How often does oil really need to be changed?

[BLACK KNIGHT]

I normally change my oil on my vehicles every 3000 miles. I don't normally go 3 months...but since I don't drive my Trans Am very much I just noticed that Im 2 weeks over the 3 month mark to have the oil changed. I have driven less than 2000 miles. I drive it at least once a week I just don't drive it that far 'cuz I work 4 miles from my house. So does the oil really start to break down after 3 months? Or is that just propaganda fed to us by greedy oil companies?

[Fenster]

I don't worry about the 3 month mark b/c w/ the Trans Am I never drive 3,000 in 3 months. The SS I do about that much so I change it regularly. The thing to worry about isn't really the 3000 miles on the oil. Its the filter that is something to worry about. I normally go about 3-4k but don't worry about having to hit that 3k mark. I use full synthetic though, and normally at 3k miles it still isn't dirty.

[Trevor86TA]

A guy on a local forum posted asking for help. He had 4995kms on the clock since the last oil change and was 12kms away from the dealership that he normally had service done at.:lol: :poke:

[ryanws6]

The oil is not what I would worry about. It is the carbon build up since very small trips tend to build up carbon. You hardly get the car into operating temp. If anything your oil would last longer since it is not taking the daily traffic abuse. I wouldn't let it go over 6mos.

[Transamman25]

Well i always taste it .. thats why i run royal purple it seems to taste better than the rest of em . so when it starts to taste a little funny like motor oil i change it .. just my .02 cents

[Fenster]

Well i always taste it .. thats why i run royal purple it seems to taste better than the rest of em . so when it starts to taste a little funny like motor oil i change it .. just my .02 cents

While RP may taste great... Redline is less filling... something to think about... :thumbsup: :lol:

Tell me you are freaking kidding about the tasting it part!!! :eek: You do realize that there is a reason is illegal to dump oil just anywhere b/c of contaminants in the used oil? Maybe that explains a few things... :eureka:

[Bill]

Well i always taste it .. thats why i run royal purple it seems to taste better than the rest of em . so when it starts to taste a little funny like motor oil i change it .. just my .02 cents


:screwy:

[Bill]

I change mine every 1500 or so.

[Red Devil]

It's not carbon build up nor 'break down' of the oil that the three month mark is for, it is for the acids, moisture and various chemical reactions within the oil that happen due to the presumable low milage trips made with the vehicle.

That said, if you have synthetic and your trips are long enough to bring your engine up to temp each time then you likely do not have to worry about the 3 month mark. Conventional oil could likely be pushed out some as well, however, if your trips are short and you barely get it up to temp, then you will have issues.

That's the short simplified version so I don't get yelled at. :lol:

[Transamman25]

Oh .. yall dont taste yer oil ?? yea me neither , that would be bad .. lmao .. Although i have noticed a strange after taste with the redline .. kinda like avocado dip .. they need to work on it , ive sent emails still it taste the same .. I guess .. Have fun yall

[BLACK KNIGHT]

U guys r a trip! Okay, well I'll probably go get an oil change this weekend just to be safe.

[warriorrun]

It's not carbon build up nor 'break down' of the oil that the three month mark is for, it is for the acids, moisture and various chemical reactions within the oil that happen due to the presumable low milage trips made with the vehicle.

That said, if you have synthetic and your trips are long enough to bring your engine up to temp each time then you likely do not have to worry about the 3 month mark. Conventional oil could likely be pushed out some as well, however, if your trips are short and you barely get it up to temp, then you will have issues.

That's the short simplified version so I don't get yelled at. :lol:

I take short trips in my camaro does that hurt anything or should i just change the oil sooner? I used to work 13 minuets away from my house and drove home for lunch for the 6 months i worked their. And also made short trips to burger place and so on. Im I building carbon in the engine or some other bad stuff?

I also usk ngk plugs which is a cold plug compared to the stock gm delco plug that is a hot plug and it is a hot plug to burn up carbon from short trips. Looks like I may go back to delco plugs. This talk about carbon is scaring me. But good info as always.

[CamTom12]

beats me, I just change at 2-2.5k during racing season and 3k in the winter :lol:

[ButchN]

Guys, he's not asking how often you all change your oil because people still do old school 3mo/3K, which was so old hat a long time ago.

Auto mfrs. have in their owners manuals the interval which oil should be changed to stay within warranty.

