Any benefit of oil change every 3,000 miles as opposed to the mfr recommendation?

[randomlinh]

what about the filter... and $30 for synthetic is what I do... $20 for 5 quarts of mobil 1@walmart, $7 for the filter from mazda (got a 3 too). I always changed my filter w/ the oil on my 95 camry, anywhere between 3-4k miles. I drove relatively hard.

what I was never sure of is if removing the filter w/o draining the oil would be a problem. Since i used synthetic, everyone is like "it can go for 5-7, just change the filter". Filter was cheap tho, so I just changed it every time.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Triumph
to pad the oil companies pockets, sure.

I saw this great Castrol commercial which basically went like this: "Today's engines and oils are better than ever. Many manufacturers recommend 5,000, 7,500, even 10,000 mile oil change intervals. But if you frequently drive in any of the following conditions:
- Stop and go traffic
- High speed extended highway
- Commuting
Then you need to use 3,000 mile intervals for the life of your car."

THAT'S BASICALLY EVERY TYPE OF DRIVING!!! Give me a break.

If you call castrol they will even tell you to change you oil every 3K even if oyu use their Syn oil.

Mind you Mobil now says 5000 for their reg oil, 7500 for their Semi-syn, and up to 15000miles on their new Mobil1.

I use the Mobil7500 10W30 and change it every 5-6K.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: DaTT
Tom and Ray sound like the biggest bullshitters. Their responses sucked.

Ray: Finally, changing the oil is more expensive in Germany, which discourages people from doing it more often than necessary. Here in the states, an oil change for a four- or six-cylinder engine runs about $25 or $35. In Germany, the same service with synthetic oil is easily twice that much. A single quart of synthetic oil itself costs about 10 bucks.


They don't change it because it's too expensive??? They don't change it because its not necessary. Have you honestly ever heard of a car breaking down because of the oil change interval. I doubt it. All you need to do is add oil.

I've been listening to Click & Clack for about 10 years know, and I'm willing to bet any amount of money that your knowledge of cars can't even come close to their expertise.

Originally posted by: DaTT
Every car on the road burns oil, something is very wrong if your car doesn't burn oil.

Oil breakdown is all bullshit as well. Parts wear because they get used, not because of oil breakdown.

Your full of sh!t. I haven't added a single drop of oil in 78,000 miles. A car doesn't need to burn oil to work properly.:roll:

 

[RMSistight]

I change my oil every 3,000 AT 3,000 miles. I don't risk it. Maybe that's why my 1994 Acura Integra is just 3,500 miles shy of reacting 200,000 miles. Heck, I will even take a picture of my 200,000 mile mark.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: RMSistight
I change my oil every 3,000 AT 3,000 miles. I don't risk it. Maybe that's why my 1994 Acura Integra is just 3,500 miles shy of reacting 200,000 miles. Heck, I will even take a picture of my 200,000 mile mark.

Use the new Mobil5000 and change at 4K or the Mobil7500 and c hange at 6K. And the reason you hoit 200K is NOT because of your oil changes. I change mine every 4K on the old Mobil and 5-6K on the new Mobil7500 and have 155K on my old 87 Buick.

 

[Quixfire]

You will empty our oil reserves faster.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: RMSistight
I change my oil every 3,000 AT 3,000 miles. I don't risk it. Maybe that's why my 1994 Acura Integra is just 3,500 miles shy of reacting 200,000 miles. Heck, I will even take a picture of my 200,000 mile mark.

Use the new Mobil5000 and change at 4K or the Mobil7500 and c hange at 6K. And the reason you hoit 200K is NOT because of your oil changes. I change mine every 4K on the old Mobil and 5-6K on the new Mobil7500 and have 155K on my old 87 Buick.

Use normal, cheap dyno oil and change at 7000-8000 miles and you'll hit 200,000+ too.

5000 is still overkill and a waste.

 

[Triumph]

Yeah, I don't really consider 200k to be all that special. 100k certainly isn't . One of our Audis was bought with 150k on it, and we at least doubled that (the odometer stopped working at like 280k). That car got oil changes, but not strict to-the-mile intervals. More like whenever we remembered to change it. There are examples of every make and model getting to a high mileage, and it can't be attributed to any one thing.

 

[Slickone]

Just remember changing your oil at 3K is just polluting the planet that much quicker (and using that more more of the oil reserves as someone mentioned).

Engine Oil Bible

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: RMSistight
I change my oil every 3,000 AT 3,000 miles. I don't risk it. Maybe that's why my 1994 Acura Integra is just 3,500 miles shy of reacting 200,000 miles. Heck, I will even take a picture of my 200,000 mile mark.

Use the new Mobil5000 and change at 4K or the Mobil7500 and c hange at 6K. And the reason you hoit 200K is NOT because of your oil changes. I change mine every 4K on the old Mobil and 5-6K on the new Mobil7500 and have 155K on my old 87 Buick.

