Oil Changes: your .02 ?
 

They now say 3000 mile oil changes are no longer needed with the newer oils and now we can go 5000 miles.

Anyone doing this and has anyone noticed better economy by switching to Synthetic oil ?

Maybe it's my old thinking but I still keep at 3000 miles despite the fact my service van is mostly highway miles.

Synthetic oil, once a year, don't pay attention to the miles, top it off as needed.

Ditto to tjts' post re: annual synthetic changes, and I don't stress out if 15 months go by and I still haven't changed the oil.

None of this is new; it's been this way for decades but it appears nobody got the memo. :rolleyes: Well, it does take a lot of work to crack open that Owner's Manual so we can hardly expect motorists to do all that. And there you are, you have the information and STILL you cling to the old spec for no other reason than... what? Habit? That's what Grandpa did? :confused:

I would be more concerned about your filter than your oil. Synthetics are great, but a crappy filter can still cause problems. I have actually run synthetic and just changed the filter instead of the oil, and topped up as needed. But on dino oil I still try to change it at 3000 miles for what it's worth. Probably not needed, but it is cheap insurance.

That makes no sense at all. :rolleyes:

I agree the 3000 mile thing makes no sense, but it is a hard habit to break. That's why I try to run synthetic, it gets around the old habits. I guess a lot of ecomodding is trying to change old habits, I still fumble once in a while.

I mean changing the filter. Unless you drive around with no oil cap on, what do you think is contaminating the oil to the degree that filter capacity is used up?

I have a Chrysler Owner's Manual that actually recommends changing the filter every OTHER oil change... and why not? I've never in almost 40 years of changing oil come across a filter that was anywhere near plugged up or compromised from sediment or sludge or whatever. And on all except the most abused equipment, there isn't much for sediments in the drain pan either.

What is a crappy filter anyway? Heck, I have quite a few engines that have no filter at all. The new '55 Chevy small-block V8 even came with no filter. Not saying having no filter is a good thing; just saying it isn't as critical as recreational oil changers make it out to be.

Frequent oil changes, SUV's, circumcisions, diamonds, toilet water coloring, bottled water, all rubbish that people buy due to clever marketing. (I'm sure the list can be made very long)

The thing that normally wears out in motor oils is the residual alkalinity. Motor oil starts out with a pH of 9 to 10 and then it gradually drops in pH as acidic combustion byproducts gradually accumulate in the oil. Eventually these acidic byproducts use up all of the pH buffering agants in the oil and and the oil pH drops. When the pH gets below 6, the oil needs to be changed since its acidity then starts corroding the inside of the engine. So you can check the oil's pH and change it when it goes below 6.

Had a Hyundai Elantra on Amsoil Synthetic and changed the oil like 18 times in 136k. Used like a quart every 5k like it did from day one.

Modern gasoline engines burn really clean, so that the 3000 mile oil change is really a joke. Gotta keep the oil change places busy I guess.

If you want to do something, get a sample of the engine oil and get it analyzed. Then base your changes on that. Save you a ton of money and you can track the condition of the engine.

My civic vx owners manual says 7,500 miles, 3,000 if you drive city traffic, short trips, dirt roads or are towing.
Most car's owners manuals I read say 7,500 miles.

My Kia Rio owners manual says unless you race and have a pit crew, it's a waste of money to change oil more than every 5000 miles. I tried synthetic on a car before, couldn't tell the mileage difference so I stopped spending the big bucks.

Switched the wifes '90 Century to the store brand at Advance Auto Parts back in the mid-90's and change it and teh filter at 6000 miles. It's over 183,000 now and consumes almost no oil.

my manual says 3,000, I change the Oil every 5,000, and the filter every 10,000. I'm changing both this weekend at 85,000 to get on a even number.

• 3K for dyno-juice

• 8K for synthetic

I change my synthetics every 12-15k (usually depends if its a nice day out or if I have a big trip looming). I always change the fiter when I do this. I run alot of ethenol, so I sometimes change my filter (and top off) between oil changes. This may not be needed, but it makes me feel better and my oil comes out looking cleaner. My s10 burns about 1 qt every 8k or so, so I usually replace the filter when I do the top off.
Some guys give me flack for changing my oil so infrequently, and others say I'm wasting cash on the filter change (too frequently). I'm inclined to believe from what I've seen in my engines that I'm certainly doing them no harm with this formula. I really should have my oil alalyzed next time I change just to see if my present interval/oil filter swap is working effectively.

