Results of used oil analysis - updated 5/23/11

[Milan]

Wow, I'd be interested to see what the lab says after running the oil for over a year.  How many miles on this one?

[ikethegreat]

A year and a half??  If it was me I'd change it for sure. 

[Mike]

So, now that I'm not driving the Accord daily anymore, I'm not putting a ton of miles on it.  As I do my oil analysis, of which the last one called for a longer change inter val, I'm nowhere near hitting the mark yet, but it's been about a year and a half since my lasy change.  The question I'm asking is, does oil break down just as quick time-wise as it does mileage-wise.  Debating if I should change it soon, or if it'll be fine until 11.5k of use.

if you going to not drive it much over the winter leave it, and change it at the start of the season. Then get another analysis and you should have your answer

[CrackerTeg]

Agreed. I've never checked out what oil looks like sitting on the shelf for a little over a year but considering yours is used oil, I'm sure its broken down just as much, if not more than if you drove the full mileage Blackstone recommended.

[striktlyaccord]

All good points.

Wow, I'd be interested to see what the lab says after running the oil for over a year.  How many miles on this one?

Probably only about 7.5k-8k over the last 17 months.  I do drive the car, but probably once every 2 weeks on average, sometimes far if needed.  So, not many miles since Blackstone said I could stretch this interval to 11,500 miles.  But again, but sure if the time frame causes oil to break down at the same speed as running it for lots of miles.

[Milan]

I would ask whoever you are in contact with at Blackstone, I'm sure they will have a better answer then us metalheads

[striktlyaccord]

But we all be sooo smmaatttt.

[CrackerTeg]

Don't be going New England in here Dave. This forum is English speaking.

[striktlyaccord]

Lo siento amigo.

[CrackerTeg]

Fucker.

[striktlyaccord]

So I need folks to weigh in.  I'll be doing an oil change soon (finally), and knowing that the car has 81k miles and is only driven sporadically now with very little (if any) time on the road in the winter, should I be changing to a different weight oil now, or "high mileage", or just keep sticking with 5w-20.  I have an automatic with lots of bolt-ons and live in RI.  I will be buying my new jug soon, so I'm wondering what others think?

[striktlyaccord]

... ok then.

[CrackerTeg]

Go with 5-30 at a minimum. The 5-20 is too thin.

[striktlyaccord]

Is that the only positive argument for it?

[CrackerTeg]

The oil being too thin? Known fact dude. That oil weight was designed for gas mileage and hippy tree hugger shit like that. The older an engine gets, the more the internals wear out. Thin oil helps that along.