Oil change intervals

I've got myself into a Pxxxing conversation on another forum so I'm asking my Procar friends to relate to me how they handle the subject on THEIR Procars...

Oil Changes... A local Radio show host has a Saturday call-in show. Life long Mech/shop owner with a great local reputation. HE says the three thousand mile interval pushed by the Dealer, Lube joints is hooey...5000 is fine.

I'm retired/disabled/retarded etc...and I too come from a Mech background. 27000 miles in 5+ years. I change 3 times a year irregardless of milleage...Spring before the Heat hits, Fall after the furnace turns off and and maybe during the winter if we have a lot of rain to keep the joints lubed. Trans service every other fall along with a fuel filter change. 2003 GMC 1/2 ton 2 wheel drive.

What do you guys do?

Thanks

My Pinner had the oil changed once in 20 years, and my 1969 was last changed in 1994 until I changed it in 2009. It's oil, and it has been in the ground for millions of years, so what difference does it make how long it has been in your engine. The inside of your engine is a lot cleaner than the dirt that the oil came out of...

I've heard the every 3000 miles thing was whacked. I do every 15,000 mile son the Porsche (synthetic oil) and about 5,000 miles on the Buick. I change oil in my ambulances in the spring, before a trip irregardless of when it was done last, and again come fall/winter.
Reminds me, I haven't changed the oil in the Criterion since I've owned it so I need to get that done.

Paul Steinberg said:

My Pinner had the oil changed once in 20 years, and my 1969 was last changed in 1994 until I changed it in 2009. It's oil, and it has been in the ground for millions of years, so what difference does it make how long it has been in your engine. The inside of your engine is a lot cleaner than the dirt that the oil came out of...

Click to expand...

Huh? :argue:

old oil

I try to change the oil at least once a year on the IH figuring even though the mileage I put on is low that it does break down over time and older engines can flood a bit more washing more gas into the oil. Problem with the IH is it has older canister style oil filters and I haven't figured out all the tricks in changing that myself yet.

I change the oil in my daily driver every 4000 miles and due to the low usage on the Mark III and Hearse, once a year.

Ok me I have always gone for twice a year in the daily drivers one in the spring and again in the fall. it figures out to about once every 4000. with all the new stuff there is not much to grease your lucky if there are 4 joints that you can do it do. not like on the willies were there are over 60. since I have gone the synthetic blends and I'm now doing it once a year. the old cars just depends. the limo we drive a lot so I'll service it before any long run. which is about once a year. the other cars have been serviced when I got them. we use the 15-40 fleet oil in them and they only get around a thousand miles a year on them. but now greasing is different. we take a wheel off I'll lube them up. grease is the best deterrent for water there is. plus you get under the car you find things. repack those front bearings in them to and change the power steering fluid and the tyranny. on most of those cars it has not been done in 40 years.

every 3000? Really?

Most anyone will agree that todays oils are better than they were 40 years or so ago. Closer engine tolerances for new engines, higher operating RPMs, and more are figured in by the makers of the oil and the cars. The guys at the local drain and lube are in the business to make money. At every 3000 miles they make more money than they would at every 5000 miles. Now I have heard that the additives break down over time and miles. That could be true. In the end we are mostly using new oils in our old cars. So I have upped the change interval to every 4000-5000 miles or just before the winter lay over time gets here (Ohio). So far no problems. I agree with Paul that your engine is probably cleaner than where the oil originally came from. But eventually dirt DOES make its way into the system. Water vapor, rust, metal shavings, and only the car gods know what else gets in there. So change it once in a while. What can it hurt? Once, or twice a year seems to be working here depending on the miles per year.
Mike
61 MM

I knew an old guy that had a Dodge form the late 60's with a 318. He never changed the oil but he would change the filter about every 5,000 miles and top it off with a new quart and add more as necessary in between filter changes. He used a premium filter and oil. I thought he was crazy but he drove that old Dodge for many years doing that. He may have added STP from time to time also.

The only reason that the Dodge didn't make noise was because of the sludge noise reduction system he was installing by the mile...

I change it in the spring when they come out of hibernation, and every 5,000-7,000 after that. Sometimes I change it in the 49 more, it depends on how much I play with the flamethrowers because it dumps fuel into the oil when I light 'em.

the one thing we do need to do though is keep a log book. Paul reminded us of that some time back. if you throw in one of the little spiral note pads in each car you may be surprised on the last time you did something to the car other then was it. the I've got to do that soon bug hits more then the got it done bug.

I change the oil in my truck at every 3,000 miles. I have changed the oil twice in my 63, once when I got it and again after the engine work. The weather is lousy here, and in the spring it will be going for body and paint, so I'll probably do it when it returns. I have also started using an oil that is higher in ZDDP, it is said to protect the upper valve train better than standard motor oil... we'll see.

I use a 2003 ford E-150 with 5.4 I bought new and a 99 crown vic I got in 2005 with 26k to run people to the airport, etc. in my limo business. The first 100k on the van I changed every 3k and went to 5k and the van now has 375k and I have never done anything but regular maintance. The crown vic now has 270k and I have always changed it at 5k. Both end up getting changed about every two weeks. I only let the ford dealership do the work which I learned that some guys can do stuff like brakes cheaper but they didn't last as long as ford parts and dealerships have gotten almost reasonable to compete with other shops too. My collector cars I don't drive much so change about once a year. I don't have a personal car that I drive being I can drive something off the car lot. My wife is retired and only puts about 2k or less a year on her car so I change between 3k and 5k being long time in between. Unless extreme conditions I think every 5k is ok.

My Lifeliner I changed twice a year. I would change the oil in the fall when I put it away for the winter. I would then change that before a long drive in the spring or summer.

My daily drivers I do the oil in them about 4K to 5K mark. My pro-cars I change them usually once a year which is usually around springtime.