Oil change intervals

Because they don't realise technology moves on ? I'm talking about metallurgy, engines and especially Oil...

Possibly as cars are bought by individuals not companies they appreciate an engine that lasts much longer?

rather than look at the costs on a PPM (pence per mile ) basis over 60/70k

metallurgy/engines are much better - Yes - however they would last even longer in this country with an inbetween oil-change

I seem to recall that the UK has or had the highest number of company cars of anywhere in the world.

Do you have any evidence to support this theory? Vehicles that are maintained to the proper service schedules often become uneconomic to run long before the engines expire. This might indicate that on the whole we are changing engine oil too frequently!

It's likely that there are a number of reasons for the UK/US difference in oil change intervals.

To some degree, vehicle technology has lagged in the US, partly due to the the low cost of fuel and partly due to less restrictive emissions laws. Older technology engines needed more frequent oil changes.

US motorists have become conditioned to more frequent oil changes; they are horrified by the thought that 10k is OK, and 20k is becoming more common. The industry is not going to put them right whilst there's money to be made!

As others have said, it is more common in the US to frequently drive very short distances in cars with larger engines. This does actually mean that oil changes should be more frequent, although not to the degree that is current.

Chris

On Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:17:55 GMT, I waved a wand and this message magically appears in front of Chris Whelan:

I found that with the 3k intervals, the car was 100% reliable for the year that I owned it. If that's reliability, I'm all for it.

Longer than what ? It's "very" rare that a car engine is "worn out" before the car it's in has been scrapped.

I'm not sure the cost difference is as big as you suggest, but todays long-life synthetic oils aren't cheap.

Hmmm, I've yet to see any proof of this...

Tony

Driving a 125k miles Mondeo, with a 2 litre Zetec that has it's oil changed as per manufacturers instructions (10k) and never uses a drop in between :)

:-)

Chris

Try 30,000 on modern UK/EU diesels.

Why? Cheap oil in the states, and a throwaway mindset (and a mindset that thinks the kyoto agreement would cost business too much, so bugger that for a game of soldiers). Also, car companies are in bed with the oil companies (and the drive through "jiffy lube" type establishments). Their method of cleaning up emmisions on a diesel is to have a curtain of oil in the exhaust to catch the particles, and throw the oil away more regularly.

Bob

Yes, changing the engine oil will stop your shocks, bearings, brakes, and tires wearing out, as well as the bodywork rusting!

Bob

Paranoia.

In my experience, what the manufacture suggest is there for a reason. My last car, Mk2 Cav, was scrapped @ 239000 the engine could still make manufactures emission levels, not just MOT standards. It was serviced every 6000 miles as suggested, running standard GTX.

My current Mk3 cav 2.0 16V gets a change every 10k - 150000 now and going fine on Magnatec.

Before anyone asks, normally 15-20 mile journeys, and yes, I keep on top of other maintenance too.

Ian

By 'they' do you mean the makers? The last time I remember 3000 mile oil changes being recommended by makers in the UK was in the '50s...

On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 09:50:44 +0000 (GMT), I waved a wand and this message magically appears in front of Dave Plowman (News):

Yes. But you know these lard-arsed Yanks only drive short distances. Hardly anyone ever walks...

Plenty of cars these days set the oil change time with a computer that takes into account the sort of use the car gets as well as distance. Makes no difference to some - their grandfather changed the oil in the Model T every 1000 miles and that's good enough for them.

Wonder why they worry so much about engine oil and not other fluids? Gearbox, back axle. Power steering. Cooling system. Brake fluid. Battery acid...

i see you are not very smart but i think the reason they suggest changing your oil around 3300 is so it can be reused..they can reprocess the oil. if its not wore out too much.. n thats a good thing to stretch out the oil supply.

Lack of caps, vague punctuation, and using webtv.

Not a great standpoint to question someone elses intelligence from really.

My '91 Celica has recommended oil changes every 2750 miles under heavy (start stop or thrashing) use and 5000 under light use (motorway) according to the Toyota sticker under the bonnet. Reasons for changing oils regularly:

Turbos - present on many cars these days, oil fed, reach HUGE temperatures as normal - oil is rapidly degreaded in this environment. (turbos on performance cars can reach >600c and turn semi-translucent, oil starts to really break down fast at around 150c, should ideally stay below ~125) TD's tend not to have the same exhaust temps as petrols so they seem to extend intervals a little on those. Multigrade oils - the polymers used to provide your 5-40 variation with temperature and the larger the "gap" in weights the faster the degredation becomes important. Petrols and heat, as well as just time, degrade these polymers. People are retarded - you tells someone they should change their oil every

5K and they'll change it at 10K because: they forgot, they were too busy, they didnt care because "its only once" many times, they thought they knew better than a multi-million-pound research team put together by the designers of the engine,they thought semi synthetic contained ester based synthetic and so they could double the change interval etc etc (pick as appropriate) The longer you leave your oil change the more the oil is contaminated with fuel, this can mask oil usage (which is normal) by apparently holding the volume steady yet drastically reduce its effectiveness.

I can hear and feel the difference in engine note after ~4k miles, a fresh change returns a smoothness and slightly quieter operation - be it £44 quids worth of top end race oil or £11 of costco synth. My engine runs at +50% power/torque and it's still as sweet as a nut at 120K miles. Also I'd rather change at 3K with cheaper semi/synth than at twice the interval with expensive stuff.

Just my 2p.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Alex Buell saying something like:

Case proved, then.

Is there an elephant scarer at your house?

Wasn't there at one time a Mobil 1 promotional BMW 3-series that had driven a million miles using Mobil 1? I heard they achieved this by changing the oil about every 300 miles. I concluded from this rumour that the more often you change it the longer your engine will last, but as others have said, there's not much point your engine outlasting the rest of the car by several hundreds of thousands of miles, especially if all that extra oil cost more than a new car.