monotonous oil change Debate..

[birchlakeXJ]

When I was young, my dad owned a Chevrolet dealership and it was common to change oil every 2k. Then it changed to 3k. I now run my conventional dino oil to at least 4k, but not more than 5k.

Certainly the environment in which you live and how you drive should come into play in making your decision! Driving with strictly highway miles in a warm climate is different than driving with mostly city driving in a cold climate like Minnesota.

 

[tbburg]

I'll toss this in just for kicks.

I wrench for a municipality where we maintain the police fleet. Most of our cars are Crown Vic's. ,.. ..,Anyway, by the time you did the idle conversion on top of the 9K service interval, we were averaging about 27,000 mile equivalent on our oil.

All that, and we might even be able to push it to 12,000. In a vehicle that is constantly being beat, abused, and misused. Food for thought.

Rob

This isn't too surprising when you consider the use. Police cruisers get started at the beginning of the shift and may not be shut down all day. Very few cold starts. There's a ton of stop/start driving, but very little heat cycling. Most engine wear occurs at/right after start up, when there's no oil pressure and the oil's cold and flows slow. Not a common occurrence for a cruiser.

On the other end of the scale, consider the "modern" fleet of piston/prop aircraft. These babies use engines designed in the fifties, carburetors(or ludicrously primitive mechanical fuel injection systems), and in many cases still run single weight oils. Oil change intervals are between 25 and 50 hours operating time, or roughly 1600 to 3200 miles in your car at 65mph.

 

[crimsondragon]

I only change it at 3k miles because beyond that, all the oil leaks out the RMS anyway and I dislike mixing new and old oil.

 

[scoobyxj]

In my old XJ when I lived 4 miles from work I kept it changed pretty regularly around 3-5K depending on how much actual good getting it hot trips I made. When I changed jobs and I was driving 80 miles round trip I ran it to 10k with a filter change at 5k. IIRC it would end up getting two quarts added (that included making up for the filter change) on the 10K run. At the 5K filter change it would still look pretty clean but it was usually pretty dirty by the 10K. I ran Mobile1 synthetic.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

i have a couple barrels of rotella so i change mine every 3k-4k miles. im on 33s and drive it every day.

Can I have some? Ha.

I only change it at 3k miles because beyond that, all the oil leaks out the RMS anyway and I dislike mixing new and old oil.

One of my old heeps was like that. Another one leaked enough to where I would add about a qt a month and change the filter every 3 mo.

 

[rocknxj]

I change my XJ oil roughly every 7k miles. The interval in my '08 Civic was 10k miles for non-synthetic oil. My '12 Mazda is changed at 7k also. A 3,000 mile interval seems like a waste of oil, time, and money.

 

[Red91Laredo]

When I first got my XJ with 145k on the clock the oil was really dirty, so I did the first 2 or 3 oil changes at 3000 mile intervals. I've since switched to about 4500-5000k intervals. I run a full synthetic or synthetic blend depending on what is on sale at the time, usually Mobil, Napa, or Valvoline. Purolator FL1A filters.

I had the pan off recently and the bottom end looked pretty clean for 170k, especially considering the last oil change had seen about 5500-6000 hard miles (recently went on a two week road trip, so I went a bit beyond my normal interval). My XJ is a DD that sees mostly highway driving so I think if anything changing it at 6000k is probably still premature.

 

[2001JeepXJNS]

Mine around 5K.

 

[old_man]

I change mine about every 50K but I use a Frantz filter

www.wefilterit.com

 

[cruiser54]

I change mine about every 50K but I use a Frantz filter

www.wefilterit.com

I had one on my 61 VW. My Dad had one on his 67 falcon and my brother had one on his 67 Bronco. Cool filters.

 

[MAY POP]

I was 3-4000 miles with 15-40 Rotella and the insides got cleaned up after 5-10000 miles. Wix filters. Now putting 95 miles a day round trip Ive gone to 5-40 Full Syn. Rotella $20 a gallon on sale. Ive noticed it stays clean til 3000 and gets darker at 5-6000 miles. I may go longer to 8000 miles with a filter change half way. It still get a lube halfway also. It turned 196K a couple of day ago. A used oil analasis is probably due. Its not a quiet engine but not getting worse. I only need it to go to 300k.

