Automotive oil changes

[KJamesJR]

I understand your reason for saying this, but I’m not really worried about getting my money’s worth, it’s not expensive enough to even give a second thought. I change both of my vehicles twice per year, because one of my vehicles actually specified that, I probably have 2000 miles on the one and 2500 miles on the other. I change my wife’s 3x per year, right around the specified 7500 miles.

I find Amazon’s Subscribe and Save is a great tool for this, and anything else you need to remember to do x times per year, like electric toothbrush heads. The oil filters are scheduled to show up on my prescribed schedule. When they arrive, I swing by Walmart for some oil, and do the deed.

+1 For Walmart. They have the lowest prices on brand name oil.

Expense is a matter of opinion I suppose. I go through 6 quarts of synthetic Shell Rotella and OEM filter 3 times a year in just my vehicle alone. That’s about $45 a pop or $135/year for one vehicle. I do my wife’s in the same intervals although hers are half the price.

I’d be curious to see how much degradation has occurred in oil that’s been only been used lightly within a year. Might only be minuscule.

 

[rowerwet]

Work with a guy who never changes his oil, just the filter, it's a Saturn he bought new, and it continues to run just fine.

Personally I use amsoil, with a 25,000 mile/ 1 year interval. Been doing it almost 20 years, none of my cars really use oil and no engine trouble.
My commute is 35 miles each way, 4 days a week, my wife's van goes about 40 miles a week.

 

[Ashful]

I’d be curious to see how much degradation has occurred in oil that’s been only been used lightly within a year. Might only be minuscule.

I agree, the degradation is likely minimal, at that point. I think the time-based interval is all about flushing out combustion contaminants, it has nothing to do with degradation of the oil.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Did oil, oil filter, air filter, and cabin pollen filter yesterday on my 2014 Escape. 10,000 miles, 9 months for the oil. Also removed winter wheels/tires and put on all-seasons. Cabin filter is a pain to get to under the dash in the center.

Also did the oil, oil filter and cabin filter on my wife's 2012 Escape. 1 year, 5,600 miles for the oil. No belly pan and a little more ground clearance. Don't need ramps like I do with mine. Also removed winter wheels/tires and put on all-seasons.

Both full synthetic oil. Have three full 5-quart jugs of used oil to drop off at Autozone this morning. Can't believe we used to dump waste oil along the rock walls in the yard when I was a kid in the 1960s to kill vegetation. Crazy the way things were back then.

Though I'd be more sore today from all the up-and-down on the ground yesterday.

 

[SpaceBus]

I agree, the degradation is likely minimal, at that point. I think the time-based interval is all about flushing out combustion contaminants, it has nothing to do with degradation of the oil.

Most of that stuff ends up in your filter anyway. It's the less than 5 micron pieces of metal suspended in the additives you have to worry about.

 

[Ashful]

Most of that stuff ends up in your filter anyway. It's the less than 5 micron pieces of metal suspended in the additives you have to worry about.

Really? That really surprises me.

I just dropped the sedan off for inspection this morning, so I took a peak at the mileage before I turned it in. Purchased March 2016, and it has had six oil changes in 11,917 miles. I recall the first was at 500 miles, so removing that one and backing out the mileage since the last oil change, I’m changing oil roughly every 2075 miles. Full synthetic, Pennzoil 0W40, as specified by manufacturer.

Car has catch can, and uses the most expensive oil filter I’ve ever seen. Something about a special bypass, I don’t recall the details. Again, just following manufacturer recommendation, I just always hit the 6 months maximum before the mileage maximum.

 

[Fiddler]

I do every 5K miles on my, my wife's and my two daughter's cars. Cost me about $25 per car and takes me around a half hour per vehicle, including checking tire pressure, fluids, etc. Seems like a small price to pay to keep the vehicles running and know the girls are driving safe vehicles

 

[SpaceBus]

Really? That really surprises me.

I just dropped the sedan off for inspection this morning, so I took a peak at the mileage before I turned it in. Purchased March 2016, and it has had six oil changes in 11,917 miles. I recall the first was at 500 miles, so removing that one and backing out the mileage since the last oil change, I’m changing oil roughly every 2075 miles. Full synthetic, Pennzoil 0W40, as specified by manufacturer.

