Oil change question

[TDs3nOut]

I think that the rule of thumb is to change the oil in a car every 3,000 miles or every three months, whichever comes first. Until recently I had always driven more than 3,000 miles per three months, so I changed the oil every 3,000 miles. I'm now only driving about 2,000 miles in three months, so I'm wondering whether it's any better for the car to change the oil after three months than, say, every four months, without driving 3,000 miles.

 

[obxyankeefan]

I think that the rule of thumb is to change the oil in a car every 3,000 miles or every three months, whichever comes first. Until recently I had always driven more than 3,000 miles per three months, so I changed the oil every 3,000 miles. I'm now only driving about 2,000 miles in three months, so I'm wondering whether it's any better for the car to change the oil after three months than, say, every four months, without driving 3,000 miles.

I do mine every 5000 miles and have never had any issues, normally that is about every 5 months.

Read the operators manuel in your car. New cars are built to go longer without oil changes and the manufactor will put in there what they recommand.


yes my spelling sucks.

 

[outofyourmind]

how old is your car and how long are you going to keep it, because fuck the next guy.

 

[fknhippie]

Stop Changing Your Oil! - Edmunds.com

 

[TDs3nOut]

Thanks for both of the above informative replies. After checking my owner's manual, which I obviously should have already done, and learning that the recommended upper bound between oil changes is twice what's specified by the old rule of thumb, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have wasted a lot of money over the years and unnecessarily produced a lot of waste oil. At least the Edmunds article makes it clear that a lot of others do the same.

 

[outofyourmind]

go with synthetic and a high mileage filter and go 10,000 miles between oil changes.

 

[JohnRandle]

Oil these days doesn't break down as fast as the oil of the past.
Back in the day it was more important to not go beyond 3 months, because the oil wouldn't last longer than that. Now I go about 5000 miles between changes.

 

[outofyourmind]

It's funny that people will over service their engine oil and never think about changing the transmission fluid or rear end fluid or their coolant.

 

[HammerDown]

All my vehicles are over 100,000 miles and here's what I do when I change the oil. (this is after a decent amount of mechanical experience and talking to many, many mechanics with many years of experience and combining what I learned.)

1.) I drain the oil. For a very long time. I let it drain AT LEAST overnight. Why? Because it will continue to drip for many hours and you want all the dirt out. Better question is Why not?! "Quick Change" oil places will often keep half a quart of used oil because they only let it drain for a few minutes at best.

2.) I only use full synthetic (my preferred brand is Castrol) and...

3.) most importantly, based on the mileage of the vehicle, I use up to 60% capacity Lucas Oil. I saw a demonstration at a SEMA Show that sold me forever. This stuff actually penetrates the metal and has to be machined off. It will improve viscosity and heat transfer.

I go 15,000 miles between oil changes and just did one on my Excursion after 15,700 miles and the oil that drained out still had plenty of viscosity.

Mechanics will laugh their ass off at the notion that oil needs to be changed after 3,000 miles and especially that it would break down after a few months whether used or not. That's a lie.

 

[tzorn10]

I'm stuck in my ways. Still change mine every 3000 miles. I use Mobil 1 synthetic in my new truck because its a GM and the manual calls for a Dexos oil and I dont want to screw the warranty up if something were to happen. My Tahoe and Honda gets regular dino oil. Probably should go longer in between intervals, but its a habit.

 

[fordman84]

I've been a Penzoil man since I first helped my dad change the oil. Here in Texas its 10w30 all the time. I know some cars say 5w30, but I never stray from 10w and no issues.

A couple of other things...Hammer, man, you are wasting your money on that Lucas Snake Oil. Unless you have a wornout engine, it isn't do any good. You aren't in a cold environment so you aren't doing any harm, but Lucas only works to "thicken" up the oil. bumping up to a 15w would do the same

outofyourmind...gotta be careful with changing transmission fluids. If you do it yourself, you will be fine. You pay someone else to do it on a car that is over 75k miles and you just started the clock on transmission failure. That "reverse flush" is a bad bad idea for older cars. Gunk and grime have settled into the transmission, out of the way of the paths and valves. Then you pressure back flush it and mix all that up, and you didn't even change the tranny filter? That clock is now ticking. If you do it yourself you can drop the pan and change the filter, or what a lot of new cars now have are transmissinos that can't be opened. The right way to flush that is to pull those coolant lines, drop one in an empty bucket and the other in a full container of new fluid, and let it pull the new stuff through. Uses a LOT of fluid to "flush" out the old stuff, but it won't mess anything up or knock anything loose.

