Oil Change Frequency

[Hemisfear]

5k or 50%, whichever comes first!

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[bassist]

Random internet guys aren't trying to sell you a mid-to-high five figure vehicle every 3 years.

Some of them might try to sell you Amsoil, but that's only because it's Mary Kay for men with the multi-level marketing.

Who stands to make more money off of you?

I have never had an engine go bad, and I follow the manufacturer’s suggestions.

Most trouble free car I’ve had with extended usages had both a turbo AND a supercharger on it. Oil changes only per manufacturer instructions.

They wouldn’t be able to sell extended warranties if the guidance was bad, because no company would underwrite them.

 

[bassist]

Every 5K with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. It's my daily beater and I run it 75-80mph for 100 miles (non-stop) a couple times each week in the summer.

Is that supposed to be impressive in terms of durability?

German vehicles cruise at 81mph. You’re not even going all that fast until you’re going 110-120 (or more).

Having logged thousands of miles at triple digit speeds, even a mediocre Opel should be able to do that without mechanical issue.

 

[zoober]

Is that supposed to be impressive in terms of durability?

German vehicles cruise at 81mph. You’re not even going all that fast until you’re going 110-120 (or more).

Having logged thousands of miles at triple digit speeds, even a mediocre Opel should be able to do that without mechanical issue.

But he's not driving an aero European car. He's driving a brick with wheels.

 

[Smocaine]

I have never had an engine go bad, and I follow the manufacturer’s suggestions.

Most trouble free car I’ve had with extended usages had both a turbo AND a supercharger on it. Oil changes only per manufacturer instructions.

They wouldn’t be able to sell extended warranties if the guidance was bad, because no company would underwrite them.

I'm glad you've never owned a Mopar product. My engine and transmission both failed with manufacturer suggested fluid intervals.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

I change mine every few months or so. If I followed the minder I'd be changing oil once a year. No thanks, especially how hot it gets down here. 5k is a good interval for modern vehicles. Fresh oil is never a bad thing.

 

[Brian_B]

Overly simplified figures except $35 for Blackstone labs, but oil is as cheap for one person as it is for another.

Every 3k	Every 9k w/labs
Oil 3k $35	Oil 9k $35
Filter 3k $15	Filter 9k $15
Oil 6k $35	Labs $35
Filter 6k $15
Oil 9k $35
Filter 9k $15
Total $150	Total $85

Yeah but what if the labs at 9k come back bad?

With bigger engines - we test at about half the expected oil change interval. If it looks good, we half that and test it again, all the way until we are testing every ~300hrs (every other week) - and keep doing that until we get a bad sample - then we change the oil.

Now, there, oil changes are many thousands of dollars, so a little different. But if you are just gonna change your oil every 9k anyway, why even bother testing? We don't bother re-testing oil when we change it, because we just had a bad sample to lead us to changing it, so we already know.

The only real deviation from this is if we have a significant failure, we test to see if we can identify any forensics... and the first oil change after an overhaul - we do an early break-in service then.

So, that's a bit aggressive for a personal vehicle where the cost of changing the oil is fairly low compared to the testing.. but still - I don't see the point of testing oil you just changed, unless it's to modify the frequency - and then this chart of prices kinda goes out the window anyway. Because of my first point - what if the sample pops bad? Not only did you run for unknown hours on bad oil, but you need to adjust the frequency to something... dunno what though without even more testing.

Or for just about $15 more - you could just change the oil anyway and know it's new and good.

 

[MD24Bronco2.3]

I love these threads. Just do whatever makes you feel good and don't exceed the manufacturer's recommendation, especially under warranty. 5k is an easy number to remember. Although, I believe following the oil monitor prompt is also reasonable. If you know you're harder than average on your vehicle, shorten the interval accordingly. However, I think the monitor adjusts for that.

On the other hand, I switched to 20k mile intervals (extended performance high mileage gull synthetic) with my daily driven Fusion Hybrid at around 150k. That was over 100k ago.

 

[adam1991]

I love these threads. Just do whatever makes you feel good and don't exceed the manufacturer's
On the other hand, I switched to 20k mile intervals (extended performance high mileage gull synthetic) with my daily driven Fusion Hybrid at around 150k. That was over 100k ago.

That's good to know. My son, who isn't interested in any of this, goes by the monitor on his 2016 C-Max Energi. Now, when he was in school, a bunch of his miles were on battery--and I had to force him to change the oil after (I believe) more than a year, because the monitor hadn't said boo.

But now he's out of school and into work (yes, young people CAN get jobs right out of school, great ones, if said young people present themselves well and are willing to work) and his daily commute burns up some gas. I'll be curious to see what the monitor says.

 

[Squatch]

Yeah but what if the labs at 9k come back bad?

With bigger engines - we test at about half the expected oil change interval. If it looks good, we half that and test it again, all the way until we are testing every ~300hrs (every other week) - and keep doing that until we get a bad sample - then we change the oil.

