What is your OCI for Pennzoil Platinum 5W-30?

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windeye

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I've been using regular Pennz, and wanted to step up to Platinum.
Could you please post your OCI and driving style? Thanks. I have a 07 Mazda3 i, 2.0L I4 NA engine, just an "average" driver, short trips to work (6 miles). Thanks in advance.
 
I use PP 5w30 in my 98 Corvette and my interval is determined by the oil life monitor in my car. I use this car as a daily driver, a mix of highway and city, with a few full throttle blasts here and there. :)

Typically my oil life monitor will signal a change between 6000 to 7000 miles. My UOAs show I could go even longer than this if I wanted to.
 
Cool to drive a Corvette to work, man. well my ride does not have an OLM, but is 6month, 7500miles too optimistic?
 
"7500miles too optimistic? "

Noooooo. I go 7500 in my Accord and Highlander, and use PP on occasions. And that's probably throwing away good oil, at least on the Accord.

I'd say go 7500 no problem, you could probably do 10,000. What is the OCI you need to stay under warranty?
 
For my driving, the OLM tells me about every 4k--2007 Malibu with a LZ4 3.5L and a 4 qt sump. If conditions are a bit wacky like they were this winter, I'll do it more often especially if I see a ton of condensation when I check the cap.
 
Subaru wants 3750 mile oci. I use PP 5w30 and run around 6k knowing there's plenty of life left
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Nyquist
For my driving, the OLM tells me about every 4k--2007 Malibu with a LZ4 3.5L and a 4 qt sump. If conditions are a bit wacky like they were this winter, I'll do it more often especially if I see a ton of condensation when I check the cap.


My ride is 08 Pontiac Montana SV6 with 3.9 L motor and 4qt sump like yours. I also use PP 5W30 but I must change oil when the OLM tells me for warranty reason. Keep in mind that the OLM was calibered for dino oil. Even after my warranty has expired, I would not run extended OCI considering the low oil capacity and the work out my engine gets pulling a heavy van. We are having a cold winter in Ontario, CA and I project my OLM will get me 5K km on this fill.
 
New to the forum...so sorry if this has been covered.

So...what exactly is the OLM actually monitoring?
the viscosity?
the suspended particles?
the color?
the back pressure?

cause it takes a lab to do the testing to determine how the oil is holding up, right?
 
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The OLM in most cars simply counts the revolutions of the engine. In lower gears (city driving) that equates to vastly fewer miles driven between OC's. It's certainly better than changing based on miles driven, but it's far from perfect. I haven't heard of any that use any viscosity test, or pressure, or anything more advanced than hours or revs.
 
Originally Posted By: Hazmat
New to the forum...so sorry if this has been covered.

So...what exactly is the OLM actually monitoring?
the viscosity?
the suspended particles?
the color?
the back pressure?

cause it takes a lab to do the testing to determine how the oil is holding up, right?


OLMs typically monitor the runtime and conditions of the engine. So it don't actually look at the oil, but is more like a smarter "odometer" (of course programmed by the engineers with settings specific to your car/engine) that takes into account various parameters while the engine is running.

Other OLMs are simply odometers that always tick off at a preset mileage with just a more complicated procedure to reset the light.
 
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My last UOA was on PP in my 2001 Subaru Outback with the H6. It had 9000 KILOMETRES on it, and the TBN was still 3.2 per Blackstone. I would estimate 70%highway driving.
 
the OLM is a fancy idiot light, put there because people would never pay attention to a simple light that said change oil. It looks and sounds scientific so people think it actually knows what its doing.
 
I follow GM's recommendations.

Either by the OLM or every 12 months, whichever comes first.

If I didn't have an OLM, then I'd change it every 6,000 miles or 12 months.
 
Originally Posted By: Hazmat
New to the forum...so sorry if this has been covered.

So...what exactly is the OLM actually monitoring?


The two main things that the OLM in my Corvette uses are the engine revolutions and oil temperature. So if you drive at full throttle all the time in hot weather (such as with those guys that road race their Vettes) then your OLM will count down to zero extremely fast. If you're driving at a steady highway speed with moderate oil temps, the OLM will count down to zero a lot slower. In the Corvettes from 97-00 the maximum interval the OLM would give you under ideal conditions would be 10,000 miles. They recalibrated it in 2001, and it could now go to a maximum of 15,000 miles under ideal conditions. So the oil life monitor in my 98 would hit zero faster than an 01 or newer even under identical conditions.
 
Originally Posted By: peterdaniel
the OLM is a fancy idiot light, put there because people would never pay attention to a simple light that said change oil. It looks and sounds scientific so people think it actually knows what its doing.

Over generalization. Some maybe as you described, but GM's OLM (at least the newer version) is far from an idiot light. There was some very interesting posts by a GM engineer regarding the function of the OLM posted here on BITOG in the past. Good reading (if you can find the posts).
 
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