Oil Change Intervails

FYI: I work on cars for a living. About 50% of my business is oil changes. Many customers go between 4k and 5k miles untill they change the engine oil. I've seen mobil one with good fram filters after 4k and it looks like regular crap oil with a generic filter. While synthetic oil is better in terms of its heat resistance properties and its ability to run clean at extended intervails (3500 to 4000 mi MAX) you still should change your oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles which ever comes first.

I mean think about it. Lets take regular ol' valvoline 5w30. This oil has gone pretty much unchanged for quite some time. Now lets take a regular 3387A fram sure grip oil filter. Again unchanged for quite some time.

Now lets say we are going to change the oil on a Pontiac 1998 Grand Prix

3.8L. Again using scenerio's in which the objects invovled have gone virtually without change for quite some time.

Now suppose when you bought your grand prix back in '98 the book and the dealer said change the oil every 3mths or 3k mi. Back in '98 that was the norm. People were satisfied with that standard. But as time rolled by and people lives became more automated, we got lazy. Now to get to the point: you just bought an '04 pontiac grand prix 3.8l. You got your reg. val

10w30 with your fram sure grip. Do you really believe all things considered that you can safely push that oil and filter 5 mths 5,000 miles and the owners manuals suggest and get the full life out of that motor? even if you bought mobil 1 15k or whatever they claim it to be, you are still using plain jane paper filters. Who cares what they put on the box. A oil filter is paper wrapped in metal. theres know such thing as a 10k paper oil filter--trust me.

Lets try to get back to atleast making time to doing one thing we might not want to do. I'm sure if your car broke down due to oil failure or some type of engine oil neglect, mobil wouldnt say ok here's a new motor.

Changing the oil every 3mo or 3k miles is the single most important preventitive maintence service that should be executed without question.

but like I said FYI:

Reply to
justinm930
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This is nonsense that wastes people's time, money and actually damages the environment. I have been doing used oil analysis at a lab where they have a gas spectrometer. All wear metals are measured to the nearest part per million and the total base number of the used oil is also measured using a procedure blessed by the society of automotive engineers. The results are a scientific indication of how well the oil is protecting the engine and how much life is left in the oil.

YMMV, but my 1999 Camry 2.2l can safely go twice your 3000 mile interval on Mobil 1 5W30, and that's in the winter, in Canada. This is a scientifically proven fact in my case. In fact, I've just further extended my drain interval to 10000 kilometres and am waiting on the analysis results.

BTW, the phrase "quality fram filter" is an oxymoron. There are cheap ones that are really poor and expensive ones that use snake oil like PTFE.

See bobistheoilguy.com for further science-based information.

Nobody Important

Reply to
Nobody Important

What does a Pontiac with Fram filters have to do with Toyota?

Reply to
Daniel

I too run my about the same as you, 6000 miles. I know of no cars that need oil change every 3000. I also use Mobil 1 oil and factory filters . Oil in both Toyotas still drain looking good. Both are over 100,000 miles and both run perfectly. Scott

Reply to
zonie

Your missing the point. As you drive, your engine oil picks up contaminants such as dirt and water. The whole reason of having an oil filter is to FILTER the OIL in the engine as it is recirculated. A 3,000 mile with a 6,000 mile oil such as mobil one is pointless for two reasons:

  1. the rubber gasket between the actual filter and oil filter mounting plate becomes brittle and leaks. 2. after 3,000 miles, the oil filter loses its filtration capabilities. So whatever dirt that has accumulated over that time is just circulating in the engine. This is how you get sludge build up inside the motor.

Do it your way: get a generic filter and run mobil one in your vehicle. change the oil every 6k or whenever you feel like it. do this for 50k miles. then remove your valve cover and have a look. you'll see what stretching oil changes does to a motor.

and as for the "enviorment" lol stop kidding yourself. with all the traffic in the world i dont think changing the oil sooner to extend the life of your motor is doing any more damage then actually driving around.

Reply to
justinm930

Nonsense. I've never seen a drop of oil leak from that interface on my Camry.

Nonsense. If that were true, you would see a precipitous increase in the particulate count at the lab. At some point, there will be saturation, but that point is far, far in the future on a filter that's done only 6000 mi on a healthy engine.

Actually, I have done this after 117 000 km. It looked like new.

Your premise, that changing oil sooner prolongs the life of the motor, is demonstrably, scientifically, irrefutably false.

Nobody Important

Reply to
Nobody Important

Now I know that you have no clue what your talking about. Proper lubrication of the engine is esstenial to prolonging engine life. Motor oil lubricates, protects, and cools the moving parts of your engine.

I dont care what test your ran in a lab. I am a mechanic. I see first hand what happens when people neglect their cars.

It was also understood a long time ago that fluid color is not an accurate factor when trying to determine how long or how well a fluid is doing its job. Same goes for antifreeze, differential lubricants, and transmission fluid. These is the very same reason the government and consumer protection agencies come down on mechanics and service centers if they reccomend services soley based on fluild color.

People just need to know this: a Regular Non-Synthectic Motor Oil Used With a Regular Standard Stock or Aftermarket Oil Filter Will Not Give You The Protection You Need If You Refuse To Change Your Oil At Intervails Of

3mo/3k mi. It Doesn't Matter What Kind Of Car You Drive, Where You Live or How Hot Or Cold It Is Outside. The Chemical Properties Of Regular, Non-Synthectic Oil Will Not Be As Efficient Or Effective If You Extend Drain Intervails Past 3mo/3k mi. You Don't Have To Be A Scientist Or Work At A Lab To Know That. Heck Even Ask A Mechanic That Your Buddys With. Ask Him/Her What Happens When People Negelect Their Engine Oil.

If It Were Up To Nobody Important, You Wouldn't Have To Change Your Ever! I Hate to Burst Your Bubble Buddy, But Just Because Mobil Put A Shinny New Sticker On A Bottle Of Oil And Said Go 15,000 miles With It Doesn't Make It A Smart Thing To Do. If Dove Came Out With A Soap That Said "Wash Once And You'll Be Clean For A Week!" Would you shower less frequently?

Stop beinf so nieve

Reply to
justinm930

It's also the cheapest thing you can do to a car to protect it and ensure long life. Out here where petrol has reached $1.15 a litre thanx to the oil-price instability,..an oil change *and filter* done at home costs less than 1/3 of a fuel-tank fill, unless you are on LPG where it would be even less.

I have a '96 I bought 2nd-hand with the 4 cyl 5SFE engine (a phenomonal engine BTW). Later I found it had black tar-like deposits inside the cam-cover about 1mm thick, plus the sump had been off. Yet since the 16,000 Ks and 2 yrs I have owned it, it has not had any further problems,..why? Because I stick to the recommended change limits or less (mostly less).

Jason

Reply to
Jason James

I have this theory that the 3000 mi/ 3 mo people are the creationists of the automotive world. :-) I don't have the energy/time to argue any more.

Nobody Important

Reply to
Nobody Important

No question, a 3,000 mile interval is the oil company party line ... do you get a commission from Shell, Mobil, etc? The more you can get people in and believing that, the more you can make by offering other services such as fuel injection cleaning or other items.

Appreciate your thoughts on how our 1988 Camry was ever able to achieve 305,000+ miles with 4,000 mile oil changes if the 3,000 is the max ... it is still running strong today. I would hardly call 4,000 miles extended intervals.

BTW, this is driving around Maryland/DC for about 4 years and then stop/go in Denver, CO with Pennzoil 10W30 in summer and 5W30 in winter with Toyota OEM filters.

Reply to
Curtis Newton

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