Is a Year too Long for Dino?

[ncguy]

I have a quick question for the OCI gurus here on BITOG:

I have a 99 S10 truck with around 135,000 miles that used to be my daily driver. I inherited my wife's old car so now I only drive the truck to take the trash, haul some boards, or whatever. I put less than 3,500 miles on the truck each year now and I have always used Havoline dino 5w30 in it. Is a year too long to leave dino in the crankcase even with such low annual mileage? Thanks in advance.

 

[addyguy]

Nope, should work fine.

 

[opus1]

I hope not because that's what I do with my Dad's Ranger. I don't drive it much, but when I do I make sure to get it up to speed and out for at least an hour of suburban/rural driving a couple of times a month.

Oil gets changed every September. If I start driving it more, I'll adjust the OCI accordingly.

 

[Bluestream]

One year is fine for your application

 

[J. A. Rizzo]

I agree with everyone else. A year is no problem at that low mileage.

 

[marc1]

Yes same thing here. I have a 1996 K1500 that now gets used rarely (1500 miles per year more or less). I go 18-24 months on the oil. It has 165k total miles on it. You will be fine.

 

[gfh77665]

ncguy, I have had a truck used in the exact same way as yours for years. Once a year dino is perfectly fine. Simply disregard the low miles, and mark your calender for once-a-year changes. It will work perfectly fine.

 

[daman]

nope..

do run her out every so often to get the oil up to temp good.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: daman
nope..

do run her out every so often to get the oil up to temp good.


"Nope" on what? His original post never said it didn't heat up at times. Infrequent and erratic does not = short trips only.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
I only drive the truck to take the trash, haul some boards, or whatever. I put less than 3,500 miles on the truck each year now. Is a year too long to leave dino in the crankcase even with such low annual mileage?

It depends. If you run it each time long enough to get fully warmed and then some, no problem. If you make short trips where it doesn't get fully warmed, maybe more frequent oil changes are better.

Quote:
I have always used Havoline dino 5w30 in it

No body cares if you use Chevron oil...Chevron owns Texaco Havoline and is perfectly OK oil as is every other oil that meets modern specs.

 

[sw99]

I do the same for my 2001 F150. Yearly oil changes with MC5w20 and a FL820S. I maybe put 4k on it a year.

 

[ncguy]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
Quote:
I only drive the truck to take the trash, haul some boards, or whatever. I put less than 3,500 miles on the truck each year now. Is a year too long to leave dino in the crankcase even with such low annual mileage?

It depends. If you run it each time long enough to get fully warmed and then some, no problem. If you make short trips where it doesn't get fully warmed, maybe more frequent oil changes are better.

Quote:
I have always used Havoline dino 5w30 in it

No body cares if you use Chevron oil...Chevron owns Texaco Havoline and is perfectly OK oil as is every other oil that meets modern specs.


I do get the truck to operating temp on 95+% of my trips; they are usually around 20 miles or so. I try to drive it at least once per week so it doesn't sit too long between trips.

Where did I imply that Havoline was better than any other dino? I was just stating the brand and type of oil I use in the truck. How sad that nobody cares-LOL.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

My 2 trucks are the same way...my rodeo used to be a dd, but with having a company truck, I drive it maybe once/twice a month at around 150-200 miles a drive at a time....so it definitely gets heated up.

Ive wondered too, if changing the oil only once a year is enough.

 

[gfh77665]

It's not just "enough", its probably the perfect OCI for these applications. I have had ample experience (~15 years or so) and can tell you ZERO problems occur. Rest easy!