Use normal, cheap dyno oil and change at 7000-8000 miles and you'll hit 200,000+ too.

5000 is still overkill and a waste.

Now now, don't be general.

You don't know that his oil is still good after 5,000 miles in his environment with his driving habbits.

All oil is NOT created equal. You can still buy garbage.

The ONLY way to know whether your oil is still functional or not is to have it analyzed. Period. Anything else is just a guess.

That's why you have to go with worst case scenario unless you know what you're doing.

Even with modern engines and oils, the standard Severe Service change interval is only 3750 miles.

I quiver everytime I see temps of 110ºF or -20ºF, and wonder how many people are commiting mechanical murder because they don't have a clue. It's not like they don't sell 20W-50 in the Northeast... lol

 

[pmoa]

just do what the manufacturer tells you to do

/thread

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: DaTT
Every car on the road burns oil, something is very wrong if your car doesn't burn oil.

Oil breakdown is all bullshit as well. Parts wear because they get used, not because of oil breakdown.

Your full of sh!t. I haven't added a single drop of oil in 78,000 miles. A car doesn't need to burn oil to work properly.:roll:

In all fairness, he's correct.

Not only is oil volatile(it evaporates), the seals in your engine are far from 100%.

A very mechanically sound engine might only eat an ounce or something every 3,000 miles. Not noticable on the dipstick, but it's still gone.

But on the other hand, "oil breakdown" is absolutely NOT bullsh!t. Some of the very processes that cause oil loss are a form of oil breakdown, and at those temperatures oxidation isn't far away.. which is a severe form of oil breakdown.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: RMSistight
I change my oil every 3,000 AT 3,000 miles. I don't risk it. Maybe that's why my 1994 Acura Integra is just 3,500 miles shy of reacting 200,000 miles. Heck, I will even take a picture of my 200,000 mile mark.

Use the new Mobil5000 and change at 4K or the Mobil7500 and c hange at 6K. And the reason you hoit 200K is NOT because of your oil changes. I change mine every 4K on the old Mobil and 5-6K on the new Mobil7500 and have 155K on my old 87 Buick.

Use normal, cheap dyno oil and change at 7000-8000 miles and you'll hit 200,000+ too.

5000 is still overkill and a waste.

Now now, don't be general.

You don't know that his oil is still good after 5,000 miles in his environment with his driving habbits.

All oil is NOT created equal. You can still buy garbage.

The ONLY way to know whether your oil is still functional or not is to have it analyzed. Period. Anything else is just a guess.

That's why you have to go with worst case scenario unless you know what you're doing.

Even with modern engines and oils, the standard Severe Service change interval is only 3750 miles.

I quiver everytime I see temps of 110ºF or -20ºF, and wonder how many people are commiting mechanical murder because they don't have a clue. It's not like they don't sell 20W-50 in the Northeast... lol

This isn't a guess. No modern car that is not raced is going to need an oil change in under 7500 miles using standard (name brand, I'll give you that) dino oil. Syns can get you even longer. More like 12,000.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: pmoa
just do what the manufacturer tells you to do

/thread

Manufacturers will put quite a bit of overkill in the maintenance schedule to try and offset warranty claims. They fiogure if they tell you to change it every 3000 or 5000, most will get it done at 5000-10,000. Hell, it's YOUR money they are spending, not their own.

Also note that cars coming with free maintenance often have VASTLY longer intervals than cars that do not.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Amused

This isn't a guess. No modern car that is not raced is going to need an oil change in under 7500 miles using standard (name brand, I'll give you that) dino oil. Syns can get you even longer. More like 12,000.

What? Where are you getting this crap from?

I'm no supporter of the universal 3,000 mile oil change, but.. wow. You are way off base.

There's much more to recommended OCI's than "racing".

If you;

Live in an extremely hot, cold or dusty environment, idle extensivly, do 50% or more city or stop and go driving, have a lead foot, or half a dozen other "Severe Service" things, you MUST follow the Severe Service change recommendation as stated in your user manual! Usually 3750 miles.

Also, with a tendancy to use smaller oil filters on newer engines, the oil change interval takes on a different meaning. I wouldn't doubt that eventually, it becomes common practice to change your filter without changing your oil.. as lubrication technology increases even further.

If your oil filter is clogged with particles, it is bypassing unfiltered oil.. causing unnecessary engine wear and oil breakdown.

Name brand doesen't have much to do with it. There are name brands that are worse than say, Wal-Mart's SuperTech.

It was a guess, because there are FAR too many variables to say "No modern car that is not raced is going to need an oil change in under 7500 miles using standard (name brand, I'll give you that) dino oil."

