Longevity of Castrol Syntec and Engine?

[Mr_Accord]

I'm asking this question on behalf of my neighbor who is currently driving a 2000 Ford Windstar that has been outfitted for wheel chair useage for his handicapped son. They only use this vehicle to get their son to and from the hospital and other locations so it usually only sees around 2000-3000 kms per year. Now the question is should he do an oil change every year even if they have only done between 2000 and 3000kms or should they leave the same oil in until its has been used up to to its full potential (7500kms) , also will this type of oil start to break down after sitting around for a long period of time?

Another question that has been asked is since the vehicle sits for long periods of time in the drive way not being driven alot, would that start to hurt the life of the engine and if so what steps can be taken to keep the vehicle going longer other than taking it out a few times a week. ( breaks rusting, transmission, engine components?)

thanks for your time!

 

[harrydog]

I would definitely change it every year, regardless of the miles.

 

[Quest]

If it's sitting most of the time, I would be more concerned about condensation-related failures (e.g. internal component rusting out).

Changing out oil on a regular basis helps but ultimately, your neighbour has to decided whether he wants to use ordinary motor oil (non-syn), drive it hot on a regular basis (to chase away moisture and condensation) and also drain it frequenty to rid of trapped moisture (yes, regular motor oil absorbs some moisture).

 

[Mr_Accord]

thanks for your input guys

 

[Chris B.]

Oil is cheep! I'm sure a special van like that is not! Change it out at least every 6 months.

 

[Drivebelt]

Quote:

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also will this type of oil start to break down after sitting around for a long period of time?

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No.

If he’s going to change oil once a year and run only 2-3k km, then a non-synthetic SM rated oil would be fine.

In Europe, they spec. up to 2 year oil change intervals. A synthetic should have no problem going a 2 years 6000 km oil change interval. I would have no problem running that with Syntec in that application.