PHEV specific topic: oil change based on time ONLY

Ah, I can see the dilemma in that. I have that concern with the front differential in my Tundra....it only circulates the fluid around when I have the truck engaged in 4x4 low or high. Since the actuator is electronic, not engaging the 4x4 often enough can result in a truck driver wanting to engage, and the actuator isn't able to work. (Happens a lot in the 4x4....I have a co-worker with an older Tundra 4x4 and was a victim of it....spent a lot of time fixing it.) The "fix" I've learned from the Car Care Nut (Ahmed) and others, is just to turn on my 4 Wheel High once a month for a few miles, which I do. (I just find a long, straight road and turn it on...don't want to be turning corners with a 4x4 on hard pavement.)
I do remember Ahmed saying that if you don't drive very much, then you shouldn't get a Prime Toyota or even a Hybrid as the ICE engine really does need to be running fairly often to keep it happy.....but where's the sweet spot? Once a week or so?

 

Individuals' life experiences and "you can't trust your lying eyes" (Eagles song) - oil color change can mean a lot of things. The only real in- controversial test is an oil analysis and I'm too cheap to do that - since it's more expensive than a filter. Otherwise good thinking. Smell will also allow you to see if your allowing the engine to run long enough to evaporate gas and moisture deposits out of your ICE.
I use to drive a diesel VW; that oil would turn black in less than 25 miles; whereas my Prime will go about a month and a half before the oil turns slightly amber enough for me to read the dipstick without using a clean tissue to determine it's level.

YMMV

 

apologies for being pedantic, but: you’re essentially saying “internal combustion engine engine”.

just saying “engine” would suffice?

 

Me too! I put in Delvac1 (Mobil1 for diesel) every 10,000 miles, as recommended by VW. It was still running like new at 225k when I sold it.

 

Even before synthetics became the norm, the point of the oil change wasn't because the oil went bad. It was because additives get used up. Some of those have consumption rates that line up with engine use. Others could get used up faster depending on the climate. The acid neutralizers can be consumed faster in humid climates. It's water getting into the oil than forms the acids.

These aren't things that can be eyeballed.

Was the diesel pre-ULSD? Sulfur is a culprit in coloring oil black. With the shift to even lower levels of sulfur in gasoline for Teir 3 emissions, motor oil is going to last longer.

 

when i traded my 2012 PHEV, it had 87,000 miles. only 25,000 on the engine, and that with a 13 mile ev range.

 

and that was led me to trading it in, had the bad head gasket shakes

 

Not sure, but I believe we were already on ULSD. I was a field service technician at the time and it made economic sense - 50K+ annual miles. I had the option of a company car; but I preferred my own custom rig. Again it made more economic sense to take the monthly cash plus mileage. I could do it cheaper than a company car, that I couldn't drill holes and make modifications to make my job faster and easier to accomplished. I've had multiple large corporations, ask for me specifically, outside my service area and routinely got calls from regional management and VP of service.
When diesel prices started exceeding gasoline prices; I dumped the rig with over 250K miles on it - One of my co-workers bought it for what I had put into it, so I didn't get hurt and actually made money when you factor in what the company was paying me on a monthly basis. That stipend was suppose to cover depreciation, maintenance and insurance. I calculated that I saved the company at least 3 lease cars, so it was a win-win for both of us.

 

I was thinking that there was an oil filter comparison test and Fram Ultra filters was more resistive than the rest of the others and filtered better but the cost was slightly slower flow rates. Don't know if that was addressed in that video - or just use a Fram Ultra filter.

I think I'm just going to move to 5w20 oil, like I did with my old 2012 Prius C. Apparently; I was reducing the potential of oil shear without knowing it. That small change did cut my oil burn, in half, in between oil changes on my old Prius C.

YMMV

 

From what i have read, avoid ANY engine with a turbo. Manufacturers are using them to cut corners and raise power specs. Engines with turbos are not forgiving over slips in proper maintenance. It can cost you an engine!

 

AND most people don't know how to take care of a turbo engine. OEM should be installing switch-off count-down timers that automatically activate; If you try shutting down the car after a through trashing. The turbo needs to cool down rather than bake the left-over oil from an abrupt shut-down. Yes, you can't skimp on cheap oil, that will break-down going through that hot turbo. See how long that engine is going to last with Jiffy Lube oil changes.

 

Latest oil specs, including 0w16 and 0w8, take the rise of turbo use. Then outside of sports cars, the turbos aren't high boosting; most are running on regular gas.

 

unless "chipped", lol.

 

And yet, Slick 50 is still on the market. The major oil & lube companies hire the best and the brightest and have the most resources to formulate top products making aftermarket oil additives unnecessary. However, they are often the most profitable products on the shelf; the retailers love them. Some products are the same as the OE additives at 2-3x the price as fresh oil. The aftermarket lube industry had a saying: it was ok to put anything in the crankcase as long as it didn't seize an engine. A corollary was: the consumer did not have the equipment or the know how to evaluate the products (even less so now) and the placebo effect was in action. Kinda like the gas mileage pills that appear every time the price of gasoline spikes.

 

You must be talking about GasX.

What did PT Barnum used to say; "There's a sucker born every minute"?