OCI question

[jmsjags]

sry if this is dumb, but i'm new to the site and learning more than i ever thought i needed to know about oil. one question i haven't been able to find a definitive answer to though is how long should the OCI's be for each group of oil?

conventional - 5k or 6 months
synthetic blend - 7.5k or 6 months
synthetic - 10k or 1 year

does that sound about right?

 

[StevieC]

to BITOG!

It doesn't depend on the Group of oil used it depends on the oil composition, weight, climate the vehicle will be operated in, your vehicles engine requirements and how hard it is on the oil and what driving patterns you have. (Eg: City/Highway/Mixture etc.)

It is true that a true synthetic (Mostly PAO/POE) will go farther than a Grp-III Synthetic, and that will go farther than a Semi-Synthetic, and that will go farther than Dino. But not under all cirumstances like short trips for example.

The best way to determine is to run an oil you like for an OCI that is in your owners manual and do a used oil analysis with a TBN/TAN analysis to find out how well the oil is faring in your application.

If you don't want to get a used oil analysis done PM me with the details of your application and I will suggest an OCI for you based on what I have seen/read/experienced.

Steve

 

[SLCraig]

UOA is the only way to tell.
Too many variables to be able to say that yes, those figures are correct.

However, its generally true obviously that with syn, you can go a longer OCI. I'm not sure 10k is doable in some cases, depending on service (severe or not) climate, engine (some are hard on oils, some aren't) all kinds of other factors too..

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: jmsjags
one question i haven't been able to find a definitive answer to though is how long should the OCI's be for each group of oil?

That's because there is no definitive answer. Too many variables to generalize. Sometimes 10k on conventional may be doable, and sometimes 5k on synthetic may be too long. Depends on engine, driving conditions, climate, etc.