rarely driven car - oil change in Spring or Fall?

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jefframin

jefframin

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My car sits for 5 months in the winter, then is driven every couple weeks during the rest of the year. Usually only a few hundred miles each year.

Better to change the oil right before hibernation, or first thing in the Spring?
 
I do it in the spring. That reminds me, I need to do mine.
 
What's the difference? 99% of it just sits in the bottom anyway. If you don't start it, you can drain almost every drop after sitting five months. Probably not in too bad of shape anyway after just a few hundred miles. Age probably more of a factor.
 
i'd wait 'til it's dirty to look at...3 or 4 years or 8 -10,000km
take a long drive before you winterize to remove all the moisture
 
Ive never paid much attn to whether spring or fall. Just heard about contaminants sitting in it. Probably not much tho due to your limited miles.
On the other hand giving it a spring change is a ritual getting it ready for the season.
 
ir3333 said:
i'd wait 'til it's dirty to look at...3 or 4 years or 8 -10,000km
take a long drive before you winterize to remove all the moisture
Click to expand...

It's actually been over 2 years since I last changed it. I used to change it annually, but got tired of draining what appeared to be brand new oil (since it sees so few miles).

However, I've read articles about oil degrading just due to time passing, which has be leaning toward changing once a year again...
 
It would be good to find any info on oil degrading from sitting.... I am not aware of that. Here is a good link on oil degradation; I'd change before storage, but I suspect you are not getting a lot of oil oxidation, that leads to acids.

The Lowdown on Oil Breakdown
 
Why not drain the oil before hibernation then refill after
 
Take a sample of your two year old oil and send it to a lab. I bet it comes back just fine, unless there is something drastically wrong with your engine.
 
OK, moisture in it I get... I was thinking the OP meant the oil actually broke down while sitting.
 
The best solution would be to ship it me in san Diego. I'll drive it all Winter for you and you can have it back in the Spring.
 
I like the suggestion to take a long drive to evaporate any moisture in engine/oil before storage. I also like the comment about using your eyes to help make the determination about changing the oil, because like the oil degradation link posted, confirmed that that can be a viable evaluation, in lieu of oil analysis.
Something that is mentioned on other forums, is that with extended oil change intervals (time and/or mileage) there comes a point of paper filter media degradation in oil filters. That's why some are recommending synthetic filter media oil filters. For example, Wix 51515xp, instead of the tried and true Wix 51515.
 
I always take the long way to any were I go, I always make sure the temp gets up for a few miles on any run to the store just to pull the moisture out of the oil, It's a never win situation heat up, cool down = moisture. I always change it before storage, I also only oil my air tools before I put them away to blow out the water then pull them out and use them all day.
 
F350 in the cold.jpg
I got a 'free' '89 F350 dually that was parked in 2003... 62,000 original miles... had a fresh oil change sticker in the door jamb. Fast forward to 2014 I picked up the truck in California, drove it home 2200 miles to Wisconsin. I've only put on a few hundred miles since then since I'm going to use it exclusively for my race car hauler... still has the 2003 oil in it. Looks fine... still nice and clean. Might change it just before I start towing with it.

Can you tell I'm cheap?
 
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