oil change intervals

As a pending flame war has been started on the oil filter topic.
Lets here Bubba's expert advice from down at the diner on how often to change oil and/or filters.
Then hear from "experiences" from Father, grandfather and great grandfathers before them on oil change advice.
Maybe we could even get the test lab results and find out when oil gets "dirty" or worn out.
Add in the factors of the type of use, weather filter efficiency of both air and oil. Modern fuels vs. fuels from 20+ years ago. Computer controlled emissions engines vs. Misfiring carbureted engines and drivers forgetting the choke is on and stuck automatic chokes.
Why do some people only change or add oil when the warning light comes on?
Why do some people drain and dump perfectly clean usable oil when it's fine for another 5000-10,000 miles? Without causing any extra engine wear. Do they like handing extra money to oil companies?

i personally have never owned a vehical with less than 100 thousand on it but ne ways i change the oil when it uses a quart wich is typically at about 3000 miles so instead of trying to keep track i just check the oil periodically when its a quart low i just change it

Personally I change mine when I have the time and the oil looks dirty. Never was one to waste time and good money changing oil every 3000 miles (Good God the manuals all say 6000) I ran my little Saab Sonett for 300,000 miles before I rebuilt it changed the oil once a year whether it was needed or not. I think some people get carried away with changing their oil, today's oils can last a long time in an engine compared to yesterdays old non-detergent oils that built up all sorts of crud inside the engine no matter what you did.
A funny thing about oils at the service station they get a 100 percent markup except on Pennzoil where they add some more markup to fool people into thinking it a better oil.
Walt

How about an antique show tractor thats run 10 hours a year ? Can a guy go 2 year or more between oil changes providing no fuel or water getting into creank case ?

I usually change mine at 3000 miles on my gas motors and 5000 on my diesels. I change oil and filter. That may be over kill but compared to parts, oil is cheap. I've got over 300K out of my gas engines. My tractors get changed at 100hrs or every 6 months. I have a few that seldom get used that I change once a year.

I change my dozer, skidloader, and the tractor I use the most every 150 hrs. Other tractors get changed once a year. Car gets changed at about 6000 miles. Diesel truck gets changed twice a year.

I change mine evey 5 or 6K. I have a sister in law who never changed the oil in her Saturn.

For a while there I had a goal of changing oil everytime I put new batteries in my 85 Ford Diesel pickup,but when I put new ones in it two years or so ago,it was too cold to get under it to change oil,so that threw off my schedule. Maybe the next new set of batteries?

It goes without saying, "we live in a different world" today, from just a few years ago. Vehicles and oil are VASTLY improved in this field.
The owners manual will state when and under what conditions the oil and other fluids need changed. Manufacturers use "normal" and "severe" driving conditions to determine interval.
One must decide what their driving conditions are.
Any brand oil that has the "starburst" symbol on the container will meet most requirements.
Most of my farm equipment isn't used enough hours to warrent an oil change but I change every year.
Just a few months ago, I had to change brands of oil because of the changes in modern oil and the effect it has on older flat tappet engines.

I change oil/filter around 4k to 5k and do it myself. I put a lot of miles on and have had more than a few cars with around 250K . The struts, joints, and bearings start going by then and the cars arent worth putting much money into at that point. I stick with smallish GM cars but my "good" truck is a ford. Anyway, I dont see any point in changing my oil change habits now.

I"m with you on the intervals pair-a-dice.

Just to warn ya though,you"re gonna get chastised by buickanddeere for giving money to big oil and accused of having too much money.Frankly,I don"t give a rat"s a$$ what he says to do,I"m gonna keep doing what I"m doing!

On gas engines I try to change 3-5000 miles. Oil is cheap, engines are expensive.

KEH

Duramax and 6 litre Chev every 15000 km with Amsoil, 15-40 and 0-30 respectively. In the welding machines, 0-30 every 200 hours. Farm tractors, every 200 hrs with 15-40. I use Amsoil filters as well, air and oil.

I have a toyota corolla 96 bought new
I have seen 10,000 to 12,000 between oil changes.
I change the oil myself. I worked a lot of hours
day job i would forget about it some times.
Today the car hase 244.000 miles still does not use any oil runs good as ever. will start every time you ask of here.
this little car has had very very little mantiance.
I am not saying this the right thing to do.

