When to get an oil change?

[JulesMaximus]

Actually if you read most owners manuals you would see my numbers are very conserative.

But don;t let a little thing like facts get in the way of your posting.

Facts? You mean like the ones you're completely ignoring?

Fact: The manufacturer of my car says to change the oil every 3,750 miles or 4 times a annually. Why would I not listen to Nissan and listen to your advice? Can you give me ONE good reason? I'd really like to hear that.

Tell you what, if you want to warranty my engine for the next 100k miles I'll listen to you.

 

[Nessism]

Facts? You mean like the ones you're completely ignoring?

Fact: The manufacturer of my car says to change the oil every 3,750 miles or 4 times a annually. Why would I not listen to Nissan and listen to your advice? Can you give me ONE good reason? I'd really like to hear that.

Tell you what, if you want to warranty my engine for the next 100k miles I'll listen to you.

Nissan has stupid recommendations in their owners manual listing different maintenance schedules depending on if you want "premium" service or what ever they call it. Normal maintenance extends the change interval to 7500 miles or 6 months. I know for a fact that the Nissan National HQ tells the employees to change the oil at the normal 7500 mile intervals for all the company and employee lease vehicles and Nissan motor oil is regular bulk pack dino oil. Yes, facts.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nissan has stupid recommendations in their owners manual listing different maintenance schedules depending if you want "premium" service or what ever they call it. I know for a fact that the Nissan National HQ told the employees to change the oil at the normal 7500 mile intervals and they use regular bulk pack dino oil. What does that tell you?

Really? So, we have another genius in here telling me to ignore what the manufacturer of my car says and to go with an even greater oil change interval.

Yeah, I'm going to listen to you guys...

 

[Nessism]

Really? So, we have another genius in here telling me to ignore what the manufacturer of my car says and to go with an even greater oil change interval.

Yeah, I'm going to listen to you guys...

Yes, I'm just an idiot engineer that worked for Nissan North America for 21 years. Do what you want.

 

[TruePaige]

Really? So, we have another genius in here telling me to ignore what the manufacturer of my car says and to go with an even greater oil change interval.

Yeah, I'm going to listen to you guys...

GM is at least honest and says to follow the oil life monitor.

I can show you my Onstar charts, shows about 4k for regular oil to get to 25% or so then I switched to synthetic and about 11k for synthetic.

Analysis at 10k showed that my oil was fine and it was a trustworthy evaluation by my car.

3750 as a regular oil change is pretty ridiculous unless you just hammer on your car day in and day out.

If you run synthetic and do that then you are just pissing money down the drain for absolutely zero reason.

Send in a sample of your oil to be lab tested, they'll tell you the truth.

 

[Nessism]

GM is at least honest and says to follow the oil life monitor.

I can show you my Onstar charts, shows about 4k for regular oil to get to 25% or so then I switched to synthetic and about 11k for synthetic.

Analysis at 10k showed that my oil was fine and it was a trustworthy evaluation by my car.

3750 as a regular oil change is pretty ridiculous unless you just hammer on your car day in and day out.

If you run synthetic and do that then you are just pissing money down the drain for absolutely zero reason.

Send in a sample of your oil to be lab tested, they'll tell you the truth.

Listen to this man, he knows what he is talking about.

 

[TruePaige]

Listen to this man, he knows what he is talking about.

Thanks, same to you.

 

[0roo0roo]

what does the car base its warning on? simple mileage?

 

[HarryLui]

I have a really hard time believing 5k mile oil caused the timing chain to stretch. Just not seeing it at all.

What if the engine uses 1/2 qt every 1k mile? Would that change your opinion?

Also, there are engines out there with design problems that cause sludge excessively.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html

I changed out an engine of car because the engine used oil and the owner went 10k without changing or checking the oil level. Rod went though the block.

I may not know exactly how long can the oil last, but I sure know how many miles are on my engines.

My turbo Volvo has over 300,000 miles.
My Saturn has over 200,000 miles.

 

[jlee]

What if the engine uses 1/2 qt every 1k mile? Would that change your opinion?

Also, there are engines out there with design problems that cause sludge excessively.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html

I changed out an engine of car because the engine used oil and the owner went 10k without changing or checking the oil level. Rod went though the block.

I may not know exactly how long can the oil last, but I sure know how many miles are on my engines.

My turbo Volvo has over 300,000 miles.
My Saturn has over 200,000 miles.