Think about it this way; Even synthetic oil is worthless(as in needs to be changed often) if you don't have an air and oil filter.

 

[cy7878]

do whatever makes you complete.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Amused

This isn't a guess. No modern car that is not raced is going to need an oil change in under 7500 miles using standard (name brand, I'll give you that) dino oil. Syns can get you even longer. More like 12,000.

What? Where are you getting this crap from?

I'm no supporter of the universal 3,000 mile oil change, but.. wow. You are way off base.

There's much more to recommended OCI's than "racing".

If you;

Live in an extremely hot, cold or dusty environment, idle extensivly, do 50% or more city or stop and go driving, have a lead foot, or half a dozen other "Severe Service" things, you MUST follow the Severe Service change recommendation as stated in your user manual! Usually 3750 miles.

Also, with a tendancy to use smaller oil filters on newer engines, the oil change interval takes on a different meaning. I wouldn't doubt that eventually, it becomes common practice to change your filter without changing your oil.. as lubrication technology increases even further.

If your oil filter is clogged with particles, it is bypassing unfiltered oil.. causing unnecessary engine wear and oil breakdown.

Name brand doesen't have much to do with it. There are name brands that are worse than say, Wal-Mart's SuperTech.

It was a guess, because there are FAR too many variables to say "No modern car that is not raced is going to need an oil change in under 7500 miles using standard (name brand, I'll give you that) dino oil."

Think about it this way; Even synthetic oil is worthless(as in needs to be changed often) if you don't have an air and oil filter.

Again, the recommended intervals in service manuals are overkill. Even the severe service intervals (even the "severe service" warnings themselves are overkill. Note how they cover 75% or more of the drivers? "Severe service" my ass). They halve the intervals figuring many people will forget or flake on any interval they set, so they set them very low. They don't care. It's not their money they are wasting.

Note the HUGE discrepancy between the service intervals on cars with service included, and those that do not include service?

No one here is going to destroy their engine by changing their oil at the 7500 mile mark.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Amused
Again, the recommended intervals in service manuals are overkill. Even the severe service intervals (even the "severe service" warnings themselves are overkill. Note how they cover 75% or more of the drivers? "Severe service" my ass). They halve the intervals figuring many people will forget or flake on any interval they set, so they set them very low. They don't care. It's not their money they are wasting.

Note the HUGE discrepancy between the service intervals on cars with service included, and those that do not include service?

No one here is going to destroy their engine by changing their oil at the 7500 mile mark.

I am sorry Amused, but an engine expert you are not.

You clearly do not understand the logic behind the reasonings. If you understood how an engine worked on an intimate level, you wouldn't be saying these things.. lol

Sigh.. I guess I have some time to try and explain things to you.

First, it's not a vast conspiracy. Wake up...

Do you remember what I said earlier? The ONLY way you can tell whether your oil is still functional or not is to have it analyzed. That is a fact.

Since everybody doesen't have a gas-chromatograph mass spectrometer available to them, you MUST go by the worst case. This is a fact. Do you understand? OK.

Again, the recommended intervals in service manuals are overkill.

Says you. Got anything to back this up?

What benefit would automotive manufacturers gain by telling you to change your oil more often than necessary? Do you seriously think they're trying to give bones to the oil industry or something?

Even the severe service intervals (even the "severe service" warnings themselves are overkill. Note how they cover 75% or more of the drivers? "Severe service" my ass).

Amused, you are wrong. You've been around here long enough, and I've never seen you spout this BS.. Where is this comming from?

If you're trying to say that hot, cold or dusty environments do not matter, you are wrong.
If you're trying to say that there is no difference between city and highway travel, you are wrong.
If you're trying to say that there is no difference between pulling a trailer and not, you are wrong.
etc..

They halve the intervals figuring many people will forget or flake on any interval they set, so they set them very low. They don't care. It's not their money they are wasting.

Uh huh. Says you. Remember what I said earlier? worst case. Can you repeat that phrase? Say it with me now.. worst case.

I'm sure the auto manufacturers have put absolutely no thought and research into the numbers.

Do you have any idea the differences between Light Duty(~7,500+ mile OCI) and Severe Service(~3750 OCI)? Apparently not.

Extended highway travel is the easiest on your oil. That's the only thing that can be considered "Light Duty". Anything else, especially short trips and extended stop&go traffic.. are absolute hell on your oil.

*snaps fingers*
PAY ATTENTION!

If a certain auto manufacturer has a Severe Service OCI of 5,000 miles, it is because they have proven that it will work.....

I really can't stress this enough. You have absolutely no clue about the condition of your oil if you do not get it analyzed. Saying that it isn't a guess is simply false, because.. there is no other way to tell other than sending it to a lab.

The key here, again, is worst case. There are simply far too many variables. The auto manufacturers have to cover their asses. It's not because they think everybody is going to go twice the interval, that's ridiculous. You should know better than to think like that.

