OCI Obsession and loving it!

[THORROMIG]

I am sure ALOT of us BITOGERS get the itch after 3K miles. Personally, 5K OCIs are easy to remember and most off the shelf spec certified oils work well with it. Get in the hobby of throwing that extra money in a piggy bank and let it go acouple years. Have fun either way and be safe!!!

 

[irollo]

Wear rates are highest at the front end of an OCI. The longer the lube is used, the lower the wear rates become (irrespective of brand/grade; with limitations).
Well documented and discussed here:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis-how-to-decide-what-is-normal/

Is it a valid conclusion oil burners would have more wear due to needing to add new oil? In say an engine that holds 5 qts but burns 1 qt/1000 miles, at 5000 miles there would be 10 qts of new oil exposure. Or is it buffered so a non-issue.

Also is there data somewhere that would say exceeding a given calendar time in the engine is more, less, or a non-factor in wear or 'harm' than short mileage OCIs?

 

[Al]

To the OP.

which is you? :
1. I just like changing oil.
2. I think more oil changes are better for the engine.

To me it is clearly #1. If you think its #2-any "certified" oil expert. (Tribologist) will tell you (as mentioned) there is more wear in the very early miles of a new oil change. So if anything you are slightly "hurting" your engine.

50 years ago I was in your camp. No longer. The longer the better (for me)

 

[D1dad]

I am sure ALOT of us BITOGERS get the itch after 3K miles. Personally, 5K OCIs are easy to remember and most off the shelf spec certified oils work well with it. Get in the hobby of throwing that extra money in a piggy bank and let it go acouple years. Have fun either way and be safe!!!

That’s where I’m at. My 18 says 5k and is port injected. My 21 and 24 are GDI and the OLM says 10k ish. I just change everything on the 5s or zero. Works well and the oil in the GDIs smell of fuel. 5k for me can be 6 months or a few months, depending on work. I use my newer cars for work and my 18 for just about everything else. Cvt fluids get changed every spring after the cold months. Air filter are annually, spring as well. Rear differential and transfer case is every 20k. I may be over servicing but I’m good with it. Tires are being shopped for @5/32.

 

[dnewton3]

Is it a valid conclusion oil burners would have more wear due to needing to add new oil? In say an engine that holds 5 qts but burns 1 qt/1000 miles, at 5000 miles there would be 10 qts of new oil exposure. Or is it buffered so a non-issue.

There is no data to make any such conclusion. I cannot say if it is true or not where no information exists to support this either way.

Also is there data somewhere that would say exceeding a given calendar time in the engine is more, less, or a non-factor in wear or 'harm' than short mileage OCIs?

Wear rates have to be spoken to individually. Fe tracks with use (typically miles and loading factors), whereas soft metals (Cu, Pb, Al) typically are at low-noise levels regardless, unless abuse or catastrophic issues are at hand.

Chronological accumulation (time), in and of itself, has no bearing on wear rates. The only exception would be extremely long storage periods where proper storage prep was not followed; Fe cylinders can rust, etc. But that's not really "wear"; it's corrosion related.

 

[earthbound]

So wait you're saying every 1,000 mi you change your oil or when new and it hit a thousand miles you change the oil out early?

 

[02zx9r rev2]

So wait you're saying every 1,000 mi you change your oil or when new and it hit a thousand miles you change the oil out early?

Pretty sure he changes every 1K

 

[mikeduf]

Another question OP. Do you leave the filter on at least for a few 2 gas tank runs or is that coming off every time? Cause those must be the cleanest used filters ever if they are getting changed every 2 gas tanks.

Yes about every two oil changes I swap out the filter.
I dont Drive much and the car sits a lot, and when I do locally drive, it idles a lot in traffic and I'm hardly ever on the highway. So like someone else asked, it takes takes 3 months or longer to get to 1k.

But I am weaning myself off of the 1K oci and pushing it out to 1.5 k

My big worry was having the excessive idling and not burning off the fuel in the oil. I was thinking that as a contaminate and would break down the makeup of the oil characteristic?

 

[Shel_B]

Six months or 5k miles for me. Anything else is just wasting resources and throwing away money. Maybe take up another hobby like sharpening knives.

