CHANGING OF OIL ===> Mileage OR Elapsed Time.....

[Car Guy]

Just wondering what everyone thinks about changing your oil according to mileage or time. I know the 'traditional' recommended numbers are 3 months/3,000 miles for conventional oil but synthetics are up to 25k/1 year.....

I personally think it's silly to change your oil before the recommended mileage if the recommended time has elapsed. I've been told that I'm dead wrong on that but what if you put in 25k mile synthetic oil (with the correct filter!) and drive it 100 miles in a year, should you still change it...???







:3gears::3gears::3gears:

[Prince Valiant]

I'd change it yearly at a minimum...but depends on how you drive.

If that 100 mile/year is in 2 mile increments, yeah...I'd change it. The short start up does warm up the car somewhat, so when that engine cools down, condensation builds in the crankcase. It'll continue to build too because two miles ain't enough to burn it off (more like a 1/2 hour of driving). Meanwhile, the car never "fully" warms up, so there are more unburnt particulates, which as they accumulate in the oil, will make the oil more acidic.

Sure, many modern high quality oils have additives to try to ressist this, but it'll only be good for so long. And it can't fight moisture build up, that's a matter of time the engine runs.

Whereas long drives tend to keep the oil cleaner for longer.

And I always change to new oil before storage.

[Slow Joe]

We drive enough to almost never have that problem... Synthetic gets 5k miles for the Saab or 6mo for the Mustang. I understand that it can go longer, but I'd rather spend $50 on an oil change than push my luck...

[88Nightmare]

I have yet to hit the time limit on my oil. I always reach my mileage limit. But oil tends to break down on its own over time naturally anyway without it being driven. for the price it takes for an oil change, why cheap out and try to get out of it?

[slickwilly]

Damnit, I wish I could find my Porsche 911 brochure (it's a damn book, really). The recommended interval is something like 20,000 miles. That's ridiculous for a car that is expected to be flogged. And the damn things are actually reliable unlike a lot of euro-imports.

[GTSLOW]

Usually whats recomended on the bottle.

[pickardracing]

Whenever i think it should be changed.

[PB86MCSS]

Its relatively cheap insurance, so I go by every 3-4 months. All my cars are now running synthetic, even "converted" the Buick (no leaks either) since I have a hookup for free Mobil One :) . I never heard synthetic can last 25k, yikes. I'd say every 5k or so is a good measure.

[Flight_740]

Whenever the little green lights on my dash turn red. Thats when I do it. I have no clue as to what mileage it is or how many months. The car tells me when she is ready.

[GRAMPS SS]

with the mileage that i drive every day.....i change my oil every 3k miles..no fail....don't want the old Taurasss to fail on me.....if it just lasts till spring.....

[TURTLE]

amsoil is supposed to last 25k with just changine the filter every 5-8k... i ran amsoil in the silver neon to 8k before changes, and i was hard on that car... mobil 1 in it before, changed at 5k... black neon needs to get changed over yet, but on regular dino Castrol GTS i change at 2500...

[Slow Joe]

Damnit, I wish I could find my Porsche 911 brochure (it's a damn book, really). The recommended interval is something like 20,000 miles. That's ridiculous for a car that is expected to be flogged. And the damn things are actually reliable unlike a lot of euro-imports.

:rolf Ask anyone that owns one how often they get their oil changed...

When my dad had his 996 Turbo ('01 911 Turbo) he was changing the oil every 3k because of oil consumption, and wanting to take care of his car...
When he had his 996 Convertible ('99 911 C2S Convertible) he changed the oil every 5k. Boxster got 5k oil changes, so did the Cayanne... The 928 gets 3k full synthetic oil changes just because... His 993 ('97 911 C4S Widebody) got 3k full synthetic oil changes... The only car that he ever took over 5k for an oil change was his Mercedes because that one didn't tell him to get an oil change til 12k miles, and since it was free under factory maintinence IA wouldn't change it... Maybe it's wasting oil, but he'd rather take care of his cars, I'm sure alot of Porsche owners are like that, which is what keeps the cars reliable...

[jbiscuit]

mobil 1 + Subaru filter in the wagon = roughly 5k intervals. The synthetics can go a long time if you use a proper filter. There are TONS of studies and theories to read through on the subaru forums and most are finding that you can go 10K easily on your synthetics. Like said already though, its cheap insurance.

[DurtyKurty]

I change it whenever I get around to it.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

I usually try to change it at 5k, dino or synthetic.
With that said my Cobra is sitting in the garage dirty from when it was driven in Nov. and the oil in the pan has 8k on it. :D
I am going to change that before I even start it this spring.
I use OEM brand filters and Castrol GTX and Syntec in my cars.

I disregard oil life monitors as I think they generally overstate oil life, it is interesting to have a car tell you it needs its oil changed at 15K tho in the case of my neighbors new caddy. :rolleyes:

[Slow Joe]

I disregard oil life monitors as I think they generally overstate oil life, it is interesting to have a car tell you it needs its oil changed at 15K tho in the case of my neighbors new caddy. :rolleyes:

In the manual of our Saab it says something like... every two years or 20k or something like that... :wow Yet the dealership says every 5 mo or 5k...

I see a lack of communication :rolf

[Z28Roxy]

German Castrol + Mobil 1 filter I push it quite far. There was a big thread on camaroz28 a couple years ago about oil analysis done with it, it was good for well over 10,000 miles was the consensus.

In reality I go about 6-9k though. Har har 6-9.

[slickwilly]

:rolf Ask anyone that owns one how often they get their oil changed...

Maybe it's wasting oil, but he'd rather take care of his cars, I'm sure alot of Porsche owners are like that, which is what keeps the cars reliable...

I'm sure that's true to an extent, but just like with any kind of car, there are plenty of people who drive Porsches and probably don't even know where the engine is. No, seriously. I don't expect that they get the oil changed early "just because." :D

[Slow Joe]

I'm sure that's true to an extent, but just like with any kind of car, there are plenty of people who drive Porsches and probably don't even know where the engine is. No, seriously. I don't expect that they get the oil changed early "just because." :D

I'm sure there are some... But luckily Porsche don't have "free factory maintinence" for the first 36k or whatnot... Which means the dealership will tell them to change their oil, most likely around 5k...

[LIZMO]

i just do it every 3K

[BoosTT]

I change mine full syn every 3.5k to 4k. Who cares, it's only $50.

[DirtyMax]

I usually try to go about 5K on mine. I think that's the mfr. recommended interval nowadays anyways.

[MurphysLaw88GT]

I just add oil and it changes itself after a while:rolf

[lordairgtar]

I have a new 2007 Chevy that has the DIC (couldn't they come up with a better acronym) and tells by percentage how the oil is doing, GM still says every 3000 miles for the change.

[Yooformula]

my dad only takes his 335ci to the dealer for oil changes and they wont change it less than 10k miles. Their warranty backs the motor if anything happens to it too.