Oil change question

[Autonomous]

I was old school and exceeded the suggested oil change specifications when I started buying my own cars. I changed the oil and oil filter every 3000 miles. I figured the 2 extra oil filters and 2 extra quarts of oil cost me all of an additional $8 per year.

When I bought my first ever brand new car, I advanced to synthetic oil but still changed the oil and filter every 3000 miles. With my commuting to the Baltimore suburbs every day that occurred about every six weeks. I sold the car in the Gettysburg Auto Auction with 238,000 miles on it, so I must have been doing something right.

I guess now the oil change recommendation is every 7500 miles but from previous experience I have a hard time going that long. Now I go 5 months or 5000 miles, whichever comes first. I figure that's a good compromise.

Do you still set the points every 5,000 miles?

 

[Narragansett]

I was old school and exceeded the suggested oil change specifications when I started buying my own cars. I changed the oil and oil filter every 3000 miles. I figured the 2 extra oil filters and 2 extra quarts of oil cost me all of an additional $8 per year.

When I bought my first ever brand new car, I advanced to synthetic oil but still changed the oil and filter every 3000 miles. With my commuting to the Baltimore suburbs every day that occurred about every six weeks. I sold the car in the Gettysburg Auto Auction with 238,000 miles on it, so I must have been doing something right.

I guess now the oil change recommendation is every 7500 miles but from previous experience I have a hard time going that long. Now I go 5 months or 5000 miles, whichever comes first. I figure that's a good compromise.

Oil is the cheapest insurance you can get for your car. My VW manual calls for every 10K miles. Son says do not even think about doing that. We cut that in half, and I do every 5K miles with full synthetic. I dumped all the fluids in the car at 75000 miles, and changed the belt. Motor is chain drive. This spring, I will change all the hoses. Other than brakes, I put one wheel bearing in it. Son moved out of state. No more special care and dad discount.

 

[glowe]

The "experts" are not always right. Life experiences mold how and what we think and maybe the instructor at the college had a bad experience. I have been changing oil on my vehicles since the 1960s and find several advantages to synthetic oil and never had an engine that leaked synthetic oil. I actually bought a now classic car in 1986 and still own it. It went through the first 10 years of its life using conventional oil. My experience was that the car dripped oil early on and for 10 years with conventional oil. Nothing serious, but enough to stain the concrete floor. I switched to synthetic and the leak stopped. Go figure, but I still own the car and it still does not leak.

The advantages to synthetic oil are well documented and I witnessed every one of them. Oil change intervals went from 2,000 miles to 10,000 miles. Back in the day, I would drain my oil every 2,000 miles and find it to be totally black. Today I change my oil at 10,000 miles and it drains transparent, with little change from the way it looked new. Here is the deal of synthetic oil vs. conventional oil:

Better gas mileage won't be an obvious difference to your short-term budget, but be assured that the lowered friction has a positive effect on both fuel economy and engine life.

The added engine protection likely will save costs over the life of your car.

For me synthetic oil @ $9/qt is substantially cheaper than conventional @ $5/qt. 5 oil changes versus 1 results in an overall saving of $80 every 10,000 miles if you change your own oil. Oil change places seem to be where you get cost issues. They thrive on synthetic oil changes, which are so much more expensive than the cost of the oil and I do not know why? Some places charge $50 more for synthetic oil!!

Switching to synthetics can clean deposits that are plugging leaks. You really shouldn't have bad seals in the first place and that is what has been found to be the case in many studies.

You can switch back and forth between synthetic and traditional oil without consequence, but once you start on synthetic oil, you will not want to switch back. Synthetic blends are not worth the savings because you still get half the sludge from the conventional oil over time and the change frequency is much more like conventional. 5,000 miles is often the recommended for blends, which is twice as much as synthetic and more than half the cost of full synthetic, so a loss for every oil change.

