My wifes 2014 Camry 4 cyl has 6300 miles on it after 3 years of in town driving. Ive been using Mobil 1 OW/20 synthetic at 6 month intervals because of the in town driving in the Montana winter. Should I keep doing this or can I go to 1 year. Im concerned about sludge buildup with the longer interval. Id rather change it then sludge up the engine. Need some advice please
Synthetic change interval in cold climate
- Thread starter mtlineman
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6300 miles in 3 years? That's low.
Changing yearly you will be fine.
Annual is probably fine. Nothing wrong with 6 months either if you don't mind an extra $20 if you DIY. Personally, I'd probably do that too for a very short tripper car in a very cold ambient environment like Montana. You have a cream puff with extremely low miles. An extra $20 per year "invested" in an OCI is very cheap insurance...and on zero additional cost consequence in the life/value of your car. Just ensure she doesn't rust. Though when it's too cold all the time, rust is kept at bay. It's the slushy/rainy window of 30-45 deg F ambient where most of the problems occur.
It depends on why the mileage is low. Is it because she only drives for short distances or because the car is only driven occasionally? If she gets it fully warmed up when she drives it then once a year. If she's constantly short tripping it, then every 6 months, IMO.
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I would drive it for the winter and on a nice Billings day in say in April I'd change the oil.
Pictures aren't linked any longer, but you can read the comments on a 3500 mile OCI with PP over a cold winter on my son's G5. Filter was totally slugged and deformed.
I change my oil spring and fall after that experience - dino or syn - don't care about mileage..
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthr..._G5#Post3354608
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Annual is probably fine. Nothing wrong with 6 months either if you don't mind an extra $20 if you DIY. Personally, I'd probably do that too for a very short tripper car in a very cold ambient environment like Montana. You have a cream puff with extremely low miles. An extra $20 per year "invested" in an OCI is very cheap insurance...and on zero additional cost consequence in the life/value of your car. Just ensure she doesn't rust. Though when it's too cold all the time, rust is kept at bay. It's the slushy/rainy window of 30-45 deg F ambient where most of the problems occur.
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Sound like she should sell the car and take Uber or ??
If you are going to do annual 2K mile OC then just run a decent "conventional" - which is semi synthetic.
M1 is semi synthetic.
The engine may sludge regardless. Fake syn is not going to change that.
Change it every two years and keep it topped off. It will be fine and won't sludge. Stick w M1 or any other name brand full synthetic. Even SuperTech synthetic will go two years with the low annual miles you're doing. Disregard the "M1 is semi synthetic" comment above. M1 is excellent oil.
Originally Posted By: slug_bug
It depends on why the mileage is low. Is it because she only drives for short distances or because the car is only driven occasionally? If she gets it fully warmed up when she drives it then once a year. If she's constantly short tripping it, then every 6 months, IMO.
Nice comments from Danno on how short tripper winter engines can sludge up on even lower mileage OCI's.
Change the oil now in November if that's a concern. Go on a Nov/May schedule. In checking Billings, MT average high (32-35F) and low (15) temps for Dec/Jan/Feb there's certainly going to be at least one "moderate" day to change your oil in the depths of winter. If you're healthy, and can't or won't get under a warmer engine and change your oil in 20-30 F deg weather, then you have very little motivation. In that case, take it to an oil change place and have them do it. Bring your own synthetic oil and filter ($15-$20) and they'll charge you $15-$20 tops for labor. My oil changes are done in later Nov/early Dec and late May each year.
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
If you do it yourself its still less than the oil change store or the dealer is going to charge you for one change of full synthetic. Coming from Billings I know the driveway is not the place to be changing oil in Dec/Feb.
^ Not applicable to this topic, 4K in 6 mos vs 2K in a year. Plus the short trips couldn't have been THAT short to put on 4K in 6 months. Suppose it was driven 6 days out of 7 a week, that's an average of 26 miles a day. All short trips my arse. Most likely that particular engine had a PCV flow problem, though it's obviously true that getting up to temp less often is going to increase contamination rate.
This kind of thing can be observed without an oil analysis. You can literally look at the oil and see it's degraded, but if it's a high value vehicle, sure get an analysis done but don't let that prevent you from a visual assessment every few months anyway.
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Originally Posted By: slug_bug
It depends on why the mileage is low. Is it because she only drives for short distances or because the car is only driven occasionally? If she gets it fully warmed up when she drives it then once a year. If she's constantly short tripping it, then every 6 months, IMO.
Originally Posted By: slug_bug
It depends on why the mileage is low. Is it because she only drives for short distances or because the car is only driven occasionally? If she gets it fully warmed up when she drives it then once a year. If she's constantly short tripping it, then every 6 months, IMO.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
Nice comments from Danno on how short tripper winter engines can sludge up on even lower mileage OCI's.
Change the oil now in November if that's a concern. Go on a Nov/May schedule. In checking Billings, MT average high (32-35F) and low (15) temps for Dec/Jan/Feb there's certainly going to be at least one "moderate" day to change your oil in the depths of winter. If you're healthy, and can't or won't get under a warmer engine and change your oil in 20-30 F deg weather, then you have very little motivation. In that case, take it to an oil change place and have them do it. Bring your own synthetic oil and filter ($15-$20) and they'll charge you $15-$20 tops for labor. My oil changes are done in later Nov/early Dec and late May each year.
Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
If you do it yourself its still less than the oil change store or the dealer is going to charge you for one change of full synthetic. Coming from Billings I know the driveway is not the place to be changing oil in Dec/Feb.
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^ The fact of the matter is that there are ample windows to change your oil in the winter in any part of the 49 states...I'll give Alaska a pass though. The majority of WA populace has very temperate weather....can change oil comfortably in any month of the year. It isn't Montana...LOL. The daily highs in Dec-Feb in WA is probably like the early summer in Montana.
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