Oil that will last 7500 miles for sure

[The Critic]

I need a motor oil, either 5W/20 or 5W/30 that will last 7500 miles for sure. What I mean by "for sure," is that I can running knowing that it will last 7500 miles without having to run it for 5000 miles first, UOA it, and then run it for 7500 miles.

Several oils come to my mind. Mobil 1 0W-20, Mobil 5W-30, Amsoil XL-7500 (I know its Group III) and GC. I would really like to use M1 since its price to performance ratio is hard to beat at $3.99/quart, but I often see UOAs of it after 5000 miles w/ TBNs already in the mid 3 range. I'm really not sure if it'll last the full 7500 miles. I would really like to stick with a starburst certified, 5W/20 or 5W/30 because it is going to be used in a new car, in case I'm confronted in the event of a problem. Not long ago, someone posted an UOA of a Crown Vic using Amsoil XL-7500, and after 8K, the TBN still read 7. Impressive.

Also, as a side note, this oil will be used in either a Corolla or Civic, operating in severe city driving with trips of 3 miles or less. Its already hard for me to justify using a synthetic, especially when many quality dinos can last 5000 miles under those conditions and can be had for $0.90/quart. Although its really hard to justify using a synthetic since two oil changes with dino costs $15 and a synthetic oil change costs at least $23, I'd be willing to use synthetic if I can go 7500 miles in between. (saves me time)

Finally, I don't want to spend more than $6/quart, preferably $4-$5/quart. By the way, does anyone know of an Amsoil distributor in Sacramento, CA? Thanks for your suggestions, Michael.

 

[kenw]

why does it NEED to last 7500 miles?

 

[The Critic]

Because I'm tired of changing oil. Currently, I put in 15,000 miles of year, so changing oil twice a year every 7500 miles sounds appealing. I don't always have time to change oil every two or three months and I really don't have a mechanic who is trusted in our area that can do it for a reasonable cost.

 

[Gary Allan]

How does one accumulate 15k a year only doing 3 mile short trips?? On a 6 day week ..you're looking at 16 "events" @ 3 miles each. Unless you're delivering for Kikos in an urban environment on a 24 hour basis (too allow the engine to cool off) you've got to have few cold starts ..or at least one would reason. One would have to be idling at temperature for a good bit of the day assuming that the events were evenly distributed over an 8 hour period.

Do you intend to do a UOA @ 7500? If so ..just go your 6 months/7500 and do one. One OCI isn't going to make or break an engine (then again Cathy Covington

) ..err at least in most cases.

M1 for availability and price. I'd go with the 0w-30 or 5w-30 until you've done a UOA.

 

[The Critic]

Actually let me put it this way. Its really my mom's car, but who knows how she put is in that many miles. I just notice that its only been a month since my last oil change and its already been 1200 miles. Thats all that I noticed. So if you folks are wondering about how she gets all those miles, I'm really not sure.
But I should make this clear. Not all of the trips are 3 miles or less, but a good 30-50% of them are.

 

[Dagwood]

Our family drives between 12,000 and 15,000 miles annually with three vehicles(each vehicle travels between 12,000 and 15,000 miles) . 2001 Pathfinder, 1996 Toyota Rav 4 and a 2003 Toyata 4Runner. Since I am responsible for the oil changes, I change the oil twice a year (4/1 and 10/1). I use Mobil 1 and Pure One filters and I never worry about it. I have always used Mobil 1 and I have followed this schedule on all my vehicles over the years. I have never had any engine related issues.

 

[The Critic]

Actually I should also put it this way, I really want to avoid duing a UOA as much as possible. If I use a oil, I want to start out using it knowing that it will last 7500 miles without a doubt.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dagwood:
Our family drives between 12,000 and 15,000 miles annually with three vehicles. 2001 Pathfinder, 1996 Toyota Rav 4 and a 2003 Toyata 4Runner. Since I am responsible for the oil changes, I change the oil twice a year (4/1 and 10/1). I use Mobil 1 and Pure One filters and I never worry about it. I have always used Mobil 1 and I have followed this schedule on all my vehicles over the years. I have never had any engine related issues.

---

What are your driving conditions like? Do you have a UOA?

 

[Al]

10W-30 or 5W-30 Mobil 1 would easily do. And a TBN of 3 has a lot of service left. That's really not close to being "worn out" oil.

 

[Dagwood]

I drive 5 miles to work and home. I take lunch time trips and occasional highway trips. Same for my wife's Pathfinder and my Son's Rav 4. A lot of short trips and very few long ones. Oh yeah, to answer your other question: I have never done an oil analysis.