I've said it once & I'll say it again, if the auto mfr. is telling you that 7500 miles, on dyno juice, & not synthetic which we know is MUCH better, is OK to keep your engine within warranty, why would anyone waste $$ changing it 1/2 as often?

Engine lubricants have come along way in 20 yrs. people, get with the times!

[Chris 96 WS6]

Well i always taste it .. thats why i run royal purple it seems to taste better than the rest of em . so when it starts to taste a little funny like motor oil i change it .. just my .02 cents

Good god I hope you aren't serious.

On regular oil I wouldn't go past 3000 miles. It breaks down much faster than a synth and long intervals are a sure fire way to cause sludge buildup.

On the other hand, synthetic is a different animal. I run synth in all three of our cars and I take them to 5000 miles oil & filter.

[Chris 96 WS6]

I take short trips in my camaro does that hurt anything or should i just change the oil sooner? I used to work 13 minuets away from my house and drove home for lunch for the 6 months i worked their. And also made short trips to burger place and so on. Im I building carbon in the engine or some other bad stuff?



Yes that is hard on the engine. Its important to let it get up to full operating temperature. One thing that can happen is excessive moisture buildup in the oil because you never get it hot enough to evaporate out the water.

[HyperTA97]

well i work for ashland oil company (Valvoline) and short trips r the worst on motors and the oil, if u drive nothin but highway miles you can stretch the interval to maybe 4-5k. with the 10 min. drives around town the condensation dosent get a chance to burn off so that's when u get that whitish-yellowish build up on the inside of ur oil cap. the average person puts 12k on there vehicle a year, divide 12 by 4 and u get 3, 3 months or 3 k miles. so u want to change ur motor oil ATLEAST 4 times a year

[fritotec]

a good mechanic always tastes the fluids. i like to smell mine first if it smells bad it's going to taste bad. kinda like other stuff!

[Chris 96 WS6]

a good mechanic always tastes the fluids. i like to smell mine first if it smells bad it's going to taste bad. kinda like other stuff!

I've never heard that in my entire life.

IMO when it needs to be changed (based on time or mileage) you change it.

I don't know that I'd consider the tongue an accurate oil wear meter :lol:

[Red Devil]

:roflmao: Man, I knew someone once who said that crap. We put it to the test sending out samples to labs. He blew it says enough. It's asinine.

As for how long etc. Well, it depends. If you do long trips and then park it you can easily push the 3 month part closer to the 3,000 mi. part. Maybe even out to 5-6,000 if you truly do highway driving and little stop and go. Vise versa on the short city trips.

Another thing that seems to be testing well from what I read is using synth and just swapping out a filter and a quart every 3-5,000 mi. There are people who have done this out to 30,000 miles. Haven't seen the inside of any of these engines yet so the jury is still out.

Extended oil change intervals are being done by many now using dino. I'm still out on this as well as the crankcases are typically not wholly sealed. Short intervals will not 'clean out' the oil like longer drives will. It seems they have tested fine in the past taking them out to 10,000 miles on one filter interval change. Again, I haven't seen the insides yet so I'm not on this bandwagon yet either.

[warriorrun]

Yes that is hard on the engine. Its important to let it get up to full operating temperature. One thing that can happen is excessive moisture buildup in the oil because you never get it hot enough to evaporate out the water.

Thanks, looks like I'll be changing the motor oil this weekend. Im also going to get an anaylisis on the oil and see how everything is since my last oil anaylisis.

[ryanws6]

Here's another curve ball for you all.

I did work for a auto chemical company and what I will tell you all is what do you think the W means in oil??? Give up..? Winter...Now for guys in the south like me where it is always warm with temps really never get below 50 I use straight 40. All year round. We've all seen sludged up motors and the black color. Reason...besides carbon build up in the oil (lack of changing) there is rubber in the oils that is why there is a oil viscosity range 10-30 10-40 etc...
The Carbon that builds up in the oil and the rubber combine for a great sticky sludge mix. That is why some types of sludge look like goo. The rubber has separated from the oil. To help reduce that I only use a straight oil...less chance of sludge. Just my .02 from a chemical test we did.

[Chris 96 WS6]

Great oil info at www.theoildrop.com

Those guys know their oil, LOL.

