My cars rarely go on long drives. My wife's van has a 3 mile commute each way each day. I just use 5k intervals and use a semi synthetic on her car. Thst thing barely heats up in the winter and probably could use a shorter interval.
My cars rarely go on long drives. My wife's van has a 3 mile commute each way each day. I just use 5k intervals and use a semi synthetic on her car. Thst thing barely heats up in the winter and probably could use a shorter interval.
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
there's only one way to know.
When it comes to UOA for most people, its not something I typically recommend unless you're looking for an answer to a specific question that can be answered by it. OCI's can definitely be determined by it and a yearly "check up" to check that those intervals are still good and that the engine isn't seeing any excessive wear is a good thing as well. But for 90% of people it's no worth the money nor time.
The oil change light in my Ranger is when the OP doesn't come up until 2+ seconds after a cold start.
On my wife's 2005 500, the oil life was tied to mileage (5k miles). It seems like the light on our '04 Odyssey is mileage based as well.
Our 2019 Honda CRV (small turbo engine) had a screen that showed oil life remaining. I just always changed it with Mobil 1 when the page displayed 20%.
Fueled by Caffeine said:My cars rarely go on long drives. My wife's van has a 3 mile commute each way each day. I just use 5k intervals and use a semi synthetic on her car. Thst thing barely heats up in the winter and probably could use a shorter interval.
As bob pointed out (and I'm glad he did) almost all oils with "fully synthetic" on the label are Dino oils, that can meet ( or have paid for) a certain standard. Except for a few oils that start with synthetic base stocks, the ready are really "semi-synthetic."
After years of extensive reading (still not to bobs level of knowledge) it appears that at the price of semi- syn, there are oils as good in the "advertised as full syn" that are as good or better price. The conclusion I agree with, either a decent additive package "conventional " oil, at a low price, any advertised as full sun at a decent price, or spend the money for true syn base stock.
Note: not alll Mobile 1 Syn oils are Syn base stock anymore. Most are refined Dino that meet synthetic standards.
which is fine.. good oil. Just be aware of what your paying for.
Something else to watch is the amount of fuel that gets into the oil. Short trips or the opposite where you spend a lot of time at WOT or heavy load, fuel dilution starts to become an issue. 5/10W20/30/40 oils will suffer greater viscosity loss which can affect protection. Oddly enough, 0WXX oils tend to hold up better due to the friction modifiers and viscosty improvers needed to get these oils to that 0 rating. They are far from being a "light duty oil".
As 03Panther alluded to, much of the "synthetic" oils are a group III base stock. The API still classifies those as mineral oil, but there was a lawsuit late 90's/early 00's that allowed them (castrol I think, don't hold me to that) to market group III oils as synthetic. Mobil and others followed suit after that which is why you saw a large change in price and formulation for products like M1, Valvoline etc.
Find what the manufacturer recommends for API classification. If your car is newer than 2000 SM will be the rating to meet. Anything before that is not recommended. Current oils are SN, which can backdate to cover older engines. So if you find a jug of SF rated oil, A.) it's probably not good anymore because it hasnt been made in 20 years and 2.) Its not recommended for your 2020 Prius.
In reply to bobzilla :
You are right. Time to get some samples sent in. I plan on keeping this car for some time.
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
Let me know when you're ready. I'll make a special price for GRM members.
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