 

[The Critic]

Thats what I've always been wondering, when an oil has a TBN of 3 left, doesn't it mean that the TBN has stablized? I've noticed that during the first 5K or so, the TBN drops rapidly. When the TBN reaches 3, does that mean it no longer drops rapidly? I'm new to this stuff.

 

[ruking77]

To me, an absolute no brainer: Mobil One 0w20. With your so called "severe duty" I would have no qualms with 10,000 mile intervals. There are others of course, but commonly available, cheaper, goes on sale even, and you don't really have to stock it like some other less commonly available.

If you want to stay with conventional oil either Honda 5w20 ($4-6) or (the real bargain) ExxonMobil Superflo 5w20 ($1.04?). 5k/7.5k totally within reach.

I actually do 15,000 mile intervals with my other vehicles I use either Mobil One 5w30, Delvac 5w40, AKA Mobil One Truck & SUV.(15,000-20,000 mile oil and filter change intervals with a TDI diesel)

The only reason I stick to 10,000 mile oil change intervals for the Honda is for warranty purposes.

[ December 05, 2004, 09:05 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]

 

[rshaw125]

Mobil 1 5W30.
Enough said.

 

[darkdan]

I just saw a 8400 mile UOA on AMSOIL XL7500 5w20 that looked really decent. Still had a high TBN too!

So I'd say AMSOIL's 7500-mile oil could go easily the distance it was intended to go.

Of course, for an extra quarter or two a quart I'd still go with the ASL.

 

[Brett Miller]

I have decided to do the same with my vehicles. I just put 0W-20 Mobil 1 in my Civic and will change every 7,000 to 8,000 miles. I'm using GC in my S-10 and will change it once per year (about 5,500 miles). The wife is getting a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I haven't decided what I'm using in that yet.

 

[Al]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Wan:
Thats what I've always been wondering, when an oil has a TBN of 3 left, doesn't it mean that the TBN has stablized? I've noticed that during the first 5K or so, the TBN drops rapidly. When the TBN reaches 3, does that mean it no longer drops rapidly? I'm new to this stuff.

---

TBN's fall at different rates for different oils. Cheaper oils may drop TBN's rapidly bc of cheap/inadequate additive packages. A "3" TBN for Mobil 1 has some life left. How much..its hard to tell bc of the nature of the vehicle and what the conditions are. In General Mobil 1 can go the distance.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ruking77:
To me, an absolute no brainer: Mobil One 0w20. With your so called "severe duty" I would have no qualms with 10,000 mile intervals. There are others of course, but commonly available, cheaper, goes on sale even, and you don't really have to stock it like some other less commonly available.

If you want to stay with conventional oil either Honda 5w20 ($4-6) or (the real bargain) ExxonMobil Superflo 5w20 ($1.04?). 5k/7.5k totally within reach.

I actually do 15,000 mile intervals with my other vehicles I use either Mobil One 5w30, Delvac 5w40, AKA Mobil One Truck & SUV.(15,000-20,000 mile oil and filter change intervals with a TDI diesel)

The only reason I stick to 10,000 mile oil change intervals for the Honda is for warranty purposes.

---

Hmm. Wow, I didn't realize that Honda 5W/20 was that expensive. By the way, 5K-7.5K drains on dino are possible, but only under very favorable circumstances like if it was 80-90% highway miles. Yes, I have seen a report on this forum of Pennzoil 5W/20 being ran for 7.2K but that vehicle was used strictly for commuting.
With 30-50% of the miles in my car being city miles, I don't know how that is going to be attainable.

 

[Gene K]

Toyota has a standardized oil change interval of 5,000 mi thanks to the infamous Camry "Sludge Incident". I assume you want to mantain warranty coverage.

5000 mi = Motorcraft 5W-30 Synthetic Blend

Honda has 10,000 mi std and 5,000 Severe Service Intervals.

5000 mi = Motorcraft 5W-20 Synthetic Blend
10000 mi = Mobil 1 0W-20 Synthetic

Gene

 

[kenw]

the no-brainer here is to forget 7500 mile intervals and go to 4-5k intervals with 10w30 of your own choosing.

 

[Jackpot01]

If you are really worried, why not pick up a gallon of Lube Control. You could change the oil January first and July first. Then the first of the rest of the months throw in a few ounces of LC and rock out. You should be good to go and then some. You could go with a reasonably priced Semi-Syn like MC 5w20 or 5w30 and have no worries of it going bad by adding the LC.

Eric