My Hyundai / Kia vehicles call for 3,750 miles for severe service (which I also cap at 6 months). I error on the severe service side of an OCI with Hyundai / Kia at 3,500 - 4,000 miles using M1 mostly , some SOPUS synthetic oils and now Valvoline Restore and Protect to try for piston rings cleaning to see if a little oil burning can be reversed or at least contained . If you choose to run a severe service oil change schedule - what is your severe service schedule you adhere to along with your oil choice ?
What is Your Severe Service Oil Interval?
- Thread starter ChrisD46
- Start date
I do the same with my sons Santa Fe. 4K max. He's on his 4th OCI of Valvoline R&P. He got the car used with 44K on the clock. It never burned much oil, but a little bit. It has gotten much better on the 4th interval of the R&P 5W-30, but not perfect. Still burns a little bit. My advice to anyone running a Hyundai / Kia 1.6 Gamma, 2,0 NU or the 2.4 Theta 2, only follow the severe schedule. Nothing else seems to work. Even the severe schedule probably won't work to be honest if you have one of these engines. Maybe go to Valvoline R&P from day 1, but I don't know.
The Kia Rio my other son has (with the 1.6 gamma engine) burned oil like crazy, starting at around 105K. Oil always changed every 5K. Car was maintained perfectly. 5K wasn't enough. Wound up doing a piston soak with Berrymans B12. That did the trick. Doesn't burn a drop now.
The Kia Rio my other son has (with the 1.6 gamma engine) burned oil like crazy, starting at around 105K. Oil always changed every 5K. Car was maintained perfectly. 5K wasn't enough. Wound up doing a piston soak with Berrymans B12. That did the trick. Doesn't burn a drop now.
Since my wife retired and her Liberty isn't on the highway nearly as much as it was I decided instead of driving myself crazy to swing over to a time based OCI of 6 months. Which IIRC coincides with the owner's manual.
I live in mountainous terrain which is considered severe service. All my vehicles work hard and the ones with oil temp read outs show it. My oci is 5k miles with M1 ESP 0W-30. I’m very impressed with this OTS oil available at Walmart. I really hadn’t been excited about a M1 product in a while. Now it’s in everything I own or maintain.
My Jeep goes offroad for fun with oil temps approaching 250f. It will only get one oil change per year at around 5k miles. I’m probably going to Amsoil SS with this one because it’s my toy. Although ESP is holding up perfectly fine.
My Jeep goes offroad for fun with oil temps approaching 250f. It will only get one oil change per year at around 5k miles. I’m probably going to Amsoil SS with this one because it’s my toy. Although ESP is holding up perfectly fine.
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All my cars get 5k oil changes.
Same here...5000 miles and occasionally less. You can see in my signature that I use VW specified oils. Neither of my cars burns oil.
My Toyota RAV4 calls for regular 10K mile service, with severe service at 5K mile intervals.
I just change the oil every 5K. It's easy to track on the odometer. It works out to 2 - 3 oil changes per year for me.
I just change the oil every 5K. It's easy to track on the odometer. It works out to 2 - 3 oil changes per year for me.
Ford Escape .... 3 cyl, .. 1.5L
3,250 miles, OLM @ 15%
Mobil 1
Transmission and P.T.U. will be changed frequently as well (20-30,000 miles).
Brake fluid every two years.
3,250 miles, OLM @ 15%
Mobil 1
Transmission and P.T.U. will be changed frequently as well (20-30,000 miles).
Brake fluid every two years.
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5,000 km is the severe service interval for my car, but I do anywhere from 10,000km to 20,000km. Weather is not really permitting to do oil changes outside for 6 months a year. I use a motorcycle oil actually. I did an oil change at the end of May, might just go through winter on that.
grew up on 3000 mile / 3 month oil changes.....still keep all cars within 3-4000 miles between changes with quality synthetic (all cars get short tripped regularly, so actually do live a severe service life). I do it myself so the cost is nothing to worry about.
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My severe service is less than 5000 miles.
I never purchase a vehicle with an over stressed engine. 5K OCI's with a quality synthetic of adequate viscosity. Simple, easy, 100% success rate.
8000 Kilometers. and it is the recommended interval by all dealers i know. vehicle is a 2024 Mazda CX-5 Signature 2.5T engine. i am already at more than 77 000 Kilometers on the Odometer. i drive on average 65 000 Kilometers a year. when i changed the spark plugs at 62 000 kilometers like Mazda recommend, they looked like new. it is the first vehicle i intend to keep 6 years. i usually trade in every year or two. i am curious to see if it can make 500 000 Kilometers with good maintenance. even with severe Winter weather every year. max OCI permitted in the owner's manual for this vehicle is 12 000 kilometers. with the quality of lubricants we have today, i think a well maintained vehicle can last close to forever. especially if it is driven regularly. we'll see how far i can go.
Patman
Staff member
I don’t consider my driving severe service because I do mostly highway and no short trips. But if I fell into the severe category the earliest I could see myself changing the oil would be 5000 miles.
