I change mine every 5k or so and the oil is still clean. Over 100k on a TJ Jeep.

Changing it every 3k is a waste IMO.
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Updated:2006-01-20 16:24:46
’Every 3K Miles’
How often should you change your oil?
By ERIC PETERS


Recommended oil and filter changeout intervals have increased significantly over the past 10 years or so -- to as infrequently as once every 8,000 (or even 10,000 miles or more) in the case of a few vehicles -- vs. once every three months and 3,000 miles or so.


These extended service intervals concern some drivers who worry they may be harming their vehicles or at least pushing them toward a premature date with the crusher.


But in general, there's nothing to worry about.


The reason for the increase in recommended service intervals is twofold. One: Modern engines operate with ever-increasing efficiency -- which has reduced the rate at which oil becomes fouled with harmful byproducts of internal combustion, such as water and unburned fuel. Two: Today's oils are formulated to last much longer -- with better additive packages that extend their service life significantly. This is especially true of synthetic oils -- which many automakers (Mercedes, Chevrolet, Cadillac, etc.) now use in several of their models and which they recommend be used exclusively for best mileage, performance and engine longevity.


For consumers, having to change the oil and filter less often equals less money spent on basic maintenance as well as fewer trips to the dealership for service.


This is good news -- but a few cautionary notes should be remembered:


One, the "maximum recommended interval" listed in your owner's manual (and talked up by the salesman) is just that -- the listed mileage/time interval is the longest you should ever let your vehicle go in between oil and filter changes. Extending the interval beyond the recommended maximum can be penny-wise, but often pound-foolish. "Saving" $40 on a skipped oil change isn't much consolation when you get slapped with a $800 repair down the road caused by sludge buildup inside the engine. The emissions control systems of modern engines can be very sensitive to the buildup of crud -- for example, the crankcase ventilation system. ( Several new cars and trucks are even equipped with onboard electronic oil life monitors that alert the driver when it's time for a change -- which is sometimes well before the scheduled date in the manual.)


Two, you may still need to change your vehicle's oil and filter more often if the type of driving you do falls under the "severe service" or "heavy duty" service schedule listed in the owner's manual. Many people don't realize that today's routine stop-and-go commuting and city-type driving counts as "severe service" -- requiring more frequent oil and filter changes. If you use your car for short trips and rarely drive on the highway at steady state speeds that also may qualify for the shorter changeout intervals.


Three, you must use the specified grade/type of oil. Automakers are very specific about the weight/grade and additive packages you should use in your engine. Failure to use the correct type of oil can lead to poor performance, possibly engine damage -- and could void the terms of your new car warranty. Your owner's manual will contain the information you need to know under "maintenance" -- including specifics about weight, API service ratings and so on.


Finally, check the oil level periodically. This is especially important today, in our self-service world and when you might go six months or more without lifting the hood. All engines -- even those in $100,000 luxury cars -- use some oil as part of normal operation. So the level will fall over time -- and if you let it go too far without a top-off, you could have a very bad day indeed. Few things are more miserable than ruining a $4,000 engine because you failed to add a couple quarts of $2.50 Pennzoil.

Yep, 5K is just fine.

Not if you own an older Toyota V6 engine.....

I agree, plus I can't afford every other week oil changes!

change oil?

hmm... i just add a quart every week...

works for me..

what about age, it takes me a year to reach 5k in my truck, I pushed it to 8 months to change it but it was still kinda clean

Quoted: Yep, 5K is just fine.

+1

I try to change my oil every 3k,but have let it go as far as 4.5k once.I do add slick 50 to my oil twice a year.I drive an 03 gmc sonoma as a work vehicle,I haul a bed full of copier parts,averge over 100 miles a day.

I'm doing 5k w/ Mobil1

My '94 Accord manual says to change the oil every 7,500 miles for stop-and-go city driving

Quoted: Agree - I'm at 5000 miles or sometimes a bit more. 3,000 miles is a profit center for the lube and oil change places.

Cha-CHING.

I do mine every 3K. It only cost $25 so why not, can't hurt.

My BMW was either 10k or 15k between oil changes (according to the factory).  

8quarts of Castrol Synthetic.

Not to Hi-jack much but:      

I have religiously changed my oil every 4-5K for the past 130,000 miles with Mobil 1 5W-30 with PureOne filters and have experienced no problems at all.  Last time I changed oil I let it go about 6500 miles before changing, and lo and behold I only have about 1.5 qts left in the engine (it only holds 3.5 overall - Honda).  

I have since put about 3500 miles on it and have checked it every few days to find NO CHANGES in the oil level.  It doesn't smoke on startup, and I have yet to see blue smoke out of it at any other time.  WHERE THE HELL DID 2 QTS GO ALL OF A SUDDEN???

