Engine oil change interval

[drumsncode]

The other day I noticed that the Ford dealer actually used 5000 miles for the next oil change (on the windshield sticker), rather than the 3000 miles they've been using for the past 40 years. It's a glorious day in automotive history! :-)

I decided to look it up on Google and found a nice article about it.

Stop Changing Your Oil! - Edmunds.com

If a Ford dealer is willing to change the interval on the sticker, I wonder how long it will be before the quick-change oil shops do the same. Regardless, it's the best news I've heard in a long time.

[venture]

Little by little things will change. I always go by the owners manual which says 7500 for my car.

[RadicalModerate]

This is very interesting. Just the other day I was trying to learn what the best oil to put in my--first ever--new lawnmower, after the three-to-five hour run-in time, and came across a chart from API (American Petroleum Institute) regarding those "fine-print" "S" codes that you can find on oil containers if you look for them. As I recall, you should always buy oil with the SL (or higher) code on the container, regardless of the viscosity rating.

[Just the facts]

I have been changing my oil every 5,000 miles for the last 7 years - which is what the owners manual says. However, that has not stopped the dealer from sticking a note on my windshield saying every 3,000 miles. Oddly enough, my truck came with the first two years of maintenance included - and stipulated every 5,000 miles.

[Easy180]

My Terrain change oil light comes on every 10k miles or so which I thought was a little extreme...Apparently GMC discovered it as well as they sent a recall letter a few months back saying they needed to adjust the computer down some

[BBatesokc]

All three of our current cars recommend every 7,500 miles. I'm guessing many of the Jiffy Lube type places will resist bumping up from 3,000 due to the lost revenue.

[WilliamTell]

I know more than most about oil analysis and I'm actually certified in some stuff that I wont get into here. But I do 10k with Mobil 1.

[bluedogok]

Most synthetics do not contaminate as quickly as dino oil and that is why they can run longer. My BMW is every 15,000 miles with full synthetic (Castrol makes BMW oil), I change it every 7,500 miles. My wife's 4Runner is under a service contract with Toyota and it gets changed every 5,000 miles, not sure what type of oil they use but more than likely a synthetic. My F-150 was a 5,000 mile change with Autolite synthetic, my Triumph Sprint was a 3,000 mile change or every 6 months if it sat a lot with Castrol Act-Evo semi-synthetic, the new Kawasaki Concours14 is under a service contract so the dealer changes it every 7,500 miles with a Kawasaki (Motul) synthetic oil.

I would change the oil on my RX-7 every 3,000 miles as the apex seals are sensitive to oil and a rotary naturally burns some oil so it was time to add some by then anyway, the engine was fine when I sold it with 170,000 miles. You also supposed to use only dino oil in those rotaries (12A/13B) as the synthetic/semi-synthetics have elements that can gunk up the apex seals from not burning completely during the combustion cycle. The Renesis engine in the RX-8 was reconfigured to use synthetics and cleaner emissions.

[OKCisOK4me]

I bought a new car from Edmond Hyundai in November. My buddy who sold me the car said come in every 5000 miles to have your oil changed. Glad the first 6 are free!

[okc_coder]

I use Amsoil and do 10K for the jeep, unless I do a lot of rough driving, and 5K for the bike.

[WilliamTell]

In automotive motors the largest limiting factor is the filter life span, not the oil degrading.

Buy a good quality oil and a good filter and change it when you feel appropriate. For dino i would go 5000-7500k, for full synthetic i would go 7500-15000k.

Stay away from any oil additives, they work but have a bunch of unintended consequences.

[windowphobe]

Recommendation on my car is 3750; I usually stretch it to the low-4000 range. ("Non-severe" service, which doesn't sound like any vehicle use I've ever seen, specifies a 7500-mile interval.)

Now when do you change your ATF?

[JayhawkTransplant]

YES. Answer that. How often do you change your ATF? I have talked to some people who say you should never have it changed unless you have problems. But they also recommend that almost every time I get my oil changed. I never go along with their recommendation, but I am curious whether people on here advocate getting it done every xx miles...

[OKCisOK4me]

Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms? Derp...

[WilliamTell]

YES. Answer that. How often do you change your ATF?.

When I worked daily with tribology it was just in power production (turbines, dc, combustion), so for tranny fluid I have no idea.

Wives tale - from what i remember i've heard of people changing out their ATF fluid after 5-10k for synthetic because it greatly extends the life of the tranny but i havent done that myself. What im personally going to do is change it out with oem fluid at 75k (i think my book says 100k) and just keep that interval. But with that said im not basing what im going to do off anything scientific. The other thing ive heard is actually go back there and watch the shop hook up the machine and flush the transmission because alot of them wont.

