122k miles and no oil change

[7window]

I have a 5000 mile oil in my camry right now and its been over 1 1/2 year since my last oil change. I only put maybe 2000 mile on the car. I am sweating right now. I looked at the oil and it seem clear.

 

[Thump553]

I think one of the Car Talk brothers is conducting a similar "experiment." I don't think he's gone anywhere near as long, and as I recall, he regularly changes the oil filter (and puts the old oil back in).

 

[Pacfanweb]

Bullshit story. Impossible. Dad probably stopped at the local full serve and the attendant probably topped it for him. Engines are not wells, their is so many ways for oil to exit its not funny.

Nothing is impossible. Yes, oil probably was added, but that doesn't change the fact that quite a bit of the original oil is still in there and it's never been drained and refilled.

I've seen plenty of cars come in with 40-100k and never had an oil change. Doesn't matter if the engine burnt some off or some leaked out....what's in there is still mostly original.
And ruined.

And who has full service stations anymore?

 

[Howard]

This post ignores many details..

Depending on the engine, viscosity can be incredibly important. On the bmw s54 (specced for 10w-60) putting in 5w-30 will just about guarantee rod bearing issues.

Putting ANYTHING into an S54 will guarantee rod bearing issues.

EDIT: Oops, was thinking about the S62.

 

[OCGuy]

BS

 

[leper84]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a design miscalculation rather than a full-on flaw, as the oil passages that feed the heads are a little smaller than they should be, and it's hard to get thicker oils up to the heads, especially in colder weather.

I've heard it has something to do with VVT depending on a specific oil pressure... then again I've never seen it myself. From my experience 2v and 3v mod motors could run 20w50 and kerosene and not miss a beat.

 

[HarryLui]

Oil sludge is just myth.

 

[angry hampster]

If it's the 4 cylinder, it only holds about 3.5 quarts anyway, I think. Not a lot of oil for dirt tolerance.

The flash point of the oil was disturbingly low.

I wonder how long the spark plugs had been in? Or what the PCV system looked like...

You think the low flash point was due to the gas in the oil?

 

[Howard]

Oil sludge is just myth.

That's not sludge, it's just grease. Somebody packed grease into the heads.

 

[jr521960kr]

holy crap that's amazing...