Short start/stop/sit trips, best protection?

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mattri

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2017 Ford F150 3.5 NA. Bought new, has appr 8k miles. Was originally driving on short, medium and longer trips with no real rhyme or reason, just every day driving plus for work occasionally. Moved into town, and at about the same time got a work truck. Now the truck doesn't even get driven every day, and when it does it is for really short trips, with a longer or long drive every now and then. For example I could not drive it for a day or two, then start it up, drive maybe 2-3 miles to the grocery, shut it down, then 30 mins later start it up and drive back 2-3 miles home. Or on a weekend start up, drive 1-2 miles for coffee, hit the drive through and just go home. Or after basically sitting for a week I could take it on a 3hr highway drive to see family and then home. So very short, infrequent trips, and occasional longer ones. This has been going on for a couple of months. I make a point of driving around occasionally, take the highway for a bit, go the long way home etc. just so it has a chance to warm up and run for a while. This is the projected future of this truck. Suggestions on best protection plan for long term reliability? Oil? Filter? OCI? Other? Thanks, Matt.
 
Fram Ultra which you can keep on for multiple ocis. Fuel system cleaner before oil change. Top tier fuel. UOA at 5k miles / 1 year to determine oci. Oil is whichever full syn meets the spec with the lowest viscosity. It's very likely your longer trips resolve any problems that your shorter trips might cause.
 
You need to do a UOA to really determine if fuel,and water are issues. Anything else is speculation. I'd run a good quality spec oil and then get a UOA after a reasonable time.
 
Give it one long drive (10+ miles) a few times a month, and follow the OCI schedule suggested by the IOLM. Use any synthetic oil and a Wix/Napa Gold, Wix XP/Napa Platinum, or Fram Ultra for the filter
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Oil is whichever full syn meets the spec with the lowest viscosity. It's very likely your longer trips resolve any problems that your shorter trips might cause.
Since the OP has prioritised protection rather than fuel economy, oil should be whichever (optionally full syn, presumably) that meets the spec with the highest viscosity. That's basic, and we've been over it many, many times.
 
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Magnatec, or it's big brother Edge, with their "UMA" (Unique Molecular Attractant) type chemistry. Not saying that other brands don't have similar, these are the only two that I know.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Oil is whichever full syn meets the spec with the lowest viscosity. It's very likely your longer trips resolve any problems that your shorter trips might cause.
Since the OP has prioritised protection rather than fuel economy, oil should be whichever (optionally full syn, presumably) that meets the spec with the highest viscosity. That's basic, and we've been over it many, many times.
Really no need to be condescending. Maybe better to be open minded? It's a truck, so the oil specified by the manufacturer already takes into account a usage profile that requires greater load carrying etc etc. He only does short trips or long highway drives, without passengers or a load. For short trips, there is absolutely no danger picking an oil towards the thinner end in the recommended grade. For highway driving, the oil is experiencing almost the least stress it could once it reaches operating temperature. Again, absolutely no danger there picking something towards the thinner end in the recommended grade.
 
New car. Do whatever you want. It will break long after you are tired of it. Unless you are keeping it for 17 years.
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Oil is whichever full syn meets the spec with the lowest viscosity. It's very likely your longer trips resolve any problems that your shorter trips might cause.
Since the OP has prioritised protection rather than fuel economy, oil should be whichever (optionally full syn, presumably) that meets the spec with the highest viscosity. That's basic, and we've been over it many, many times.
Really no need to be condescending. Maybe better to be open minded? It's a truck, so the oil specified by the manufacturer already takes into account a usage profile that requires greater load carrying etc etc. He only does short trips or long highway drives, without passengers or a load. For short trips, there is absolutely no danger picking an oil towards the thinner end in the recommended grade. For highway driving, the oil is experiencing almost the least stress it could once it reaches operating temperature. Again, absolutely no danger there picking something towards the thinner end in the recommended grade.
He asks for "best protection". If he'd asked for "danger-free protection" we'd have to have a go at getting him to define "danger", and maybe "free". But he didn't. So we don't. Which is just as well, really.
 
I'd use a FORD BLEND OIL AND A FORD OIL FILTER. Follow the Oil life monitor if the vehicle has one and if not, do and oil filter change at 4,000 miles or one year on oil. Try for a 15 mile trip every few weeks, especially in an Iowa winter. Ed
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Oil is whichever full syn meets the spec with the lowest viscosity. It's very likely your longer trips resolve any problems that your shorter trips might cause.
Since the OP has prioritised protection rather than fuel economy, oil should be whichever (optionally full syn, presumably) that meets the spec with the highest viscosity. That's basic, and we've been over it many, many times.
Really no need to be condescending. Maybe better to be open minded? It's a truck, so the oil specified by the manufacturer already takes into account a usage profile that requires greater load carrying etc etc. He only does short trips or long highway drives, without passengers or a load. For short trips, there is absolutely no danger picking an oil towards the thinner end in the recommended grade. For highway driving, the oil is experiencing almost the least stress it could once it reaches operating temperature. Again, absolutely no danger there picking something towards the thinner end in the recommended grade.
He asks for "best protection". If he'd asked for "danger-free protection" we'd have to have a go at getting him to define "danger", and maybe "free". But he didn't. So we don't. Which is just as well, really.
Still not a guarantee of best protection based on your own sole differentiating criteria (which is viscosity). Higher operating viscosity may require more VII. After shear, the viscosity may be lower. Since anything in spec in his instance will provide a similar level of protection, and since his operating pattern is well within the envelope of the spec, I suggest that he may as well try to take advantage of any fuel economy benefits potentially available to him. He could do further research to figure out which oils use the best base oil and which oils use less VIIs which together may mean they provide the best protection although they don't have as high a viscosity in the spec. Eg a full syn primarily PAO oil may have lower viscosity than a conventional oil that meets the spec.
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Still not a guarantee of best protection based on your own sole differentiating criteria (which is viscosity).
Viscosity was the only variable you specified, so its the variable I queried, and its the variable under consideration here. The highest viscosity, all else being equal, does indeed guarantee the best protection, and the lowest viscosity, all else being equal, guarantees the worst protection. The OP did not ask about fuel economy.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
The highest viscosity, all else being equal, does indeed guarantee the best protection, and the lowest viscosity, all else being equal, guarantees the worst protection.
Indeed. If all else is equal then that is correct. But he cannot buy oil that is identically made apart from the viscosity. So advising him to buy the highest viscosity oil does not guarantee the greatest protection. Unless he is asking for a theoretical oil for a theoretical vehicle.
 
Originally Posted By: CharlieBauer
Originally Posted By: Ducked
The highest viscosity, all else being equal, does indeed guarantee the best protection, and the lowest viscosity, all else being equal, guarantees the worst protection.
Indeed. If all else is equal then that is correct. But he cannot buy oil that is identically made apart from the viscosity. So advising him to buy the highest viscosity oil does not guarantee the greatest protection. Unless he is asking for a theoretical oil for a theoretical vehicle.
OK, so buy the highest HTHS (previously defined as "bearing viscosity" within the prescribed range. The premise that a 5W30 will shear below a 5W20 is old BITOG folklore...
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
The premise that a 5W30 will shear below a 5W20 is old BITOG folklore...
Didn't say that. Nothing close to that at all.
 
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