Current relevance of time-based OCIs for low mileage drivers

[tired]

I've been planning to do 6 month OCIs for the vehicles I maintain. I doubt we'll ever hit 5000 miles before that. Part of this is because that's the advice and recommendation I've received. And part of this is because I don't want to end up doing oil changes in late January when I might hit 5000 miles when it's in the teens outside. Even in a garage, it gets cold, not to mention getting snowmelt dripping on you under the car is no fun. Doing a May and November oil change (or April and October even) will leave me with good temps to change the oil comfortably.

I don't see a lot of discussion here about time-based OCIs. Maybe it's because most people hit 5000 miles before that. I guess I'm lucky in that I live close to work and errands, hobbies, etc. Curious what people think about these. I've read the reason is due to fuel dilution and breakdown of the oil as it's exposed to oxygen. Not sure how true that is. Wouldn't fuel dilution happen pretty rapidly? Or is it a slow process that occurs over the course of 6 months? I do definitely qualify for severe service due to short trips and cold starts and not much driving about 45 mph / 72 kph, as I detail in this thread.

I'm looking at about 1500 miles on this oil in one car and 3500 miles in the other. On one hand, I can do it for about $30-35 total per car. On the other hand, I can't help but think I am throwing out good oil.

What does the BITOG brain trust have to say on this matter? Is this still relevant today or less relevant given quality synthetics?

 

[The Critic]

I always promote 6 month OCI's regardless of mileage. Low mileage drivers tend to be short trip drivers, and short trip drivers struggle with condensation and fuel dilution in their oil.

 

[k1xv]

I think it depends on the duration of the drives.

5000 miles made up of twenty 250 mile drives puts less stress on your oil than a two thousand 2.5 mile drives.

 

[Oillover]

Is this still relevant today or less relevant given quality synthetics?

It's probably more relevant today, than ever before.
Especially with turbo charging, short trippers, direct injection etc.

 

[cptbarkey]

These kind of questions are near moot without what vehicle it is. Include that information in the onset.

If its direct injected, dont play OCI games, do it religiously and early.

Port injection, then you can play OCI games.

 

[Carlostrece]

Opinions vary. It also depends on circumstances and oil & filter. My 97 Buick Park Ave is driven around 400 miles a year. Approx half highway, half city. My car is stored in a garage, which is heated in winter. My car is never colder than 55F at cold start in garage in winter. The rest of the year my car is 65F to 75F at cold start.

My car is 28 years old. For the last 15 years I've had my oil and filter changed every 3 years. It's working well for me. My car has 105 miles on it. Still works perfectly with good reliability, power, and gas mileage. It gets 32 mpg at 70 mph. That's great for a full size luxury car.

I think storing it in a heated garage that never gets below 55F in winter, and is usually 60-65F in winter helps a lot. Also, modern oils (synthetic oil, or even a syn blend oil) is more resistant to oxidation than the old school conventional oils were.

That's even moreso the case with extended performance or extended fill, types of synthetic oils. However, so far I've never used an "extended" oil. For my situation a syn blend oil lasts 3 years. Full syn oil 4 years. An extended oil would probably last 5+ for me.

Every 3 months I visually check oil level, color, and look for foam (foam bad) to verify that the oil is clean enough and dry. My oil stays looking new for 3 years or longer.

I recommend cleaning the underside of filler cap when you change oil and when you check oil level and condition. Why? If you know underside of filler cap was previously clean, but later you see sludge or foam on underside of cap, then you know there's a problem. Sludge on underside of cap would mean dirty oil. Foam would mean wet oil. I also examine oil color and check for foam when I pull dipstick to check oil level.

However, newer vehicles' engines might be more sensitive than my Buick 3800 V6. For my car and my circumstances what I'm doing has been working well for many years.

 

[JeffKeryk]

1 year or 5,000 is my regimen. I've gone over 1 year in my beloved Tundra, but not often. And it does see freeway time when driven, which helps vs around town short trips.

 

[Passport1]

Change it when you are comfortable. In January it won't matter and your vehicle won't get frozen fingers but you might.