Besides those wives tales I cant be of any help. Sorry

edit - this website has alot of good information and the forum members are good at explaining why/when/how to do things.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...s.php?ubb=cfrm

[NoOkie]

My Camry is every 6K, and that's what the dealership puts on the sticker. We bought a new Chevy Sonic for my wife and it actually has some sort of oil life monitoring that controls the maintenance indicator. There's no set interval, just when the engine says it needs it. She gets a monthly email from Onstar that lists the oil life.

My buddy's Civic does something similar.

[BBatesokc]

Just bought a Prius to add to our car rotation and took it to the dealer this morning for an oil change. They say I need to do every 5,000 miles to maintain the warranty - but, with a quality oil and filter and 'normal' driving I could go 7,500 miles after the warranty expires if I want.

[MikeLucky]

In my opinion, the 3,000 mile standard was something they came up with to increase revenue. I think there are probably SOME people that drive the volume of miles and in the conditions that make a 3,000 mile oil change necessary, but I think it's a very narrow demo.

If you read the owner's manual or maintenance schedule it will almost always say 7,500/5,000/3,000 based on your driving conditions. My personal policy is every 5,000 miles until I switch out to a synthetic blend oil at about 100,000 miles, then I bump it to 7,500.

Although, my next car will likely have an oil life indicator which is preferable. And, not some timed or mileage determinate indicator either... I'm talking about the real one that beams light through the oil to determine how dirty it is.

As for the tranny fluid... I'm kind of old school on that. In my mind, any closed system doesn't get opened until absolutely necessary. Maybe that's folly, but it's still the way I roll. My current car is a 2008 Nissan Altima and I'm approaching 150,000 miles and still haven't had the tranny fluid exchanged. I also haven't had a tune-up yet, but I'm just now starting to see some small idle issues so that is about to get done. lol

[OKCTalker]

My service guy recommends that I change the synthetic oil every 10,000 miles or one year. I'm a low mileage driver, so I'll likely hit the clock before the miles.

[MadMonk]

I usually go between 7500 and 10k between changes, using Mobil1 on my Jeep. I currently have 178k on the old girl.

My Hyundai I go around 7-8k, using Castrol synthetic (just changed it out this past weekend). Currently at 51k and all is well.

Some good reading if you are wanting to learn more than you'll ever need to know about motor oil.
Motor Oil 101 - Bob is the Oil Guy

[drumsncode]

I usually go between 7500 and 10k between changes, using Mobil1 on my Jeep. I currently have 178k on the old girl.

My Hyundai I go around 7-8k, using Castrol synthetic (just changed it out this past weekend). Currently at 51k and all is well.

Some good reading if you are wanting to learn more than you'll ever need to know about motor oil.
Motor Oil 101 - Bob is the Oil Guy

I agree that - Bob is the Oil Guy is an amazing site. I have read some extremely interesting discussions of gas additives in there.

[kevinpate]

...
As for the tranny fluid... I'm kind of old school on that. In my mind, any closed system doesn't get opened until absolutely necessary. Maybe that's folly, but it's still the way I roll. My current car is a 2008 Nissan Altima and I'm approaching 150,000 miles and still haven't had the tranny fluid exchanged. I also haven't had a tune-up yet, but I'm just now starting to see some small idle issues so that is about to get done. lol

This. I've had more than one 150000 plus transmission over the years.

[MikeLucky]

This. I've had more than one 150000 plus transmission over the years.

Since I've been driving at the age of 14... I have owned a total of 5 cars (1 Toyota, 2 Hondas, 1 Acura, and 1 Nissan) with a combined total miles somewhere in the neighborhood of 950,000 miles. I have never had to replace a transmission on any of them at any time.

[Bill Robertson]

As for the tranny fluid... I'm kind of old school on that. In my mind, any closed system doesn't get opened until absolutely necessary. Maybe that's folly, but it's still the way I roll. My current car is a 2008 Nissan Altima and I'm approaching 150,000 miles and still haven't had the tranny fluid exchanged. I also haven't had a tune-up yet, but I'm just now starting to see some small idle issues so that is about to get done. lol

The father of my best friend in school owned the AAMCO franchise near downtown at that time. He told us to never, ever open up an automatic transmission unless it failed. I've never changed tranny fluid or filters and I've put well over 150,000 miles on a handful of cars and trucks without a tranny problem. Most pulled boats or other trailers regularly.

[Bill Robertson]

I change oil in both cars every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. "Back in the day" when engines were carbureted and tended to run a bit rich plus synthetic oil was a thing of the future I think 3,000 miles was right. Lots of people just haven't kept up with modern technology when thinking about oil changes.