Nope. Also, running low on oil is a different topic. If you kill a motor because you never check your oil, it's not the interval that's the problem.

 

[TruePaige]

what does the car base its warning on? simple mileage?

Mine monitors oil quality.

The remaining life displays differently based on the type of oil I put in.

"How does the system work?
The GM Oil Life Monitor System is not a mileage counter. It is actually a computer
based software algorithm that determines when to change oil based on engine operating
conditions. There is no actual oil condition sensor. Rather, the computer continuously
monitors engine-operating conditions to determine when to change oil."

It can tell by how the engine is operating how soon until you need to change the oil before you have compromised performance and then soon after engine health.

http://assets.cobaltnitra.com/teams...5efa6b30/975c7820afba1004895010145efa6b30.pdf

GM said that most people were at the recommended oil change level between 7500 and 8500 (not sure if that means in the 20% "Change" zone or the 0% zone). With controlled highway driving you can go 12,000 miles.

 

[0roo0roo]

oh, its an engine load/usage monitor. ok.

 

[Zenmervolt]

What if the engine uses 1/2 qt every 1k mile? Would that change your opinion?

Also, there are engines out there with design problems that cause sludge excessively.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html

I changed out an engine of car because the engine used oil and the owner went 10k without changing or checking the oil level. Rod went though the block.

I may not know exactly how long can the oil last, but I sure know how many miles are on my engines.

My turbo Volvo has over 300,000 miles.
My Saturn has over 200,000 miles.

Nope. Also, running low on oil is a different topic. If you kill a motor because you never check your oil, it's not the interval that's the problem.

Bingo. A 3,000 mile vs 5,000 mile interval interval isn't going to cause oil burning nor excessive sludge. Not paying attention to the oil level is another thing entirely. Also, most companies list up to 1 quart per 1,000 miles as "normal" limits for burning oil, so burning 1/2 quart every 1,000 miles would not be worrisome to me (though both of my cars burn less than 1/2 quart per oil change).

Sorry, but your friend's issues simply cannot be traced to the oil change interval.

To be clear on the "1qt/1,000 mile" bit: Most companies list this as the limit for "normal" oil consumption because, in the absence of visible or otherwise obvious leaks (e.g. oil showing up in the coolant, water showing up in the remaining oil), the amount of work necessary to trace and repair is simply not worth doing and even at 1qt/1,000 miles it's not really enough to be an issue in terms of plug fouling. 1qt/1,000 miles is definitely at the highest end of the range, but even that wouldn't be enough to make an engine grenade.

ZV

 

[ussfletcher]

Interesting, I never really thought about losing oil over time.... How often do you guys check your fluid levels?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Interesting, I never really thought about losing oil over time.... How often do you guys check your fluid levels?

Every 2-4 weeks depending on how much driving I've been doing with that particular car. Generally it's about every 500 miles. Barring parts failure, checking every 1,000 miles is probably sufficient for the vast majority of drivers. (Hell, the vast majority of drivers never bother to check their oil at all and they're fine.)

ZV

 

[StageLeft]

Facts? You mean like the ones you're completely ignoring?

Fact: The manufacturer of my car says to change the oil every 3,750 miles or 4 times a annually. Why would I not listen to Nissan and listen to your advice? Can you give me ONE good reason? I'd really like to hear that.

Tell you what, if you want to warranty my engine for the next 100k miles I'll listen to you.

Are you sure? My 2000 maxima has, like most cars, the schedule 1 & 2. I think schedule 1 probably does call for a 3750 change but that's only if doing tons of short trips and/or driving in dusty conditions (why that matters I have no idea, air filter ftl?). Based on a normal person's driving I think it is around 7500 it calls for.

Interesting, I never really thought about losing oil over time.... How often do you guys check your fluid levels?

Every few thousand miles This is based on experience with my cars, they just drink oil very very slowly so I never expect to see it go down much. I'd say that with a 7000 mile oil change I will have topped it up with less than a quart in between.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yes, I'm just an idiot engineer that worked for Nissan North America for 21 years. Do what you want.

I didn't call you an idiot. Just pointing out that you and others here are advising me to ignore the recommendations of the manufacturer of my car. I think that's bad advice.

My .02

 

[JulesMaximus]

Are you sure? My 2000 maxima has, like most cars, the schedule 1 & 2. I think schedule 1 probably does call for a 3750 change but that's only if doing tons of short trips and/or driving in dusty conditions (why that matters I have no idea, air filter ftl?). Based on a normal person's driving I think it is around 7500 it calls for.Every few thousand miles This is based on experience with my cars, they just drink oil very very slowly so I never expect to see it go down much. I'd say that with a 7000 mile oil change I will have topped it up with less than a quart in between.

