Wear; Miles vs Time on Amsoil

[bigbull2984]

Good Afternoon,

I have a 2010 Acura TSX with the V6. The car has a oil monitoring system thingy

. It currently says 50%. I changed the oil in the car in May to Amsoil XL 5w20. But since then I haven't driven that car as much and only put 3000 miles on that oil fill. Also every time I drive the car I let it warm up and make sure the engine is at optimal temperature, and avoid using it for short trips.

Also during the Winter this car will be driven alot less too, Probably twice a week I will start it up and take it on a 30 minute drive.

So my question is can the XL stay in and let it run till my OLM gets down to 20%.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: bigbull2984
So my question is can the XL stay in and let it run till my OLM gets down to 20%.

Sure.

 

[bepperb]

Honda.... er... Acura says until 0% or 1 year whichever comes first.

 

[bigbull2984]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
Honda.... er... Acura says until 0% or 1 year whichever comes first.


I take it Amoils XL is up for the task then....

 

[CATERHAM]

With the way you drive your car, I'd go down to 10% regardless of the amount of time it takes before changing the oil, even if it took three years.

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: bigbull2984
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Honda.... er... Acura says until 0% or 1 year whichever comes first.


I take it Amoils XL is up for the task then....


Those OEM recs are on conventional oil. The XL would be good for awhile longer. I'd also change it at 20%, though, as the MM system is pretty annoying and even gets worse once you go below 15%.

 

[MarkStock]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
With the way you drive your car, I'd go down to 10% regardless of the amount of time it takes before changing the oil, even if it took three years.


Interesting. Even if the maintenance reminder kicks in automatically at the 1 year mark, you would ignore it if at that point it had plenty of % or miles left.

I thought even Amsoil said change at 1 year regardless of whether you got to 25k or not.

 

[CATERHAM]

Yes, if you get the oil up to temperature every time you start the engine it's deterioration determined almost entirely by mileage. There are plenty of UOAs to confirm this.

 

[MarkStock]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
Yes, if you get the oil up to temperature every time you start the engine it's deterioration determined almost entirely by mileage. There are plenty of UOAs to confirm this.


Aha. So to check my understanding:

A) Say my garage temp in winter is 50f, and I drive just 1 mile, but the car runs 15 minutes due to traffic. Then I stop the car, drop off the kids, get back in the car and drive 1 mile back home in 15 minutes.

In this case, there is a chance that my oil reached temperature even though I did a short trip. That point is probably reached at about the 20 minute mark.

So even if I do short trips, so long as they are one after the other, and the total run time exceeds the amount of time for oil to reach operating temperature, then oil depletion is mileage dependent. Soccer moms and delivery drivers can do lots of short trips but during those trips, the engines and oil are hot enough the majority of the time.

B) Say my garage temp in winter is 50f, and I drive 5 miles to work and it takes me 10 minutes. Then the car stays at work, and 8 hours later I drive 5 miles back home and it takes me 10 minutes.

In this case, the oil probably didn't reach temperature on either occassion.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: MarkStock

A) Say my garage temp in winter is 50f, and I drive just 1 mile, but the car runs 15 minutes due to traffic. Then I stop the car, drop off the kids, get back in the car and drive 1 mile back home in 15 minutes.

In this case, there is a chance that my oil reached temperature even though I did a short trip. That point is probably reached at about the 20 minute mark.

Hard to say without empirical evidence. Do you have an oil temp gauge? Oil doesn't get up to proper operating temp fast if you're just idling in traffic. Sometimes, it won't get to operating temp at all in such conditions. In addition, it doesn't just need to reach it, it needs to stay there long enough to burn off moisture.

Moreover, in some engines extensive idling results in increased fuel dilution which degrades the oil further.

1 mile in 15 minutes sounds like pretty heavy traffic which I would consider severe service anyway.

 

[CATERHAM]

You're likely okay in scenerio A.
Scenerio B as you've already guessed could be a problem.

The problem with lots of idling, even with engines that don't have a fuel dilution issues under such conditions, is that you're not racking any mileage. Unfortunately we generally don't use hours of running time which is often better than mileage in determining when the oil is done, but I believe most oil change monitors factor that in.

 

[mgm13]

What happens to the warantee while your saving $50 on oil?

 

[47HO]

Nothing.