HPL premiums plus 5w30 PCMO. 4200 miles. 2015 Fiesta ST

[Adambomb7777]

I owned a small business that sold custom truck accessories, airbag kits, suicide door kits, rollpans, S10 Mirrors for your C/K 1500, etc., so I totally understand. I feel it's a personal choice with their own personal property. I enjoy seeing others "Mods" & have a deep connection to the modding world. I grew up in the days of cold air intake & body kits being the coolest thing since sliced bread. 1990's ha ha

Your car has form & function.

I grew up in the same era! I think I may have held onto the entire modding thing for too long though!

 

[TiGeo]

Do you track it? Love these little cars!

 

[mt23]

Very wise choice. I know the 3k OCI is mocked here on BITOG. But if you keep an open mind for a moment, and you ask yourself, would anyone doing 3K OCI with the cheapest conventional oil ever get sludge, varnish, or gummed up piston rings, the answer is likely no.

So why do so many cars have sludge, varnish, and gummed up piston rings?
In my opinion, the reason is the oil change interval they are using.

With all due respect Bill7 I followed a similar 3k ideology with synthetic with my 423,000 mile 2006 Outback from mile 0 to 378k and when I rebuilt the shortblock at 378k the oil control rings were gummed up. (As I already knew from mild oil consumption, having never ever been run low on oil or neglected) Now I practice using a dedicated cleaner to clean rings or an oil with an ability to clean existing deposits like m1 0w40 or HPL.

 

[Adambomb7777]

Do you track it? Love these little cars!

I wish I had a track nearby (San Diego). I’m not big on drag strips, we do have a few, and that’s not how the car is set up. So I stick to canyons. I always go with other people and we don’t do anything stupid but we do have some fun. If you can find one cheap enough these things are a blast and surprisingly reliable

 

[Bill7]

With all due respect Bill7 I followed a similar 3k ideology with synthetic with my 423,000 mile 2006 Outback from mile 0 to 378k and when I rebuilt the shortblock at 378k the oil control rings were gummed up. (As I already knew from mild oil consumption, having never ever been run low on oil or neglected) Now I practice using a dedicated cleaner to clean rings or an oil with an ability to clean existing deposits like m1 0w40 or HPL.

Thanks MT23 for that great info. Besides the 3k OCI, did you have a # of months too, as if you short tripped it for a while and went 1,000 miles in 12 months, and changed the oil after 12 months, the moisture in the oil from the short tripping could have lead to sludge issues.
So that is why I added a "no matter what" time component to change the oil which in my case I chose 6 months.

The OCI I use in my vehicles (due to VCM design they are prone to sludge/varnish) is: 4k miles / 6 months which ever comes first with a good full synthetic oil.

I'm considering doing a LiquiMoly Proline engine flush annually in my 4 vehicles as well.

Also, would you be willing to share what cleaner strategy you are now using.

 

[mt23]

It almost never got short tripped. Its daily commute at the time was 90 miles highway per day, 200 miles highway on the weekends. I started using the Liqui moly flush LM2037 part number. I use it every few oil changes and m1 0w40, or HPL in every vehicle I service. For what it's worth my friends 2012 honda odyssey with a questionable past service history had vcm codes and malfunction due to restricted screen and I used the LM2037 as a flush and it cleared enough of the blockage where it hasn't acted up again in the past 100k miles since. Not intending to sidetrack from the OPs post. I just dont see short oci as being enough to keep rings clean. A dedicated product for that and a longer oci has worked well for me. My 3k oci engine was way too clean inside except the gunked up rings.