Thinking of doing extended OCI, oil recommendation

[otis24]

I know that there are several good choices in synthetic oils. I have used Pennz Platinum and Mobil 1 in the past, but usually did not push past 5k mile OCI's.

Currently, I have a 2005 Impala (3400 V6) with 26000 miles. I do 75 highway miles (one way), five days per week or about 750 miles per week/3k miles per month.

I am looking to do extended OCI's to save money, but my priority is to make sure this vehicle will last into the 200k mile range. 9000 miles OCI's will put me to doing 4 oil changes per year.

What synthetic would you recommnend?

 

[sicko]

Have you considered M1 EP? It's one of the few oils that advertises extended OCIs and should be able to handle 9k miles of mostly highway mileage with ease. Check the UOA forum to see how it looks after extended oil changes

 

[tig1]

I have done 10K OCIs for 33 years now without a problem with engines over 200-350K.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

Whatever is on sale! Seriously, you could do 9k highway only miles in 3 months on a good conventional unless your engine is extremely hard on oil.

 

[sangyup81]

200k miles on the car and 9k OCIs are conservative

Using M1 and PP on 5k OCIs means you are using an oil to roughly half of what it's capable of. If you go to M1 EP at 9k you will do roughly the same as long as you are using the 5w30s that are recommended to 20k miles.

 

[crinkles]

You sound like a good customer for Amsoil SSO

 

[hate2work]

One combo that would work for you would be M1EP and change it every 12k, that would give you only three oil changes per year. To be on the safe side, maybe get a UOA around 8k of the first fill.

 

[Capa]

+1 Mobil EP. It would easily go the distance with your hwy miles. It's on sale right now for $34.99 with a Mobil EP filter that will also go the same distance.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Whatever synthetic is on sale could easily do 3mo/9k highway miles OCI with good oil filter. If you want to do 6mo/18-20k OCI then Amsoil SSO is a good choice, with Bosch Distance Plus or Mobil-1 oil filter.

My +250k miles '94 LS400 had 6mo/6-7k OCI with dino and 12mo/12-15k miles with syn. Either oil was bought on sale therefore it had many different brand names oil. The engine has only slight vanish under the fill cap.

 

[BigJohn]

I am pondering the same question for my daughter's, 2007 Toyota Yaris. Very soon, it will be out of warranty (60k miles) and I want to move to 12 month OCI's. She drives about 12k miles per year.

My short list, based on UOA data is.....

M1 EP
PU
Castrol Edge
GC

The car originally spec'd for 5w30, but with a SB...I have moved it to 20wt. I think, when I go to 12 month OCI's....I will go back to a 30wt.

Since I have 5 quarts on-hand, I think I will do the first run with GC. This heavy 30wt should protect well and with the 0W winter rating...should be good for Colorado winters. I have little doubt this oil can go 12-15k miles in the Yaris, since it can handle 10K OCI's in a VW turbo.

 

[otis24]

Was seriously considering Mobil 1 EP.

Previous 5K OCI's on M1 and PP were done with different vehicles and different driving conditions.

12K OCI's would be a good plan, if backed up by a UOA.

 

[chubbs1]

Originally Posted By: hate2work

One combo that would work for you would be M1EP and change it every 12k, that would give you only three oil changes per year. To be on the safe side, maybe get a UOA around 8k of the first fill.


+10 M1 EP all the way for this one. 12K sounds great. BTW...AMSOIL backs up their stuff, you would be a perfect candidate for 17.5+

 

[Geonerd]

Unless your engine is a known sludge monster or is suffering poor compression (high volumes of blow-by gases are hard on the oil), any decent Syn will go 8~10K without issue.

Personally, I'd consider getting a UOA with TBN test at 8K. You don't need to drain everything, just take a sample. If the TBN is holding up well, you can push on to 10/12K without worry.

Be sure to get a good filter - the thought of running an OCOD for 10K makes me twitch....

 

[JOD]

For the driving you're doing, I think pretty much any GF-5 oil would work fine, including conventional.

Here's a UOA on the same (or similar??) engine, similar driving conditions: LINK

That's 11K on conventional. I think the oils you're using now will easily work for 9K. Honestly, I don't really consider that an "extended OCI" for most engines with lots of highway driving.

 

[stenerson]

I've 10K-12 on M1 for 10 years on wife's caravan with no prob.
On my truck 8-10 using any synthetic (M1,PP and RP so far.J)

 

[otis24]

I will be finishing up an Auto-Rx treatment this week, then doing a rinse cycle. After the rinse cycle, I'm going to see what my Oil Life Monitor says for miles under my driving conditiions. I know that synthetics should give an extra "cushion" when using the OLM compared to conventional oils.

 

[Joshusmc]

Amsoil ASL would work great for this app. If you want to save cash go with the mobil EP. PP is a product I want to try but has no experience with yet.

 

[FZ1]

5 quarts of M1 EP including an M1 Filter for about $35 at AZ 4-5 times a year. Watch the Promos thread on this site. Cheers,man.

 

[Joshusmc]

Or try this GC stuff guys talk about, it seems to get great UOA's.

 

[teddyboy]

Or you can buy 5qt jugs at walmart for $28.60.