In Praise Of The Synthetic 5K Mile OCI In 5 QRT. Sump ?

Dividing by 5000 is easy and I run enough road trips to not worry using the $10 VWB oil change coupons in my stash. Girlfriend parks outside and drives less so it's 5k and syn for her Optima. If I could change my own it would be group 3 all the way.
 
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5K miles is way too short for an OCI in the warm months if you do a lot of driving.

In fact it is wasteful, harmfull and ridiculous. You may need some Psychiatric help
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My wife accidentally went 9K on a 6K required OCI and her UOA was better than the 6K average.

If you only drive 10K a year I say stick to a Spring / Fall OCI.

Now I don't want to keep a car 250K. Never owned anything recently that good worth keeping!
But the 5K OCI isn't going to help you get there. Ask the welder, Mr. TIG.

I would like my wife to keep hers 120K though as she drives about 20K a year.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
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One thing for sure, if someone from my neck of the woods was trying to sell me a used car and showed me they changed their oil at 10K intervals I'd pass on the car. 7,500 mile limits would be my max, and only if the car was what I considered perfect. I don't care what oil/filter combo they're using. I think many people on this board would agree, although be hesitant to comment.
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I agree with you 100% in principle. My OCI requirements are just a little more stringent. The last 4 cars where I have been involved in their purchase had OCI's of either 5K or 3K. All verified by Lexus or Toyota records. Call me a weanie, but I won't purchase a car that consistently goes over 5K OCI's. Now some of those around me may fun of me until they want my help in finding them a car. When it's their time to buy a car guess who they run to? LOL

It usually takes me 6 months to find a car with those types of records. Of course, I only purchase Toyota/Lexus and will help with Honda's/Acuras.
 
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I see many cars with 250,000+ miles on the odo running jiffy lube oil and filters.
 
5000 mile changes is what I typically and historically have done.

SuperTech synthetic at Walmart is a bargain at $14.XX

Fram Ultra about $8, used twice.

So about $19 for a synthetic oil change every 5000 miles, that I can do in my driveway in 10 minutes, and is done right.

Not a bad way to go. Plus, its easy to keep track of. Just change the oil at 35,000, then again at 40,000.
 
My wife's GX470 has a 7qt sump. The oil at 7-8k miles looks like my QX4's (3.5qt sump) does at 500 miles.

I've seriously considered putting her used oil in mine but haven't because I'd want to have the oil looked at first.

Sump capacity is the biggest factor for OCI term.
 
Originally Posted by onespiritbrain
My wife's GX470 has a 7qt sump. The oil at 7-8k miles looks like my QX4's (3.5qt sump) does at 500 miles.

I've seriously considered putting her used oil in mine but haven't because I'd want to have the oil looked at first.

Sump capacity is the biggest factor for OCI term.


Now that you mention it...as I reflect...you make a most excellent point.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
To the 3K synthetic oil changers

Glad to see many have learned nothing through the years on this forum.

Just wonderful.


Helping the unemployment level count for something?

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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
To the 3K synthetic oil changers

Glad to see many have learned nothing through the years on this forum.

Just wonderful.



Our new to us Hyundai Tucson with the 1.6T-GDI engine calls for 5k intervals under normal service and 3k intervals under "Severe". Going by Hyundai's classification of severe, everyone has severe driving...not kidding driving on hills up or down is a qualification....basically by their rules every type of driving other than a cruise across flat Kansas in perfect 70* sunshine @60mph is severe.


I'm normally a 5-8k guy using group III lubes, but It looks like I'm going to be doing 3-4K changes on this new T-GDI...

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Originally Posted by Propflux01
I do it for the above reasons, and its really easy to keep the change intervals easy to remember. 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, etc.


Thats exactly what I do and why I do it.

I change the good quality filter (like NAPA Gold) every other OC. Perfect.
 
Water is another reason to change especially in cold weather. Some people don't "get out on the road" to evaporate the water enough, and what about the time before "getting out on the road?" If you like water as an additive, drive around short trips in the winter and extend those oil changes.
 
Just an fyi on GM OLM OCI's. My father changed the oil on my Moms HHR (2.2 ecotec) with 5w30 super tech its whole life, the oil change usually came about a month after mom mentioned the "change oil" reminder showed on the dash. It had 255k on the clock when they got rid of it and the engine had no audible noises, clatter or unusual sounds. It was a 5 speed MT and mom drove the balls off it. IIRC mileage before the "change oil" reminder lit up was usually around 10-12k miles.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
Originally Posted by onespiritbrain
My wife's GX470 has a 7qt sump. The oil at 7-8k miles looks like my QX4's (3.5qt sump) does at 500 miles.

I've seriously considered putting her used oil in mine but haven't because I'd want to have the oil looked at first.

Sump capacity is the biggest factor for OCI term.


Now that you mention it...as I reflect...you make a most excellent point.


How about a thousand miles a quart of sump capacity? A thought which I'm not advocating because to me 5K is still the sweet spot without an OLM.
 
Again, Wife is adamant that her VW engineers know best and she will not go below 9000 mile intervals. No matter what I say or purchase -- her car, her money, happy wife -- "supposedly" happy life. Pushed the Acura in signature to 7500 mile interval this last time. From here on out -- just 5000 mile OCIs. Subaru gets 4000 mile intervals for extremely short tripped and with the Ram - just changing it every 2 years because I put less than a thousand miles a year on the old girl.
 
Toyota has always been pushing all their new sedans to use 10K OCI not because they want to sell more cars unlike the OP said, but they have designed their engine so well that they are confident that their 5qt sump engine can easily handle the 10K OCI. Toyota has a long history of engine reliability, compared to others. I have run 10K OCI in all my Toyotas with no problem using top tier synthetic oils.
 
I don't understand the obsession with such short intervals. Back in the 70's here in the UK Ford were recommending 6 month/6k intervals, by the late 80's they started recommending 12,500miles or 12 month intervals and now we are at 2 years or 20,000miles. Most other major manufacturers were around the same kind-of service interval. We don't have scrap yards full of immaculate cars with failed engines.
 
I'm 150,000 miles into a Highlander that's had nothing but a change every 10K miles. I personally think we waste a lot of perfectly good oil making oil changes that do nothing for the vehicle but that make us feel rosy.
 
The 3Kers and the 5Kers need to spend more time in the UOA section and get themselves educated on how to extend their OCI. Extended drain to a certain point makes for less wastes and less works.
 
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