Short trips not as bad as we think they are?

[Klutch9]

I bring this up because of my wife's 2011 Fusion OLM. She currently has 5,000 miles on this OCI exactly, and it has been exactly 6 months, to the day... the OLM is at exactly 50%. She drives 17 miles round trip (8.5 each way) to work, many of which are stop and go, especially coming home. Fellow Michiganders, think Troy/Rochester traffic around rush hour

and she has a slightly heavy foot. Aside from that, I/she makes other short trips throughout the week to the grocery store, church, etc., that are VERY short; sometimes less than a mile each way. We have taken three 140 mile round trip highway drives on this OCI, and a few other short highway trips a few months back.

Condsidering that her driving style is almost all short trips, some VERY short, and the OLM is still on target with Ford's 12 month/10,000 mile maximum OCI, are short trips really as bad as we think they are? The Ford OLM takes into account coolant temp, engine speed, throttle (I think), and a number of other things. It's a good system.

 

[rslifkin]

It doesn't sound to me like her normal trips to work are much of an issue. Relative to the speed at which the oil warms up, 8.5 miles of city driving may not be that short. From what I've found, city driving seems to warm the oil in less distance than highway, as the engine is seeing bursts of heavier load.

 

[addyguy]

I don't believe they are anymore at all.

In the old days of carbs and poor pollution control devices, yeah, they were, but today they don't cause as many problems as we think.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
It doesn't sound to me like her normal trips to work are much of an issue. Relative to the speed at which the oil warms up, 8.5 miles of city driving may not be that short. From what I've found, city driving seems to warm the oil in less distance than highway, as the engine is seeing bursts of heavier load.


That is a good point. I should also mention the fact that Duratec I4's coolant warms up very very quickly. My Focus usually reaches the middle of the temp gauge... Full operating temperature as far as I can tell... in less than a mile, sometimes less. Her car takes a tad longer, but not much. I'm guessing that the faster the coolant warms up, the oil may warm up faster as well?

 

[Boomer]

And my Frontier, for example, has a heat exchanger for oil/coolant taht helps warm the oil more rapidly when it is cold and helps to cool the oil at once the engine is at operating temperature. This vehicle warms up very quickly.

 

[justinf89]

Maybe the olm is set for 1 year? Exactly 50% at 6mo?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
I should also mention the fact that Duratec I4's coolant warms up very very quickly. My Focus usually reaches the middle of the temp gauge... Full operating temperature as far as I can tell... in less than a mile, sometimes less. Her car takes a tad longer, but not much. I'm guessing that the faster the coolant warms up, the oil may warm up faster as well?


I honestly doubt the oil is at full operating temp in less than a mile. My Jeep warms up very fast too, in fact coolant temp is at its normal operating range in less than a mile, according to the gauge. I know the oil is nowhere near operating temp though, just by feeling it. I've gotten lazy a few times warming it up for an oil change. I drove until I reached normal on the temp gauge, then drove home, a total run time about 5-6 minutes and the oil was warm not hot.

I think in the case of the OP I'd play it safe and change the oil at the 6 month mark. I might even spring for a UOA to test the accuracy of the system. If the oil is still good, then follow the OLM.

 

[JHZR2]

My 135i, which is known for high oil temps, gets up to 250F at least a mile before the end of my 8.x mile commute.

We found long ago (by UOA) that my mother could do 5 BLOCK commutes routinely with a good syn oil at the standard service interval, so long as a longer trip was taken once in a while.

 

[Bamaro]

With winter approaching I'll bet the next 50% goes much faster.

 

[dparm]

The temperature gauge only shows the COOLANT temperature. Oil temps take much longer to stabilize, especially if it has a big sump.

My car has nearly 10L of oil and I can guarantee you it takes 15-20 minutes of engine load to warm up (not idling).

 

[Lowcountry]

Originally Posted By: Bamaro
With winter approaching I'll bet the next 50% goes much faster.

