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I agree. That`s a LOT of sludge for 12,000 miles. I tossed that out here since this is an OCI thread. There`s tons of people here that do not post. I used to work on a city fleet. That includes police cars and fire trucks. Lesson is, not to only use the odo for oci. A police car has a ton of hours on the engine for the miles it shows. And, not just idling, directing traffic. They beat on these things. Course, since it is a Kia, they were gonna use the "100,000 mile warranty" for their OCI.

In the 80's 90's I'd run Honda's 7,500 miles between changes using Red Line HP 5W20 and do it for hundreds of thousands of miles with issues. Back in the day it was an SAE 20 with the HTHS of a SAE 30 and SN add load. It was also very polar. Oxidation VOA was over 120. Besides those motors were SPFI and lean burn tech. I could have likely run it longer but never did. We had a Toyota bought new I ran on Pennzoil's latest and greatest synthetic of the day with "Penthane". A made up word for a very low dose of PAO. Tried 7,500 mile OCI's in that Group III/VI chemistry and the rings tapped out at 90K. Rocker box wasn't as bad as the one Punch put up but it wasn't good either. Also a SPFI motor. I'm around 3,750 across the board on these GDI monsters and the oil it tapped out by then usually on TBN/TAN crossover and color. Red Line HP Euro. The AMSOIL SS brochures tell you to follow the OEM values for the service class but that it can be run up to 25K if monitored. I can't imagine what motor could go that distance and not tap out. I've never owned one. Yes, I know. Lot's of people do. I'm just not going to be one of them.

I knew a guy in the early 80's that bought a new Monte Carlo and ran it a 100,000 miles without ever changing the filter or the oil. Just kept adding. It looked like that inside.

When I was there, most to all did not have an hour meter. They just did 5000 miles on regular vehicles and 3000 on police stuff. The modern oil change monitors should take into account engine hours, weather, etc. I don`t use the monitor on my stuff. I pull the stick, look at it, smell it, rub it between my fingers, etc. That`s my oci. I have had many engines. Some bracket race. No problems doing things my way. I was in the mechanic business for 30 yrs or so. I still do things the old school way. Don`t care who laughs at me. Understand, I was in the main shop. We didn`t do oil changes or tires. We had a service station for that. I don`t remember the hours they used for tractors, lawn mowers, etc. Something in my head says 250 hours.

I don't know how far back vehicles had hour meters, be it driver accessible or diag accessible but was wondering if there was any rule of thumb your shop came up with in regards to an hour limit on engine oil regardless of the miles on the oil. I know with construction or farm equipment its almost always based on engine hours for maintenance scheduling as no other metric really applies other than a seasonal time limit that one self imposes on items like engine oil.

I'm not sure what to say on that mess but I will say that is an odd thing for that mechanic to speculate on as per assuming its been run out of oil a few times as the odds of that engine having instead piled up with a complete seizure would be very high if such events had actually taken place. However there is nothing saying that the oil has ever been changed although once again, what filter was on that engine as that would tell part of the story if its possible to figure out if its a factory installed filter or not. Too many items unknown and a lot of speculation, but regardless of that its one fubared mess that is mind boggling to see for a vehicle that new and its hard to imagine how it ever made it that far in life looking at the top of the engine. His scanners, I've watched him before here and there and I'd have to say if I recall correctly that some of his scanning equipment is one or two steps up from a child's Exo Sketch

That dog don't hunt. First, a 2025 with 12K on the clock AND idled for a year nonstop is false on it's face; this is 2026. You can do one or the other but not both. Second, ENGINE HOURS are absolutely available. The rest is third grade math. Micky Mouse scanner he got out of a box of Cracker Jacks OR an ID10T error. Third, if they ran it out of oil "Several times" that motor is boned on the first hit. Does this guy think piling higher makes it stink less?

Hmm. A real reason to not just use the odometer to determine OCI?

Sad thing is that this doesn't have to be the case. LSPI can be solved without a reduction in TBN. Swap Ca for Mg. Cats are not a issue if the OEM can get a ring and valve guide seal even at SN levels of SAPS. Dizzy is purring like a kitten with a bowl of warm milk. 200K of Full SAPS oil and zero detonation issues and nice a clean inside and out. This shouldn't be an issue. It isn't 1920. Tell ya what AMSOIL SS is excellent at, internal cleanliness. The new formula is even a step up from their already outstanding cleanliness levels. Can't say the OEM offering is quite that clean. There marketing suggest the SS is cleaner. That is the only defense with at shelf oil. Nothing wrong with them if you ignore the marketing and OEM 'recommended' OCI and use a thimble full of common sense. You go sir.

Desirable - as in does someone WANT one, aspire to have one. Could reasonably buy any car they want and CHOOSE these instead. I didn't watch the video, why did they win?

The use of absolutes like "always" to describe gear selection, and giving free advice at a boat ramp sounds like a recipe for disaster. It's a boat ramp, not a farm, for starters. IMO gear selection should depend on the obstacle. If low range is working and this is a slower speed, controlled ordeal, I'd keep using that.

I did shorter OCI"s for many years without an issue, fights sludge and wear IMO. Recently started using Amsoil, will not do the recommended/advertised miles between changes.

Very true. However. GM did give those trucks with the single speed case Terrain Mode. Terrain Mode mimics 4LO minus the gear reduction and torque capability. It uses the ABS/braking system to perform the operation. It also gives these one pedal driving (sort of) when in Terrain Mode via the active brake during throttle lift. Does it have its limitations over a true 2 speed case? Sure. But it works.