RE: Oil change opinions

[Seasoned Oak]

As I said before I do think running the car to temp periodically is important.

I guilty of that, i only work across town about half mile away, truck rarely gets up to temp. Oil stays relatively clean and 23 Yr old GM truck with w 350ci engine runs great with 175000 miles, 20000 short trip miles over 12 plus years.

 

[maple1]

We have two Civics - a 2006 with 490,000kms, and a 2017 with 20,000kms.

Always just used the 'maintenance minder' thingie on the dash for oil change intervals. The 2006 was around 12,000kms, the new one had over 15,000kms on it before it told us to take it in for first oil change. I think it said it had 5% oil life left when we got it in at 16,000.

Given how the 2006 has lasted and is still going strong with an untouched engine - these seem like very safe intervals.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Had the same head gasket issue on wife's Legacy. Became a known problem with our year (2004) over the time we owned it. Subaru's official factory fix, which they never communicated to us, was to add radiator leak stop . Ended up having the dealer do the head gasket (who promptly wrapped an O2 sensor around the axle) then a couple years later we rebuilt the tranny . She finally overheated it so I traded it. Wife put 120K+ on it and it was very good in the snow car but left me with mixed feelings on Subaru.

My dad has a 2015 Outback he purchased new. 40k on the clock and the rear wheel bearing assembly went bad.
They covered it, but a 2 yr old car with low miles that is garage kept and driven by a grandpa? Not cool.

My 2006 Acura TSX 140k...still going strong with only maintenance items like tires, brakes and rotors. Still 100% original everything else.

 

[jatoxico]

My dad has a 2015 Outback he purchased new. 40k on the clock and the rear wheel bearing assembly went bad.
They covered it, but a 2 yr old car with low miles that is garage kept and driven by a grandpa? Not cool.

My 2006 Acura TSX 140k...still going strong with only maintenance items like tires, brakes and rotors. Still 100% original everything else.

At least they covered it, hopefully that's the last of his trouble. The low center of gravity the boxer 4 banger gives and symmetrical AWD are big plusses and many happy owners The head gasket thing is a major source of suckiness but I guess all brands have their issues with certain models or components.

I keep my cars and my 04 Lexus GS has been gold as well. In Oct I had the dealer do the timing belt (was over due) and assoc and I have to say Lexus service is white glove and was not bad $ wise unlike some other lux brands so considering, very nice.

I just changed both pre cat O2 sensors after bank 2 failed (heater element). Did a throttle body and MAF cleaning while it was apart and feels like new. Other than that its been bullet proof.

 

[Soundchasm]

I change out the oil in my WRX religiously every 3000-5000 miles as most owners recommend doing so due to the turbo and possible issues with bearings.

The other day I changed the oil and then looked at my wife's Legacy and was mildly surprised to see that it's been close to a year since I did the oil in her car.

Now before you think I am a terrible mechanic (which I am incidentally) I should add that I did the 12,000 mile maintenance at 11,500 back in 2016 and now, almost a year later, she is up to a whopping 14,500 or so miles -- well below the recommended 6,000 mile oil change interval, but well over the "or six months" interval.

Since she was out of work for so long and then landed a local job with a 10 minute commute she just didn't put on the mileage.

So here's my question: just how bad is it to not adhere to the time interval vs. the mileage interval. I mean to say I can completely understand the mileage as a moving vehicle = wear and tear on the engine and the oil being actively filtered. However, an unmoving, unstarted car would not have any wear and tear, right?

FF Jake,
I was going to make a distinct post about used oil analysis (UOA), but this may be stealing my thunder, or giving it up voluntarily. I have had the MOST fun sending in oil samples to this company and they tell me what's going on with my engines. Maybe I'm a sap but it looks like detailed, thoughtful, informative analysis to me. I've sent them a few sample of my 2002 Tacoma V6 running Mobil One Synthetic and their conclusion is that My Engine running That Oil is good for 9,000 miles between changes.

Short story is that you send them a sample and they tell you what metals they find in the oil and how that relates to engine life. For a bit more, they tell you how much life is left in the oil.

I've sent them samples from my Tacoma, Snapper mower and Honda self-propelled mower. AND, the guys have a sense of humor. Let me see what reports I can find...

EDIT: I just realized that my personal info is on the forms I posted. I'll remove those attachments and try and remember to redact that forms and re-post. Thanks.

 

[aaronk25]

So this is the oil analysis from my 2014 Chevy 1500, (new style direct injection motor). I tow my boat which with trailer weighs 12,300lbs. On this particular oil change I towed from MN to Florida and back with another 8k of driving besides that.

I now change oil every 20, 000 miles and change filter at 10k miles.

Running amsoil 0w-20w signature series, but I think there is several other good oils available for sale on market.



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