Now, there, oil changes are many thousands of dollars, so a little different. But if you are just gonna change your oil every 9k anyway, why even bother testing? We don't bother re-testing oil when we change it, because we just had a bad sample to lead us to changing it, so we already know.

The only real deviation from this is if we have a significant failure, we test to see if we can identify any forensics... and the first oil change after an overhaul - we do an early break-in service then.

So, that's a bit aggressive for a personal vehicle where the cost of changing the oil is fairly low compared to the testing.. but still - I don't see the point of testing oil you just changed, unless it's to modify the frequency - and then this chart of prices kinda goes out the window anyway. Because of my first point - what if the sample pops bad? Not only did you run for unknown hours on bad oil, but you need to adjust the frequency to something... dunno what though without even more testing.

Or for just about $15 more - you could just change the oil anyway and know it's new and good.

$65, but 15 and 65 are close if you cross your eyes gard enough.

It was really just a silly post to poke fun at the overly simplistic statement that "oil is cheap."

More ridiculousness:

• What if we could reduce oil consumption to 1/3 of current usage on a global scale? Would "oil is cheap" still hold up?
• I ran an experiment on my personal Bronco. What will I do if the lab results come back "bad" after 9k miles? I'd drive it off a cliff, but that's been done.
• Bigger engines? You know that tells me absolutely nothing, right? Break out the physics, the chemistry, etc.
• Who thought Zeno's paradox was a good method to testing the oil?
• Remember those weird commercials where they'd drain the oil and run the engines on stands and some additive was supposed to make the engine still run after like 50,000 moles or something?
• What if you used 3 times what you needed to use in every aspect of your life? Three times the food on your plate than what you'll eat. Three times the toilet paper that you need. Drive three times the distance that you need to get to work, etc., every day... sounds fun. You get surgery to have six arms, but you can only use two of them.

 

[Smocaine]

• What if you used 3 times what you needed to use in every aspect of your life? Three times the food on your plate than what you'll eat. Three times the toilet paper that you need. Drive three times the distance that you need to get to work, etc., every day... sounds fun. You get surgery to have six arms, but you can only use two of them.

I don't know about you, but toilet paper is also something I would infinitely prefer to have way too much of than slightly too little. 4 squares of 2-ply might be enough on average, but I tend to drive hard!

 

[Squatch]

I don't know about you, but toilet paper is also something I would infinitely prefer to have way too much of than slightly too little. 4 squares of 2-ply might be enough on average, but I tend to drive hard!

Get a bidet! The fancy Toto Washlet doesn't have enough pressure for you? Then get the $30 Biobidet add-on and damn near reverse your GI tract!

 

[mpeugeot]

$65, but 15 and 65 are close if you cross your eyes gard enough.

It was really just a silly post to poke fun at the overly simplistic statement that "oil is cheap."

More ridiculousness:

• What if we could reduce oil consumption to 1/3 of current usage on a global scale? Would "oil is cheap" still hold up?
• I ran an experiment on my personal Bronco. What will I do if the lab results come back "bad" after 9k miles? I'd drive it off a cliff, but that's been done.
• Bigger engines? You know that tells me absolutely nothing, right? Break out the physics, the chemistry, etc.
• Who thought Zeno's paradox was a good method to testing the oil?
• Remember those weird commercials where they'd drain the oil and run the engines on stands and some additive was supposed to make the engine still run after like 50,000 moles or something?
• What if you used 3 times what you needed to use in every aspect of your life? Three times the food on your plate than what you'll eat. Three times the toilet paper that you need. Drive three times the distance that you need to get to work, etc., every day... sounds fun. You get surgery to have six arms, but you can only use two of them.

Oil is not consumed unless your engine isn't right or you have a Jeep. So unless you own a Jeep or don't recycle your oil, this is a non-issue.

So, yes, oil is cheap.

Just like excess food in the Philippines becomes pagpag, recyclable oil and food don't go to waste where it's needed.

I am pro-bidet, although it uses less toilet paper, it uses more water. Which is more valuable?

 

[Squatch]

Oil is not consumed unless your engine isn't right or you have a Jeep. So unless you own a Jeep or don't recycle your oil, this is a non-issue.

So, yes, oil is cheap.

Just like excess food in the Philippines becomes pagpag, recyclable oil and food don't go to waste where it's needed.

Yes, everything gets recycled... 100%

When was the last time you bought recycled oil for your Bronco? Never? So, they still refined some brand new, fresh out of the ground virgin crude for the oil in your oil change? For virtually everyone's oil changes?

Recycled food? You mean leftovers?

 

[adam1991]

• What if you used 3 times what you needed to use in every aspect of your life? Three times the food on your plate than what you'll eat. Three times the toilet paper that you need. Drive three times the distance that you need to get to work, etc., every day...

If that added to my life span 5x, it's not ridiculous at all.

What's ridiculous was your analogy there.

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