Normal/Severe Service OCIs with PP

[FloatingBrick]

My wife drives a 00 Taurus (Vulcan 3.0, 150k miles) as her work car. She averages between 275-325 miles per week in combined city/rural driving. The city driving in not a lot of stop-and-go as we live in a small city.

We bought the car with ~140k and it has been using YB at 5k OCIs. The car finished the ArX rinse a few weeks back and is now running Pennzoil Platinum 5w30. My thought was to go 8 or 10k and then do a used oil analysis. Now I'm wondering about the mileage.

Is 300 miles a week normal or severe service? Is 10k pushing it? How about 8k?

Any thoughts and/or comments deeply appreciated.

 

[NismoMax80]

i thought the mileage helps determine severity only per trip, not week.

it also depends on how you drive. you said it's not stop-go. also i doubt she redlines or WOT. if you warm it up properly by keeping RPM as low as possible until normal temp is reached...
I do not consider that severe.

Since I am using synthetic my OCI is the 7500 as per manual since under warranty. Technically I should do the severe 3750 since I drive 5-10 minutes to both jobs and might use the highway 1-3 times a week. When I do I am WOT occasionally hitting that redline.
BUT I baby it too. I use minimal throttle until warm. Coast to stops and gradually accelerate.

 

[rg200amp]

I would stick to a 7500 mile OCI with PP.

 

[02zx9r]

i would start out with 8K with a used oil analysis to confirm you can go further, which you might be able to if you wanted too.

 

[Steve S]

Spend some time studying the Pennzoil Platinum used oil analysis. I would bet if the engine is sound and well tuned a 10,000 mile oil change interval would give a satisfactory UOA.

 

[Steve S]

Severe service is something like less than 6 milr trips and towing a trailer. Your service is easy service.

 

[FZ1]

10k is too far. 7500 max.

 

[JHZR2]

long drives and high mileage is actually easier on the oil. Cold starts, large changes in temperatures and high loads are tough. I assume she does a lot of highway, and generally that is super easy.

You have easy service, and could easily stick to the non-severe schedule in your owners manual.

There is no reason why 10k or even 15k would not be doable, but you need to back it up with UOA.

 

[ClarkB]

Originally Posted By: FZ1
10k is too far. 7500 max.


Is there evidence of this?

Someone just turned in a 28K mile OCI on a Sable (Duratec, though) using Amsoil 0W-20. I would think that using PP on the Vulcan would be good for 10K miles with her driving habits.

Clark

 

[rg200amp]

Originally Posted By: ClarkB
Originally Posted By: FZ1
10k is too far. 7500 max.


Is there evidence of this?

Someone just turned in a 28K mile OCI on a Sable (Duratec, though) using Amsoil 0W-20. I would think that using PP on the Vulcan would be good for 10K miles with her driving habits.

Clark


No there is no evidence for each case. Just like there is no evidence in every case saying all OCI can go past 10,000 miles when useing synthetic.

There is no way to know unless you do used oil analysis. Insted of worrying and doing used oil analysis to see how far a oil can go, some people me included, just change the oil out a bit early. Peace of mind, no used oil analysis to buy over and over, and allways fresh oil keep us doing it this way. Whatever works for you or others is great. Its a personal choice.

 

[FZ1]

I just prefer shorter rather than longer ocis. This is a nine year old car with 150k,has just had a strong chemical rinse, and may contaminate the oil fairly quickly. Further,the history prior to 140k may be unknown. Just a comment.

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Originally Posted By: ClarkB
Originally Posted By: FZ1
10k is too far. 7500 max.


Is there evidence of this?

Someone just turned in a 28K mile OCI on a Sable (Duratec, though) using Amsoil 0W-20. I would think that using PP on the Vulcan would be good for 10K miles with her driving habits.

Clark


No there is no evidence for each case. Just like there is no evidence in every case saying all OCI can go past 10,000 miles when useing synthetic.

There is no way to know unless you do used oil analysis. Insted of worrying and doing used oil analysis to see how far a oil can go, some people me included, just change the oil out a bit early. Peace of mind, no used oil analysis to buy over and over, and allways fresh oil keep us doing it this way. Whatever works for you or others is great. Its a personal choice.

RG, I've come to the same conclusion. The guidelines I now go by are conventional oil, change at 3k...syn blend, change at 5k...full syn, change at 7k. I'd rather err on the side of caution, but that's just me.

 

[ericthepig]

Originally Posted By: rg200amp

No there is no evidence for each case. Just like there is no evidence in every case saying all OCI can go past 10,000 miles when useing synthetic.


I don't understand that comment. Evidence is just "evidence" - look at used oil analysis where PP has been taken to the 10k or more - there's your evidence. From the way the OP stated the question, I think by "evidence" he just means "is there data". Yes, there is.

 

[rg200amp]

I do not feel all engines can go 10,000 miles. Just because there are used oil analysis that say some can, that dose not mean all can. Thats all I was saying.

There are many used oil analysis where people go to 10,000 miles plus. Are they Perfect every time? No. Some can go longer, some should be pulled back abit.

All I am saying is blindly moving your OCI to 10,000 miles because there are some used oil analysis showing it can be done on other cars is not something I would advise. I advised to see what the best OCI is if you want to do extended OCIs by doing used oil analysis. A used oil analysis might show he can go 7000 miles safely, it might show he can go 15,000 miles safely.

I also stated that: some people(like me) opt to not do used oil analysis to see what is the limit, and just change the oil out a bit early.

Either way, its a personal choice. No right or wrong answer.

 

[PandaBear]

rg200amp got it right. It has a lot to do with the engine design. The current civic can do 10k OCI on dino because it uses roller rocker followers, but the older ones without roller rocker followers said do not exceed 7.5k even with synthetic because the additives are depleted.