mckellyb

Blackstone Labs doesn't think so.

My 10K changes may wind up eventually being 15K.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

ehhhh... everyone knew quality synthetic goes past 10k.

anyhow.. any reason you don't use xw-20 oil? I usually use 0w-20 myself and go for 1yr/10k intervals.

Dave144239

That's good to know. I used Mobil 1 5W30 in my Cadillac, and going by the oil-life indicator, I would get right around 10k miles before it was down to 5% or less. I read about the oil life indicator on a forum, and apparently the algorithm originally allowed for a much longer oil change interval, but after Cadillac had timing chain issues with the '08 CTS, they changed the software to cut the oil change interval way back.

mikebrinda

Interesting.

mckellyb

...any reason you don't use xw-20 oil

Because I happened to score on 5W/30 several years ago, it was something like $16/case, so I bought every case they had. Was 8 or 9 cases, IIRC. However, I'm very close to being out of it.

Also, while most know synthetic is good for much, much longer than dead dinos, you still have people changing it at 5K, or even 3K miles. I want those who change it at 3K to send it to me so I can finish using it.

Dave144239, I used to have an '05 STS, the RWD one, and the OLM (oil life monitor) regularly gave me about 12.5K-13K on a change. Those engines, like these, held a large amount in the sump, however. Around 8 quarts. This, I believe, is a giant help. Mercedes gasoline engines are like this, too. My '95 3.2L E-class held 8 quarts and change, and spec for it was C4 diesel motor oil.

The V-6 CTS motor had oiling problems, period. I don't know what they got wrong, but it was catastrophic, eventually.

0133642, I'm using Wix filters. Always have (since 1984), and unless something bad happens, I always will. Occasionally, if it's part of a package deal or something, I'll use a Mobil 1 filter, but that's unusual.

I really wish there were a way to change the reminder in the cluster instead of it being 5K miles. Thankfully, the maintenance section of the infotainment computer allows you to put in whatever you want.

I may run this oil to 13K, take a sample but not change it, and see what they say. This oil change, I replaced the drain plug with a Fumoto valve, so I can take just some, if I want (plus, much less chance of burning my hand/arm when changing it while it's still 160F or more).

I need to re-examine the transmission pan's depth to see if I can do the same with it. I _think_ there's a way to pump new fluid back in through the overflow system, but I'm not certain. That's a project for after the holidays.

roadfrog

Yes....this isn't new. Lots of members here including myself have done this. Mobil 1 has advertised 25k km oil changes on several of it's oils. HOWEVER, careful depending on Blackstone for accuracy in it's oil analysis. Recent info indicates that they do not use proper techniques. There are several posts from those in the know here at CL that spell it out better than I can, but suffice to say, I will no longer use Blackstone for in depth and accurate analysis.

roadfrog

Kelly, have you priced out filter from your Toyota dealer? I was surprised to find that they charge less for their OEM filter than Walmart does for a Fram. I pay about 6 bucks CDN for a TGMO filter, and they even throw in a new gasket.

213374U

Just did my first 8K OCI with 0w20 Pennsoil Platinum and it definitely still had some honey color to it. Stretching it out to 10K with this one, but I certainly wouldn't feel confident doing the same with 5w30 conventional.

mckellyb

Thanks a bunch, Chris! I'll have to call/swing by the west Fort Worth dealer as I pass that general area on the way home.

Whoa...six loonies? That's like $2.83, 'Murrican, right?



I'll check out Blackstone's testing and complaints, too. Thanks for this.

roadfrog

LOL....yes almost 3 dollars!

Doublebase

A couple things about black stone and their testing that I just don't seem to trust....one, I've read that their metal count is measured in particles very small, and that the bigger particles are not measured at all, so how accurate that is I don't know. Two, fuel delusion, I think fuel dilutes oil but depending on when/what time the oil is tested, measurements could be far different. Three, do they measure carbon? I wonder about that, especially with direct injection and timing chain engines, because carbon deposits I believe build up in oil and get in between the rollars and pins on timing chains, causing them to stretch (this has been reported by penzoil factory engineers).