Hold on there chief:

They used to say 7500 and 10000 miles even in the 1970s; but oil has got so much better and todays engines run much cleaner.
My old carbed FE powered Ford pickup has always had dirty oil at 2,000 miles (Even after I rebuilt it in 1990; it was even balanced with new valves) while my service van with a fuel injected engine still looks faily clean at 3,000 miles.
Friend bought a new Escort back in '89 and changed oil at 7,500 miles.
before it his 90,000 it was being rebuilt.
It sludged up the engine and the wear was so bad they had to bore it 040 over because it would not clean up at 030
Id think with todays oils it would have survived.
Also, modern engines have much tighter clearances; I could not imagine running 5W-20 in my '72 390 Ford. Get a micrometer/dial bore gage out on a 2011 car and compare it to a 1971 right off the assembly line

I'm 95% sure that the AAP house brand is Havoline if anybody is interested.

I know a few years ago that Walmarts Supertech conventional was Quaker State and their filters were fram economy filters (same as alot of part houses cheapo filters). They may have switched vendors in the last 5 years or so.

O'rielley's house brand was Quaker State as well (this is what i was told by their commercial vendor anyway) about 4-5 years ago as well.

I just thought I would throw this in there because alot of people seem aprehensive about house brand oils...

How do you know it was dirty?

I haven't looked up my my intervals in a few years, but I think it was 7500/3000 miles depending on the type of usage. I changed it at 1000 and every 3000 (give or take) since then. I change the filter more often than not, but I can get them at a pretty good price.

My small turbo engine consumes oil, so at the very least I would have to top it up regularly. I don't really like doing that, and since changing it isn't all that hard I just keep on changing it. I don't go with synthetic because of the cost and I'd heard a lot of complaints that these engines went through it faster than dino.

My Civic Hybrid has a display showing when to change the oil based on mileage and driving conditions. Below 30% and you should change the oil.

Honda recommends 100% synthetic, but apparenly the oil filter manufactures have changed (to a worst design), so I stockpiled a few of the older filters.

Jiffy Lube has public buffaloed on the 3K change theme.

Madison avenue magic

I use Napa Gold filters and Mobil 1 Synthetic oil once a year. I only drive about 5,000 miles a year so I could probably go longer. I think i'll make that every two years after reading this thread.

Lots of things can happen in theat 1 year oil change.What about fuel dilution? Randomly going 12000 + kms because the oil "can" go that far, seems odd to me. I would at least get a oil analysis to check if damage is not being done to the engine. One thing to save $ but at what cost?

I did look around bobistheoilguy.com and a bunch of 1 year analysis shows that different engines cant just go that far.

I just follow my manual. 8000 kms on regular oil i get on sale. Costs $15 a change.

Valid point. I kind of touched on that myself in an earlier post here a little. I run various blends of ethenol...which is known to dilute oil to a greater extent then e-free gas. most of us that intentionally run ethenol blends know the risks and tend to adjust their oil change intervals accordingly.

Of course lots of other things in your fuel will make it past your ring and dillute your oil over time. Some of these things are suspended in your oil as a solid and filtered out by the filter. Some of them are not.

If you don't feel comfortable going past the service change on you car, then don't. It's just not worth the headache of worrying about it. I just hope that in the future the perception shifts (along with the engineering in the engine and oil) to such that everyone can go a loooooong way on one crankcase of oil.

Oils getting mighty expensive (no matter the flavor: synthetic, conventional, etc) so I want to get my full use out of it.

When my dad bought a new Mercury Montego in 1968 Ford recommended 6000 mile change interval, but somewhere along the way Ford revised their recommended change interval to 5000 miles, because that's the recommended change interval in my '88, '94, '96, 97, and '02 Fords. My dad also purchased a new Mercury Grand Marquis in '99 which also has a 5000 mile recommended change interval.

I bought a new Buick Regal in 1977 and at that time GM recommended 7500 mile change interval.

I Use different change intervals on my cars, using 3000 mile interval when they are new and the engine is still breaking in and may have some metal shavings from break in, then usually go to 4000-5000 afterward. My '88 Escort Pony with 516,000 miles uses/leaks a quart about every 1000 miles, so I strain and use the oil I drain out of the better cars for topping off oil in it and give it an oil/filter change every 10,000 miles. I've cut filters open even after 10,000 miles and have never seen one that appeared to be clogged. I use conventional oil in all my cars.