Bottom line - should I slip up to 10W-30 in an effort to forestall any possible blow-by or leak down??

Opinions please???

every 5K with Mobil 1

The service manual on my 2005 Mustang GT has me changing the oil & filter every 3K. In addition, they have me changing my fuel filter at 15,000, which is odd.

My tacoma owners manual says a 7.5K interval is ok.

Read your manuals to see what the manufacturers consider normal/severe driving.  Most now consider stop and go city driving to be normal, while 10-15 years ago they would have called it severe

I change around 7k

I do have a Toyota though, they don't need oil

My '84 blazer gets fresh oil each month. have to replace what leaked out.

i definately wouldn't wait until 10,000 miles.....i do mine every 3k-it's easier for me to buy oil and a filter than a new engine or new car

just my .02

I would stick with the mfg'r recommendations, unless special circumstances where it was extremely dusty etc.

I'm sticking with the Owner's Manual recommendations until the warranty expires.

They whole penny-wise, pound-foolish thing.

The military has a program where they take a small sample of the oil and test it, then replace it when it actually needs changed.  They normally go a lot longer than 5000 miles.

'95 GMC Suburban, 226,000 miles, change every 3k miles.
'96 Acord, 240,000 miles, change every 3k miles (now have a lower seal starting to give way)
'98 GMC truck, 160,000 miles, change every 3k miles.

At 3k miles the oil is pretty black so I don't push it much past 3k miles. Beside with the high milage i figure its best for the engine and seals.

Quoted: change oil? hmm... i just add a quart every week... works for me..

Well, we just outed an RX-7 driver....

I change the oil(Mobil 1 Truck & SUV) in my VW Golf every 10k miles, per the manufacturer's recommendation.  I used to do pretty harsh driving as far as engine/oil is concerned- my commute was stop and go, and so short that in the winter I wouldn't even get up to operating temp, and then I was taking some weekend trips where I was driving as fast as I could on the highway, so I was hitting both ends of the extremes without anything in between.  I sent the oil in for analysis and they said it was fine.  I usually add about 1/2 quart somewhere between 6k and 8k miles, but that's it.  Filter is changed at 10k when I change the oil.

I've considered installing an additional filter and running to 15k miles since my driving isn't so harsh anymore, but I'll probably just stick to 10k.

I wait for the oil light to come on before I change the oil.

I change the oil ever 3k for the first 15k then every 5k after that.
last three trucks were traded between 150k and 200k without any engine trouble.

Quoted: i definately wouldn't wait until 10,000 miles.....i do mine every 3k-it's easier for me to buy oil and a filter than a new engine or new car just my .02

How much do you pay for oil?  I could see changing more frequently maybe if it was $2-3/qt, but my oil is nearly $5/qt, and I drive 20k miles/yr.  If I changed every 3k, that would be close to $150/yr in oil alone.

I remember reading a debate about synthetic oils, extended drain intervals, etc., and there was one guy claiming to have worked with a huge fleet of vehicles.  He said the only time they ever had any problems were immediately after oil changes- usually a screwed up oil change I guess.  They switched to using better oil and changing less frequently, and their engine failures all but disappeared.  That's just one man's post on the internet, but it's something to think about.  Every time you change the oil, you're taking a chance of overfilling, forgetting to put the new oil in, leaving the drain plug off, stripping the drain plug, etc.  Of course everyone says they'd never do that, but everyone also says they'd never have an accidental/negligent discharge.  It happens.  The less I have to work on the car, the less chance I have of making a mistake.

Quoted: The military has a program where they take a small sample of the oil and test it, then replace it when it actually needs changed.  They normally go a lot longer than 5000 miles.

And the .mil is MUCH harder on their vehicles.  Idling for hours, then some 18 year old kid jumps in and buries the thottle to the floor and then shuts it off for 3 minutes then starts it back up.  The military is harder on vehicles than cops, but cops dont drive diesels either

Every 7,500 or 12 months here.

Bzzzz, over-simplfying and generalization. 5 yards

The interval will vary based on the engine, driving habits, temperature, environment, etc.  Jeep manual has two different maint schedules written out, 7500 and 3000 mile based.  

Low-range, in the summer, with water crossings =/= driving to the salon and back.

OHC high-rpm, high-compression engines =/= cast-iron inline six

etc

A couple years ago consumer reports did a field test on oil changes in taxi cabs.  The took new egines messured all the parts then had the cabs run routes as normal.  Half of the cabs changed oil at 3,000 miles while the others changed at 6,000.  At the end of the test, I forget how many miles they put on but it was substantial, the test showed there was no increase in wear between those that changed oil at 3,000 miles compared to those who changed oil at 6,000 miles.

