Oil change intervals....

[stangbanger]

how long do you let it go? What's the car's purpose (Ie cruiser, dd, drag car, etc)?
Synthetic or dino? How many miles on vehicle/ engine?


Please let me state the following:

1. This is not a synthetic vs. Dino argument.

2. This is not Ford vs. Chevy argument.

3. This is not a domestic vs. import argument.

4. I don't care if you like the LS motor family.

5. This is not a Mobil vs Pennzoil argument

2003 Accord daily driver.

6500 mile OCI with 5w30 Synthetic no brand preference.

162k miles all stock

[Stich496]

well..
my 71 truck is still old school carb, so because of the choke.. in the winter months I go 2000 miles then change out the dino oil 10-40
summer I'll go 3500-4000 because the choke isn't used so less fuel in oil.. and it's a flat tap cam and the zinc additive isn't cheap..
truck is way over 200k and engine is tire,
the '86 monty because it's been a garage queen gets the oil changed every 12 months.. dino iirc 10-30 8700 miles
the hhr was mobil 1 and every 7500 miles that had 67k on it when it left my hands
2004 sport trac, mobil1 only every 5-6k 106k on clock
1999 grand mark dino 5-30 when I drove it, every 3000 miles (ever other week) as it was a delivery car and I beat the crap out of it. mom drive it now and is easier on it. so every 4500 it gets changed ,reminds me it should be do for one..
'89 grand mark was my delivery car before the 99 had a 302, this car got recycled oil , the oil drained from doing oil changes for friends this car got.. it get filtered through a bodyshop paint filter for reuse, because well it leaked it and leaked allot.. filter once a month that car came to me with 87k and left with 460k
71 el camino 402bbc got a liitle better it got new oil but same deal new filter every other month as it burn oil
85 olds cutlass was the worst I ever treaked a car.. bought as a 200.oo beater, it got whatever was handy unfiltered old oil. and it was added when I'd turn a corner and the red light on dash came on. that was the sign to stop and add.. this was a buick 231 v6 that leaked from every gasket.. drove that for 2 winters and sold for 5 times what I bought it for..

[squirrel]

55....blown big block...cheap 10-40 changed every 2k (although I went almost 4k on it for drag week).

Wife's 99 models....synthetic 5-30....15k miles. one of them has 230+k miles on it with this shabby treatment.

Wife's 08....sythetic...whenever the light comes on, about 8k usually.

My other old stuff, I run cheap 5-30 and try to change it every 3k.

[Gary 351C]

The wife's Corolla and my Crown Vic every 3,000 with whatever's on sale.

[truckpuller]

I think the wifes Bonneville has around 22,000 on this oil change. Mobil dino 10w-30. My Powerstroke has around 10,000 on it, Mobil MX. My Nissan Sentra has god knows how many miles on it, yeah they are all going to be changed in the next week or so.

[milner351]

Truckpuller - tell me more about this mobil MX in your powerstroke - hadn't see that before. I just made the switch to Synthetic 5w-40 in my powerstroke since it has over 6000 on the rebuilt engine now.

With full synthetic I've had good luck with the 5k, change filter and top off, 10k, change it all schedule. Opened that engine up at 100, and will recently again at over 200 and it's like new under the valve covers. It was amzoil for a while until it got crazy money, since then, mobil 1, or whatever full synth is on sale.

For occasional use stuff - change once a year - spring or fall.

[SpiderGearsMan]

three months three thousand miles

[truckpuller]

Truckpuller - tell me more about this mobil MX in your powerstroke - hadn't see that before. I just made the switch to Synthetic 5w-40 in my powerstroke since it has over 6000 on the rebuilt engine now.

With full synthetic I've had good luck with the 5k, change filter and top off, 10k, change it all schedule. Opened that engine up at 100, and will recently again at over 200 and it's like new under the valve covers. It was amzoil for a while until it got crazy money, since then, mobil 1, or whatever full synth is on sale.

For occasional use stuff - change once a year - spring or fall.

The MX is the old Mobil Delvac, not the low ash stuff they advertise now, I am lucky that I bought a 25 gallon drum of it for around $190 a couple years back. If I remember right it still has all the zinc and everything else. I can talk to my friend who is a dealer if you need me to. just PM me with any questions you have and I will ask him.

In my opinion a powerstroke is the ultimate tester of the additive package in an oil, if you have ever been around a powerstroke when you ran the oil too long you know what I am talking about....