Bottom line is that all cars benefit from the additives in synthetic oils and of course I run synthetic in all my gas engines without issue as well. My guess is that small air-cooled engines benefit even more than car engines in service longevity.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Well-old Blue got dino oil every 3k for a long time....then it crept up to 5k......then it crept up to adding a quart when the oil pressure dropped. Figured that the periodic fresh oil was like a continual oil change. She will be 24 years old in June and currently has over 450,000 miles on original engine (tranny was rebuilt at 430,000 miles). Looking to sell her now to a mexican working the sugar harvest-who can then take her south of the border.
The vortec 5300 V-8 is perhaps the most reliable engine Chevy/GM ever built. Probably why they don't use it any more
As far as the new Highlander I bought the wife in AUgust-we get free oil changes and tire rotations every 5k miles for the first two years. After that will probably maintain the 5-7.5k range. And yes it uses synthetic.
My daily driver is the wife's old Trailblazer XL 2006 vintave whic sadly has been discontinued-A great truck based SUV that is still going strong.
i still run Blue just to keep her loose but the main hold up in selling her is trying to find the title and clearing out app the stuff in her which is pretty much gonna be an all day job. But it WILL be fun finding all the "lost" stuff that is in there

 

[Autonomous]

Increased oil change intervals are not due just to better and/or synthetic oil. Better engine architecture, materials, machining and cleaner combustion contribute too.

Way back when, Harley-Davidson warned against using synthetic oil due to bearing skate. Then, after they started selling syn oil, the warnings disappeared over night.

 

[Rustyt1953]

We have been going to Valvoline Instant Oil Change for a long time. We use their synthetic oil.

Quick, courteous and they announce any specials they are running before we put in our work order.

We are satisfied customers.

 

[SMSgt]

I have converted several vehicles from fossil oil to synthetics and have not found any leakage that was not attributed to high mileage and preexisting. I do recommend trying a synthetic blend initially because the synthetic is going to turn black in a hurry as it cleans out the fossil gunk and should be changed at a frequent interval the first couple of time. An initial 3000-mile interval might be appropriate, depending on its visual condition.

 

[Tom S.]

I have been using synthetic oil since 1978. Full synthetic oil is superior to blended synthetic or standard petroleum based oil for a few reasons. It flows better at low temps, which is very important during cold weather start up when a majority of engine wear occurs. It's molecular structure/shear strength is also superior and it generally has higher temp ratings though truth be told, if you are worried about or experiencing high temps you have problems. Because of it's superior strength, it can be run longer than standard oils but should be monitored with oil testing if doing so. The down side to full synthetic is it's cost. If you do your own labor, you can offset a lot of that cost. Changing oil isn't rocket science and only requires a few special tools. At over 70, I still do my own, in my driveway, regardless of weather.

Here is the problem with changing from petroleum based to synthetic: there is a very good chance, even at just 30,000 miles that your engine contains a fair amount of sludge. Synthetic will cut through and loosen that sludge. Best case scenario, the oil filter does it's job and nothing happens. Worse case scenario the filter gets plugged and stops working or worse, sludge plugs a passage way (unlikely, but possible nonetheless) preventing oil from reaching parts that need to be lubricated.

As stated, I have been using synthetic oil for a long time and am a true believer, having seen first hand how much better it is than its petroleum based counterpart. If the vehicle was mine, I would make the switch, drive for 500 miles and change out the oil filter only and top off the oil lost in doing so. I would then drive another 1,000 miles and repeat the process. Then I would finish out the recommended distance/time interval and do the normal filter/oil change and never go back to petroleum based oil again.

 

[djohns6]

I have switched between synthetic and conventional and even mixed them together at times . Whatever was on sale or on the shelf in my garage . NEVER an issue . From what I've been reading , conventional oils are actually blends now to enable them to conform to newer standards . WAY too many old wive's tales when it comes to oils and oil changes .

 

[Racer X]

Go to Walmart Auto for a "Pitstop" oil change.

$22 for synthetic/dyno blend.

Here in Chehalis, they do a great job!

with such small technicians, they don't even need a pit or lift. Brilliant!

 

[TX-Dennis]

I got my oil changed at WalMart for years until one day . . .

I went out to get into my vehicle to leave and noticed a large puddle of oil beneath it. They had apparently used a wrench to over tighten the oil filter. It became deformed and was leaking at the seam. They fixed me up, and no harm was done, but we all know what could have happened. Never been back to Wal Mart for an oil change since.

I used Sears for years after that until the local store closed. Now I go to a locally owned quick change place. I could do it myself, but between getting out the ramps, crawling on the cold (or boiling hot) cement, and dealing with the 12 bolts in the undertray I'd rather pay them to do it.

 

[Autonomous]

Consider a vacuum oil pump to drain the oil. If the filter is accessible from the top as well oil changes are more civilized.
Many shops use the vacuum to save time. With some rigs they may leave 1/2 quart but it's not a deal breaker.

