good oil for extreme short trip'er

[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.

 

[mongo161]

IMO...Go with Pennzoil conventional, Valvoline conventional, Castrol, Chevron, Shell etc....all in conventional and if there are just short trips..... and you suspect fuel dillution....change every 4 months.

 

[chubbs1]

I would go the other direction, since you say cost isn't a big issue, use the cheapest API certified conventional you can get you hands on, PEAK, SuperTech or anything that has a special price (check the AAP website) and change MORE OFTEN. Another key with extreme short trippers is to get them warmed up, 5w20 will help a little and is usually higher quality than their 5w30 counterparts. That is my advice to you and exactly what I would do if it was my mother's car and she had to get 100k more out of it.

Skip the High Mileage oil as it is thicker, fine if you were driving a lot of Highway miles...not your situation.

So, go 5w20 go cheap and change every 3-4 months if you really want to take some proactive action.

 

[bigdawg74]

Unless you have some leaks evident, I don't think you would gain anything going to a High Mileage oil. I agree w/ Mongo...go with a conventional and change it every 4 months. Or, have her drive the car for a long(er) trip every now and then to burn off that moisture and stick w/ 6 moth OCI. I think a synthetic would be wasting money, IMHO.

 

[LeakySeals]

I have a short tripper Camry in a similar situation. Was on High Mileage oil for a while for other issues. When I switched to a thinner oil it ran a lot smoother, warms up faster, not as tight when its cold. Next OC I plan to go thinner again.

 

[thereed]

I really appreciate the advice and thanks for your time. The only problem i have with changing it more often is I'm stationed about 230 miles away from her and I can't just go and change her oil when ever I want. I guess i could plan my trips down to split the winter months so she only goes 3 months between changes and keep to the 6 months for the summer/warmer months. I might just get a used oil analysis after this winter run to see how it's doing.

I have been using cheap dino that i get on sale, last change was some Chevron 5w30 i got for $1.50 a QT.

 

[rjacket]

I'd say go with a 0w20, which means synthetic.

1) The engine is never at temp so needs the thinnest oil possible for maximum protection.
2) By getting synthetic, you can more safely go the 6 month interval for when you visit her.

3) On her weekly trips to the grocery, ask her to add on a 20 mile freeway trip on her way home (engine will be at operating temperature then). This will help burn off the fuel in the oil.

4) When you visit her next, clean her (cars) throttle body. Do this every year or so afterwards.

5) When you visit her every 6 months, throw in some techron / regane / redline fuel cleaner into the tank. You may want to do this a couple of times on back to back tanks the next time you go.

6) Check the fluids, especially the transmission fluid and change as necessary using the severe service schedule.

7) Ensure other maintenance items are up to date according to the severe service schedule eg spark plugs.

The pattern of driving your mum's car is seeing is pretty rough. I have a car that saw something like that over a couple of years and it really suffered - frequent quality oil changes (Motorcraft synthetic blend 5w20) were not enough. I'm happy running synthetic oil to 5000 miles a year with short trips so long as it gets a good run out every week or two and the other items are maintained.

With a short trip driving pattern, oil is only part of the equation for longevity.

 

[Lead Shoes]

The chevron you have been using is a good conventional oil, for a short tripper you just have to be sure to change the oil every 3k or 4-6 months, I would use 5w20 or 0w20 in the colder months for easier starts and less cold wear on the car seeing as it doesn't get warmed up too often.

 

[JHZR2]

My mother uses her car the same (parked outside, etc), but does five blocks four or more times a day. We used UOA and found that running M1 at the non-severe interval was acceptable.

Her car does get a longer drive, say 150-200 miles every few weeks.

The key is that it is important to drive the car longer now and again.

 

[Radman]

Originally Posted By: mongo161
IMO...Go with Pennzoil conventional, Valvoline conventional, Castrol, Chevron, Shell etc....all in conventional and if there are just short trips..... and you suspect fuel dillution....change every 4 months.


Good Advice ~ Also stick with 5W30 don't go lighter on an aging engine.

 

[A_Harman]

Short trips and small sump screams "High TBN!" to me. Out of the conventional oils that the PQIA had analyzed a few weeks back, the highest TBN's were:
8.3 for Mobil Special
8.2 for Kendall GT1
8.3 for PYB

Stay away from Valvoline and Castrol, their TBN's were 6.1.

Or maybe you would consider an HDEO like Rotella T5 10w30, which has a TBN of 10+.

Going up to synthetics, Mobil 1 0w20 and 0w30 have TBN's of 9.3. Mobil 1 0w40 sits at the top of the heap with 11.8.

