Should I do shorter OCIs?

[cwilliamsws6]

I have a 2014 Pathfinder and I've been doing my oil changes every 5,000 miles. However I recently realized that I sit in my car for an hour every day on my lunch break so I know I'm adding an hour worth of idle wear every day as well, although it doesn't contribute to the 5,000 miles.

I'm due for an oil change in about 2,000 miles anyhow and I plan to get a UOA to see what it says but I was also just curious as to what you guys would do in a similar situation.

 

[dishdude]

What oil are you running? A synthetic will handle that with no issue.

 

[cwilliamsws6]

What oil are you running? A synthetic will handle that with no issue.

Right now I have 10w30 conventional in it, I had a jug of it in the garage I wanted to use up.

 

[CharBaby]

Well, the UOA will certainly help you decide on whether you need to change your OCI to a lower mileage.
OTOH, what is your daily driving style like beyond that 1 hr of idling? If for example, you have a decent steady drive to & from work, that alone may help to burn off any fuel dilution in your oil that the 1 hr of idling may cause.

 

[BigGeo]

I would count the idle time. Especially if Nissan recommends changing the oil every 5k. I would also change to synthetic.
Do some simple math and roughly calculate how many hours your car idles per oil change and multiply by a mileage constant.

 

[Duffyjr]

Some OLM's will track idle time, not sure how your Pathfinder works though. I've looked into idle times trying to figure out gas mileage, one hour of idle time equals 25 to 30 miles.

 

[demarpaint]

Do a UOA or calculate it, you could figure 20-25 miles driven for each hour of idling. Add that to your miles. For about $15- $20 including shipping you can get a UOA done and eliminate guessing the condition of your oil. I'd get the UOA, you can sample the oil via the dipstick w/o draining it, or go to 4K miles instead of 5K, drain it and send it in for analysis..

 

[bfleeman]

You could just change your oil according to hours instead of miles if there’s a lot of idle time. That’s how I change the oil on my wife’s car. 250 hours or 5000 miles whichever comes first.

 

[tblt44]

Any good syn and keep going 5k, I would feel safe keeping this in 5k plus

 

[supton]

My question would be, why idle for an hour? followed by, how much gas does it burn for that hour?

Still seems like 5k would be fine on a port injected engine with a half way decent synthetic though.

 

[Zee09]

My question would be, why idle for an hour? followed by, how much gas does it burn for that hour?

Still seems like 5k would be fine on a port injected engine with a half way decent synthetic though.

That would drive me nuts idling for an hour.
I'm good for 3 minutes only...lol

 

[cwilliamsws6]

Let me try to answer everybody at the same time here.

Well, the UOA will certainly help you decide on whether you need to change your OCI to a lower mileage.
OTOH, what is your daily driving style like beyond that 1 hr of idling? If for example, you have a decent steady drive to & from work, that alone may help to burn off any fuel dilution in your oil that the 1 hr of idling may cause.

My drive to work and back is about 15 minutes. I'm fairly lead-footed and I also like to drive around to all the thrift stores and flea markets.

Some OLM's will track idle time, not sure how your Pathfinder works though. I've looked into idle times trying to figure out gas mileage, one hour of idle time equals 25 to 30 miles.

As far as I can tell it only goes off of mileage.

My question would be, why idle for an hour? followed by, how much gas does it burn for that hour?

Still seems like 5k would be fine on a port injected engine with a half way decent synthetic though.

The break room at my work isnt great so I usually eat in my car and watch TV on the nav screen. In the hour I sit there it hardly uses any gas, don't even see the needle move.

 

[BigCahuna]

If your the one who's gonna change your oil, I would do it now. Not because of being afraid of excess wear, just because it would be more comfortable to do it when it's not below 32f. As far as idling goes, idling cause the least amount of wear you can possibly do. The engine runs at what,750-950 RPM's?. It's under no real load except what it takes to turn the alternator and water pump, and just enough fuel is used to keep the engine running. I used to do the same lunchtime routine you do, and my almost 20 year old ford explorer, with over 250k miles on it still runs beautiful. No engine work has been needed during it's lifetime. The people that made your vehicle know how it's going to be used, otherwise the owner's manual would be nothing but warnings of gloom and doom. They also know people will used the cheapest brands of oil that's for sale, but they don't give different oci's depending on which oil you use. If you want to go longer between changes, use an oil and filter that's rated to go that longer distance. But in reality, you'll probably replace that car before it gets to the end of it's life.,,,

 

[AZjeff]

Get the UOA or like my sig line says, why know when you can guess?

Read a book instead? Never mind, you need some heat.

 

[ATex7239]

Nooooo! They’re all gonna laugh at you!

 

[NormanBuntz]

As an owner of an Infiniti with a very similar engine, I'd change out the conventional oil at 4K and run a full synthetic for 5K runs in the future. I've used mostly Conoco Phillips (Kendall) and Quaker State syn blends in my M35 at 5K intervals with solid results.

 

[miden851]

could you change the location; maybe just to drive off to another safe location and turn your car off;

that's what I do 5 days a week, I don't want to be bothered by anyone at my employer parking lot

 

[tyman]

I’d probably get rid of the Pathfinder instead.

 

[CleanSump]

Maybe rig up a deep cycle battery for you accessories/TV so you don't need to keep the starting battery charged by idling.

 

[CharBaby]

If you're doing a lot of flea market jaunts, hard acceleration and 1 hr/day idling then you definitely need to the UOA.