Road trip question.

[Cujet]

Originally Posted by JLTD
When you change it, take a sample for UOA then you will know for certain next time.


Disagree. UOA will only contain some information. It will not give you a particle count, for example. The oil may still have plenty of additives, have plenty of remaining TBN and have low fuel dilution. Yet it may be quite contaminated with wear causing larger soot particulates, have a significant amount of fuel byproducts (which are not oil) and other contaminates.

The oil change is the only way to remove contaminates from the engine's oil system. At 5000 miles, it's very likely your oil is sufficiently contaminated.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted by Cujet
. . . It will not give you a particle count, for example. The oil may still have plenty of additives, have plenty of remaining TBN and have low fuel dilution. Yet it may be quite contaminated with wear causing larger soot particulates, have a significant amount of fuel byproducts (which are not oil) and other contaminates.

The oil change is the only way to remove contaminates from the engine's oil system. At 5000 miles, it's very likely your oil is sufficiently contaminated.

I wouldn't do a used oil analysis either in this case, but for my own, different reasons. That said, you can order used oil analysis that do provide particle counts, and if that's done, it would conclusively answer the question of whether the oil has reached an unacceptable level of contamination, no guesswork involved. It's a buyer beware thing. If one is going to spend the time and money for a used oil analysis, they should give a bit of thought to making sure they're ordering the right product.

 

[BISCUT]

Just me but I'd drain it at 5k and maybe look to a M1 or a PP and start a used oil analysis trend to see where my engine falls in the 6k to 8k mile range. Adjust from there.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Yes - drain it and use better, full synthetic oil. Oil is cheap in the grand scheme of things. Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, etc. Personally I tend to change my oil before any long road trip just for the peace of mind.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by Astro_Guy
Yes - drain it and use better, full synthetic oil. Oil is cheap in the grand scheme of things. Mobil 1, Pennzoil Platinum, etc. Personally I tend to change my oil before any long road trip just for the peace of mind.

A long road trip tends to be easier on the oil, where even a fairly basic motor oil should be fine.

I remember before going on maybe a 3500 mile road trip with my parents I changed their oil (2001 Camry V6) with regular Mobil 10w30. I figured it would be getting long miles between destinations and few short trips unless the engine was already warm. It usually got whatever cheap 5w30 I could find but for this trip 10w30 made more sense.