Mobil 1 every 5k and a new filter every 10k. I do it in the garage, both cars use the same filter. Engines are spotlessly clean and I only fill to the middle of the dipstick. Neither car looses any oil between changes and no leaks or I would see a spot on the garage floor.

I save the used oil and take it to my old shop where they burn it for heat in the winter.

Regards
Mech

I only accumulate 12,000 miles/year on my xB, and half of it is on long highway trips (including a 7300 mile cross-country trip, and 2900 miles in the last month). The rest is 20+ mile trips: light duty driving, in other words. That's why I feel comfortable stretching my oil change intervals.

If we had a balance scale, with engines damaged by not enough oil changing on one side, and perfectly good oil thrown out by excessive changing on the other, what would it look like?

My dad takes his used oil to a friend who has an oil fired Live Steam Locomotive ( Bitter Creek Western Railroad (BCWRR): An S.P. Daylight is Loaded for the Trip Home )that he runs from time to time. Not as useful as using it for heat, but if he's going to burn oil anyway, might as well get some use out of it first.

I let the last oil change go for ~12,000 miles in my CRX. The UOA showed lots of wear metals. In part, I blame the long interval. I think I'll be going back to 5,000 mile intervals.

-soD

Send a sample off to these guys: Blackstone Labs in the free bottle they send you, and they'll figure out how long your oil is lasting, acidity, metals, dirt, viscosity, flashpoint, fuel, antifreeze, etc. On their advice I've stretched my oil changes from 4,000 miles out to 7,500 miles on the allroad, which takes over 7 quarts of synthetic per change. The savings in oil money more than paid for the analysis, and I can tell myself I'm not hurting the (very expensive) turbos.

I just went to Autozone to get some oil, and they had a large banner over the shelves they have the oil that something along the line of change your engine oil every 3000 or 3 months, whichever comes first. lol

They also have "Tornados" on the shelf, and a "K&N" demonstration device on the counter. So that's the quality of advice they give out.

In Europe, we get 12,500 and 19,000 mile service / oil intervals on modern cars, say 2000 and later.

3,000 mile oil changes are so 1980s.

Kia Canada demands that oil be changed every 4 months or 5000miles whichever comes first to maintain warranty. Considering how little I drive my car, I've pushed it to six months, but I may look into oil sampling. It's probably no cheaper than changing oil, but I'd have the benefit of knowing if there were signs of wear in the engine and have some data to back up a longer service interval. I've only put on 3000 miles in the last 11 months so 4 month changes are overkill.

I never use the length of time for oil changes only mileage. My '97 Escort only has 32K miles and in 14 years I've changed the oil (conventional) 10 times since it was new. I do 3K mile changes on it simply because it isn't used a lot.

6 quarts of Mobil 1 and a Mopar filter from Walmart - $35

Not too terrible really, but I would be interested in knowing how my oil is doing at 4k miles and if it really needs to be changed or not. Does anybody know if there is a cheap pH test you can do on your oil? Mine is always black when it's oilchange time, but that doesn't really mean it's used up.

That's downright ridiculous. :mad:
The service interval in Belgium is at least twice the distance, and 3 times as many months !

They could halve the environmental impact of their servicing in a heartbeat !

They'll be able to read French I guess , here's the Belgian maintenance schedule.
Your Rondo would be a Rio here by the looks of it.

Intervalles d'entretien | Kia Motors Belgium

And yes, we do get the 7 year / 150,000 km warranty as well.

Taken from: How often should I change motor oil? - Business - Consumer news - ConsumerMan - msnbc.com

I disagree with the filter changing comment of "You don’t want to contaminate the new oil with the gunk that’s in the old filter.". If the filter caught it before, why would it all of a sudden release it?

As far as the comment "If you add oil, don’t overfill" I do agree with that. On US Navy ships if you fill the main reduction gear sump too high the Bull Gear (the largest gear, attached to the propeller shaft) will contact the oil and cause "churning" which causes aeration of the oil which can lead to fluctuations in oil pressure to the bearings; all of which I myself have seen. I would imagine something similar would/could happen due to the crankshaft striking oil in the pan.

We had a guy once who kept spitting oil out past his head gaskets. Eventually someone checked his dipstick: he had one, but it was from another vehicle. It was too short and the engine was way overfilled. They got him the right dipstick and never had to replace another head gasket.