what's the longest you can go without changing your oil

[dogteam7]

Don't want to freak anyone out but........My 1990 Lx was purchased in 1993 with 22,000 miles on it. I changed the oil every 10,000 miles during its entire life spand. The car was wrecked in 2003 with 179,000 miles on it. The engine still ran great. I used Mobil 1 and changed the filter with each oil change.

I got this idea from work. I work for a trucking company that uses a synthetic in its trucks and thru lots of expensive testing found that oil lasts without breakdown out to 50,000 miles. They were able to convince the engine manufacturer to honor the warranty with the extended drain interval.

Since my Stang wasn't just highway miles, I didn't try 50k but felt that 10k should be just fine with good oil......it worked.

Of course....I'm changing the oil in my 02 GT every 3k miles.... but I may push it out further since its out of warranty.

 

[mcmmotorsports]

I send my oil and ATF to Blackstone Labs. It costs 20 bucks and they will send you the sample containers for free. You just fill the sample bottle, fill out the form, enclose a check for $20 and mail it to them. They will email you a detailed analysis of the oil and can guage the wear of your motor from the metal traces in the sample.

Finally, someone else that believes in proof, not just opinions and hearsay.

My 2nd oil change is coming up at 10,000 and a sample is going of to Blackstone at that time.

 

[1wildGT]

I change mine about every 6 months or 5,000 miles whichever comes first. Usually the six months. I use Mobil 1 oil and filters on all my vehicles. My 2000 Dodge has 93K miles and runs like brand new. When I was stationed in Japan people would run conventional oil in their cars for 3 or 4 years with no oil changes, because cars are cheap over there and we all new we were leaving eventually. I would definately use synthetic and change it at 5K on any car I cared about.

 

[olbob]

I use Mobil 1, I do not drive too many miles in the summer, car stored in winter. I change in the spring, usually the first of April, again the first of July, the First of November, drive her in the garage and start over in the Spring. I realize this is probably overkill, but even idle engines can pick up moisture and make acid....
Bob

 

[Go HoTO!]

i really suck at sticking to a schedule. i'm at about 4K miles on the current oil. i use mobile 1 synthetic.

i know i should change it religiously, but i'm a retard. i dont make time for it.

Mobil I is good for 12k miles. There is nothing magical about a Mustang that requires you to change the oil sooner than that.

This si a topic that was studied about 5 years ago in detail with NYC cabs. They ran all types of oils in many different cabs. In some the oil was used for 60k miles. ONLY THE OIL COMPANIES WANT YOU TO CHANGE IT THAT MUCH. Changing oil every 3k miles is the same thing as throwing your money in the garbage can. THERE IS NO BENEFIT.

One of the conclusions of the study was they changing oil too frequently put the car at increased risk of damage. Each time you open the motor you run the risk of dropping something in or not putting the plug back on properly. Hey, it happens.

If the car is under warrenty, strick with the guidelines. After that, changing every 5 - 6k on dino oil is fine or 10 - 12k on synthetic is perfect.

 

[Go HoTO!]

when you wash your clothes do you have it hooked up to recycle the water or does new water come in for the next load?

basically im sure your wash water can do a couple of loads, rinse would be a joke but none the less maybe you could install a filter for the water. but eventually the water will become saturated with too much dirt, grime, drool, etc to effectively clean your clothes. however you can still argue that you "washed your clothes" doesnt necessarily mean you washed them clean.

and yes oil is always oil (the additives on the other hand burn off and deteriorate over time/heat)and if your oil comes out clean, then did it ever remove anything from your motor? or is your filter that good???
the point im trying to make is yes full synthetic is better at protecting and lasting longer, however in the same amount of driving time within up to 2k miles it can become just as saturated as conventional oil.

and I know both sides have a valid point and it always seams to be fairly split on whats best. for 45% its 3k for 45% its 5/6k and for the remainder it seams to be up to 12k.

I do both my cars every 3k. buts thats me and thats what i am happy with. the fact that most people end up going 8k on conventional with their everyday cars vs the fact that most owners of stangs are within 5k religiously shows just y they seem to hold up so well.

as far as im concerned stay within 5k using factory filter and you should be fine with whatever way you decide.

Bad analogy. Lots of commercial laundries recycle water. I know this, because I sell systems that do just that.

Also, while you are correct about oil getting "dirty" weather it is dino oil or synthetic, synthetic oil is not affected by the loading the same way. It buffers itself against acids much better than dino oil. This is the main reason why you can run it longer.

 

[01'TRUE BLUE GT]

I have almost (original filter and oil) 36k miles on mine. Do you guys think I should change my oil now?

 

[ForPointSex]

My friend has a new BMW M3 and the oil change interval is every 12,000 miles using synthetic oil.

 

[rickster99]

Some of you are claiming that your friend or someone you know is changin their oils at 5000k and higher. Thats ok I guess. If you feel comfortable with that then so be it. I feel comfortable doing my oil change every 3000k with Mobil 1. This is a $4.98 a quart cost. I did my oil change just today and I spent 38.00 dollars and did it in 20 minutes taking my time.

Why do I do this well for one like I said a piece of mind. Second, during my college years I had a four cylinder car, which I dont care to mention the name. and I did the oil change religiously. I bought the car new and then I sold it at 142,000 miles. It ran like if it was new. It didnt burn oil. The engine was completely clean inside and ran like a champ. Now I think that if I keep this up my car will make it to 142,000 miles with minimum wear and tear.

