Going 10,000 miles

[ram_man]

I keep telling my self 10,000mile oil changes is worth it. But then that side of me that thinks going that long is crazy comes out. Ford says you can go up to 10,000 on regular conventional oil. Do you guys think that's truly a good idea?
Most our customers go 5000 and at that interval engines are very clean. But double the miles nobody does it hardly so I do not get to observe that trend. I would run a synthetic for 10,000 or once a year if it's safe and my engine will stay very clean in doing so. I'm not necessarily looking to get every last ounce of use out of the oil but I'd like to be able to go that far and be well within the safe range of doing so. Seems like around here synthetic is between 5 and 10 dollars more than conventional. So the difference in price isn't all that drastic. What do you guys think? Is the 2.0di pretty easy on oil like the mpfi. 2.0 was? All thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

 

[Mr Nice]

10K all highway yes.

10K miles city/hiway No.

 

[sicko]

I can't think of any time someone has followed the OLM on their vehicle and done a UOA and found that the oil had past it's usable life. Because of that, when friends ask me about following the OLM on their vehicles, I tell them to follow it b/c it's trustworthy.

My vehicle however, doesn't have an OLM. Even if I had UOAs showing me I could go longer, I'd be hesitant to take conventional oil up to 10k miles. Even with synthetic, I do twice a year oil changes which equates to about 6,000-7,500 mile OCIs.

 

[gregk24]

Yes, you can go 10K on an oil change, you could even go 15K if you wanted. HOWEVER, I personally don't believe that engine longevity is priority concerning these longer OCI's. Will your engine go 150K? Probably, but thats all the auto maker cares about...making it LONG ENOUGH till your bored and want a new car. If you are like me, and want to keep your car for 200K or more, I believe that 5K OCI's are a great start.

 

[WobblyElvis]

I went 12,600 miles and the OLM read -60. [doesn't really read this but I reset it and continued until equivalent of -60]. I used an mix of %70 cheap synthetic and %30 conventional. Driving was 2/3 highway and I drive easy. UOA results suggested I go further.

If you worry, do and UOA at 8,000 miles and go from there.

 

[95busa]

5K is a good place to be IMO. VTC/MDS systems, etc operating off of oil....just seems like a good idea to have clean oil.

 

[jacky]

i never go over 3,000 on any oil or vehicle that includes synthetic

 

[jdavis]

Originally Posted By: jacky
i never go over 3,000 on any oil or vehicle that includes synthetic


that's just crazy

 

[aa1986]

I begun extending oci's primarily on time but also on mileage on one of my vehicles.

The best way to be comfortable about what you are doing?

Get a UOA

I do UOA's only once on my vehicles. That's enough to give me a ballpark estimate for future changes.

 

[WobblyElvis]

Jiffy lubes have done a good job of scaring people into 3,000 oil changes. I've had cars since the 70's and none of them required an oil change at 3,000 miles according to the owner's manual. I don't know where this "standard" came from.

 

[ragtoplvr]

Back in the days on group 2 oils being the best you could get, large amounts of lead in the fuel(late 60's) and such, the severe change interval was 3000 miles and the oil was pretty used up by then. Before then, some vehicles did not have oil filters and 2000 miles was common. In fact, there was a Rambler ad that promoted no oil filter as a needless expense. (Rambler owners were frugal)

To increase profits, the quick lube places still use that interval.

Rod


Rod

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: jdavis
Originally Posted By: jacky
i never go over 3,000 on any oil or vehicle that includes synthetic


that's just crazy


+1; it isn't 1977.

 

[fdcg27]

To me at least, long drain intervals using synthetic oil are a matter of convenience as are IOLMs.
When the weather is such that you'd rather not do an oil change, you don't have to. You can plan them for decent weather.
There are enough long drain UOAs posted here from a wide enough variety of engines that we can safely conclude that extending drains won't cause any harm to the engine through the practical life of any vehicle.
We even have a mod who ran a bottom dollar API spec conventional for 15K in one of his own vehicles with a clean UOA to show for it.
OTOH, with QSUD offered at $2.99/qt AMIR at Menards every other month and M1 usually offered with MIRs a couple of times each year that bring the oil down to ten bucks or so a jug after MIR, it's hard to make a good economic case for extended OCIs.
For those who drive a bunch of miles, extended drains make a lot of sense.
For the rest of us, the convenience factor may make them make sense as well, especially since all of the available objective evidence shows that engine life isn't compromised in any way.
I really don't mind and actualy enjoy changing oil during pleasant weather. I'd just as soon avoid doing so during the winter.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: jacky
i never go over 3,000 on any oil or vehicle that includes synthetic


Might as well cancel your BITOG subscription then...

//

Go 10k miles? Your engine will probably only STILL OUTLAST THE REST OF THE CAR. Why do people doubt these things are possible, when they were probably possible decades ago?

As far as Ford's 10k recommendation, how big is their sump?

 

[19jacobob93]

I think a 10k mile interval on a decent dino is easily doable as long as the engine doesn't get driven hard, overheated or mainly city driven.
I have a confession.
A few years ago when I first started driving and got my Falcon I went over 25,000 KMs on cheap 15w40 dino oil that cost me $14 for about 6 qts. Half way through that 25k interval I drove for 45 minutes with zero coolant in the block. The engine is designed to run without coolant so it never had any problems but obviously cheap dino isn't really designed to run that hot for that long.
I carried on another 13k or so on that scorched oil and the engine still runs perfect now at over 200k.
When I started learning mainly from this site and elswhere online I did a flush then a few 2k OCIs to clean things up a bit, only use a semi syn now and when I took the cover off to have a nosey a few weeks ago it was in very clean good shape in there.

 

[Oil Changer]

That's ignorance, pure and simple. Exchanging good oil for good oil does nothing more than waste time, money, and resources.

Originally Posted By: jacky
i never go over 3,000 on any oil or vehicle that includes synthetic

 

[doublebase]

I'm in the middle of my first 10k mile interval, and I've got to be honest I'm getting a little antsy sitting here at the 5k mark, knowing I still need to go another 5k.

As of right now the oil level is still fine, but it's getting a little dark...I'm going to trust what everyone says...that the color of oil means nothing.

I'm running TGMO....9.1 quarts...Lexus LS 460....I'll probably chicken out at 8k miles

 

[jdavis]

Wow, 9.1 quarts is a lot, what is their recommended OCI on that Lexus?

 

[JR]

12,700 mile on last service in 93 metro. QSUD 0w20, 1qt mmo, and PM"8A"filter. no make-up.
3qts M1 ep 0w-20, 1pt HyPer, 1pt MMO, and ultra8A, will get filter at 7,500 and uoa at 15k drain.



-harvey

 

[aa1986]

I did 7.5k miles on a bulk semi syn on a Lexus under warranty when the oci was 5k miles. No problem whatsoever.

The one sludger engine aside, these engines are extremely easy on oil. They survive with who knows what maintenance regimes and unknown oil quality in numerous 3rd world countries.

No doubt your LS460 never even goes above 3k rpm. Couple that with 9.1 qts and a full syn, I would be inclined to trust the Lexus engineers on your oci. You're driving one of the most reliable cars ever made with an engine that has been around for a decade.