I would think hybrids are harder on oil in certain ways. The amount of times the engine has to start up and immediately run at load, while possibly not being up to temperature, and then turning off again can't be amazing for it. But I imagine driving style, climate, and how the car manages the drivetrain are going to be big factors.
Hybrid engines have easy life?
- Thread starter srfdude
- Start date
Do some hybrids have a sensor that causes the engine to stay running under a certain temperature to keep the fluids warm etc? Parts of Colorado back in February hit between -14 to -16 below zero Fahrenheit.
As anything else in life, it depends (especially on WHO build this).
Hybrid engine does not get stressed as much as a gas engine with a step transmission in undersized application. It won't see someone going stomping on the throttle from red light to red line in a second, it won't see someone dropping the clutch from redline at launch, it won't see turbo, it won't see all sorts of crazy stuff.
However, did the engineers take away some of the safety margin to cut cost? We won't know until a few years in and whether something fail left and right. So far 3rd gen Prius may have a head gasket issue, but 2nd gen does not. Who knows about 4th and 5th gen? We won't know until a few years in after a new design is out.
Also an engine having an easy life doesn't mean the oil does, if it is never warmed up you still need to change it regularly. So far at 5k - 10k OCI I haven't heard of Prius being a sludger, so maybe we are cool. I think 0w20 is fine even if the engine runs cooler than a gas only car. You shouldn't go lower than 0w20 anyways unless the engine comes with a variable displacement oil pump, then the volume is computer adjusted based on temperature and you don't need to worry a thing.
But if you are driving a Prius like a courier or Taxi, you probably really can run the oil to 20k with no problem at all.
Hybrid engine does not get stressed as much as a gas engine with a step transmission in undersized application. It won't see someone going stomping on the throttle from red light to red line in a second, it won't see someone dropping the clutch from redline at launch, it won't see turbo, it won't see all sorts of crazy stuff.
However, did the engineers take away some of the safety margin to cut cost? We won't know until a few years in and whether something fail left and right. So far 3rd gen Prius may have a head gasket issue, but 2nd gen does not. Who knows about 4th and 5th gen? We won't know until a few years in after a new design is out.
Also an engine having an easy life doesn't mean the oil does, if it is never warmed up you still need to change it regularly. So far at 5k - 10k OCI I haven't heard of Prius being a sludger, so maybe we are cool. I think 0w20 is fine even if the engine runs cooler than a gas only car. You shouldn't go lower than 0w20 anyways unless the engine comes with a variable displacement oil pump, then the volume is computer adjusted based on temperature and you don't need to worry a thing.
But if you are driving a Prius like a courier or Taxi, you probably really can run the oil to 20k with no problem at all.
There was a fleet of Ford Escape hybrids used as taxis in NYC that reportedly many went over 400,000 miles without major driveline problems. It would have been interesting to have a sample of non-hybrid Escapes running on the same duty to compare.
They can just use the coolant / oil and air temperature sensor readings. They probably need that these days to get the combustion efficiency and emission to meet CAFE anyways.
They were never AT LOAD unless you drag race it. The majority of the load would be bear by the electric motor. It may not warm up fast enough but in the winter if you are going to use heat they will keep the engine running even in idle to provide heat (and charge the battery).
Chalk another one up for the Volt. When the engine did run, it only ran the generator, which isn't the same kind of load as engaging the drive train.
It would then run at a relatively constant 2400 rpm. That of course would vary due to the SOC in the battery.
Oil change "monitors" know far more about people's engines and driving habits than a lot of people seem to think. They know the outside temperatures, if the trips are short, if the coolant and oil reaches operating temperatures, the average RPMs, and on and on. If your car tells you to change the oil at 6731 miles one time and another time (where let's say you drove 2000 miles on vacation) it says to change it at 8947 miles, it's almost certainly factoring in something.
My Prius Prime will run some ICE along with the battery below 14'F. It's a hidden mode I kinda like, the engine always (often) running but the battery slowly depleting over 100 miles instead of being used exclusively for ~25. This gives warm coolant to the heater.
I don’t know. Many are mileage and time based only like Toyota. Our Sienna Hybrid is 5K for severe and 10K for normal. And the vehicle doesn’t even tell you which to go by. You have to figure that out yourself.
Toyota still uses a simple counter. My wife has a '24 Grand Highlander and I don't even recall seeing anything about severe or normal service. In my experience, our Fusion had a oil life "calculator" as do our Hondas. The mileage for changing the oil always varied.
It does on the two IOLM Hondas we've had, the '12 and the HAH.
Oil life changes noticeably with weather and use.
JHZR2
Staff member
That said, anyone who hasn’t done a UOA, and is running full oci, is probably getting the same life out of the engine as you. That’s the crazy part! It may not really matter if the oil is designed with that viscosity loss and degradation in mind.
Yeah most if not nearly all 20 weight motor oils in the US are usually over 9 cSt, which makes it almost a 30 weight.
I know the OEMs assume max fuel dilution of 2% to 4% depending on the OEM so break that and all bets are off.
The hyundai 2.0nu engines are known to blow up a little, Hyundai said some of the engines blow up and automatically gave everyone extended warranty coverage.
Have a feeling people short tripping in cooler climate and doing the 7,500 mile oci are the ones blowing up engines.
I wonder about my Volvo T8 in S60 a little.
I estimate of the 8000 on the clock (OCI at 10k), probably 3000 are gasoline miles. That sounds great.
However, there's also a lot of highway merges, etc. when the engine is coming on coldish to heavy load. Then there's the likely fuel dilution too.
As a non-engineer, I feel like they should ship a hybrid like this with a 30 weight instead of 20.
I estimate of the 8000 on the clock (OCI at 10k), probably 3000 are gasoline miles. That sounds great.
However, there's also a lot of highway merges, etc. when the engine is coming on coldish to heavy load. Then there's the likely fuel dilution too.
As a non-engineer, I feel like they should ship a hybrid like this with a 30 weight instead of 20.
“Castrol Edge 0W-20 is now suitable for hybrids!”
So it wasn’t before?
So it wasn’t before?
Fixed.
That's true. Hall has to qualify his statement a little by saying (one example) the GM OLM. Even my Mercedes went the cheap way and basically uses a day counter, So every 365 days, like clockwork.
I never had a message to change oil early, despite the fact that I make a lot of short trips.
The GMOLM uses a patented algorithm so I'm not sure if other makes use something similar.
Definitely depends on the hybrid.
Some hybrid systems just start the engine up cold and rev to the moon, which always makes me cringe. Clearly these vehicles aren't blowing engines left and right, so who knows how much it really matters, but I just don't like that feeling.
On the other hand, the Volt did a really great job with this... when it decided to use the engine, it would start it, idle it for a little bit, then start to increase power a bit, then after a delay, give full engine power. I really liked that approach.
Some hybrid systems just start the engine up cold and rev to the moon, which always makes me cringe. Clearly these vehicles aren't blowing engines left and right, so who knows how much it really matters, but I just don't like that feeling.
On the other hand, the Volt did a really great job with this... when it decided to use the engine, it would start it, idle it for a little bit, then start to increase power a bit, then after a delay, give full engine power. I really liked that approach.
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