[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Oil change question (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/22/2015 10:06:27 PM EDT
| How important is time vs mileage? I have a vehicle that is driven less that 5,000 miles a year - driven daily but for very short distances. The recommended oil change is 10,000 miles or 6 months. If at six months it has only been driven say 2,000 miles is it good to go another six months, or is the passage of time important to oil? |
| Our driving habits are similar. About 5 miles one way to work, just enough to get it to operating temp. Once a week we take a longer ride to go shopping. Our truck is a 2003 with 65,000 miles and I had to replace the muffler last year. Other than that no repairs out of normal maintenance with yearly oil changes at about 6k miles with mobil one oil. |
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Years back when I worked for a dealer the consensus among the mechanics was every three months or 3 thousand miles, which ever came first.
But that was with conventional oil, with the new synthetic oils I go with the every 3 thousand miles and don't worry about time. |
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Every 4 months, because nasty things happen to vehicles like yours. Acid is one of them. I have one that is in a similar situation, and I run 100% synthetic in it and change it every 4 months. Its cheaper than an engine or a new vehicle. It depends how long those trips are. If it just a few long trips your fine. A bunch of short ones you dont get the engine to full operating temp. Makes for more contaminates and condensation. |
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Is your other past time setting $100 bills on fire to light your cuban cigars? Quoted:
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Religious about three months for me. No matter what kind of oil in the crank case. Oil never sees more than 2,000 miles in my vehicle 
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Is your other past time setting $100 bills on fire to light your cuban cigars? Quoted:
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Religious about three months for me. No matter what kind of oil in the crank case. Oil never sees more than 2,000 miles in my vehicle I'm curious as well. Do you pay someone to dispose of your hookers or do you do the dirty work yourself? |
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Many modern vehicles are up to operating temps. within a couple miles. My 2005 Silverado and 2011 Genesis Coupe are. On the other hand my 1990 F150 took almost 15 miles to get up to operating temps. Just a quick comparison.
I run Mobile 1 and change oil and filters every 6,000 miles. My Genesis owner's manual recommends regular oil and oil/filter changes every 7,500 miles. I would not run regular oil that long/far, never have. The only vehicles I have regular oil in are my 81 Z28 and 86 IROC. Every 3,000 miles the oil/filter get changed. Which means they haven't been changed in several years. I check the dip stick on them and the oil is still light brown/green with no discoloration from water condensation. My IROC has just over 186,000 miles on it but hasn't been driven more than a couple hundred miles in the last 4 years. We tore down the 350 out of my 73 Laguna a few years back. It had sat for 10 years without being started. The lobes on the cam shaft, the bearing journals and the cylinder walls were as clean/shiny as when new. I wish my son had taken pictures of it (we used the 4 bolt main bearing block to build a 327 for his Camaro). I can't tell you what will work for you, I just know what has worked for me. I will change the 4 year old oil in my IROC one of these days, and the 15 year old oil in my 81 Z28, just not today. The Coupe is due for an oil change and it's a pain in the butt, so I'll probably only get it done, today. |
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Unless you are talking severe conditions, extreme cold, extreme hot, or hauling shit all of the time, I would change it every 10K and not worry about it. Generally speaking, mileage and time limits imposed by auto and oil companies are very conservative and mostly designed to make them more money.
I use the cheapest conventional oil I can find in my 1997 Blazer and change it every 5000 miles. The truck is just shy of 305,000 miles on the original engine and transmission and it runs perfectly. If I bothered to use synthetic, I would push the interval to 10,000. |
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I didnt read the replies, but I drive my truck less then 3000 miles a year. I change it twice a year no matter what. Its an older truck with high miles, I also use Lucas Oil Treatment each oil change. Going on 155k and still kicking ( 84 K5 )
If Im going on a trip that is atleast 2000 miles long, depending on last oil change, itll either get changed before or after the trip. |
| Or, you could spend 25 bucks to have an oil sample analyzed, and know for sure... |
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How important is time vs mileage? I have a vehicle that is driven less that 5,000 miles a year - driven daily but for very short distances. The recommended oil change is 10,000 miles or 6 months. If at six months it has only been driven say 2,000 miles is it good to go another six months, or is the passage of time important to oil? If you use a quality synthetic blend oil you would be fine changing the oil once per year. You may want to take the vehicle on a highway a couple times a month for ~30-40 miles to properly warm up the oil and burn off oil deposits. |
