5,000 mile oil changes with conventional oil??

Stop an go - freeway traffic, kinda like Jumbo Shrimp. It depends, on driving style ,location, air quality and more. I say when its dirty its dirty, but whats dirty to me may be clean to you.

If in doubt, send in your oil for an analsys....one analysis $20 will confirm whether or not a 5K interval is working for you.

But, I don't think you would have any problems with a 5K interval, Toyota filter and Pennzoil.

For some light reading:

-- Curtis Newton snipped-for-privacy@remove-this.akaMail.com

The longer it's been since your last oil change, the darker the oil will be. If you don't want to adhere to a scheduled change at a regular interval, you might decide what darkness of oil you can tolerate. The more wear you have on your piston rings and cylinders, the faster gases will contaminate the oil.

There was a recent discussion about frequency of oil changes on NPR's weekly Car Talk radio program on car maintenance. The "Tappet Brothers" said more and more car mfrs. will advise oil changes at intervals as far apart as every 7,500 miles and use the relative infrequency as a selling point for their vehicle. In response to this caller's questions, they recommended every 5,000 miles.

About 10 years ago, with a non-Toyota, I deviated from my usual oil change interval of 4000-5000 miles and went about 7900 miles before changing oil. I believe a noticeable though not drastic dropoff in engine power dated from that delayed change.

Someone told me years ago that for longer engine life, on a brand new car, it's a good idea to get the first oil change at about 1,500 miles. His reasoning is that because the castings from which engines are made are always imperfect, you pick up a lot of very fine metal shavings at this time, and by eliminating them very early in the engine's life, you maintain better engine compression and power. That sounds logical to me.

On a new car changing the oil at 500m is a good idea. On many small motors under 20 HP 5 hrs is a mnfg recomendation Color is a good indicator, you never want black mud. Driving style , location , type etc etc is unique to everyone , one person may go 7500 another 1000m , short trip winter is bad. Easy highway in summer with low dust is easy on the oil. Color is key

=>Hello all :) =>

=>I have read previous postings regarding oil changes and how many of =>them vary in opinion. I'm thinking of sticking to 5,000 mile oil =>changes with good quality conventional oil (Perhaps pennzoil or =>castrol) with a toyo filter. My driving is mostly stop n go freeway =>traffic and put 400-500 miles a week. =>

=>I know there are many discussions in the past about # of oil changes =>and wanted your thoughts on this, all comments greatly appreciated. =>

=>Thanks, =>

=>Bill =>2002 Camry LE/auto 32,800 miles

Thanks for all your replies :)

I will stick with 5,000 miles, easier to remember and follow.

Cool Hand- The owners manual per Toyota recommends 5,000 mile oil changes for "severe" service while "normal" conditions require 7,500 miles. Appreciate the tip.

Bill