Hello, This is subject I went to school for and have some experience with.
I will say this, Synthetic oil Will last longer up to 20,000 miles if its Amsoil, (They say change every 20k miles or something) I never did that with Amsoil I changed it out every 10K. I judge oil by the pour point and the flash point.
The pour point is defined as: The lowest temp. at which it is still a liquid and pour out of a cup. Most cases with Standard Petrol oil is -30F. I have seen Dexron II trans fluid in Gel form (not liquid) at -40. That was at my old employer in the mid-1990's
-40f and -40c are the same.
Amsoil and Mobil one will pour out of a cup at -60f I have read, I have never tryed this. I dont know where to find anything that will go down to -60f.
Now for the heat side of the equation.
At 300f standard Petrol oil will cook, at 300f synthetic is not "burned" So to speak.
I was taught in Hydraulic school 20 years ago that the oxidation rate doubles for every 20f over 130f. So the hotter the oil gets the quicker it is junk. I am talking about standard Hydraulic oil like Hytran or Mobil DTE 25 used in Machines. Since I Graduated from a Tech school in 1991 there have been many advances in Synthetics, Gm now has their own special Synthetic trans fluid.
My own personal opinions are as follows:
Synthetic fluids are very good, especially if you live in extreme temp situations, like Norrhern Minnesota or Southern Texas.
My Chevy Cobalt has a oil life monitor that pretty much says to change the oil at 7000-8000 miles, according to my driving. (I have not switched over to Mobil one yet) I plan to on the next oil change which will be in about a month. My car now has 32,000 on it.
As far as engine oil filter. You get what you pay for. For $7 you get a junk 10 micron filter that is of poor quality in my opinion. The best filters are Wix, Mobil one. Which isnt saying much. I would pay triple for an oil filter that had a real paper element that is quality and had a real case and reverse flow check that worked. If any of you guys have performed oil changes on machines you will see high end filters that cost $100 and up. These are high quality Parker, Schroder, Vickers filters. These filters protect $3000 piston pumps and other expensive hydraulic hardware. You must change engine oil filters every 5k miles, even with synthetic oil.
I am done 8itching now.

Gun guru--- A few years ago, I was informed by reliable sources, that you should not switch from full synthetic to petrolum oil, or vice-versa, after 10K or 12K miles. They said the reason was because the two different oils had different "oil seal swell properties" Do you know if this has been dis-proved?

Your mentality is the type if told to change the oil every 2000 miles. You would then decide to change the oil every 20,000 miles.

I would change mine more often but I have learned that in my town they get real sore if I pull up on the curb over the storm sewer to drain it. Pretty much limits me to night time, and that's just too inconvenient.

I change the oil and filters on my newer diesel tractors at 250 hours. The green ones hold over 6 gallons! The older red ones I change at 150 hours. My Duramax gets changed at 7000 miles with synthetic. Gas grain trucks and my old gas chore truck get changed once a year.

It's $50. Just spend it. On the other hand it's $50 that doesn't have to be spent yet. It's all what the guy that is getting the oil changed thinks. I know of one guy that drives his tractors wide open at about 15 miles an hour and without throttling down, gears down. Comes in the driveway full open at 3 miles an hour. You can't look at that thing moving 3 mph without saying something along the line of "What the F*ck is wrong with you" This guy is 'being nice' to his tractors as far as he's concerned but really he's doing nothing good for it. The same way changing oil at 5000km does no good for a car. May not hurt it but it gives them that expensive peace of mind that only money can buy.

B&D,

Pretty LAME reply! You can do better than that!

I change the oil in my 3020 every 100-150 hours. Never had any problems other than to keep adding oil.LOL

My apologizes to the rest of the persons here but I had to keep the answer simple so bradk might possibly understand.

You "dumbed down" the reply too much for ANYONE to understand which is pro'ly the norm for you.

I honestly don't care if you never change oil in your vehicles again.Just don't think that your practice is golden and everyone else should follow suit!Just ain't gonna happen!

I'm movin' on to the front of the forum.

How about changing the oil every 500 miles? That should make the engines last even longer.
I have a souped turbo V6 with 290,000 miles on the origional bottom end. Oil & fliter changed every 10,000 miles.
You would be better off purchasing a higher quality oil & filter. Then extending the change intervals.
Never seen the reason to throw out perfectly clean oil and filter.

I know that on my 1997 Escort I switched over to Synthetic at 35,000 miles and I got had 132,000 on the car when I got rid of it and not one leak.
I switched over my 1992 F-150 at about 50,000 miles and no leaks when I sold it at 110,000 miles.

I wish there was a way to certify or verify.....whatever the proper term might be...what I am about to say.

I am 51 years old. My 'new' tractor is 3 years old. I hope to live an active life for 25 more years.

I have decided to never change the oil in my tractor again. Why? Just bygod because I want to see what horrible calamity will befall me. For the last 30+ years I have listened to every armchair expert expound about what they know, what they do/did, what they read, what they were told, etc., etc, but not a one has the balls to find out if it is all true.

Very well, I will.

I've seen a few engines torn down in my lifetime. Never once have I seen a crank, rod, cam or pistons ate up by 'acids' in the oil and some of those engines were severely mistreated.

I had an uncle that died at the ripe age of 77 and never ever did he change oil in any vehicle or machine he owned. Never ever did the man have an engine failure.....ever.

So, I have fairly fresh engine and hopefully the time to find out what will happen. So here goes...this won't cost any of you, one thin dime and never ever will change your opinion or make your a$$ not stink. But, I'm going to find out. The crankcase has JD oil in it and a JD filter...we'll see how damned good they are!

The change intervals for oils vary from engine/vehicle/tractor to engine. It also varies on the type/brand of oil too. All oils are NOT created equal regardless of the "certification" and therefore some will not protect your engine as long as others and will need to be changed more often. A healthy engine will not require the oil to be changed as often. Not all filters are equal either. Wix and Amsoil (made by Wix) filters are and you can buy Wix at Napa for the same price or less than the orange ones at walli-world-market. For diesels (and gas engines too) the base number is important to determine the capability and life of the oil. (see link below). If you can monitor your oil you can go with an extended drain interval with some. Amsoil has gone 80,000 miles in diesel trucks with monitoring (do not try this without checking the oil health!!)

The main thing is if you take care of your equipment it will take care of you. Good maintenance is not an expense.
oil comparisons