So really the question is how long do you want to keep your car and how much wear and tear do you want to put on your engine. If you want to keep it to the minimum, then you will probably go with 3000 miles or so. If you dont care how much wear and tear then go 12000 miles before chaning it. Its up to you!

 

[Go HoTO!]

Just to prove a point:

If you were to put 150,000 miles on your car and put Mobil I in each time and did the changes yourself, at $40 a pop, that would be $2,000. If you were to use Mobil I and change oil every 10,000 miles, that would be $600. If you spent 40 minutes doing the oil changes (allows time for disposal, picking up oil, getting car ready etc...) you would have saved 1400 minutes OR almost an entire day during that same period of time. Not knowing how valuable your time is because everbody is different, but if you make $12.00 an hour, that would equal $280 more. So, in short, changing oil in this scenario every 3,000 miles would cost you $1680 more over the 150,000 miles. This is an amount of money that is most likely greater than the value of the car after it has been driven for 150,000 miles no matter what oil you use. There is simply know ROI for doing this.

For those that pay someone to do a Mobil I change and pay say $65 for the change, these number increase to $2275 more w/o any time value added because now you are paying someone to do the work. Of course, that still takes time, but remember now someone else is assuming liability for screwing up the oil change.

 

[rjstaaf]

Just to prove a point:

If you were to put 150,000 miles on your car and put Mobil I in each time and did the changes yourself, at $40 a pop, that would be $2,000. If you were to use Mobil I and change oil every 10,000 miles, that would be $600. If you spent 40 minutes doing the oil changes (allows time for disposal, picking up oil, getting car ready etc...) you would have saved 1400 minutes OR almost an entire day during that same period of time. Not knowing how valuable your time is because everbody is different, but if you make $12.00 an hour, that would equal $280 more. So, in short, changing oil in this scenario every 3,000 miles would cost you $1680 more over the 150,000 miles. This is an amount of money that is most likely greater than the value of the car after it has been driven for 150,000 miles no matter what oil you use. There is simply know ROI for doing this.

For those that pay someone to do a Mobil I change and pay say $65 for the change, these number increase to $2275 more w/o any time value added because now you are paying someone to do the work. Of course, that still takes time, but remember now someone else is assuming liability for screwing up the oil change.

While I can see the point you are trying to make, your numbers are inflated quite a bit.

5qts Mobil1-$20
Motorcraft oil filter-$4

Given 150,000 miles

Changing oil every 3000 miles-$1200

Changing oil every 10,000 miles-$360

While I am sure most of us value our time I don't really agree with adding it in as a cost. For one, unless someone is willing to pay you for your time, it is monetarily worthless. I would assume that you are not taking off work to change your oil so adding anything into the cost for your time is only artificially inflating the cost.

While these differnces may look drastic, you have to realize that the cost is typically spread out over several years given the 150,000 miles. Personally I would NEVER suggest anyone go 10,000 miles between oil changes without doing some kind of oil anlysis periodically. I have mine checked twice a year by Blackstone Laboratories.

 

[1fast03pony]

here we go again...

do a SEARCH!!! THERES A HUGE THREAD ON SYNTH. OIL!!!

 

[TacBear]

I change mine every 5000 miles, which is about once a year.

 

[Ruckus46Gt]

the real answer to this question is you can the whole life of the car without chaning the oil...yes that is right you see at some point something will happen and then the life of the car will be over until you fix it

 

[Fast02]

How much does it cost to have the rings replaced? How much does it cost for the main bearings to be changed and the crank turned? How much to have your engine resleeved or bored .10 over?

Id rather spend the extra $$ and do it every 3k.

 

[V_Eight]

Mobil One every 10k.

Every 5k is retarded, that's what ford's interval is for fossil oil, not synthetic.

 

[Ruckus46Gt]

i do mobile one every 3k

 

[TacBear]

Mobil One every 10k.

Every 5k is retarded, that's what ford's interval is for fossil oil, not synthetic.

You are right! I went 10,000 miles between oil changes in my 85' and at 104,000 miles I got 29.97 mpg (highway) and ran a 13.89 w/slicks (2.79 gears)

 

[CanadaStang]

You are right! I went 10,000 miles between oil changes in my 85' and at 104,000 miles I got 29.97 mpg (highway) and ran a 13.89 w/slicks (2.79 gears)

I've got 673,266.7km on my winter beater [88' Chev Blazer, with the crappy 2.8L]. Thats 420,791.6 miles.Changed the oil every 3000miles. Still runs like a top, and uses no oil between changes.
My old winter beater was a 84' Honda Accord, can't remember for sure, but it's over 700,000km [over 435,000 miles] still runs good, but I parked it because it was so badly rusted. My last Stang, a 91' LX 5.0 had 234,000 miles, and was very happy with the Zex 100 shot on it [never ran it at the track, so I'm not sure what the 1/4 mile times would be. It never burnt any oil between oil changes either, but tranny was dying [2nd transmission]

Edit:I can't say if these vehicles would still be running this well by running 10,000 miles between oil changes, but changing often works for me. Almost forgot, I use Mobil 1 [$20.00 at Walmart] My neighber put just over 60,000 miles on her Ford Ranger without ever changing the oil before it went crunch.

 

[OinkAodeOink]

All you people wasting your money and time changing your oil every 3k or less, are only causing more problems, by having to contain more and more used motor oil on this earth...

Why not help earth, and your walet by changing your oil to the Ford recomended 5k mile period.. Some of you guys are just way to anal about your cars, lol.. Come on now!