good oil for extreme short trip'er

[Papa Bear]

Originally Posted By: thereed
My mother has a 1995 Toyota Tercel 1.5l 4 cylinder with about 125,000 miles on it. The owners manual recommends 3750mi/6mo. sever service oci. It has a small oil sump of 3 qts. The car is driven/parked outside year round in Portland, OR so it sees all 4 seasons (teens-100 degrees).

She only drives about 1 mile to work 5 days a week with maybe a trip or two on the weekends to the grocery store and such which are maybe about 5-10 miles away. On her last 6 month oci, she had racked up about 2500 miles.

I've been using what ever 5w30 conventional I can get a good deal on. I'm concerned that her short trips are causing fuel/moisture to get into the oil. Would using a high mileage conventional oil be a good idea? Should I go with a synthetic? How about a synthetic high mileage?

The car has a small sump so spending a little more on oil wont kill my pocket. The small sump is also why I'm thinking I might want to use a "stouter" oil. I'm looking for something I can get at Walmart or any other local auto parts store. Thanks for your help.


It's a 1995 Tercel with 125,k on it. Just keep doing what you are doing !!

 

[ueberooo]

Originally Posted By: thereed
I dont feel comfy going with a 20wt due to when toyota back spec'ed their cars to 20wt's, the tercel wasn't one of them.

Yes, but this is Portland, Ore., not Siberia. 5w30 Conventional or Semi would make most sense. With the fuel dilution the oil will see, it is not a good idea to go towards the thin side. An oil that thin will not protect as well in cold running conditions where the engine is negatively affected by thermal expansion (i.e. about the first 5 min from a cold startup). You'd have to go to much harsher climates to see pumpability issues with a 5w.

These short trips count as severe service miles though. Fuel dilution is the prime worry IMO. You were doing the right thing with a short OCI like 3k or even 2.5k. And, at such short intervals, TBN is no issue; if you think it might be, consider getting a used oil analysis at Napa, about $20 and well worth it.

Go for frequency and affordability, and with enough viscosity. Any decent brand 5w30 will do. Firestone still has $20 oil changes, so that would be the way I'd go.

You might also consider anti wear additives. If it were me I'd supplement 250 ppm zinc for the winter OCI with a small dose of a zddp additive, and treat it with a can of lubromoly (mos2) for the summer OCI.

Also, unless it's an emergency, keep the engine RPM's under 2000 for the first 5 minutes from a cold startup.

Originally Posted By: thereed

Its looking like the properties im looking for are:
synthetic (does a better base oil offer more protection from fuel dillution/moisture in the oil?)

high tbn (are there specific additives in oil that offer me protection in this situation?)

lowest visc allowed for engine as per toyota (lower viscosity oils get up to temp faster?)

Sounds like mobil 1 0w30 might be a good fit for the old toyota. The price is pretty good at walmart for the 5 qt jug so it wont hit the wallet very hard.

 

[steve20]

I would keep doing exactly what you have been doing.....conventional 5-30 twice a year. The car would not have lasted this long if you were doing something wrong.Chevron is a fine oil, you happen to get it at a bargain price.
I would think the exhaust system would be the first thing to go