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Unless you are talking severe conditions, extreme cold, extreme hot, or hauling shit all of the time, I would change it every 10K and not worry about it. Generally speaking, mileage and time limits imposed by auto and oil companies are very conservative and mostly designed to make them more money. I use the cheapest conventional oil I can find in my 1997 Blazer and change it every 5000 miles. The truck is just shy of 305,000 miles on the original engine and transmission and it runs perfectly. If I bothered to use synthetic, I would push the interval to 10,000. By definition short trips are severe conditions at least in the owners manuals I have read. |
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Oil tests make sense in things like big diesel trucks and equipment that takes a lot of oil and expensive filters. I have several things that take 5 gallons of oil and $20 or more filters. Most passenger cars you can change the oil for $25 if you do it yourself. I am not saying oil tests are a bad idea they can tell you a lot about a motor but in OP's case I would just change it twice a year using regular Dino oil. |
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By definition short trips are severe conditions at least in the owners manuals I have read. Quoted:
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Unless you are talking severe conditions, extreme cold, extreme hot, or hauling shit all of the time, I would change it every 10K and not worry about it. Generally speaking, mileage and time limits imposed by auto and oil companies are very conservative and mostly designed to make them more money. I use the cheapest conventional oil I can find in my 1997 Blazer and change it every 5000 miles. The truck is just shy of 305,000 miles on the original engine and transmission and it runs perfectly. If I bothered to use synthetic, I would push the interval to 10,000. By definition short trips are severe conditions at least in the owners manuals I have read. I don't care what the sales manual, I mean owner's manual states. I purposely left that out of my definition of extreme conditions. |
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Quoted: 3k or less for you, your usage would fall under harsh usage by the manufacture. Short trip driving is hard on the car and the oil. The oil will get dirty quickly. Change it at 3000 miles, as haas been suggested. Your car will have a longer lifespan, if you do. |
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Many modern vehicles are up to operating temps. within a couple miles. My 2005 Silverado and 2011 Genesis Coupe are. On the other hand my 1990 F150 took almost 15 miles to get up to operating temps. Just a quick comparison. I run Mobile 1 and change oil and filters every 6,000 miles. My Genesis owner's manual recommends regular oil and oil/filter changes every 7,500 miles. I would not run regular oil that long/far, never have. The only vehicles I have regular oil in are my 81 Z28 and 86 IROC. Every 3,000 miles the oil/filter get changed. Which means they haven't been changed in several years. I check the dip stick on them and the oil is still light brown/green with no discoloration from water condensation. My IROC has just over 186,000 miles on it but hasn't been driven more than a couple hundred miles in the last 4 years. We tore down the 350 out of my 73 Laguna a few years back. It had sat for 10 years without being started. The lobes on the cam shaft, the bearing journals and the cylinder walls were as clean/shiny as when new. I wish my son had taken pictures of it (we used the 4 bolt main bearing block to build a 327 for his Camaro). I can't tell you what will work for you, I just know what has worked for me. I will change the 4 year old oil in my IROC one of these days, and the 15 year old oil in my 81 Z28, just not today. The Coupe is due for an oil change and it's a pain in the butt, so I'll probably only get it done, today. I used to think that until I bought a car that comes with a oil temp gauge from the factory. You would be shocked at how long it takes the oil to get to op temp vs. the coolant. |
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Short trip driving is hard on the car and the oil. The oil will get dirty quickly. Change it at 3000 miles, as haas been suggested. Your car will have a longer lifespan, if you do. Quoted:
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3k or less for you, your usage would fall under harsh usage by the manufacture. Short trip driving is hard on the car and the oil. The oil will get dirty quickly. Change it at 3000 miles, as haas been suggested. Your car will have a longer lifespan, if you do. yes, 3k for short trip driving. time doesn't matter, no one takes two years to get to 3k. don't know about synthetic... |
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yes, 3k for short trip driving. time doesn't matter, no one takes two years to get to 3k. don't know about synthetic... Quoted:
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3k or less for you, your usage would fall under harsh usage by the manufacture. Short trip driving is hard on the car and the oil. The oil will get dirty quickly. Change it at 3000 miles, as haas been suggested. Your car will have a longer lifespan, if you do. yes, 3k for short trip driving. time doesn't matter, no one takes two years to get to 3k. don't know about synthetic... Im trying to interpret your post. I can only speak from dino oil, all my vehicle have been older, so no need to do synthetics. 1) Time does matter with dino oil, it will break down over time, esp in a motor. 2) I barely put 1000 miles a year on my truck. So, yea there are plenty of ppl with vehicles that dont get driven much, to include show cars, etc that barely put miles on vehicles, infact show car insurance forbids them from putting a bunch of miles on a vehicle. 3) I believe short trips without fully warming up a car will kill it sooner then later. |
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Oils break down over time. I would change every 6 months. No reason to over maintain. But I would not exceed manufactures specifications.