I change mine about every 6500 miles.  About halfway between the normal and severe recommendation.  I use the cheapest 5W30 I can find.  I've put 130K on my Honda with no problems.  It runs just like when it was new.

I change the oil in my wife's Saturn ever 3500 miles or so.  She can tell when it gets much beyond that, and I've read that many Saturns (her model included) are very sensitive to oil cleanliness.

We won't be buying another Saturn.

Quoted: I'm doing 5k w/ Mobil1

I'm using the 5k Mobil1 5-30

Longer oil change intervals often require you change the filter w/o changing oil as in the case of full synthetics,oil does'nt necessarily go bad it gets dirty and dirt is what does the damage. As for changing your fuel filter every 15,000 miles remember you are pushing 90lbs of pressure for fuel injection not 7lbs for carburation.

5k with dino oil for me.

It's easy to observe the 5k increments on the odometer.

1989 Dodge Dakota small 4 banger 226,585 miles Castrol new every 3,000
1993 Chevrolet Sierra V-6, 199,400 miles Castrol new every 3,000
2000 Chevrolet Z71 V-8, currently 198,691 miles Castrol new every 3,000

I change my oil and filter at home cost less than $20, wash them vacumn them keep them straight to include a clean engine compartment, have never been left walking, get great trade-ins.

The money I would save every 15,000 miles by doing it at 5K instead of 3,000 will not cause me to change a lifetimes habits.  I drive a minimum of 120 miles on a daily basis at highway speeds and simply don't like vehicle problems.

Don't fix what ain't broke

There really are no hard and fast rule for oil changes .
Some engines are more prone to developing sludge then others .
Driving conditions and engine temp are also a factor .

Five years ago I participated in oil analysis program where I
collected samples from vehicles that went through my shop .
Year , make , mileage and engine size were included in the
2400+ samples I submitted .

The results indicated that the oil in vehicles that operated at
higher RPM during cruise showed the most contaminated oil .
The oil itself does not wear out , what happens is the additive
package is used up in the suspension of particulate matter and
the aeration caused by mechanical agitation .

Synthetics fared no better then good quality organics because
they suspend contaminates at the same rate , the only benefit
is they hold on to their additive package longer ( That's why they
suggest filter changes at the same interval as organics )

Bottom line is that oil & filter changes at 3-5K are cheap insurance for
the longevity of your engine .

Quoted: I'm doing 5k w/ Mobil1

Me too...

www.blackstone-labs.com/index.html Used oil analysis is cheap and will tell you everything you want/need to know about your used oil AND they will translate the analysis into terms you can understand and interpret those results for you. If you need to adjust your oil change interval up or down they will tell you. If you have other problems they will tell you. Well worth $20. There is a link on the site for free sample kits thet will mail you and then just return in the provided mailer with check or MO for $20 . Additional tests are available for small upcharge.

subaru STi with synthetic..i change it at 4500..but i do it myself so i really dont mind.

its relatively clean, its kind of like cleaning my guns, it gives me time alone in a nice quiet place :)

Quoted: I do mine every 3K. It only cost $25 so why not, can't hurt.

    Then why not 2500 or 2000 miles ?    What is so special about 3000 mile intervals ?
The people who sell oil, filters and oil changes have conditioned the public to believing that more is always better .    

Quoted: its relatively clean, its kind of like cleaning my guns, it gives me time alone in a nice quiet place :)

Yup, time alone changing the awl. Everyone leaves you alone.

I use Mobil 1 5w-30 in my 01 Sierra Z71 and change it every 3k. No problems.

Quoted: Quoted: I do mine every 3K. It only cost $25 so why not, can't hurt.     Then why not 2500 or 2000 miles ?    What is so special about 3000 mile intervals ? The people who sell oil, filters and oil changes have conditioned the public to believing that more is always better .

Agreed, I was going to ask him the same thing, why not change it every 1,000 miles?  That would be much cheaper than buying a new engine!

I've actually read people saying that oil can perform better after 2,000 miles than when brand new, and changing every 3K miles is a waste.

In old cars with bad manufacturing and tolerances it could be understood why they wanted you to change every 3K, and you could see the metal in that oil to prove it.  But nowadays it's unnecessary, other than to the people making a profit on it.

BTW, to the person who said his Suburban doesn't tell him to change it every 3K, that's not actually a sensor.  It doesn't monitor the oil itself, just the engine RPM over time, temperature, etc. and gives a gross estimate of when to change the oil.  

Quoted: My BMW was either 10k or 15k between oil changes (according to the factory).   8quarts of Castrol Synthetic.

My Mercedes is every 10K.