Oil Change Intervals May Shorten

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He said industry will also need to take into account the fuel economy that vehicles achieve after oil is installed in an engine – not just the score that fresh oil achieves on an engine test. As oil ages in an engine, fuel economy decreases. Friction modifiers and other chemistries are depleted, the oil thickens due to oxidation and accumulation of soot.

Formulation can delay this decrease in performance, McCabe said, but only so much. To sustain fuel economy improvements, drain intervals may need to be shortened.

“As fuel economy deteriorates over time, there comes a point when swapping an old oil for a new one becomes the best approach to better fuel economy,” he said. “It is hard to say what the optimum point is, as it varies by engine and cycle. But the overall trend is there: The longer a drain interval, the more fuel economy will deteriorate.”


http://www.imakenews.com/lng/e_article001579661.cfm?x=bgct1JL,blqdw92
 
With the right oil that's a non-issue. Europeans have been going much longer than us on intervals, and they're OCD on MPG.
 
Originally Posted By: BobFout
With the right oil that's a non-issue. Europeans have been going much longer than us on intervals, and they're OCD on MPG.


I don't think the Euros have CAFE...
 
I just have a hard time believing mileage drops that much to cover the cost of the more frequent oil changes. It kind of like someone saying synthetic will pay for it's self with gas mileage increase alone. I doubt it. And we have some very credible sources saying oil reduces friction after 3k miles of use. And I'm saying this as a person who favors shorter OCI.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: BobFout
With the right oil that's a non-issue. Europeans have been going much longer than us on intervals, and they're OCD on MPG.


I don't think the Euros have CAFE...
But we have high fuel and oil prices.

Only thing i see shortening OCI is the increasing use of ethanol in fuel.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: BobFout
With the right oil that's a non-issue. Europeans have been going much longer than us on intervals, and they're OCD on MPG.


I don't think the Euros have CAFE...


No, but at $5 to $9/gallon, we'd be wise to see what they are doing. I'm sure they have their own CAFE-like stuff.

From wiki: "The United States and Canada have the weakest standards in terms of fleet-average fuel economy rating among first world nations, e.g. 25 mpg in the U.S. versus 45 mpg in the European Union and higher in Japan (2008)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy

Who can learn from who?
lol.gif
 
I don't think there's anything to learn. They are driving a lot more smaller cars with smaller engines, turbos and manual transmissions. No big secret that will cause higher gas mileage.

They also have perhaps different fuel and emissions regulations. For instance, they use diesel more, maybe don't formulate gasoline for emissions as much, might have different guidlelines for fuel trim tuning. For instance cars in the US run richer at stoichiometric than best lean economy mixture due to emissions, catylist and the EPA and whoever else's setting the regulations.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I don't think there's anything to learn. They are driving a lot more smaller cars with smaller engines, turbos and manual transmissions. No big secret that will cause higher gas mileage.

They also have perhaps different fuel and emissions regulations. For instance, they use diesel more, maybe don't formulate gasoline for emissions as much, might have different guidlelines for fuel trim tuning. For instance cars in the US run richer at stoichiometric than best lean economy mixture due to emissions, catylist and the EPA and whoever else's setting the regulations.


In addition, they can drive smaller vehicles due to less stringent crash requirements than cars here have to meet -- why do people think we can't get those microcars here?

And let's not forget their mass-transit systems help to minimize their need for personal vehicles. I take the train to work, but still have to drive to the station. There is a bus service available from the regional authority, but I have to drive 3 miles to get to the stop. That's halfway to the station for me. In addition, the authority runs the bus only 3-4 times morning and evening, and if you miss the bus, you're SOL. So what's my incentive to use the service?

But I'm getting off-topic here. As to the original post, I find it ironic that anyone is even considering this....think about it; more frequent oil changes = more oil use. And why are we doing this? To help us conserve fuel, which is made from.....oil.

A prime example of why one should feel chills down their back whenever they hear "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you....".
 
I think any minor fuel efficiency gain is partially offset by fuel used to drive the car to get the oil or the oil changed, dispose of the used oil and have it recycled. Shortening the OCI by 1000 miles to improve MPG 1% saves 0.4 gallons if you get 25 mpg. If you drive the equivalent of 10 miles to get the oil changed, you use up the benefit of the savings.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Quote:
Mike McCabe, regional business manager for engine oils at Lubrizol


Exactly. Lengthening of North American Oil Change intervals is thretening the old business model.
 
"But I'm getting off-topic here. As to the original post, I find it ironic that anyone is even considering this....think about it; more frequent oil changes = more oil use. And why are we doing this? To help us conserve fuel, which is made from.....oil."

BUT, if the oil is re-cycled properly, that loss is minimized.
 
Originally Posted By: Captain_Klink
what? nothing to learn? now i know why we are in so much trouble.


Well what I meant in regard to fuel mileage and OCI is that there's nothing to learn from Europe really because all that is already known here. Whether we should change the way we do things here or not is a different matter, but what they do in Europe is not necessarily best or applicable to here.
 
Originally Posted By: finnautti
Originally Posted By: The Critic


I don't think the Euros have CAFE...
But we have high fuel and oil prices.


But that's what I dont understand. Given the cost of fuel over there I would have thought the EU would have some equivalent to CAFE
21.gif
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It's been shown that friction modifiers wear out at a certain mileage point. Could it have anything to do with that? Ever notice how your engine runs a tad better after an oil change? Hmmm

Redline used to have a chart that showed how their products, being POE based, maintained their friction modification longer. No idea if that is true.

It would be valuable to see a mpg vs mileage chart.
 
Originally Posted By: 21Rouge
Originally Posted By: finnautti
Originally Posted By: The Critic


I don't think the Euros have CAFE...
But we have high fuel and oil prices.


But that's what I dont understand. Given the cost of fuel over there I would have thought the EU would have some equivalent to CAFE
21.gif
.


Maybe their high fuel taxes and prices serve as a CAFE standard lol?
 
The Euros don't need CAFE, and neither do we.
First, CAFE has the well known gap (loophole) through which you can drive a truck (little humor).
Now, with no change in CAFE, truck based full frame SUV sales have died, because people remeber the four dollar a gallon summer of 2008.
The fleet average fuel economy of the total light truck and passenger vehicle fleet sold in the first half of 2009 has improved compared to, say the first half of 2007, because people began making more economical choices starting about a year and and half ago.
Fuel prices are an important factor in guiding buyers' decisions as to what new vehicle to buy.
When gas was around $2.00, traditional SUVs remained quite popular.
Having seen prices double that, buyers are very leary of buying high conumption vehicles.
A similar thing happened during the 'eighties. After gasoline hit a solid dollar a gallon in 1980, actual fleet fuel economy for new vehicles ran ahead of CAFE, simply based upon buyer demand.
Europe has long had much higher pump prices than we have had, although most of the difference is the result of taxes levied.
As a consequence, the Europeans have long placed a premium on fuel economy.
Finally, who belives that either the current EPA regulatory regime or the current passive safety regime would survive intact if we had EU level pump prices?
 
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