Wife changed jobs - 2 mile commute. OCI?

[Greg L]

My wife now drives round trip for two miles in her commute. Average speed 30 mph.

On a 1996 GMC with 215k miles and 5.7 350 engine. New water pump and radiator.

My question: do I change from the usual Smittys 5w30 HM and occasional Pennz HM?

Or switch back to Mobil that I first used a few years ago?


I should also mention that she generally warms up the truck only for 10 seconds in the morning...although I tell her to warm it up at least 30-60 seconds.

Also, she does not speed to work.


GL

 

[EA82]

My wife drives 2-3 mile trips daily to work and stores and what not in our 2011 Camry, I just do yearly ocis with synthetic oil ( 4-5 k a year ).

 

[Doog]

My commute is 2 miles. 5000 OCI

 

[Merkava_4]

Tell your wife she's gonna have to start warming the car up for 10 minutes or she's gonna get a sludged engine. Tell her to monitor the water temp gauge and make sure the water temp is at least 180F before going to work.

 

[SumpChump]

I have a 4 mile trip but also have four seasons which is brutal. I do 3k OCI and do far tests are good. I do warm up when winter , some people don't. I have seen no science which says it's harder on an engine to reach 150F for 25 minutes (with 15 min of warmup idling) rather than 90F for 7minutes. I gotta beleive that driving on a transmission and timing chains which have 30seconds of oil flow and are at -10F metal temp is worse that parts which have warmed.

 

[shDK]

Originally Posted By: Greg L
My wife now drives round trip for two miles in her commute. Average speed 30 mph.

On a 1996 GMC with 215k miles and 5.7 350 engine. New water pump and radiator.

My question: do I change from the usual Smittys 5w30 HM and occasional Pennz HM?

Or switch back to Mobil that I first used a few years ago?


I should also mention that she generally warms up the truck only for 10 seconds in the morning...although I tell her to warm it up at least 30-60 seconds.

Also, she does not speed to work.


GL


Go get her a bike

 

[oldhp]

My wife's Equinox 2.4 engine. 2000 miles in just over 3 months. Oil was black as black could be. 5qt system, I drained out 5qts+12oz. No gasoline smell so it had to be condensation. Many, many, many short 4-6 block trips. No OLM used here, I go old school 2000 miles or 3 months. These engines eat chains and sprockets so keeping clean as I can oil in it has got to help in the long run.

 

[JFK]

Not going to matter because no matter what oil moisture and fuel dilution will be the issue.

I predict long term you will see charging issues.

 

[bubbatime]

Its an old beater truck and not worth much. Just change the oil every 3K with whatever cheap SN oil you have on the shelf. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[BrotherMichigan]

Originally Posted By: shDK
Go get her a bike


Yup.

 

[qwerty1234]

Merkava, I've been noticing your comments. It seems you like to argue. People come here for real advice. It's a shame that you can't find something better to do. To the OP, I would stick to a high milage oil like Penzoil or Maxlife.

 

[thunderfog]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Tell your wife she's gonna have to start warming the car up for 10 minutes or she's gonna get a sludged engine. Tell her to monitor the water temp gauge and make sure the water temp is at least 180F before going to work.


No.

Terrible waste of fuel. Use that money for cleaning the engine if you feel the need or shortening the OCI, and save a little bit of the environment in the meantime. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be able to eat off your internal engine parts.

 

[3311]

One produced from the ground to the bottle here in the US.

 

[901Memphis]

I knew someone was going to mention the a bike...Murica..

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: thunderfog
No.

Terrible waste of fuel. Use that money for cleaning the engine if you feel the need or shortening the OCI, and save a little bit of the environment in the meantime. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be able to eat off your internal engine parts.


The most economically feasible way to keep an engine clean is to get it up to operating temperature on every trip and to change the oil regularly. Very little fuel is used during idle under a no load condition.

 

[CT8]

The round trip commute is severe service and the engine will be running in the highest wear possible in the warmup phase of operation, Cold engine and an enrichened fuel mixture. Change the oil often use sale oil and filters . There is no magic cure for the useage.

 

[MobilinHyundia]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: thunderfog
No.

Terrible waste of fuel. Use that money for cleaning the engine if you feel the need or shortening the OCI, and save a little bit of the environment in the meantime. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be able to eat off your internal engine parts.


The most economically feasible way to keep an engine clean is to get it up to operating temperature on every trip and to change the oil regularly. Very little fuel is used during idle under a no load condition.


[censored]! I used to warm up my vehicles too.... It is a total waste of fuel. Engines warm up much faster when driven.

 

[jmb3675]

I was trying to decide the same thing for my Grand Cherokee. It has been the short trip vehicle lately. I have been taking it out for longer drives every couple of weeks to keep the battery charged and try to get the oil to temp. Because it was hard to start with 10w-30 last winter, and now the short trips I plan to use conventional 5w-30 and will likely change it every 3000 miles. Partly because of short trips and I hear the 4.0 is hard on oil and mostly because it has a 3000 mile oil change reminder that is easy to see and follow.
I only let mine idle in the winter so it is warm and I don't have to scrape the windows.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: MobilinHyundia
[censored]! I used to warm up my vehicles too.... It is a total waste of fuel. Engines warm up much faster when driven.


How you gonna warm up your engine driving it for only 1 mile ?

 

[Olas]

Tell her that if she sells the car and buys a bike she can keep the change.

If that doesn't work tell her to look after her own car, then it's not your problem any more.