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Old 03-24-2005, 10:03 AM   #3 (permalink)
cyrnel
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Location: In my angry-dome.
Depends on the engine and the 2000 miles. Carbureted or fuel injected? If the pickup has only driven bunches of short, cold start trips then even a good synthetic could be in trouble dealing with all the condensation & fuel dilution. On the other hand, if you burned off contaminants once a week with 15minute drives then the oil might have been in great shape.

Don't give visual inspection much weight. Fuel or water contamination will wipe out the additive package without doing much to the appearance. You can also have the smallest amount of soot contamination that makes oil look terrible when it still has 10K miles left.

Each engine with its set of operating circumstances is unique. If it were mine, and more important than a wheelbarrow, I'd have a single end-of-season oil analysis done to see how the workload/storage routine is affecting the oil. That'll let you guide future changes based on chemistry instead of rules-of-thumb that break down with unusual workloads.

Consider using a diesel engine oil. The additive packages are much stronger than provided by just about any gasolne oil so they hold up to contaminants from oddball miles proportionally longer. Or, drain a little and top up with a fresh quart every six months. More than likely you'll be safe going out to 2yrs if you replenish it this way. Still though, no way to know without the analysis or if you begin to see effects of pushing too far.
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