[DvBoard]

There are people out there who go alot longer than they prbly should between oil changes (20k miles on dino) and often thier cars manage to survive, but that's not to say it's good on them.

a general rule i go by is if i'm doing pure city driving i'll change it every 3000 miles (dino oil). The more highway driving i do, the longer i try to go between oil changes. maybe even up to 7.5k on dino if it's pure hwy miles put on in a short period of time.

[Transamman25]

a good mechanic always tastes the fluids. i like to smell mine first if it smells bad it's going to taste bad. kinda like other stuff!


Finally someone who agree's with me ..and yea always sniff before yer stuck scratching ... Did ya notice the taste of redline frito ?? lol ..Oh by the way .. i also manage the local oil change shop .. Jiffy Lube .. you can tell a cross town delivery truck from a touring car .. plus delivery trucks oil just has a bad after taste .. lol .. " Rock on to the mechanic's who still sniff there Lubes"

[Redbrd]

add lucas and go at least 6k butchn is right the whole 3k think is long gone but the oil companies love customers like the 3k gang

[Red Devil]

I wouldn't add that lucas crap to anything but a dying motor. And the oil change interval always depends on the use, not some arbitrary number used as a blanket statement.

Just saying 7500 miles without any other input is ignorant and dangerous. Additionally, in many owner's manuals they do call for 3K oil changes, for severe duty apps. If you read on, severe duty apps include city driving... that is if you want to stick by the auto mnfg. recommendations rather than apply some thought and knowledge to the situation.

Additionally, I would not be surprised to find that a 7500 mile (if that is all that appears) recommendation was calculated using an 'x' figure for vehicle life. I seriously doubt any manufacturer goes much beyond 100,000 miles for that figure, probably not much past their projected warranty dates is even believable.

As I mentioned before, there are people who are monitoring eoc intervals by actually having their oil sampled and analyzed. I'm much more apt to use that as a guideline over what is printed in any manual. Hell, AMSoil has tested some of their oils out to 25,000 miles. Not sure if they tested anything for extended 'sitting' to check on the acids problems though... five7 might be able to find that out.

[Redbrd]

As far as use on a motor lets be realistic,the harder you run it the more wear you will inflict so ultimately it still boils down what your comfortable with,if i was constantly pushin my engine then i would definitely change the oil sooner than 6k,and as far as our difference in opinion on lucas products,i guess that my main foundation in the lube comes from the trucking industry with the miles that are put on those engines under load,if they recommend it it cant be all crap. just my .02 :thumbsup:

[ocshaman]

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Go here, use the search function, and look for your engine in the UOA gas engine section. It would be a good basis. Then, get your oil sampled.

3K miles is ridiculous, unless you drive a block and a half to work in sub zero temps. Most of todays oil should get anyone to 4-5K.

I know Patman recently posted a good 6K run with GC with several trips to the track.

Here is a thread with a guy that went 12.6K on Havoline Dino with 8 mile trips to work, and a self proclaimed abused truck.

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002940#000000

Outcome - His lead was high

Am I saying go 12K miles on your oil, no, but I am saying that you are wasting oil and natural resources dumping any oil at 3K miles unless you have a milkshake, or a trailer queen.

[Transamman25]

well i just had my first customer come in friday using mobil 1 high mileage (7500) ... Condensation was so thick in his oil i seriously wondered if this engine had a head gasket leak .. we had to flush his engine to get him clean again .. he had already brought his mobil 7500 for this time , he is taking it back he left with mobil 1 5w30 synthetic and a new found hate for high mileage oil
Test vehicle .. 2005 Chevrolet Sububan 28,000 miles at time of change
went 7250 miles on Mobil 1 high mileage 7500

[357mag]

Just my 2 cents. I have an old Poncho 3.1 with a Goodwrench replacement motor. 260,000 miles, changed oil about every 8000. Now these miles are mostly highway at 78 mph for 7+ hours at a stretch betwixt Alamogordo and Phoenix over a 3 1/2 yr period. Still has original tranny and fuel pump. I guess it's all how how drive. Getting the engine above water boiling point drives out condensation, so there's little to no sludge formation. And I've used Fram filters just about every change. Trans gets new filter/fluid about every 50,000, although I had to disconnect the TC clutch. Sometimes it doesn't disengage, so it kills the motor at the most inopportune times. Bottom line, for me, 8000 miles was good for my situation.
Your results may vary...

Tim sends

[NHRAMAN]

:clown: WELL............as long as it tastes good, you are fine. ;)