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How often do you change your cars oil?

Roughly every 3k......I've found that cheap periodic oil changes go along way towards preventing expensive long mileage repair....
 
5-10K with the modern syn oils, dino oil can also go 5K easy, anything less is just wasteful. Amsoil will go 10K and beyond. However the old 3K OCI may never die. Syn or dino oil, it's the additive package that makes a good or avarage motor oil.
 
Panther_99FS said:
Roughly every 3k......I've found that cheap periodic oil changes go along way towards preventing expensive long mileage repair....
Click to expand...

Right on Panther, and I change the oil filter at the same time. I use 30-WT in hot months and 10W-30 in the Winter. Clean oil is the life's blood for less wear and tear on an engine and it doesn't cost that much to do it every 3-K.

Caz
 
The book says every 5000. I've been changing it at 3000-5000 mile intervals since 2001. 180,000-ish miles later, still going strong.
 
I don't have to change the oil ... I just keep adding half a quart about every four weeks! :wiggle:

However, I change the filter about every 5k.
 
We have 3 vehicles and each has a different schedule.

The wife's car runs on synthetic which needs changing every 6,000 miles or sooner per my local dealer who services it.

My daily driver is a small pickup truck which gets the oil changed every 3,000 miles. The older sports car with the V-8 runs on 20-50W and gets changed annually since its not driven much.

--WH
 
I use regular 10W-30 changed, with filter, every six months, which works out to 1,800-2,000 miles. Obviously I don't drive much. The wife's car gets synthetic oil changed every 5,000 miles with filter.

Bob
 
My 05 GMC fullsize pickup has an informational readout in the dash that gives you all kinds of data including percentage of oil life left. I found out the hard way that it's not accurate. Went to change the oil when it got down to 5% and what came out had lumps in it. So, I switched to the old change oil and filter (it's got a tiny one) every 3,000 miles. Like said above, better for long life on the engine.

View attachment 18470
 
The synthetic brands that advertise long periods between changes are misleading. Dirt and grit accumulate in synthetics and standard oils at the same rate and that is what damages engines. Its like saying you only have to wash your hands every other day because your using antibacterial soap. Just use standard oils and change it every 3000 in the city or more often if your in a rural dusty area.
 
Being the huge car person I am this has always been a personal debate for me. Seeing that the SRT-8 doesn't get driven very much (most times less than 500 miles per years) I change the oil annually. Other vehicles though it really depended. The Pontiac Grand Prix we just got rid of I would go off the oil life indicator and that usually put it about 4500-5000 miles. Although if I did a lot of trailer towing in the change period I would do it at 3,000. Normally though I pull out the dipstick and see how dirty it is.. usually if it still looks light brown in color I will leave it, but go no farther than 5,000 miles. I am a firm believer in checking your oil level at every gas tank refill in order to prevent excessive wear/tear on the engine/oil pump due to low oil level. Although the GMC Jimmy we just got rid of to get the Trailblazer did not see regular oil changes, and the main bearings died on us after having it for 3 weeks at 160,000 miles.. Really is all just a guessing game. Just use the right oil, and the one recommended by the company and you usually can't go wrong. Also do all regular scheduled maitenance, and never ever ever use FRAM products.
 
For many years I have used full synthetic oil and changed around 10K. Today I use the car computer and it averages about every 10K.

I drive mostly highway and average 40-45K per year. I will run the vehicle for 150K then change it out. Doing this, I have never (knock on wood) had any problems with burning oil, lost compression, etc.
 
The manual/on board computer recommends a change every 13k..I do it every 5k. No harm in a little preventative maintenance, especially on turbo charged vehicles where scrimping on oil changes could result in a blown/damaged turbo. I'll change the oil filter at the same time too.Every 10k I'll change the fuel/air and pollen filters and clean out the EGR valve. Every oil change I'll also carry out a diagnostics check (on a dedicated laptop that I keep for the job) to ensure everything is running okay.
I had an old air-cooled VW Beetle (Bug) that I restored many years ago and that got oil changes every 500 miles...though I only put up a tiny annual mileage on it.
 
A question like this goes on for pages on automotive forums. Everyone has an opinion. I have read were guys leave their oil on for 80K miles. I use synthetic or synthetic blend depending on how much I want to spend at oil change time. If I were to leave the oil in for 10,000 miles I would change the filter at 5K. When I used to use dino oil I would change it at 3,000 miles give or take. I used Fram filters for years with no problems what so ever. I tend to just by OEM Motorcraft now as they are about the same price and because of the bad reputation of Fram. A Fram rep joined the discussion on the F150 forum at one point and argued in Fram's defense. The hard core motor heads would not be swayed no matter what data or warranties he produced.
 
I once had a Ford Sierra in the UK, in 4 years of ownership never changed the oil once. I had no idea when the previous owner may have done so either. Even ran it through one cold winter without its radiator for a couple of weeks. Was still running sweetly when I traded it. It was a great car.
I only am efficient now to keep my current car in warranty it being the first new car I ever bought. Otherwise I blv that the car companies want us to repalce the oil too freq.
 
I've a Lexus ES-350 and change it every 2500 miles, when the light comes on.

I change the airplane oil every 25 hours.....

I take an oil sample on the airplane. I don't bother on the car.

The last oil sample on the airplane predicted the issue I just had with the annual --much to my chagrin (had to replace a cylinder).
 
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