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Oil Change.... When to do it?

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Gliderman8

Gliderman8

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My apologies if this topic has been discussed before.
At the start of last driving season I installed a spin on oil filter adapter and changed the oil. I put on about 1,000 miles last season. Today, I just got my car back on the road.
I generally change the oil every 3,000 miles.
Since I only put on 1,000 miles it will take about 3 driving seasons to reach the 3,000 mile mark.
It seems silly to dump the oil after only 1,000 miles.
What to the rest of you guys do?
 
My vote
every driving season.
Now at the beginning or the end ,now that will start a discussion
 
OK, let me ask the question a different way:
What is the downside of not changing the oil this season?
 
I agree with you Don. Especially if the car has been sitting idle all winter. Why not begin with a fresh start.
 
Gliderman8 said:
OK, let me ask the question a different way:
What is the downside of not changing the oil this season?
Click to expand...
Piston.jpg
 
You just might have scared me into it don.
 
Don, you aren't seriously claiming that piston broke just because of a few skipped oil changes, are you?

1000 miles per year sounds like it means a lot of short trips, where the oil doesn't get thoroughly warmed up (which takes a lot longer than it takes the coolant to warm up, because the oil has no thermosat). Lots of short trips means the change interval should be shorter, because the oil gets contaminated more with water and combustion byproducts that would otherwise vaporize.

And it makes sense to me to change it at the end of the season; after a nice long drive. Get as much crud out as possible, instead of leaving it to plate out inside the engine during the winter.

I once bought a Ford that had been driven less than two miles at a time for many years (for a total of around 1000 miles per year). Not quite the little old lady from Pasadena, but close. The owner was fairly religious about oil change intervals, but the sludge inside that engine had to be seen to be believed!
 
Elliot, Have the same dilemma with my boys (at present) car. 03 Accord 6 cy.
2.5 miles to school 2.5 miles back 5 days a week and an occasional side trip.
Car went 900 miles plus last year and was driven almost every school day.
So, should I wait the prescribed miles for an oil change?
Or as I have been doing .
When my wife brings her 09 in, I have them do the 02 also.


Randall, purely for excitement and scare tactics

TR3driver said:
Don, you aren't seriously claiming that piston broke just because of a few skipped oil changes, are you?
...
Click to expand...
 
I'm convinced gentlemen... tomorrow it gets changed!
Thanks guys.
 
DNK said:
Don't forget the filter! :devilgrin:
Click to expand...

Nah... I just plug the hole after I drain it. :whistle:
 

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Don, change it, cheap insurance.

Here's the thing about parts/maint.

You can buy milage, or you can buy time, but you can't buy both.

Condensation and water vapor form acids in the oil over time. This especialy if it sitts up a season. I've been using Lucas Break In Treatement on top of "high zinc" oil with excellent results. The valvoline "high zinc" I use too low to begin with.
 
My TR4, which is garaged at my vacation home in the Midwest, is usually driven for two weeks in the spring and another two weeks in the fall (although by the time it is driven next it will have been fourteen months since it was driven last), and my mechanic (who works on all the British cars in the region) believes that its Joe Gibbs Driven HR15W-50 high-performance synthetic motor oil (https://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/) is good for long-term storage and old engines requiring a high ZDP level, and that it would need to be changed only every five thousand miles or ten years.

He says that this oil is used in military vehicles that undergo long periods of storage.

The Corvette Action Center’s cam-wear site (https://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/oil/oil_camwear5.html) says “Joe Gibbs Racing's solution to cam failures was to develop its own oils for racing flat-tappet cams, use it in their NASCAR Sprint Cup motors, then later, sell it to the public. Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil markets "Hot Rod Oil 10W30" a blend of Group III and IV base stocks with enough ZDP to make about 1200 PPM phosphorous. Additionally, this oil is good for collector cars because it has an anticorrosive additive package chosen for engines in cars which see periods of storage. Industry rumors are that the Lubrizol Corporation, which developed zinc dithiophosphate (ZDP) back in the 1940s and whose products, today, are benchmarks in the additive industry, had a key role in the Driven Racing Oil development. JGR neither confirms nor denies that, but if it's true, Coach Gibbs' oil is a good choice for Corvette flat-tappet engines.”

Should I believe my mechanic's claims for this particular oil's longevity, or should I change it in June anyway, even though it was installed in April 2011, after which the car was driven for two weeks?
 
If you can afford buy and maintain an old demanding sportscar, you surely can afford to change the oil once a year..
 
Poolboy,

Thank you for putting things into perspective. I will do as you recommend.
 
Over the years I have rebuilt a lot of abused engines. The nastiest ones of all were the low mileage, short trip engines. These engines rarely got hot, and the mineral oil would change to a slimy grunge that never burned off. It is the consistencey of jelly. Then, on the engines that sat after use like that, the grunge deposits became almost wax-like.

What I learned from this is, like Randall stated, the less the use, the more often the oil changes required. I also use synthetic oil only, as I firmly believe it will not convert to grunge. Of course I will never know this for sure, as the only synthetic only engines I have rebuilt are my own, and they are not abused.

As to when to change...I learned that from the boaters...end of the season is preferable. That way you clean out the contaminants so the engine doesn't sit all winter with moisture and blow-by waste in the sump. First run of the next season be sure to get it completely warmed up to boil out any condensation occumulated over the winter.

John
 
I drive 1000-1500 miles per season. Trips are 15-75 miles. Very few are 5 miles or less. I changed oil and filter last summer. In getting car ready for this season I checked the oil and it is at proper level and looks clean and feels right. Should it be changed because it sat from December to April or run it because it is less than or about 1000 miles but is still looking clean?

Gary
 
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