 

[HammerDown]

A couple of other things...Hammer, man, you are wasting your money on that Lucas Snake Oil. Unless you have a wornout engine, it isn't do any good. You aren't in a cold environment so you aren't doing any harm, but Lucas only works to "thicken" up the oil. bumping up to a 15w would do the same

I disagree. I went to a seminar on the stuff at a SEMA Show one year and it's the best thing you can do to extend the life of an engine. Like I said, all my vehicles are now over 100,000 miles. I don't buy new vehicles but if I did and had used synthetic since day 1 I probably wouldn't use Lucas til about 150,000 miles. Contrary to popular opinion, it has nothing to do with the weight of the oil and won't affect it at all. It bonds to the metal and makes the oil super viscous and aids in heat transfer. The data is strong and undeniable.

I interviewed a guy when I was writing for an auto blog who ran the Baja 1000 in a $300 BMW. He did compression tests before and after using 70% capacity Lucas Oil and what the stuff did was miraculous.

No, it's not for new engines.

 

[HammerDown]

I'm stuck in my ways. Still change mine every 3000 miles. I use Mobil 1 synthetic in my new truck because its a GM and the manual calls for a Dexos oil and I dont want to screw the warranty up if something were to happen. My Tahoe and Honda gets regular dino oil. Probably should go longer in between intervals, but its a habit.

Can you please hold on to that synthetic with only 3000 miles on it? I'll swing by and pick it up to use on my next oil change.

 

[fordman84]

I disagree. I went to a seminar on the stuff at a SEMA Show one year and it's the best thing you can do to extend the life of an engine. Like I said, all my vehicles are now over 100,000 miles. I don't buy new vehicles but if I did and had used synthetic since day 1 I probably wouldn't use Lucas til about 150,000 miles. Contrary to popular opinion, it has nothing to do with the weight of the oil and won't affect it at all. It bonds to the metal and makes the oil super viscous and aids in heat transfer. The data is strong and undeniable.

I interviewed a guy when I was writing for an auto blog who ran the Baja 1000 in a $300 BMW. He did compression tests before and after using 70% capacity Lucas Oil and what the stuff did was miraculous.

No, it's not for new engines.

Hey, it works for you and not doing any damage. I just personally think you are tossing $12 away with each oil change. Plus, have you ever seen your oil before it cools down with that stuff in it? It's like foam, all aerated. It will scare the piss out of you (looks like water in the oil) if you don't know someone has put Lucas or a similar additive to it.

 

[fordman84]

Can you please hold on to that synthetic with only 3000 miles on it? I'll swing by and pick it up to use on my next oil change.

no kidding, especially that dexos1 stuff. I think it has gold dissolved in it, or else they just charge enough to make me think that.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Oil these days doesn't break down as fast as the oil of the past.
Back in the day it was more important to not go beyond 3 months, because the oil wouldn't last longer than that. Now I go about 5000 miles between changes.

Yeah I wait for the 5000 mark now a days also. Your just a sucker for the hype to do it sooner.

 

[pistlpete]

I bought a 1987 Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe show car from a person in L.A. 6 years ago. He used 20/50 wt oil for the 383 stroker engine. I've been using the same weight oil up here near Seattle. I only drive it on dry days, so it only puts on about a 1,000 miles a year. Should I go to a lower weight oil because of the temperature difference between L.A and Seattle? Also I change it once a year.

 

[JohnRandle]

Holy Shit!
20 weight oil?
I would try a 15 or 10 weight and see if it burns it. You don't live in the heat of L A.
If you switch and it burns oil. you know you bought a bad engine.

 

[JohnRandle]

And nice car BTW, I've always like the Monte Carlos.
My wife had a '74 when we were dating, and I've liked them since.

 

[JohnRandle]

And I use 10/40 in my car. I put about 500 mile a year on it, and change the oil once a year.