Oil Changes: your .02 ?

[Christ]

I can't remember when I change my oil, because most of my cars use it at times.

If I'm inclined, I do it. I'm going to start using dino oils again, since the oil just becomes fuel for Herbie.

[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by euromodder

That's downright ridiculous.
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.

I agree it's ridiculous, Kia Canada's service intervals are shorter than anywhere else in the world, as far as I know. They even had the gall to tell me that the oil breaks down just sitting in the car when it isn't being driven. I bet they don't change the oil in every new car that sits on the lot more than 4 months. I think it's just a ploy to either drum up business for their dealers, and/or have an excuse to deny warranty if the schedule isn't followed. My car is actually a Carens in Europe.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by puddleglum

They even had the gall to tell me that the oil breaks down just sitting in the car when it isn't being driven.

That's technically correct - but it's minor and not really an issue over a few months. Short cycles are worse than having the oil sitting there.

I bet they don't change the oil in every new car that sits on the lot more than 4 months.

[sid]

I change mine about every six months. Since I don't drive as much as many do, that is only about 3500 to 4000 miles between changes. The oil is pretty dirty every time I change it, so I feel a lot more comfortable getting all that dirt out of my engine.

[Christ]

For the record, you can't determine how dirty or worn your oil is by its color.

[Joenavy85]

Originally Posted by Christ

For the record, you can't determine how dirty or worn your oil is by its color.

Yep, need chemical analysis to know for sure. I've never really looked at motor oil to compare old and new, but Lube Oil on the ship would be the color of Lipton Green Tea when new (slight yellow tint) and after about a year it would be a deep brown tint, at which point we would do a chemical test on it. Typically, if we could see light through the sample bottle (a glass 8oz. french square bottle) then it was good, assuming there were no metal particles visable.

[puddleglum]

A good oil should grab the dirt and combustion by products and hold them in suspension. This will make the oil look dirty, even if it may have some useful life left.

I agree that short trips and cold engine operation are much harder on the oil and the engine than longer ones. Oil won't last near as long with lots of short trips. My first experience with syn. oil, I was advised that it should be good for 15,000km. Well, I took their advice, and didn't change my oil for the next 2.5 years(read young and foolish). It rarely ran more than ten minutes at a time, and by the time I changed the oil, my engine was so full of rust from condensation that it was almost ruined.
I now do my best to make sure the car gets warmed up as often as possible and it isn't driven on a daily basis. I'm thinking that a good synthetic oil could probably handle an annual OCI. I will probably stick with 6 months though until the warranty runs out.

[Dunkler]

In my wife's 2003 Honda Pilot we change the oil between every 7,500 - 10k miles. It has been that way since the vehicle was brand new. We always use Quaker State 5W20 (Dino). We have never had a single issue. This vehicle now has around 234,000 miles on it and runs the way it did when it rolled off the lot. I am going to do the same thing in my Fit.

At my work we drive a big Diesel rig. We change its oil every 12.5k miles as the manual suggests.

[Cxserver]

That is way to far for quakerstste usually. Quaker Dosnt have as strong add pack as it's penzoil partner. I would be more confident with a stronger oil for that long. Ever look under the valve cover or cam shafts? Maybe you would be the first to prove with a oil analysise that no damage was done internally with that oil. Change alot of peoples minds with proof haha.

[Dunkler]

^ I would tend to agree with you IF my vehicles had any mechanical issues, but they don't. I am going to look into this oil analyses for the Pilot.

This is not to say that you are wrong however... I know a guy who scoffed at the idea of EVER changing your oil. He drove a mid 90's GMC Jimmy for close to 300k miles on, literally, just a couple of oil changes... The motor did finally seize, but that's a load of miles on just a couple of oil changes. The guy is a surgeon here in Arkansas and he said that when he bought it he changed the oil and his wife took it to be serviced once, where naturally they changed the oil. He swears up and down that's the only times the oil was ever changed.

EDIT: Just ordered an analyses kit from Black Stone Labs