This.
My GM olm hardly moves in the summer, but goes pretty quick as it gets cooler.

 

[Klutch9]

The Ford OLM cannot be set to a 10,000 mile OR one year OCI. It automatically adjusts, and can go one year max, or less if you drive more often. My wife's car currently has some no-name filter from Jiffy Lube from when I got it changed this past March (didn't have time to do it myself, but it was due). I won't go 10,000 miles on an unknown filter, but I have 2 OCI's worth of Valvoline conventional SN and Motorcraft filters waiting to be used. I think I'll dump the current Formula Shell at around 7,500-8,000 miles, then put the VWB in.

 

[OldCowboy]

Actually, the 2011 Fusion has an Intelligent Oil Life Monitor. With appropriate driving style and weather conditions, the IOLM can recommend OCIs considerably longer than 10,000 miles. For instance, I changed the oil in my 2.5L 2011 Fusion at 9932 miles and the IOLM said the oil still had 23% life remaining. That would have been an OCI of 12,898 miles.None of my trips are less than 25 miles in length and all are driven at 55-70 MPH with almost no stops. Of course, Ford says no OCIs longer than 10,000 miles, regardless of the IOLM reading.

OTOH, a short tripper in cold weather will have significantly reduced OCIs.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: OldCowboy
Actually, the 2011 Fusion has an Intelligent Oil Life Monitor. With appropriate driving style and weather conditions, the IOLM can recommend OCIs considerably longer than 10,000 miles. For instance, I changed the oil in my 2.5L 2011 Fusion at 9932 miles and the IOLM said the oil still had 23% life remaining. That would have been an OCI of 12,898 miles.None of my trips are less than 25 miles in length and all are driven at 55-70 MPH with almost no stops. Of course, Ford says no OCIs longer than 10,000 miles, regardless of the IOLM reading.

OTOH, a short tripper in cold weather will have significantly reduced OCIs.


Hmmm, very interesting. Thank you for that tidbit. Doesn't the GM intelligent oil monitor do something similar? Idk what GM recommends for most of their new cars' OCI's, but I've seen multiple posts on this board about people who's OLM on their GM car let them go to 14,000 miles before it reaches 0%

 

[jorton]

If my car had OLM I would have to drain at 6 months and then refill with the used oil because not changing the oil

will sludge up the engine.

Originally Posted By: OldCowboy
Actually, the 2011 Fusion has an Intelligent Oil Life Monitor.

It can drive itself to 24 hours instant oil change drive thru while you're sleeping.

 

[mechtech2]

17+miles is not a short trip.
It is a very good operating condition for oil.
You have it backwards.

But FI cars are much better in short trips than older carbed ones.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Yep, once again any modern car which has a stock t-stat in it will get plenty hot in a few miles. After you park it still heat soaks the oil for a while.

I am one of those GM owners who actually has gone nearly 14k miles following the OLM. I wonder how much longer these motors would last if I did 3k changes?

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
17+miles is not a short trip.
It is a very good operating condition for oil.
You have it backwards.

But FI cars are much better in short trips than older carbed ones.


Keep in mind, though, that she drives 17 miles round trip, 8.5 miles each way, with at least 5 hours in between those two drives.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
17+miles is not a short trip.
It is a very good operating condition for oil.
You have it backwards.

But FI cars are much better in short trips than older carbed ones.


Keep in mind, though, that she drives 17 miles round trip, 8.5 miles each way, with at least 5 hours in between those two drives.


I don't consider that a short trip..
I've had a drive before (mainly just winter) where I would drive about 3KM to work (biked in the summer) which is less than 2 miles. Then same distance home 8 hours later. Car never got up to operating temp in the winter months on those drives, so I would take a longer drive on weekends to stretch its legs.

 

[Eddie]

I might consider it a short trip when the weather is below 20F. but, not during the spring summer or fall temps.