I'll go get the manual. There are two recommended service schedules for my car, they are as follows.

Schedule 1: Every 3,750 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. Use schedule 1 if you primarily operate your vehicle under any of these conditions:

-Repeated short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures.
-Stop and go traffic in hot weather or low speed driving for long distances (this certainly applies to my daily commute and it gets very hot here, well into triple digits in the desert).
-Driving in dusty conditions or on rough, muddy, or salt-spread roads (it can get very dusty here...even smokey at times).
-Towing a trailer or using a camper or car-top carrier (I have a roof rack for my bicycles or surfboard on my car from time to time).

Schedule 2: Every 7,500 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first.

-Generally schedule 2 applies only to highway driving in temperate conditions. Use schedule 2 only if you primarily operate your vehicle under conditions other than those listed in Schedule 1.

My driving conditions and needs clearly put me into schedule 1 maintenance; there is zero doubt about this at all. If I changed the oil every 5,000 miles, instead of reading my manual and going with what Nissan recommends, over the course of 100,000 miles I would save myself 6 oil changes or about $150...chump change. Armed with that knowledge I'd have to be a complete idiot to ignore the advice of Nissan quite honestly.

Again, I'm not saying that anyone who recommends changing the oil every 5,000 miles is wrong in all cases because with many car manufacturers that is what they recommend. But to recommend that to everyone regardless of what car they own is bad advice IMO. If I followed that advice I'd be giving Nissan a reason to deny a potentially major warranty repair if I needed it down the road to save a measly $150 over the course of 5-6 years.

Ever hear the term penny wise and pound foolish?

 

[TraumaRN]

I just had my oil changed on my Fusion Hybrid after 11,000 miles. Service interval according to the dealership and my manual is 1 year/10,000 miles.

Although I'll be doing the next oil change...this one was free from the dealership but they stripped the oil pan lug... at least they were kind enough to replace it for free...

 

[yh125d]

My last fusion I didn't change til 14k. After 10k (the interval) I checked for clarity and level every week and it looked new. My bro was about to take it on a 1k mile trip out of state so I went ahead and changed it then anyhow. Too bad it was on that trip that it got totaled


But when I buy a car I check the fluids weekly for a few months, to see if there are any small leaks I should know about (my cutlass needed power steering fluid every week or so, bad leak, and had a small brake fluid leak needed filling every couple months). Barring finding something there that needs to be kept an eye on, only every few months

 

[Gillbot]

go by the oil life monitor, sometimes your warranty depends on it.

 

[jpeyton]

Even my dealer recommends I don't bring my car in until the OLM reads 15%. At 15% running synthetic, my interval is 10k miles.

Jiffy Lube (and the auto parts industry as a whole) did a fantastic marketing job with the 3,000 miles/3 months mantra that a lot of people still believe to this day.

 

[kevbot]

My personal feeling on this subject is to change your oil on a schedule that makes you feel comfortable. My car has an oil life sensor, and everything I can find points to that abiding by this reading is sufficient for warranty concerns. I change my oil twice a year and have yet to bang into 0% oil life.

Even if you change oil at 3000 mile increments, the cost is chump change over the life of a vehicle.

In other words, IMO, arguing over oil change intervals is a lot like arguing about what is the best color. Folks who care about the longevity of their automobile will do the right thing to the best of their ability, and the rest will not see threads like this.

 

[0roo0roo]

My personal feeling on this subject is to change your oil on a schedule that makes you feel comfortable. My car has an oil life sensor, and everything I can find points to that abiding by this reading is sufficient for warranty concerns. I change my oil twice a year and have yet to bang into 0% oil life.

Even if you change oil at 3000 mile increments, the cost is chump change over the life of a vehicle.

In other words, IMO, arguing over oil change intervals is a lot like arguing about what is the best color. Folks who care about the longevity of their automobile will do the right thing to the best of their ability, and the rest will not see threads like this.

yea but as said, said sensor is not a sensor but just a general log of how hard you flog the car.

as far i've heard real analysis of oil condition requires a lab break down of the oil condition. not something easily done with a sensor. on the other hand if the manufacturer is willing to use the sensors recommendation there is plenty of safety factor built in.

 

[HarryLui]

Or cover up to the time when warranty expires...