Hey Y'all:
I'm doing oil changes on 4 vehicles that mostly sit quietly parked. They are as follows:
1985 Ford Econonline 350 Diesel Bus (64k = 3400 miles per year).
1991 Ford Econoline Van (68k = 5200 miles per year).
Pair of 2000 Ford Econoline Vans Trition V8 (22k = 5500 miles per year).
The Bus gets driven about town on Sundays mainly. The old van gets local use. The two newer vans also mainly local trips w/ an occasional road trip. Based on the low miles, I'm doing oil changes at 3 months. I am considering switching from using name brand oil such as Shell, Castrol to economy grade oil such as Unical-Coastal / Advance to save money. So far my research has shown that there on only minor differences in the VI, Pour point, ash %, and zinc% between all the major/minor brand names. Any thoughts/ideas?
Thanks!

P.S. I like being able to practically stand up under the van to change the oil vs my car which seems only about 1/16 of an inch off the ground....

 

Go to the cheapest API SJ/SL (gasser) CH-4/CI-4 (diesel) oil that you can find and change oil/filter twice per year.

With those miles you might be able to get by changing only once per year, but it sounds like you do a lot of short trips that do not get you oil hot. You might get more sludge build up than you want changing only once per year.

 

Go with the diesel rated oil for everything to simplify the process. It'll work great in the gassers too.

 

Yep.

But we don't know where he is. 15w-40 might be kinda thick in January in the Great White North.

 

The public profile shows FL, so 15W-40 in all and all year with annual changes will work. You save about $1 a gallon with generic CI-4/SL vs name brand. I have used PepBoys Proline brand in the old Dodge Ram van (2000 miles a year).

Jim

 

OK. Agree 100%.

 

Thanks for your help, I like the diesel oil in all idea! FL is plenty warm year round!