 

[ripcord]

I like 5k changes. It makes it easy to know when to change. If the weather is nasty when the next 5k rolls around, it's no big deal to delay it a few weeks for a break in the weather.

 

[wings&wheels]

1 year or 5k also, w/ only the DD's seeing the mile threshold.

 

[tired]

I think it depends on the duration of the drives.

5000 miles made up of twenty 250 mile drives puts less stress on your oil than a two thousand 2.5 mile drives.

Yes and I’m closer to the 2.5 mile drives. 2.5 miles to work. Maybe 4 to the gym. 3 mile run to Home Depot, etc.

It's probably more relevant today, than ever before.
Especially with turbo charging, short trippers, direct injection etc.

Yep, and one is GDI.

These kind of questions are near moot without what vehicle it is. Include that information in the onset.

If its direct injected, dont play OCI games, do it religiously and early.

Port injection, then you can play OCI games.

Apologies. I linked to a thread where I detailed the vehicles and driving patterns extensively, but you are right I could have included here.

20+ year old Tundra with old school V6. Port injection. Bomb proof engine. Doesn’t appear to burn oil, but extensive bulk conventional oil change history before it came to me. Maybe a little oil burned but I have a valve cover gasket leak too, so hard to say.

Second gen Nissan Rogue with old school 4 banger. Not turbo but GDI. No issues. Doesn’t burn a drop of oil.

 

[wlk]

6 months/3k is what i would do regardless on short tripped vehicles.

 

[ATex7239]

Every situation is different so there is no clear cut answer. 5000 miles or 6 months (whichever comes first) is a relatively conservative approach. It minimizes risk by removing variability in driving conditions, engine design, changes in weather, etc. But it isn’t always the right answer. In your situation I’d say seasonal change at 6 months intervals sounds reasonable assuming you don’t flip your vehicles frequently.

 

[demarpaint]

When my wife retired two years + ago I switched her 2008 Liberty over to two OCI a year. I do May and November, no reason other than it worked out that way. We still have warm enough weather in November for it not to be a hassle here. It follows a severe service interval as spelled out in the owner's manual. Some might consider it wasteful, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

[Slick3914]

I like six month oil changes so I’m changing oil in nice weather- every Spring and Fall.

 

[Patman]

We usually have quite a few winter days here where it’s dry enough and a comfortable temperature to change oil so I still follow my oil life monitor in my Civic even if it ends up signaling a change in January or February. I ended up having to do an oil change on it this winter on a very cold day with some light snow on the ground as well, because I wanted to change the VRP at the 6k mark and that day was actually one of the better days for that time period because a lot more snow was on the way. But I can fully understand why someone would want to eliminate that possibility of having to change oil during any of the winter months.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Yes and I’m closer to the 2.5 mile drives. 2.5 miles to work. Maybe 4 to the gym. 3 mile run to Home Depot, etc.


Yep, and one is GDI.



Apologies. I linked to a thread where I detailed the vehicles and driving patterns extensively, but you are right I could have included here.

20+ year old Tundra with old school V6. Port injection. Bomb proof engine. Doesn’t appear to burn oil, but extensive bulk conventional oil change history before it came to me. Maybe a little oil burned but I have a valve cover gasket leak too, so hard to say.

Second gen Nissan Rogue with old school 4 banger. Not turbo but GDI. No issues. Doesn’t burn a drop of oil.

Short tripping like that, even on old school stuff, I would do it every 6 months minimum personally.

If it were highway miles I would do a year / 5000 whichever came first.

When I lived in wintery places I changed oil in the fall whatever their status at that time.

 

[RaymondP]

Around 6k irrespective of duration, but usually between 10 and 15 months. FS Mobil 1 on an older Beemer (0W40) and a newer Merc SUV (0W30 ESP). Both are fuel injected and driven a mix of town 65% and motorway 35%+. All good so far, no complaints!

 

[JeffKeryk]

It follows a severe service interval as spelled out in the owner's manual. Some might consider it wasteful, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I would never call taking good care of my cars, tools, etc wasteful. I bet your cars last longer than most. Wasteful for the win!

 

[demarpaint]

I would never call taking good care of my cars, tools, etc wasteful. I bet your cars last longer than most. Wasteful for the win!

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