Quite a few folks here will tell you that a 6-month/5,000-mile OCI is wasting money. I've been criticized for that and for using M1 EP. I'm somewhat judgemental of those using Toyota oil and doing 10,000-mile OCIs. The list of criticisms and differences of opinions goes on endlessly. Just do what makes you happy, what you feel comfortable with, follow your belief systems, pat yourself on the back and move through life with a smile knowing you're right and everyone else is wrong. Most of us are far more clever than the next guy or gal.

 

[nomas]

But I am weaning myself off of the 1K oci and pushing it out to 1.5 k

Really living on the edge ...

 

[thetricky]

Good for you, and I hope your good fortune continues.

I just have a problem (personal one, I admit) with these transmission designs that are actually engineered to make metal shavings via normal operational charecteristics. If I had an engine or transmission that I knew was doing something whereby the lubricant contained therein was becoming contaminated to design excess, then I would be changing the lubricant excessively.

I have 2 vehicles that have GDI fuel systems. The recommended OCIs for both is 10k or 1 year. I am changing each of them at 5k intervals because I know that GDI engines have more oil dilution charecteristics from the GDI operation inherently.

Not being exposed to combustion remnants makes a huge difference. No need for excessive cvt changes, as long as you are at least changing it. Just posted this:
ttps://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/2014-subaru-outback-amsoil-cvt-149k-odo-29k-oci.391344/

 

[ATex7239]

Yes about every two oil changes I swap out the filter.
I dont Drive much and the car sits a lot, and when I do locally drive, it idles a lot in traffic and I'm hardly ever on the highway. So like someone else asked, it takes takes 3 months or longer to get to 1k.

But I am weaning myself off of the 1K oci and pushing it out to 1.5 k

My big worry was having the excessive idling and not burning off the fuel in the oil. I was thinking that as a contaminate and would break down the makeup of the oil characteristic?

Short seasonal changes might make sense with your situation. But you should get a UOA done to confirm result vs guessing and basing things on feelings. The vehicle is new enough to justify the ROI. Nothing wrong with basing your decisions on feelings just don’t expect a lot of support for doing it around here.

 

[SeaJay]

No reprimand, but if changing at every 1,000 is better than changing at a higher number of miles, why not do it even less than every 1,000 is my question.

 

[irollo]

Are time based OCIs only to mitigate contaminants like fuel dilution, water and/or oxidation due to engine design and/or less than ideal driving habits?

 

[mitsuman47]

1. Drive to work and back home.
2. Change oil.
3. Drive to grocery store and back home.
4. Change oil.
5. Quick run to the bank to pull out more money for oil changes, and then head back home.
6. You guessed it. Change oil.
7. Drive to appt with therapist about compulsive non-productive tendencies, and then drive back home.
8. Change oil.
9. Calculate how many more oil changes I could do with the money I’m spending on these stupid therapy sessions.
10. Cancel all future therapist sessions.
11. Wait, didn’t I have that one other errand to run today? Actually, it can wait until tomorrow.
12. Change oil because I thought about driving the car in step 11.

Also not a reprimand. This is real life as far as I can tell.

 

[Mewbs]

Think OP should do an oil change side gig or mobile oil change service since he enjoys it a lot.

 

[Bkdc]

Is there a rational explanation as to why there is increased wear at the early portion of the OCI? Other than just believing the analysis numbers, I’d like to understand why.

 

[thetricky]

Best to change every fill-up, your engine will be in even better shape.

 

[dnewton3]

Is there a rational explanation as to why there is increased wear at the early portion of the OCI? Other than just believing the analysis numbers, I’d like to understand why.

Two contributing factors:
- the fresh detergent package removes most of the tribochemical barrier (a beneficial layer of oxidation on the surface of the parts; documented in SAE 2007-01-4133)
- residual oil has a small amount of metals and skews the results of UOAs (unable to be proven, but certainly plausible; no known studies of this claimed phenomenon)
The reality is that it's probably a combination of the two. And there's really no practical way to know how much of each is in an average contribution.

Discussed in detail here:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/used-oil-analysis-how-to-decide-what-is-normal/

 

[Plumb Bob]

The OP made it clear in the title of the thread: it is an enjoyable obsession. There is no sound technical reason for what he does, just a hobby.