Car has catch can, and uses the most expensive oil filter I’ve ever seen. Something about a special bypass, I don’t recall the details. Again, just following manufacturer recommendation, I just always hit the 6 months maximum before the mileage maximum.

View attachment 243147

Charger or 300? I used to have a six speed 420 RWHP SRT8 6.1 Challenger. It cost less to have to dealer change the oil vs myself. I'd love an SRT8 Cherokee of any year for a DD up here, but the upkeep is a bit high.

The bypass is for startup to deliver oil directly to the valve train instead of going through the filter on a cold start. The additives are there specifically to catch the sub 5 micron particles that the filter can't get. The bits get suspended where the can't damage bearings and such.

 

[blades]

well that's the theory anyway.

 

[Ashful]

Charger or 300? I used to have a six speed 420 RWHP SRT8 6.1 Challenger.

6.4L 8-speed Charger. 485 RWHP. Not the fastest car I've owned, but it sure as hell gets the kids to school on time.

 

[zrock]

Working in different automotive shops iv seen the aftermath of just changing filters. U may be lucky and it will never happen to you.. I do mine every 5000-7000km full synth.. oil is cheap especially when you plan ahead and get it on sale. I would rather spend a few $$ on oil every year then $5000 on a engine job.. I could do oil changes for the rest of my life and still have change left over for the price of a engine job..LOL

 

[blades]

Got to watch out on after market filters some do not fit correctly in the canister type systems

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Full synthetic, Pennzoil 0W40, as specified by manufacturer.

Im sure Their(PennZ) Synth oil is better than their conventional oil was. When i worked in an engine rebuild shop(in the 80s) the most common oil used in the engines we got in to rebuild was PennZ and Quaker state.Lots of sludge in those engines. Was told it was due to the parafin(waxy) base. My brother also used that oil exclusively and changed it often. Most of his vehicles started to blow smoke after awhile. Fast forward to today and synthetics seem to all be very good quality. Just found out the Camaro 8Cy calls for 9 quarts of oil. Almost twice as much as normal.

 

[SpaceBus]

Im sure Their(PennZ) Synth oil is better than their conventional oil was. When i worked in an engine rebuild shop(in the 80s) the most common oil used in the engines we got in to rebuild was PennZ and Quaker state.Lots of sludge in those engines. Was told it was due to the parafin(waxy) base. My brother also used that oil exclusively and changed it often. Most of his vehicles started to blow smoke after awhile. Fast forward to today and synthetics seem to all be very good quality. Just found out the Camaro 8Cy calls for 9 quarts of oil. Almost twice as much as normal.

The huge oil capacity is really for cooling and sump volume when at the track under high g loads that would starve a smaller system.

 

[blades]

9 quarts , how about 4 gallons on my diesel and after market pans hold more.

 

[SpaceBus]

9 quarts , how about 4 gallons on my diesel and after market pans hold more.

Of course there's always that. What sump do you have? I wouldn't be sad for more capacity for my Cummins.

 

[blades]

4 gal is stock deeperpans avaiable for 6.0--6.7

 

[Highbeam]

4 gal is stock deeperpans avaiable for 6.0--6.7

Just last weekend I used 15 quarts of synthetic 5w-40 in my dd pickup, 7.3 diesel. Just the oil filter holds 2 quarts.

Our new import requires 0-20w and I plan to start and stay with mobile 1 synthetic. Hope it’s still good stuff. Seems prices are all about 20-23$ per gallon for all name brand oils now.

 

[maple1]

Our 2006 Civic with 510,000kms, and 2007 Pilot with 270,000kms, have lived by the maintenance minder and dealer oil changes since new. That interval is in the area of 10-12,000kms. Our 2017 Civic was a bit over 15,000kms before it told us it was time for the first one.

 

[CaptSpiff]

Our 2006 Civic with 510,000kms, and 2007 Pilot with 270,000kms, have lived by the maintenance minder and dealer oil changes since new. That interval is in the area of 10-12,000kms. Our 2017 Civic was a bit over 15,000kms before it told us it was time for the first one.

So you've driven your '06 Civic about 22K miles per year, with oil changes about every 7K miles, or about 3 times a year.
That really is the "sweet spot" for oil usage in modern ICE vehicles.

