What do you feel is a reasonable OCI for synthetic

[Whipcitywrencher]

I do mine twice a year, spring and fall.
Maybe 5000 miles a year but I do a lot of short trips.
With rebates,and sales doesn't come out to much $.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Change the oil when the PIN spikes upward:

Stolen in a wanton manner from: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/77/gm's-oil-life-system-improves-timing-of-oil-change

How to predict that? Oil Life Monitors (OLMs) are certainly important.

Patman, you mentioned fuel dilution, as that is the Achilles heel of OLMs!
Since dilution drops visc, thats how we detect it. In a hot engine, rev the engine to 2,000 RPM and make a note of oil pressure. If thats low, then you know dilution is bad enough to change the oil or at least drop in some Mobil1 15w50 to raise it some for the rest of the oil change interval (OCI).

 

[Donald]

6000 to 7500 miles

 

[JC1]

I think 5000 miles should be easy to do. If the car is short tripped most of the time, then maybe go for a one year max interval.

If I was driving more long distance then I would go up to 10,000 miles on one OCI. For my Caravan the most I've gone is 11,500 km (6900 miles) on one OCI. That was using Pennzoil platinum.

 

[AVic]

No matter how many miles you traveled, it's important how many hours your engine worked. I think for the city 250-300 hours is fine. Of course, traffic jams, cold starts - reduce time. A diesel or larger volume of crankcase - increase time.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Subaru recommended 7500 mile OCIs for my 2014 and then changed their recommendation to 6000 miles the next year with no apparent changes to the engine itself between those model years.

I dropped my OCI down just a bit more to 5000 miles and am happy with that...I'd feel comfortable extending it to maybe 10,000 miles now, but don't see any real reason to. Fuel dilution can definitely be an issue with DITs and I know my oil reeked to high heaven of gas the first few times I changed it myself...that seemed to become less noticeable over time, but I'll bet it smells bad when I change it in a few weeks after a cold winter with lots of idling. I'd rather just change the oil "early" than worry about how bad the dilution is getting.

I can get a good d1G2 oil for about $20/jug and the filters I have stockpiled cost me about $4 each (good Amazon deal on some Tokyo Rokis that is no longer available), so I'm fine with keeping it simple and changing every 5000miles/~3 months.

 

[CT8]

The oci depends on many things.

 

[deven]

I have owned a lot of cars in my lifetime(DI,Turbo etc)and I have come to one conclusion and that is all name brand synthetics can easily do 10,000 mile OCI's regardless if I do all city driving, highway driving etc. Heck I have gone 10,000 mile intervals while doing 6-7 1/4 mile runs on a track and the UOA's come back with plenty of TBN retention. If I did oval racing for 30 minutes straight then ya it would be a different story but other than that 10,000 miles easy!

 

[mightymousetech]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Subaru recommended 7500 mile OCIs for my 2014 and then changed their recommendation to 6000 miles the next year with no apparent changes to the engine itself between those model years.


If my car had been built one month later, it would have gotten 16k km programming instead of 24k km programming. Exact same vehicle, exact same engine, exact same oil.

 

[mrsilv04]

Every 5000 miles. Makes it easy to remember when to change it.... on the 0's and 5's.

This is using the cheapest synthetic on the planet, Harvest King.

 

[gizzsdad]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Completely depends on:

- Vehicle
- Usage
- Driving conditions
- Condition of engine
- Type of oil

Tons of cold starts and short trips in the dead of winter, engine prone to fuel dilution, tiny sump, low-SAPS oil: 3k seems reasonable

All gentle highway driving, moderate temps, low humidity, tight clean-running engine, huge sump, oil designed for long OCIs: 15k+


My wife's Colorado is our first with an OLM. She has a ton of cold starts and short trips (less than 2 miles to work). We compounded that by buying new in November, so I have been interested in watching the OLM. Knowing her driving style, I fully intended on doing a drain and fill early in the first OCI, but the combination of cold weather and a busy schedule kept me from accomplishing that.

All that being said, I finally decided to use one of the free dealer changes when the OLM got down to 28% at 2,100 miles. That has given me a great deal of confidence in GM's OLM.

My flavor for the foreseeable future will be Mag 1 Full Synthetic (D1G2), which is available at Theisen's for $15/5 quarts.

 

[andyd]

I was a strict 3K mile OCIer when I found BITOG. Due to a minor oil leak the car used a qt between changes, I used the cheapest 20w50 I could find. Come winter, I went down to 10w40. Bought the Borman6 with 150kmiles and at 300K, I took the valve cover off for the first time. The rockers and stuff were almost golden with a light coat of varnish and there was a 1/4 cup or so of sludge in a corner. I was thrilled. I've cleaned Chevy 6s out with a putty knife and a bucket. After coming here, I kept using cheap oil and stretched OCIs to 6-7k. The top side of an engine can get pretty yucky without affecting performance. Oil and filters are cheap and easy. There's the parameters of changing oil. There should be another interval. The OCDOCI

 

[THafeez]

personally, if I short trip it, I'll change it at 4800-5000 miles. German Castrol did not look good when it came out. Engine also had some weird noises. Changed the oil and all is well now. If it's highway driving I'll push it to 6-7k, but does it really matter when you have a huge oil stash?

 

[CharBaby]

I Mostly change synthetic oil when it's convenient, somewhere between 7000-7500 miles but, I have gone 8000 miles.

 

[mrdctaylor]

For my 2002 Toyota Tacoma, I've done 7500 miles OCIs since new. I've done the same for my 2003 Santa Fe. Both have over 200K miles on them and are doing great, so I feel like 7500 miles is more than reasonable. I actually do 10,000 mile OCIs on my 2012 Toyota Highlander because that's what is recommended in the manual.

 

[Dallas69]

10-15k
Make sure your oil filter is made for this mileage-Fram Ultra,Wix,M1.

 

[RooflessVW]

I run 5k mile OCIs.

Always full synthetic.

 

[Silverado12]

I do 5,000 miles with either full syn or blend. I finally got out of the mindset of 3,000 miles, but not going over 5K.

 

[klt1986]

My sons 2014 Toyota Corolla we have been running 5k or 6 month oil changes with M1 0w-20.

My 2011 Tundra w 5.7L I have been running various synthetics 6 months or 5k...whichever comes first.

My wife's 2008 Honda CR-V I have been following the OLM since new and using various synthetics. This comes out to 9,200 to 9,800 miles since the vehicle was new. With 145k currently on the odometer, I plan to start changing every 5k.

 

[4WD]

All of my OLM’s are done about 7k …
Was changing ecoboost at 5k but with it gone all will be around 7k …