[Barry Donovan]

cold tis morning..was just thinking of oil.

I worked a quicklube, nothing is miraculous.

the stuff about the choke engine and dino oil.. not true, to each their own.

I am now playing with an engine that starts into 30s below zero... there is no oil just right ever.

from 15w40 rotella to 5w 20, I even tried that oil for bmws with the 10w "50".

right now I am at 5w20, I want old fashioned carbon.
sythetic and cld starts.. will do the blend.

after hg fail, the chains are stubborn. intervals happen as the battle reveals where it is at..miles of interval unknown.
(I went through 16 gallons in a year saving the engine to be a rebuilder)

[nesabo]

Mustang, 10w40, cheep store brand for winter storage. Pennzoil with zinc additive for race season, a change or two during the season.
Cougar, 10w40 Pennzoil, every three thousand miles, and before put it up for the winter then when i get it out.
Sable and F150 5w20 synthetic, every 4000 miles, usually Pennziol, but have used Mobil 1 and Castrol.

[A/Fuel]

I've had cars I that I never changed the oil.

[Bamfster]

Daily drivers get parts store bulk oil (10/30) roughly every 5k ....

The 'rod gets Valvoline VR 20/50 w/ half a bottle of Lucas twice a year .... spring and fall.

[BluLightning]

The Lightning gets Mobil 1 5W20 full synthetic once a year right before I put it away for the winter. I never put more then 5k on it a year.

The Focus, who knows. It's too new and hasn't had an oil change yet. It will tell me when it wants one.

[Monster]

My last change was at 14,200 mi. (18-month duration) on a Toyota 3RZ-FE (2.7L I4) using Mobil 1 5W-30 Extended Performance. I run a K&N air filter and the largest Purolator PureOne oil filter that fits.

The Used Oil Analysis (UOA) performed by Blackstone Labratory was an excellent report card with no problems evident and it still had enough active additives left for them to recommend increasing my Oil Change Interval (OCI) by another 2,000 miles.

I will go to 15,000 miles and perform another UOA and see where that is.

[Monster]

I am a big believer in laboratory analysis to determine how a particular oil performs in a specific engine.


Elements: Elements are quantified in the oil at parts per million levels (PPM). This list shows the most common sources of the elements in gasoline or diesel engine oil. Following each element is a description of where it comes from. They are grouped by category.

Wear Metals
Aluminum: Pistons, bearings, cases (heads & blocks).
Chromium: Rings, a trace element in steel.
Iron: Cylinders, rotating shafts, the valve train, and any steel part sharing the oil.
Copper: Brass or bronze parts, copper bushings, bearings, oil coolers, also an additive in some gasoline engine oils.
Lead: Bearings.
Tin: Bearings, bronze parts, piston coatings.
Nickel: Trace element in steel, platings on some cylinder types.

Trace Elements
Manganese: Trace element, additive in some foreign gasoline.
Silver: Trace element, some types of bearings.
Titanium: Trace wear metal.

Contaminants
Potassium: Antifreeze, additive in some oil types.
Sodium: Antifreeze (ethylene glycol), additive in some gasoline engine oils.
Silicon: Airborne dirt escaping air filtration, sealers, gaskets, sand-casted parts, and spray lubricants, antifreeze -inhibitor.

Oil Additives
Molybdenum: Anti-wear additive, some types of rings.
Boron: Detergent/dispersant additive, antifreeze inhibitors.
Calcium: Detergent/dispersant additive.
Magnesium: Detergent/dispersant additive.
Phosphorus: Anti-wear additive.
Zinc: Anti-wear additive.
Barium: Detergent/dispersant additive used in some synthetics.

Physical properties
Viscosity/Flashpoint: If fuel is present in the oil, the Viscosity and Flashpoint will often be lower than stated in the "Values Should Be" line. A high viscosity may show oil oxidation or high levels of soot. It can also show an oil additive in use.

Fuel %: Indicates the amount of volatile fuel dilution found in the oil.

Antifreeze %: Indicates the amount of antifreeze found in the oil. A question mark means we found possible traces of coolant, but not enough to definitively say it's there.

Water %: Indicates the amount of water found in the oil.

Insolubles %: Insolubles are solid materials present in the oil. They are typically free carbon from the oxidation of the oil itself, along with blow-by past the rings.