What makes an application "Severe"? Not what people think. People think higher load is severe service or that running warmer is.
Running hotter degrades the oil faster, but it's hardy worse for the engine. In many instances it's better for the engine-- the running piston clearance will reduce, there's less blowby. Talk to a race driver who blew an engine that was running hot-- they'll tell you it ran amazingly well right up to the moment of failure. Hotter is better-- until it isn't.
In most automotive applications, you simply cannot actually put much load on the engine, even if you try. This is because it's typically tied to an automatic transmission that will downshift at high load, reducing the torque load on the engine and trading revs for torque to increase power.
Rarely is an engine mated to a manual transmission and loaded with a sustained load where the engine is on its torque curve and at max output. Even on a track day, the burst of acceleration are interrupted by periods of motoring and cooling, and the load is typically in lower gears and so the engine isn't highly loaded.
To the contrary, what tends to kill engines is lack of heat from cold starts and prolonged idling, as well as hot/cold cycles with prolonged idling. Idling is an epidemic now because not only is there a drive-through for everything, but people seem prefer sitting in the idling cars to goof off on their phones rather than sit in a waiting room, for example. The fuel consumed not only not producing transportation, it's also far more likely to make oil dilution and deposits.
AVOID IDLING. NEVER CHOOSE TO DO IT ON PURPOSE. Your engine will thank you. And so will your wallet.
I change the oil on my Altima 2.5 at 7,500 with Supertech synthetic. I used to use Maxlife syn blend, but OCI has been 7,500 since we bought it was just under 20,000 miles. Valvetrain was clean when I changed the valve cover gasket. I used the same OCI on the three Hondas I've owned. I think most synthetic oils can handle 7,500 on a NA engine, unless the vehicle is being tracked or the engine sees very high RPMs.
On my Expedition I've gone by the OLM, which varies from 5,000 to 9,000. Synthetic only. I purchased it with just under 60,000 miles. Had the timing chain done at 17x,000. I'm not 100% that a shorter OCI would have saved it. Startup wear is a thing and the chain is very long. It started showing signs of being worn around 130,000 miles.
On my Expedition I've gone by the OLM, which varies from 5,000 to 9,000. Synthetic only. I purchased it with just under 60,000 miles. Had the timing chain done at 17x,000. I'm not 100% that a shorter OCI would have saved it. Startup wear is a thing and the chain is very long. It started showing signs of being worn around 130,000 miles.
For those interested, this was a typical OEM definition of severe service when we actually had viscosity charts. My 2013 Subaru Forester manual still allows 0W-20, 5W-30, and 5W-40. In 2014 the manual was changed to 0W-20 with no other options.
Cold starts sure but the concern for extended idling is overblown IMO. I idle more then I drive.
My last truck had over 20,000 hours on it, about 15,000 were idling. Sold it 5 years ago, the new owner is still driving it and no issues.
I’ve had samples done and fuel % is always less than 0.5%
The Toyota: 6 months or 5,000 miles OCI with whatever SP/SQ 0W-20 is on sale or peaks my interest at the time - serve service based on manual’s definition.
The Hyundai: approx. 6 months or 4,000 miles OCI with whatever blend or full synthetic 5w-30 is on sales at the time - serve service based on manual’s definition.
The Chevy: whenever the OLM says with whatever bulk oil the Kwik Kar or VIOC uses (branded Valvoline full synthetic 0W-20 but no way to know for sure) - it’s a lease used for work so it gets only what is needed to maintain the lease program - no more, no less. It’s little more than a commodity which will be used, discarded and replaced to me.
The Hyundai: approx. 6 months or 4,000 miles OCI with whatever blend or full synthetic 5w-30 is on sales at the time - serve service based on manual’s definition.
The Chevy: whenever the OLM says with whatever bulk oil the Kwik Kar or VIOC uses (branded Valvoline full synthetic 0W-20 but no way to know for sure) - it’s a lease used for work so it gets only what is needed to maintain the lease program - no more, no less. It’s little more than a commodity which will be used, discarded and replaced to me.
Imho, basically 'severe' is what 99.9% of drivers do, so to me it actually is 'normal' driving and I do 4k miles OCIs of my Kias.
Sportage, I tried 5k miles and drained oil looks were very concerning with some sludge floaters. Forte, I do same OCIs since wife doesn't drive it much and mostly just short distance when she does.
My daughter's '25 RAV4 is getting 5k miles OCIs so does her husband's '21 Tacoma.
All vehicles are running one grade up vs recommended e.g. 0w-30 vs 5w-20 and 0w-20 vs 0w-16, either M1 ESP or Pennzoil LX.
Sportage, I tried 5k miles and drained oil looks were very concerning with some sludge floaters. Forte, I do same OCIs since wife doesn't drive it much and mostly just short distance when she does.
My daughter's '25 RAV4 is getting 5k miles OCIs so does her husband's '21 Tacoma.
All vehicles are running one grade up vs recommended e.g. 0w-30 vs 5w-20 and 0w-20 vs 0w-16, either M1 ESP or Pennzoil LX.
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