Severe Service Duty with 5W30 EP Synthetic Oils ?

[ChrisD46]

I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ChrisD46
I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

What that driving consists of?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

My Wife drives hard with no warmup or cool down at all, but she drives hard and somewhat far to work everyday ( 33 miles one way)

We missed our 6K miles normal service and went over 9000 miles on regular synthetic.

Well, the UOA ( posted ) surprisingly came back about as good as you can get if she hadn't overshot the OCI.

So good oil, PCV functional, engine running fair - and this was fair weather (early spring through end of Summer)

= ! No Hay Problema !

this on a Subaru FB20 with Long,convoluted timing chains on this engine with absolutely terrible TC noise at cold startup.

I'm curious to do a analysis on the Magnatec 5W20 . vs the Valvoline Advanced.

The Valvoline advanced was the best 5w30 run in my Nissan by far followed closely by the old semi-syn GTX Magnetec

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by ChrisD46
I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

I like what you're doing. My thoughts are to avoid following blanket statements found here and on other sites. Set up what you think is a sensible OCI based on how your vehicle is used and get a UOA. Then with that data in hand decide what is best for your vehicle. If your driving patterns change get another UOA, or if you feel comfortable with the data you have on hand, tweak the OCI accordingly.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
My Wife drives hard with no warmup or cool down at all, but she drives hard and somewhat far to work everyday ( 33 miles one way)

We missed our 6K miles normal service and went over 9000 miles on regular synthetic.

Well, the UOA ( posted ) surprisingly came back about as good as you can get if she hadn't overshot the OCI.

So good oil, PCV functional, engine running fair - and this was fair weather (early spring through end of Summer)

= ! No Hay Problema !

this on a Subaru FB20 with Long,convoluted timing chains on this engine with absolutely terrible TC noise at cold startup.

I'm curious to do a analysis on the Magnatec 5W20 . vs the Valvoline Advanced.

The Valvoline advanced was the best 5w30 run in my Nissan by far followed closely by the old semi-syn GTX Magnetec

I remember that UOA on Valvoline Advanced.. indeed it was, dare I say, stellar?...

.. and the GTX Ultraclean (formerly the aforementioned?) turns in some pretty nice UOA's likewise.

 

[4WD]

I have said before … I think people use M1 EP as a safety factor to run longer than what they were comfortable with … but not many go 15k.
Often in the old AP bashing's … I'd see people ask why pay that much more for 20k vs 15k ?
(Tend to agree, ain't doing either)
However, yesterday after seeing the normal one jug of AP gone and lots of the EP gone … I stood there and glanced at the labels: EP has the 15k big and bold, but AP has the one year big and bold …
I think even folks who are just now following an OLM like the perceived/real safety factor

 

[blupupher]

A UOA is the only way to know for sure how your engine is doing with a particular oil for your driving conditions.

But if you have any concern about warranty, then you will want to stick with the interval specified.

I personally have moved to a 5,000 mile or 1 year interval for all my vehicles. Not for warranty concerns or even being worried about the oil condition, I just find it easier to know when an oil change is due.
If I ever get to the point that I run out of my synthetic stash, I plan on just running the cheapest oil out there (most likely will be Supertech syn).

 

[buster]

I agree with 4WD. I personally don't mind paying the premium for the higher tier line for the safety factor for when you can't get to an oil change (winter comes to mind).

So you're doing 2 years worth of testing then?

 

[burla]

My wife driving a kia sedona and severe duty aren't matching up in my pea brain, so can't come up with a worth while respone.

 

[benjy]

first off depending on warranty or not a 10-30 is better in hotter climates + hyundai + girlfriends Kia list it as approved in the owners manual! todays fake group III synthetics are cheap so why do many want to run it a bit longer, answer some owners are even cheaper than the oil BUT engines + trannies are $$$$$$$

 

[ChrisD46]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

What that driving consists of?

*Most of the driving (90%) is running errands , going to the grocery store , etc. visiting friends in the suburbs ... Church is the longest drive (35 minutes one way) ... Dare I say "soccer mom driving" ? Conversely , no towing , no mountains or dusty conditions - depending on the time of day may catch some stop and go driving driving by others to and from the 'burbs to the city and back .

 

[ChrisD46]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

I like what you're doing. My thoughts are to avoid following blanket statements found here and on other sites. Set up what you think is a sensible OCI based on how your vehicle is used and get a UOA. Then with that data in hand decide what is best for your vehicle. If your driving patterns change get another UOA, or if you feel comfortable with the data you have on hand, tweak the OCI accordingly.

*Good advice !

 

[ChrisD46]

Originally Posted by benjy
first off depending on warranty or not a 10-30 is better in hotter climates + hyundai + girlfriends Kia list it as approved in the owners manual! todays fake group III synthetics are cheap so why do many want to run it a bit longer, answer some owners are even cheaper than the oil BUT engines + trannies are $$$$$$$

*Yes , 10W30 is acceptable per the Kia OM (also 5W20 & 5W30) .

 

[ChrisD46]

*All this started because I got new Castrol 5W30 EP at WM (online) for only $21 per jug ... Additionally the root I believe is I hate changing the oil in this Kia Sedona (bolted on engine cowling , messy cartridge oil filter on top of the engine) so subconsciously I want a longer OCI . In the end I just can't blindly say: "Oh yeah , I'll do 10K OCI's because I think I should be able to do so" ... A $25 UOA will tell you a lot of things about your driving style , chosen oil and vehicle - instead we would rather speculate (guess) what we are doing is right over the life of the vehicle as far as Oil / OCI's are concerned .

 

[ChrisD46]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
I thought I would experiment with M1 and Castrol 5W30 EP oils which claim up to 20 K miles OCI (Castrol EDGE EP) .
Since most of my Kia Sedona driving is closer to severe service schedule (3,750 miles OCI) , I like many others just throw out : "I'll just cut the max OCI stated by M1 / Castrol EP in half and run a 10K OCI " . After all , many auto technical sites state too many people run too short of an OCI with modern oils and say even vanilla M1 is good to 10K mile OCI's ... *Does that really make sense though ? If the OM states severe service is 3,750 miles and normal service is 7,500 miles many of us don't conform to either with our driving styles , so we are apt to just "meet in the middle" and run a 5K miles OCI . So why just because you switched to a M1 / Castrol EP oil do we just blindly bump up to the 10K OCI or more (especially if the vehicle has a timing chain) ? Conversely , I believe a M1 / Castrol EP oil can give up to 12 months protection on a low mileage driven vehicle and for the most part defend against acids and sludge but pushing much beyond the normal serve schedule of 7,500 miles OCI without an UOA may be wiser than just jumping on the 10K+ OCI band wagon of an M1 / Castrol EP oil unless you are 90% interstate miles... I'll put a stake in the sand and now feel comfortable saying 12 months / 8K mile OCI and then get a UOA to test with M1 / Castrol EP oils...Your thoughts ?

What that driving consists of?

*Most of the driving (90%) is running errands , going to the grocery store , etc. visiting friends in the suburbs ... Church is the longest drive (35 minutes one way) ... Dare I say "soccer mom driving" ? Conversely , no towing , no mountains or dusty conditions - depending on the time of day may catch some stop and go driving driving by others to and from the 'burbs to the city and back .