If you REALLY want to protect your engines..

[waterboy11]

Changing it regularly and keeping to manufacturer recommendation is the best way to go.

Real life experience here.

Generally, ODI for fully synthetic engine oils is 10,000km.

A colleague used a Fully Syn oil for his Toyota Corolla, basic 5W30 SN spec as recommended by manufacturer, not using any special, super expensive, PAO, GTL, esters-based, product blah blah.

Drove over 300,000kms on that vehicle at the end of 10 years, long drives, city start stop drive, gun the engines, rough driving, gave it his worst, you name it he's done it.

Changed the engine oil every 8,000km instead of 10,000km, absolutely no engine problems at all. When they cut the engine open at the end of 10 years the engine looked almost brand new, shiny and no black marks at all on the inside.

'Nuff said.

 

[buster]

In this situation though, it likely had more to do with the fact that it is a Toyota. There is never a one size fits all approach. It depends on many variables - engine type, oil quality, type of service etc.

I agree with you though that cutting down the OEM interval in many engines isn't a bad idea.

 

[JustN89]

Not that I necessarily disagree with the premise of your post, but your friend's singular experience in a car noted for its reliability shouldn't be held up as a shining example of what to do or not to do when it comes to maintenance. My mother-in-law's car has 200k miles on the original trans and trans fluid with no signs of slowing down. Does that mean we should stop wasting our money and servicing our transmissions? I'm glad your friend got a good, long life out of his Corolla, but there's plenty of members on here who have 200k+ miles on their engines with extended OCIs (greater than 5,000 miles) being used.

 

[sk_pete]

people be like:

but, but, but ....car mfg. said 25000-30000km 2year intervals....

 

[incognito_2u]

“When they cut the engine open at the end of 10 years the engine looked almost brand new, shiny and no black marks at all on the inside.“

30,000 kilometers per year........a little over 3 Oil Changes per Year.
Out of curiosity, why did they cut open the engine after 10 years

 

[Leo99]

people be like:

You could probably have done that with the Corolla in question with conventional oil and arrived at the same endpoint. 300k km is not enough to test any hypothesis on a Corolla.

 

[waterboy11]

Not that I necessarily disagree with the premise of your post, but your friend's singular experience in a car noted for its reliability shouldn't be held up as a shining example of what to do or not to do when it comes to maintenance. My mother-in-law's car has 200k miles on the original trans and trans fluid with no signs of slowing down. Does that mean we should stop wasting our money and servicing our transmissions? I'm glad your friend got a good, long life out of his Corolla, but there's plenty of members on here who have 200k+ miles on their engines with extended OCIs (greater than 5,000 miles) being used.

You are right, regular maintenance is a must even if you are using the best oils out there. Well, trans oils (barring any major issues with the transmissions or other factors) are meant to kind of last forever since it is not subjected to the temperature fluctuations and higher temperatures in the engine which causes engine oils to oxidise faster.

My point was more on how lowering the OCI for engine oils won't hurt (well, will maybe hurt the pockets though haha), and there's definitely no issues with going on much longer on a single oil change if anyone is happy to

 

[waterboy11]

30,000 kilometers per year........a little over 3 Oil Changes per Year.
Out of curiosity, why did they cut open the engine after 10 years

Oh, 10 years is the longest we can drive a car in my country (as per government rules, too little road space, too many vehicles) and the car needs to be scrapped after that. So they decided to cut it up to have a look

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

A colleague used a Fully Syn oil for his Toyota Corolla, basic 5W30 SN spec as recommended by manufacturer, not using any special, super expensive, PAO, GTL, esters-based, product blah blah.

You are aware that the "Fully Syn oil SN oil" was most likely a combination of "PAO, GTL, esters-based, product blah blah"?

 

[incognito_2u]

Oh, 10 years is the longest we can drive a car in my country (as per government rules, too little road space, too many vehicles) and the car needs to be scrapped after that. So they decided to cut it up to have a look

Thank-you.........You learn something new every day

 

[supton]

Oh, 10 years is the longest we can drive a car in my country (as per government rules, too little road space, too many vehicles) and the car needs to be scrapped after that. So they decided to cut it up to have a look

If that is the case then I'd think to run synthetic out to 20,000km instead. If you can't reap the benefits of long engine life, then why bother with frequent oil changes? As long as the engine makes good power until the end, good fuel economy, etc: why bother with spending money that won't net a gain?

 

[waterboy11]

You are aware that the "Fully Syn oil SN oil" was most likely a combination of "PAO, GTL, esters-based, product blah blah"?

Nah, it was just a pure Grp III based Fully Syn as we got it specially blended for our simple 'test'.

 

[kschachn]

If that is the case then I'd think to run synthetic out to 20,000km instead. If you can't reap the benefits of long engine life, then why bother with frequent oil changes? As long as the engine makes good power until the end, good fuel economy, etc. why bother with spending money that won't net a gain?

Exactly what I was thinking. Why "REALLY" protect your engine in this case at all? What's the point?

One also wonders how the OP got 300,000 km in that country given the other things said in this thread. I know what it takes to get a vehicle there and it takes a lot of time and driving.

 

[PoorMans180SX]

"Look at me, I had a Toyota that lasted a long time, take my anecdotal evidence as gospel"

No thanks mate.

 

[kschachn]

"Look at me, I had a Toyota that lasted a long time, take my anecdotal evidence as gospel"

No thanks mate.

Toyotas don't last a long time?

 

[PoorMans180SX]

Toyotas don't last a long time?

My point is Toyotas last a long time whether you treat them nicely or not, and there is no objective evidence in his "story".

 

[sk_pete]

over few decades, it was this belief, that japan or german cars are indestructible. that could be true in in the past.
times are changing, everybody now uses stricter emission systems, which does decrease vehicle lifespan, adds more complexity.
sometimes google sends me to japan or german car forums. after several pages i realized, indestructible car is a myth.
everybody has some problems, but birds are not always singing about it.

 

[930.engineering]

Drove over 300,000kms on that vehicle at the end of 10 years, long drives, city start stop drive, gun the engines, rough driving, gave it his worst, you name it he's done it.
Changed the engine oil every 8,000km instead of 10,000km, ....

Well, 300.000 km in ten years equate to 30.000 km per year. Are you aware, that this, along with long distance drives and shortened intervals, are in fact rather ideal conditions? If this and added the fact, that Toyota knows how build solid engines, doesn't result in long engine life, what else does?
My uncle had a Golf TDI Pumpe-Duse going strong for 400.000 km in ten years with 30.000 km OCIs (!!) without a single issue. It never had a gear oil change. I'd bet it would have run way more, but let's be honest, the rest of the car ages more than the engine or the gearbox. No tear down at the end though, he just bought another Golf and the old TDI will perhaps still run in Ukraine, Albania or Marocco.

Btw, add a proper quality air filter and airtight tubing to ensure long engine life.

 

[kschachn]

people be like:

but, but, but ....car mfg. said 25000-30000km 2year intervals....

Which car manufacturers have that as their recommended oil change interval?

 

[oggb]

Simple ain't what we do around these parts, thank you very much.