I change my oil in between 6,000-7,000 miles (which blackstone mentioned as universal average mileage for oil wear). I change it at that point because my oil "tends to get a little weird around 5,000 miles", my engine starts consuming oil at that point...don't know why...not sure if it shears or it becomes dirty to the point where it can't seal the rings, but it uses it at that point, and it doesn't use any before that point. So in my mind something is happening to the oil that my engine doesn't like. So I change it. But I think people that can go 10,000 plus miles, get their oil tested, etc...are doing just fine it seems. Always like reading oil change posts and threads. My favorites are the people who never change their oil because their cars consume so much of it that they figure that they are technically changing the oil every thee months anyway. You'd be surprised at how many videos on YouTube there are of cars like that.

mckellyb

Larger metal particles bother me less, as that's what the oil filter is for. Plus, if you have larger metal particles, that engine's days are numbered.

Fuel dilution. Yeah, fuel does dilute oil, but unless you have an overly rich-running engine, or you take a sample after you've started and run the engine for like, two minutes (i.e. full choke/enrichment but not long enough to burn it back off), it should be quite low or zero.

Carbon. Interesting. Not having owned a DI vehicle, previously, I'm still consuming what comes with them.

FWIW, in college, I owned a 1980 Ford F-100, ultra-base model (I mean, no radio base model), which had the dipstick entry to the oil pan work rivets loose.

It was less expensive to just carry a case of $0.89 oil than it was to replace the pan (I did JB Weld it, eventually), and take it easy on right-hand turns.

Before I fixed it, that truck was having monthly oil changes.

Now, I'm not about to subscribe to 70K mile oil changes, but years ago, I was running a 2.5L V6 Grand Vitara 15K miles between changes...primarily because I hated it. It did have a six quart sump, however, which is rather large for 2.5 litres.

Now, concerning the Blackstone bashing I found here on CL. Yeah...I give limited value to threads like that unless there are many of them. I give even less creedence to those posted by people who have something to sell as a substitute.

This said, I'm still looking around for the best analysis for the $. I won't do it more than every 50K, probably, once I get a feel for the car, still, it adds up over time, and I have at least three vehicles I'd like to do it on...still on the fence about #4, the motorcoach. I mean, 15K mile OEM intervals are plenty long...plus it's an oil-burner (diesel). Four gallon sump, yo.

Doublebase

Something else I read last night,mckellyb, was that when your oil starts to change/consume, it means that it has become saturated and is now more of a solvent than an oil. I found that to be pretty interesting. They were saying when it becomes saturated with fuel, the fuel eventually destroys the oil's ability to seal, and then the oil blows past the rings too easily and burns. I found that interesting because like I said, my oil starts doing this around 5,000 miles. But before that mileage point it's pretty damn good, pretty consistent. But once it reaches 5,000? I'm adding oil every other week...half quart here, half quart there. So at that point I know something's is going on. Because I get to the 4,000-5,000 mileage point I'm adding nothing.

That seems to be the sweet spot in my engine for some reason. That's right at the point where my oil starts to be consumed. The only oil that I've used that didn't have that happen was when I used Castrol magnetic. And that's not exactly a great oil, don't even know if they make it anymore. But everything else I've used...Nobil 1, Valvolone, TGMO...has all performed the same.

But I don't think there's anything really wrong with these long extended drains. I've read of many people going 12-15k miles on their changes and they've had no issues. Then again I know of people that won't go past 3,000 miles that have 300,000 on their cars, and they tell me they couldn't have made it that far with extended changes. Who knows? But I think it's important to kind of find your sweet spot, mine seems to be around 5,000 miles, but I push it to 6,500-7,000

roadfrog

Kelly, FWIW the info I was referring to wasn't "bashing" per se, but seemed to have legit info on why Blackstone was sorely lacking in it's methodology and mentioned a couple of other companies that were more expensive to use but was far more accurate. I'll try and find the thread....

roadfrog

Here it is: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...nalysis-4.html

The last couple of pages of that thread as well as the ilnk to another thread, are what made me reconsider Blackstone after 20 years of using their service.