 

[DWalt]

Dealer cost here for an oil change is the same or less than most other places. The "quickie" places always try to sell you something you don't need, and I've caught them not changing filters, etc. I had a Toyota years ago when synthetics first became popular and switched my Toyota over. Temp dropped; gas mileage went up. Never found it to cause leakage as some claim. I use it in everything I run.

The oil QC place nearest me is one which is part of the "Take 5" chain. They had two older guys, not 18-YO kids, that worked on my Ranger. I made sure they filled the crankcase to the mark on the dipstick. My receipt said they used 5W20 synthetic blend (I had asked for regular oil), what brand I don't know as it came from a large bulk plastic cubitainer. I suppose the oil filter was generic, it was blue with no label. No attempts were made to upsell me any other services. They also checked my tire pressure. The whole operation took about 10 minutes, in and out. Not bad for $45.

 

[Tom S.]

Consider a vacuum oil pump to drain the oil. If the filter is accessible from the top as well oil changes are more civilized.
Many shops use the vacuum to save time. With some rigs they may leave 1/2 quart but it's not a deal breaker.

The problem with pumps is they do not get the sludge left in the bottom of the pan. Changing the oil when hot and using the drain helps get rid of sludge because the hot oil washes it out of the pan. A pump can't do this. You won't see this when draining the oil but it shows in my oil change pan when I poor it's contents into a 5 gallon container for disposal. Every once in a while I hose down the bottom of my change pan with brake cleaner to clean out the sludge.

 

[ACORN]

From what I've been reading , conventional oils are actually blends now to enable them to conform to newer standards . WAY too many old wive's tales when it comes to oils and oil changes .

The 2 top selling brands of oil in my store have switched their labeling to "synthetic blend" on the majority of their products. Yet they still use the same stock numbers for both the blend and the dino oil.
A few viscosities are still not labeled as such, but this maybe because those are the less popular weights and the newer product hasn't filtered the supply chain yet.
Personally, I don't have a problem switching from dino to synthetic, as long as you maintain the factory specified viscosity.
Many switch from 5w20 or 5w30 to 10w30 or (gasp) 10w40. I still have customers that use 20w50!
Many of the later vehicles call for 0w20 or some 0w16.
Switch to thicker oil can throw a trouble code when the thicker oil doesn't flow through the variable valve timing solenoids some cars have.

 

[glenwolde]

I always run Mobile 1 in my cars with an OEM flter. But other brands are just as good I'm sure. The F250 gets Rotella. Since an oil change on a diesel truck is a major financial commitment I do those myself. Last quote I got was $165. I can do it myself for about half that. It takes 13 quarts. Just another thing us diesel truck owners must endure besides the current diesel/gasoline spread. If you tow, you owe.

 

[NYlakesider]

Consider a vacuum oil pump to drain the oil. If the filter is accessible from the top as well oil changes are more civilized.
Many shops use the vacuum to save time. With some rigs they may leave 1/2 quart but it's not a deal breaker.

In the old days(late 50s early 60s, been a gearhead since about age 13) when I gophered/worked at the local gas station the oil change ritual went something like this.

Change your oil at 3,000 miles, only change the oil filter every second time. Now in that era of big oil filters that left close to a quart in the system. I never agreed with that and always changed all my oil and filter together at a longer 4,000 or so.

I have went through at least 75 of my personally owned vechicles and done oil changes at garages, the number I have done is easily in the multi hundreds.

I may not have a degree in the subject but I sure as heck have a lot of hard learned knowledge of auto maintenance and building engines. I like synthetic, yes it cost more! The oil change interval is much longer, so glad to leave the 3,000 change back in the stone age (where it belongs).

For the record now at my age and physical ability I get my work done at a decent garage but its at my schedule.

 

[ladder13]

I think the folks who built the engines and assembled the cars may know a thing or two about oil specs.

 

[yeti]

Switched everything over to full synthetic (manuf. recommended spec weights) years ago. Tractor, cars, boat, 2T & 4T yard equipment, firearms, etc. Only my wet clutch motorcycle still runs standard Rotella.
Easier starts, longer service interval & less deposits when I had to tear anything down. Costs are comparable since service interval is extended. Win - win.

 

[ben_g1]

Go to Walmart Auto for a "Pitstop" oil change.

$22 for synthetic/dyno blend.

Here in Chehalis, they do a great job!

Have you ever asked what the % are? I've never been able to find it, and was always told "I don't know" when I asked. Not just walmart but dealerships too.