 

[KCJeep]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Short trips and small sump screams "High TBN!" to me. Out of the conventional oils that the PQIA had analyzed a few weeks back, the highest TBN's were:
8.3 for Mobil Special
8.2 for Kendall GT1
8.3 for PYB

Stay away from Valvoline and Castrol, their TBN's were 6.1.

Or maybe you would consider an HDEO like Rotella T5 10w30, which has a TBN of 10+.

Going up to synthetics, Mobil 1 0w20 and 0w30 have TBN's of 9.3. Mobil 1 0w40 sits at the top of the heap with 11.8.


My thinking as well...and believe it or not the STP brand they tested had a TBN of 8.4. Yeah, I bought some after that hah hah. Haven't used it yet...

I think a good 5w20 would be fine in it...but a thinnish 5w30 would probably be a safer bet.

 

[KCJeep]

Looks like good stuff.

http://www.pqiamerica.com/November 2011 samples/STP.htm

I like Rotella as well, it does have a very high TBN but being pretty thick maybe not a good idea for this short tripper.

 

[FastGame]

Originally Posted By: KCJeep
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Short trips and small sump screams "High TBN!" to me. Out of the conventional oils that the PQIA had analyzed a few weeks back, the highest TBN's were:
8.3 for Mobil Special
8.2 for Kendall GT1
8.3 for PYB

Stay away from Valvoline and Castrol, their TBN's were 6.1.

Or maybe you would consider an HDEO like Rotella T5 10w30, which has a TBN of 10+.

Going up to synthetics, Mobil 1 0w20 and 0w30 have TBN's of 9.3. Mobil 1 0w40 sits at the top of the heap with 11.8.


My thinking as well...and believe it or not the STP brand they tested had a TBN of 8.4. Yeah, I bought some after that hah hah. Haven't used it yet...

I think a good 5w20 would be fine in it...but a thinnish 5w30 would probably be a safer bet.


And Murphy USA is 8.7, STP's NOACK of 12.5 is the lowest of them all.

STP is sleeper oil (on paper).

 

[KCJeep]

I thought the Murphy looked good as well but I've never seen it, STP is widely available here.

 

[thereed]

rjacket-thanks for the tips. Ive been taking care of all required maintenance as per the severe service schedule and i clean the throttle body and add a bottle of techron complete fuel system cleaner every year. 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.

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.

 

[Merkava_4]

I disagree with all the recommendations of going to a thinner grade than what
the engine was originally speced for. Just ask your Mom to let the engine
get fully hot (at least 180F) once a day to boil off the moisture in the oil.

Tell her to let it sit there and idle for about 15 minutes after she gets home from
the beauty parlor. Don't worry about fuel dilution with a modern fuel injected
engine.

 

[rjacket]

Originally Posted By: thereed
rjacket-thanks for the tips. Ive been taking care of all required maintenance as per the severe service schedule and i clean the throttle body and add a bottle of techron complete fuel system cleaner every year. 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.

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.


Sounds good and the Mobil 0w30 definitely hits those points.

The reason for suggesting 20 weight oil is that given your mother's driving pattern, no oil will be thinner than what Toyota recommend because they will never get hot enough to get that thin.

 

[JOD]

Given the small sump (and not too ridiculous cost of an oil change), I'd use Toyota's 0W20 and change it twice a year.

Anyone suggesting that a 20W oil is "too thin" didn't actually read your post, or simply has no understanding of the relationship between oil temperatures and viscosity. The oil is always going to be "too thick" in this application, period; it's just a matter of "how much too thick". A light 20W will at least be a little closer to the correct viscosity. I've found dealers locally willing to sell it for around $5.00/qt.

Having changed the oil in a friend's car with identical driving habits, 6 mos. is about the max I'd go. This is a car that may actually see full operating oil temps a few times a year. Making suggestions about "boiling the oil" once a day are ridiculous, and aren't going to happen. Choose the oil based on how the car is actually going to be driven...

 

[rjacket]

Originally Posted By: JOD
Given the small sump (and not too ridiculous cost of an oil change), I'd use Toyota's 0W20 and change it twice a year.

Anyone suggesting that a 20W oil is "too thin" didn't actually read your post, or simply has no understanding of the relationship between oil temperatures and viscosity. The oil is always going to be "too thick" in this application, period; it's just a matter of "how much too thick". A light 20W will at least be a little closer to the correct viscosity. I've found dealers locally willing to sell it for around $5.00/qt.

Having changed the oil in a friend's car with identical driving habits, 6 mos. is about the max I'd go. This is a car that may actually see full operating oil temps a few times a year. Making suggestions about "boiling the oil" once a day are ridiculous, and aren't going to happen. Choose the oil based on how the car is actually going to be driven...

I did chuckle when I read the suggestion to idle the car for 15 minutes!

Not only will the neighbours get suspicious but it won't really achieve anything apart from wasting fuel.