How often do you change your oil?

[UTmtnbiker]

On my oil cap, it's printed 5W-30, but you're right, any Honda/Acura dealer will tell you 5W-20. I've read the 20 will give you better gas mileage, so....maybe at 15,000 (which is now) I'll do it myself and put in 5W-20 and see if it helps.

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: UTmtnbiker
04 Acura TSX. First 10,000 miles, I changed the oil 3 times (3,000; 7,500; 11,000 - close enough to 10,000). Now I'm going with the recommended schedule which is an incredible 10,000 miles for normal (which means me) driving conditions.

EDIT: I use whatever the Acura dealer uses as they have been servicing my car for free up till now....probably an OEM Honda Civic filter with 5W30 (factory recommendation) normal, not synthetic, oil.

I thought Acura/Honda recommends 5W20 since 2001. My 03 Acura CL recommends 5W20. BTW, 10K on conventional oil is too long.

 

[Lithium381]

Originally posted by: TStep
My Jeep leaks/burns oil so bad I just add about 1 quart per week, six quart capacity, so once every six weeks. 268,000 miles.

Although I don't think it's necessary anymore as it was in the past, one every 3000-4000 on new vehicle which equates to about once every two months

my toyota is similar though not quite as bad it's only a 5 qt tank and i only have to add one about once a month, and i change the filter every 4 or 5 months or so, since i the oil is constantly being replenished with fresh stuff

 

[rezinn]

Changing your oil is no replacement for changing the filter. Clear filter > clean oil.

I change my oil every summer, winter, and spring. Typically once at the beginning of summer and once at the end(nearing fall).

 

[mattgyver]

My brother once drove so long without getting the oil changed the engine actually quit running. Then he lied to my dad and said he didn't know what was wrong with the car and pulled off the sticker so he wouldn't see it. My brother is stupid. Oh, this was on a 2002 Maxima. And this happened about a year ago.

 

[Thegonagle]

I start thinking about it at the 3000 mile mark, and get it done by 5000.

 

[Ryan]

5000 miles like Toyota says (although their 7000 mile change seems a little high to me ).

 

[raanemaan]

I change the oil between 3000 and 4000 miles. In the S10 I drag race every month.

 

[DAGTA]

Used to always do every 3000 miles. My car has an oil life meter. Manual says to change when the light pops on or 12 months, whichever occurs first. I ran it 6,000 miles and no light, so I changed it anyway. I'll probably go for about 4,000 miles between changes from now on.

 

[earthling30]

Every 3000-5000 miles depending on driving conitions.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: mattgyver
My brother once drove so long without getting the oil changed the engine actually quit running. Then he lied to my dad and said he didn't know what was wrong with the car and pulled off the sticker so he wouldn't see it. My brother is stupid. Oh, this was on a 2002 Maxima. And this happened about a year ago.

Seized engines are always nice:roll:

 

[DurocShark]

On my VW Bus: Every 2 months or 3000 miles. Along with a valve adjustment.
On my Volvo: Whenever I remember.
On my Fiero: See Volvo.

Generally the Volvo and Fiero get done every 3-4 months, but as long as the oil's coming out clean I'm not gonna sweat it.

 

[mattgyver]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: mattgyver
My brother once drove so long without getting the oil changed the engine actually quit running. Then he lied to my dad and said he didn't know what was wrong with the car and pulled off the sticker so he wouldn't see it. My brother is stupid. Oh, this was on a 2002 Maxima. And this happened about a year ago.

Seized engines are always nice:roll:

Everything turned out to be OK, but still. . . how lazy (or stupid) do you have to be? I mean, my dad was paying for the oil changes anyway. My dad gives him a new car and he just totally rags it out. It makes me mad just thinking about all the things he's done to that car. Just today, he showed me where he (he claimed a friend did it) left a candle in his back seat. The candle melted in the heat and leaked. A large area of the back seat leather is now stained purple. And he didn't really even seem to care.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: UTmtnbiker
On my oil cap, it's printed 5W-30, but you're right, any Honda/Acura dealer will tell you 5W-20. I've read the 20 will give you better gas mileage, so....maybe at 15,000 (which is now) I'll do it myself and put in 5W-20 and see if it helps.

Originally posted by: welst10

Originally posted by: UTmtnbiker
04 Acura TSX. First 10,000 miles, I changed the oil 3 times (3,000; 7,500; 11,000 - close enough to 10,000). Now I'm going with the recommended schedule which is an incredible 10,000 miles for normal (which means me) driving conditions.

EDIT: I use whatever the Acura dealer uses as they have been servicing my car for free up till now....probably an OEM Honda Civic filter with 5W30 (factory recommendation) normal, not synthetic, oil.

I thought Acura/Honda recommends 5W20 since 2001. My 03 Acura CL recommends 5W20. BTW, 10K on conventional oil is too long.

If you use 5W-20 and stick with a 10k interval I can almost guarentee you are doing your engine a disservice.

5W-20 oil, well, it fscking sucks. Yeah, you'll get better gas milage... but at what cost?

If I was given the choice between xW-20, xW-30 and xW-40... xW-20 giving the best gas milage and least protection and xW-40 giving the best protection and least gas milage, I would almost certainly choose the 40 weight oil.

Protection > 0.1mpg

If you INSIST on using 5W-20, Havoline and Chevron are the best. But they're still garbage compared to a good 30 weight, IMO. They simply aren't as shear stable as higher weight oils. What good is the oil if it is going to thin out to something less than 20 weight after xxxx miles?

If you want the best of both worlds, try Mobil1 0W-30. Excellent startup/cold weather performance, and decent shear stability.

Personally, I'm running Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15W-40 in both my truck's performance 350 and my Dad's Camry. It is a conventional oil made for diesels. Underestand that a diesel engine is much harder on its oil than a gasoline engine, all else being equal. So this is a good thing.

It has excellent shear stability(one of the best of any 40 weight oil in existance), an awesome Total Base Number typical of diesel oils(to fight the incredible ammount of blow-by chemicals), and the best price/performance ratio of any oil I have been able to find so far. You can get it for less than 6$ a gallon at Wal-Mart.

Of course, you should only consider using it if your engine specs that it can use a 40 weight oil. I'm only using it for the summer, I haven't decided what I'll switch to come Fall/Winter. It would be excellent year around for perhaps some areas like the desert southwest, though.