe interval.
 
My wife's Maxx sees conditions worse than that and we follow the OLM, which takes it out to about 6,200 - 6,500 miles in winter. All I have ever used is conventional and it's like new inside.

I would say you could easily extend your drain interval.
 
Stop idling at the start...not so good for the engine...just take off gradually after 15 seconds or after you've bucked up, whichever comes first...
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Stop idling at the start...not so good for the engine...just take off gradually after 15 seconds or after you've bucked up, whichever comes first...


X2 ^^^
And you should have no problem extending your OCI.
 
I idle because I hit the highway quickly. It's less than a mile from my house. NYC traffic is fast paced and the on ramp is rather short.

I don't want to be too hard on an ice cold engine.
 
Your driving is easy on oil, with synthetic oil likes PU and QSUD or any other name brand you can safely extend OCI to 6-7k miles without doing any UOA. If you like to extend OCI to 10-12k miles or longer with turbo engine then you need to do few UOA's.

No need to idle the engine when you take off in the morning, but it's wise to take it easy the last mile when you arrive at destination.
 
Originally Posted By: Fastmover
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Stop idling at the start...not so good for the engine...just take off gradually after 15 seconds or after you've bucked up, whichever comes first...


X2 ^^^
And you should have no problem extending your OCI.


And where's you guys proof idling is bad for the engine???

I idle mine for sometimes 10 min plus when around freezing and do one year 5-7K mi changes
 
OCI must be the most confusing part of owning a car that I know of.

For me it's pretty simple, open the vehicles owner manual and look under the scheduled maintenance. 99.9% of owners would use the regular not severe schedule. Done.

I own two Japanese vehicles and both state 7500 miles oil change intervals with recommended oil. Done.

My American made truck says once a year or 10K with the recommended oil. I actually change at 7500 miles because it's easier for me to remember only one change interval. Done.

My oldest vehicle is fourteen years old (157K) and runs fine with the factory recommended change interval.

Use good oil and a quality filter and you won't have any issues.

SP
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Fastmover
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Stop idling at the start...not so good for the engine...just take off gradually after 15 seconds or after you've bucked up, whichever comes first...


X2 ^^^
And you should have no problem extending your OCI.


And where's you guys proof idling is bad for the engine???

I idle mine for sometimes 10 min plus when around freezing and do one year 5-7K mi changes


Well, every Owners manual I have ever had tells you NOT to idle when cold and to drive off straight away. Makes sense to me. The cold oil is pushed and flung to all corners of the engine when running, not sat in a cold clump at the bottom of the sump.....
 
Last edited:
Your driving conditions are pretty close to ideal.
You run the car long enough on most starts to get the oil to a decent temperature and you then keep it there for some time.
Nothing wrong with a little bit of idling.
I'll idle our cars in the driveway for ten to fifteen minutes on a below zero morning.
Not for the sake of the engines, but for the sake of my wife and me.
Nice not to have ice on the windows and to be able to breathe without fogging them on the inside.
You should be able to do an easy 5K on either PU or QSUD.
4K on either oil in your conditions is a waste, especially with the Ultra.
OTOH, if you like 3-4K drains, you could always use a two buck a quart API SN dino.
It would work just as well on such short drain intervals.
 
Nissan/Infiniti actually recommend a 30 second warm up each time. Nonetheless, I don't agree with idling or warming for a long time under most conditions. However, when it's -40 outside, you simply do not get in and drive away.
 
Originally Posted By: BertieBlue

Well, every Owners manual I have ever had tells you NOT to idle when cold and to drive off straight away. Makes sense to me. The cold oil is pushed and flung to all corners of the engine when running, not sat in a cold clump at the bottom of the sump.....


And how's that different when driving vs idling??? Pressurized oil is fed to the crank, and is slung off into all the lower reigons of the engine, while the rockers or cam followers are doing same in the upper areas... Do you think oil isn't flowing unless the vehicle is moving???

Start and drive away mostly began in carbed cars with cat converters that could over heat on fast idle... Back then was necessary to tap the throttle to bring engine off fast idle, or it'd run 2500 RPM all day till first rap on the pedal... Even then recommendation was not to let it run more than 10 minutes...

Now days start and don't idle is more of a CAFE reason than anything else, the PCM is controlling engine idle and A/F ratio...

The "well the engine doesn't warm when idling" that's often tossed around here is total B.S... Diesels are very slow to warm when cold but it doesn't make enough difference in a gas engine to worry about...
 
Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: BertieBlue

Well, every Owners manual I have ever had tells you NOT to idle when cold and to drive off straight away. Makes sense to me. The cold oil is pushed and flung to all corners of the engine when running, not sat in a cold clump at the bottom of the sump.....


And how's that different when driving vs idling??? Pressurized oil is fed to the crank, and is slung off into all the lower reigons of the engine, while the rockers or cam followers are doing same in the upper areas... Do you think oil isn't flowing unless the vehicle is moving???

Start and drive away mostly began in carbed cars with cat converters that could over heat on fast idle... Back then was necessary to tap the throttle to bring engine off fast idle, or it'd run 2500 RPM all day till first rap on the pedal... Even then recommendation was not to let it run more than 10 minutes...

Now days start and don't idle is more of a CAFE reason than anything else, the PCM is controlling engine idle and A/F ratio...

The "well the engine doesn't warm when idling" that's often tossed around here is total B.S... Diesels are very slow to warm when cold but it doesn't make enough difference in a gas engine to worry about...


No,

There are lots of things going on in modern engines above the old "suck-squeeze-bang-blow" of the old tractor engines which used to be in cars. Lots of these things only work properly when the engine is up to speed. I'm no expert but I would think the following may be problematic:
*combustion, for proper timing and combustion, the engine needs to be at temp
*Exhaust, cats, etc need to be hot to work properly
*water, vapour and water needs to be hot to boil off which it won't if its cold and sat in the exhaust, oil sump etc
*Oil, oil flow is governed by the laws of fluid dynamics. You will not get full oil flow until its up to temp. Also, your pump isn't single speed to thick, cold oil and a pump at minimum ain't doing its thing.
*Quantum, tick over doesn't produce much heat, engine load produces much more heat so driving under load, at just above idle reves is going to get you at temp much much quicker. (Ever seen how long it takes to get to temp idling from cold? It takes AGES)


Least that's my thoughts....
 
Originally Posted By: ernied
What harm does varnish do?It is only a stain.


It's sticky and feels like spilt Coke after the spill has dried. If you remove all the oil off the surface with a degreaser like lacquer thinner, what you'll have left is a sticky residue. That sticky surface impedes the flow of oil.
 
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