My truck has only accumulated 7k over the last year and 2500 of those miles was an emergency trip. Oil will be changed at the year mark according to manufacturers specs. Feel free to change it as often as you want to. Oil analysis is the only way you will ever know if your oil is GTG. |
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Quoted: How important is time vs mileage? I have a vehicle that is driven less that 5,000 miles a year - driven daily but for very short distances. The recommended oil change is 10,000 miles or 6 months. If at six months it has only been driven say 2,000 miles is it good to go another six months, or is the passage of time important to oil? |
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Which is what I do. And it tells me that my 10K interval on Amsoil Signature is working just fine. |
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Rotella works great for classic flat tappet cams. It has protection that modern oils don't provide for the old carbed engines. Quoted:
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Mobile 1 with WIX filter for gassers Rotella with WIX filter for diesels. I do 10K miles for the gassers. 5K for the diesels. Rotella works great for classic flat tappet cams. It has protection that modern oils don't provide for the old carbed engines. I know nothing about Rotella but how is it better? Ive got an old carb motor that im trying to keep going as long as I can. I usually run Valvoline or Castro high mileage oil with sum Lucas Oil treatment. |
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I change the oil in my truck every other year whether it needs it or not. It may even get synthetic next time. I change the oil in my passat every 10k, which is almost 3 times a year. I'm not sure how water gets into oil if it's a sealed system, maybe if you were to leave the cap off. And I don't get how oil can break down over time, does sitting on the shelf magically keep that from happening before it goes into your engine? Rather than change the oil more often, give the car 30 seconds to warm up before you start moving, and attempt to get it up to operating temp before shutting down. This ensures that everything is staying lubricated which will prevent metal shavings in the first place. It will also help your exhaust system. Exhaust does collect moisture, and not getting it hot enough to evaporate it all out means it will sit there and cause the exhaust system to rust out. |
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My wife has never worked more than 2 miles from home. I drive a work vehicle and before that, worked 1.5 miles from home.
Both vehicles see under 5k a year. I change them once they hit 5k no matter what. Never had any problems with seals, never use any oil, never blew up an engine. |
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I used to think that until I bought a car that comes with a oil temp gauge from the factory. You would be shocked at how long it takes the oil to get to op temp vs. the coolant. Quoted:
Quoted:
Many modern vehicles are up to operating temps. within a couple miles. My 2005 Silverado and 2011 Genesis Coupe are. On the other hand my 1990 F150 took almost 15 miles to get up to operating temps. Just a quick comparison. I run Mobile 1 and change oil and filters every 6,000 miles. My Genesis owner's manual recommends regular oil and oil/filter changes every 7,500 miles. I would not run regular oil that long/far, never have. The only vehicles I have regular oil in are my 81 Z28 and 86 IROC. Every 3,000 miles the oil/filter get changed. Which means they haven't been changed in several years. I check the dip stick on them and the oil is still light brown/green with no discoloration from water condensation. My IROC has just over 186,000 miles on it but hasn't been driven more than a couple hundred miles in the last 4 years. We tore down the 350 out of my 73 Laguna a few years back. It had sat for 10 years without being started. The lobes on the cam shaft, the bearing journals and the cylinder walls were as clean/shiny as when new. I wish my son had taken pictures of it (we used the 4 bolt main bearing block to build a 327 for his Camaro). I can't tell you what will work for you, I just know what has worked for me. I will change the 4 year old oil in my IROC one of these days, and the 15 year old oil in my 81 Z28, just not today. The Coupe is due for an oil change and it's a pain in the butt, so I'll probably only get it done, today. I used to think that until I bought a car that comes with a oil temp gauge from the factory. You would be shocked at how long it takes the oil to get to op temp vs. the coolant. This; Water temp =/= oil temp. A longer trip is needed to get the oil up to operating temp. |
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Quoted:
Is your other past time setting $100 bills on fire to light your cuban cigars? Quoted:
Quoted:
Religious about three months for me. No matter what kind of oil in the crank case. Oil never sees more than 2,000 miles in my vehicle Seriously. Do you change the bolt out on your AR after you shoot 50 rounds? |
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Quoted:
I know nothing about Rotella but how is it better? Ive got an old carb motor that im trying to keep going as long as I can. I usually run Valvoline or Castro high mileage oil with sum Lucas Oil treatment. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Mobile 1 with WIX filter for gassers Rotella with WIX filter for diesels. I do 10K miles for the gassers. 5K for the diesels. Rotella works great for classic flat tappet cams. It has protection that modern oils don't provide for the old carbed engines. I know nothing about Rotella but how is it better? Ive got an old carb motor that im trying to keep going as long as I can. I usually run Valvoline or Castro high mileage oil with sum Lucas Oil treatment. It is because Rotella has a higher level of zinc and phosphorus compared to oil for gas engines. Zinc and phosphorus will damage Cat convertors though. That is one of the reasons companies market "racing" oil. It contains a higher level of ZDDP. |