 

[LYKOS]

After running a few oil analysis, and running Rotella (Rotella has all the good stuff in it that car oil doesn't) I'm changing the filter at 5000 and the oil at 10,000.

Oil analysis still looking good!



Daily driven on 31's like a ricer on crack.

 

[skidj2x]

97 mercedes benz 4.6l v-8, 80k recommended interval with 0W20 oil..

 

[yossarian19]

Being a mechanic, I get asked about "The 3K thing" & it has staying power for a few different reasons that I can think of.
One, oil companies want profits.
Two, mechanics (I'm one of them, not being derogatory) want cars on their lifts.
Three, certain engines show fail more frequently when serviced at the spec'ed 7500 mile interval or however long. Over time, breather systems can gunk up. No bueno. Toyotas 1mz-FE V6 engines will develop 1/2" of tar under the valve covers if you don't use decent oil & service regularly.
In general, though, 3K is horsecrap. Check the oil every 1,000 miles. When color and or level are no longer acceptable, you've found your change interval. If you burn some but the color is good, top it up & move on with your day.

 

[terryd]

Some of that 3k mile hype comes from Grandma. More old lady engines fail because of short tripping around town. The oil gets water condensation buildup and wear starts. My commute was 3 miles a day, four days a week, with two 150 mile trips on Thursday and Sunday. Oil stayed clear of condensation. Now that it is four 7 mile round trips with little to no other driving, I'm noticing some condensation starting in cold months, so I added a time reminder to my oil changes, just to help keep out the water.

The Jeep needs to be sold. I never drive it anywhere else because the whole family can't ride.

 

[greenlawnjeeper]

I'm changing oil a lot less frequently than I use to. I change the '96 Jeep's oil every 6 months - and I could probably go longer. It will have about 3K miles on it. I use Pure 1 filters and QS syn 10w-30. I have a '91 Nissan SE-R and put little mileage on it. After a year, it now has under 1K miles on the oil. I use either PP or QSQ and Pure 1 filters. I was thinking of going to springtime before the next change. At most, it'll have another 1ks miles on the oil. Oil now is still pretty clear on the stick.

 

[yossarian19]

OH! Another reason for the 3K hype:
service intervals are written by the manufacturer with the assumption that the oil will be changed at the dealership with factory-spec'ed oil. For the Prius Gen III, it would be Idemitsu fully synthetic 0w20 (as example).
Fill it with crappy oil, change it more often.

 

[terryd]

Fill it with crappy oil, change it more often.

If the oil meets or supersedes the factory required service ratings, it passes the same tests and meets additive standards, so it wouldn't be crappy oil. Oils have to meet more numerous and strict standards, so I'm fine with store branded oils in my engines. I only use a premium quality filter though, because their testing isn't as strict.

 

[Kevin108]

I run full synthetic with quality oversize filters. Say I have 140,000 miles and do an oil change today. At 145,000 and 150,000 I'd change the filter and top the oil off then at 155,000 I'd do another full oil change.

 

[joe_peters]

The 3 months/3k miles were established a long time ago, in a place far, far, far away...

The 3 month rule was adopted because combustion byproducts, along with condensation in the crankcase, combined with a lot of cold starts and short trips--the reason you didn't drive 3000 miles in those 3 months--would result in contamination of the oil that would ATTACK the bearing materials.

Now, with better engines, better oils, and properly functioning PCV systems, the 3 month rule has pretty much died of old age, just as the oil change frequency has increased for the same reasons.

A tip of the cap to Yossarian19 on the PCV service intervals. Volvo changed the "flame trap" on the 240 series L4 engines to this tiny little piece that would always clog up if it wasn't changed every 3750 miles. Once clogged you had the crank and cam seals leaking as the crankcase built POSITIVE PRESSURE and would force oil past the seals. The factory fix was a reversion to the larger old-style flame traps with an "adapter" kit.