Oil Changes: your .02 ? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Rusty Marina · 06-16-2011, 12:41 AM

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.

tjts1 · 06-16-2011, 01:23 AM

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

SentraSE-R · 06-16-2011, 01:27 AM

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.

Frank Lee · 06-16-2011, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty Marina

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.

None of this is new; it's been this way for decades but it appears nobody got the memo.

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?

War_Wagon · 06-16-2011, 02:16 AM

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.

Frank Lee · 06-16-2011, 02:22 AM

That makes no sense at all.

War_Wagon · 06-16-2011, 02:29 AM

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.

Frank Lee · 06-16-2011, 03:01 AM

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.

jakobnev · 06-16-2011, 06:32 AM

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)

basjoos · 06-16-2011, 07:20 AM

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.