The ONLY way to tell is to have your oil analyzed! If you do this, and it is determined that you can go 7,500 miles .. that's great! Otherwise, you have to GUESS!

They are rough guidelines, yes.. but guidelines they are indeed.

 

[Amused]

:roll:

Fine, Eli. Keep throwing away your money.

Meanwhile, in all of the cars I have owned, none have had engine trouble, and none have burned a drop of oil. None had their oil changed in more than 7500 mile intervals.

All were driven a mixture of city and highway. Some were in the southwest, others in the southeast, and a few in the Midwest.

You're falling for marketing BS and CYA warranty bullsh!t.

But if that makes you feel better, so be it. Like I said, keep throwing away your money.

 

[dirtboy]

My car has a default change cycle of full synthetic every 7,000 miles. It has an oil sensor in it that will adjust the time based on my driving habits.

I routinely drive short distances in stop and go traffic. The sensor extended my limit past 7,000 the first time and it's looking like the next will be over 7,000 miles again.

Now if the engineer who designed the engine said I should change it every 7,000 miles, who do you think is more right: you or them? I'd have to say that if the engineer felt like it needed to be changed every 7,000 miles then you should.

My roommate used to have a BMW and under their free maintenance program, they wouldn't change the oil until he reached 15,000 miles, which was recommened by BMW. Should he have changed it sooner? I don't think so...

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
My car has a default change cycle of full synthetic every 7,000 miles. It has an oil sensor in it that will adjust the time based on my driving habits.

I routinely drive short distances in stop and go traffic. The sensor extended my limit past 7,000 the first time and it's looking like the next will be over 7,000 miles again.

Now if the engineer who designed the engine said I should change it every 7,000 miles, who do you think is more right: you or them? I'd have to say that if the engineer felt like it needed to be changed every 7,000 miles then you should.

My roommate used to have a BMW and under their free maintenance program, they wouldn't change the oil until he reached 15,000 miles, which was recommened by BMW. Should he have changed it sooner? I don't think so...

Exactly.

Cars that come with free service have VASTLY longer intervals than cars that do not.

Answer the why to this question, and you'll have the answer to this entire thread.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: Amused
Fine, Eli. Keep throwing away your money.

Meanwhile, in all of the cars I have owned, none have had engine trouble, and none have burned a drop of oil. None had their oil changed in more than 7500 mile intervals.

All were driven a mixture of city and highway. Some were in the southwest, others in the southeast, and a few in the Midwest.

You're falling for marketing BS and CYA warranty bullsh!t.

But if that makes you feel better, so be it. Like I said, keep throwing away your money.

I deleted the little roll eyes because I hate them.

How is this wasting money?

I spend $35 on oil every 3000 miles, and gas goes for about 2.45 a gallon where I live. My
Mazda Protege 5 gets 27-29 Miles per gallon. I pay 186 every six months for insurance, which is damn good in CA. (By californian standards I am an exemplary driver. ) Now I dont have to do the math to know that oil is the least of my wasted money. But I try to be efficient with travel, and avoid mistakes that will raise my premiums.
And for guys with V10 Dodge Rams or Lincoln Navigators, oil changes make even more sense. They already accepted the high fuel and maintenence costs.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: shortylickens

Originally posted by: Amused
Fine, Eli. Keep throwing away your money.

Meanwhile, in all of the cars I have owned, none have had engine trouble, and none have burned a drop of oil. None had their oil changed in more than 7500 mile intervals.

All were driven a mixture of city and highway. Some were in the southwest, others in the southeast, and a few in the Midwest.

You're falling for marketing BS and CYA warranty bullsh!t.

But if that makes you feel better, so be it. Like I said, keep throwing away your money.

I deleted the little roll eyes because I hate them.

How is this wasting money?

I spend $35 on oil every 3000 miles, and gas goes for about 2.45 a gallon where I live. My
Mazda Protege 5 gets 27-29 Miles per gallon. I pay 186 every six months for insurance, which is damn good in CA. (By californian standards I am an exemplary driver. ) Now I dont have to do the math to know that oil is the least of my wasted money. But I try to be efficient with travel, and avoid mistakes that will raise my premiums.
And for guys with V10 Dodge Rams or Lincoln Navigators, oil changes make even more sense. They already accepted the high fuel and maintenence costs.

:roll:

If you're doing an oil change twice as often, or more, than you need to, you're throwing away money. It really is that simple.

 

[rh71]

I have no problem spending the ~$18 a couple times a year. It's the fact that I'm too damned lazy to take an hour or two (while I wait, no less) to go get it done. (I sure as hell am too lazy to do it myself).

 

[imthebadguy]

i drive lease cars, some times i go 10k plus befor i get around to an oil chg