As others have mentioned, there's two things at play that drive oil change intervals:
1. The wearing out of the EP (extreme pressure) additives in the oil, typically 7-10K miles.
2. The accumulation of acid sludge, from blow-by gases & moisture in the lower part of the engine.
Of the two, most drivers reach the latter before ever needing to worry about the former.

You are driving enough to fully heat your engine and allow the internal moisture to fully boil off. That minimizes the opportunity to form acidic sludge in your engine. Great going, short trips which barely allow the engine to warm up require more frequent flushing of the oil to get out that bad stuff. The most at risk are those who drive short distances and only do one change per year.

 

[Ashful]

So you've driven your '06 Civic about 22K miles per year, with oil changes about every 7K miles, or about 3 times a year.
That really is the "sweet spot" for oil usage in modern ICE vehicles.

As others have mentioned, there's two things at play that drive oil change intervals:
1. The wearing out of the EP (extreme pressure) additives in the oil, typically 7-10K miles.
2. The accumulation of acid sludge, from blow-by gases & moisture in the lower part of the engine.
Of the two, most drivers reach the latter before ever needing to worry about the former.

You are driving enough to fully heat your engine and allow the internal moisture to fully boil off. That minimizes the opportunity to form acidic sludge in your engine. Great going, short trips which barely allow the engine to warm up require more frequent flushing of the oil to get out that bad stuff. The most at risk are those who drive short distances and only do one change per year.

Excellent post. This is everything I was trying to say above, only more expertly stated.

 

[semipro]

Based on what I've learned here and in a prior thread I've switched over to full synthetic oil for my vehicles Castrol in my case.. My hesitancy was based on the comparative price of synthetic versus natural.and my (mistaken) perception of those costs. I remember with Mobil 1 came out and the cost difference was considerable. A post by @Ashful convinced me that for a relatively small additional investment I could run synthetic now. I bought in. I'm willing to pay a little more for a lot.
Now I'm trying to use up the natural stuff in my machinery and expect to switch over to synthetic on everything once that's gone.
Sometimes "natural" doesn't mean better.

 

[fbelec]

i got a old 2001 grand marquis 236,000 miles on the 4.6 v8. i bought it from my friend and asked him why didn't you tell me that it was blowing oil. when i changed the oil i threw in conv. oil and was going thru a quart every 4 to 500 miles he asked what i was using for oil and he said use synthetic when i did it stopped. i change it at 3000 miles and at that point is when it is down a quart. it's funny how these so called catch cans are starting to be made for spec vehicles from the factory. i bought one about 30 years ago from a back of a magazine called the condensator and been using on my vehicles since it goes inline with the pcv line and filters out the junk that is flowing out the vent then back into the manifold. it is still being sold today. when i added it the oil stayed cleaner and fuel mileage went up. first car i had it on was my 76 lincoln town car. 5500 pounds and a 7.5 liter engine. no overdrive back then. mileage went from 8 to 9 city and 15 highway to 13 city 23 highway just by installing a catch can that condensed the oil fumes that went into the motor so it was filtering my blow by. got rid of that motor with 425,00 miles on it when at the time cars in that era were junk at 125,000 miles. changed the oil every 3000 and because of the condensator the oil was still see thru. this should be on all cars.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The most at risk are those who drive short distances and only do one change per year.

That would be me. 4 vehicles and put about 7000 miles per yr on all 4 combined. Lots and lots of short trips on the 2 oldest. Change oil once a yr. If i am doing any damage to these vehicles thru infrequent oil changes after 150k to 200k on the 2 oldest ones,23 and 25 yrs old, they are already at or near the end of their useful lifespan. Any additional lifespan left in the engine vs the rest of the vehicle is useless at this point. I do use synthetic in all and all run fine with zero engine problems. Been doing this for 25yrs, never an engine or trans failure or internal engine repair needed. Im not posting this to recommend it ,just my personal experience and i would probably change more often in a classic vehicle i wanted to keep indefinitely.

 

[begreen]

We are fairly low miles also with most of our trips being local. Why I love our Volt. All local miles are electric. Distance driving is on the ICE where it gets a chance to fully warm up.