Interesting Oil Change View

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My 08 GMC Duramax has the monitoring system. I average 10000kms / 6000miles and have gone as far as 15000kms / 9000miles by following it. I think it does read how the driving and idling time is and calculates accordingly.
 
I've read that and other similar articles before,...

I have pushed back my oil changes from 3000 miles to 4-4500 thousand miles,...With the exception of my wifes Pontiac which mysteriously vaporizes 2 quarts between 3500 miles and 4500 miles (her onboard monitoring says 48% remaining),...and Mom's Neon which only gets 2000 miles a year and only see's short trips, resulting in oil which never gets hot enough to completely dissapate any soluble contaminants and moisture....

I still only buy non synthetic oil cause its cheaper by half or more,....
 
My DD is a 2005 Jeep Rubicon (4.0L), and my wife's car is a 2003 VW Jetta TDI. I have settled on 10,000 mile change intervals for both vehicles. Oil samples have indicated that I could comfortably stretch this out to 15,000, but 10K is a nice easy to remember interval. I use Mobil 1 5w40 "Turbo Diesel Truck" in both vehicles. The Jeep has 120K miles, and the VW nearly twice that. Both run like new. The "buy good oil and run it longer" theory seems to be working out for me.
 
Not disagreeing with it.....but clean oil & a FRESH filter are cheap insurance. Can't speak for any one else but I do not have the money laying around to buy another Duramax for my truck. Not to mention when I am changing the oil I also give everything a once over, brakes, fluids front end parts etc. I think an oil change on our Explorer costs me twelve bucks or so. And the few techs I have spoke to about my diesel suggest no more than 5k between fuel filter changes. $27 for a filter is a hell of a lot cheaper than $300 a pop for injectors....just my opinion.....
 
I use the finger test, I rub the oil between my fingers, if it starts to chatter, and doesn't feel slick, that's usually about the time it stats getting dark anyway.
 
So, what's everybody's opinion on mixing conventional and synthetic? I have often heard once you start using synthetic you shouldn't go back to conventional. It doesn't make sense to me. I think synthetic has a higher profit margin and the 'can't switch back' story is a sales gimmick....
...as far as my Valiant goes I change the filter but not the oil. Between the burning and leaking just 'topping it off' keeps it fresh.
 
I've had a lot more trouble with old engines that people didn't change the oil every 3000, than I have had with new engines that get changed every three tousand.
 
I'm all for longer intervals but there are a lot of engines that seem to have sludge issues such as Toyotas, 2.7, 3.7 & 4.7 Mopars.
 
inkjunkie said:
Not disagreeing with it.....but clean oil & a FRESH filter are cheap insurance. Can't speak for any one else but I do not have the money laying around to buy another Duramax for my truck. Not to mention when I am changing the oil I also give everything a once over, brakes, fluids front end parts etc. I think an oil change on our Explorer costs me twelve bucks or so. And the few techs I have spoke to about my diesel suggest no more than 5k between fuel filter changes. $27 for a filter is a hell of a lot cheaper than $300 a pop for injectors....just my opinion.....
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x2
 
You can run a bit longer if you use diesel oil (CJ grade). It has more detergents to suspend the carbon, which is a much bigger issue in diesels. However, in a newer car that has an optical sensor, it would still see the black and flag "oil change needed". A rodder friend used to use a special remote Franz filter that used a roll of toilet paper. He claimed you never needed to change the oil no matter how black, but I think the carbon build-up is the main issue. Whatever, you do, don't ever use the cheap "non-detergent" oil you see in dollar stores.
 
inkjunkie said:
$27 for a filter is a hell of a lot cheaper than $300 a pop for injectors....just my opinion.....
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How does changing your oil have anything to do with the life of your injectors? Even the injector pumps are often lubricated only by the diesel fuel itself.
 
The article makes a big deal about advances made in the oil itself. That may be true, I don't know.


But I think engine advancements, even relatively old ones, have more to do with the increased oil change interval.
  • Pressurized cooling systems that allow the engine to run hotter and boil out the water and gas that gets into the oil.
  • Anything that makes the engine heat up quicker like an exhaust manifold heat riser, or those stoves that pull intake air from around the exhaust manifold. In a cold engine, fuel can condense on the cylinder walls and run down into the crankcase contaminating the oil.
  • Anything that makes the engine run leaner/cleaner, especially electronic fuel injection and better sealing rings
If 3000 miles made sense back in the 50's it's defintely not needed anymore.
 
The real reason I don't worry so much about the number that has been around since the 50's is because in the industry I work in we change oil in $300,000 engines anywhere between 250 and 500 hours. These engines do run at a steady RPM for the most part but not always. The ones that see varied load and run times get changed closer to 250 hours. You do the math 250 hours X 60 miles/hr (kilometers) and see how far these are traveling. This has been going on for 25 years that I can vouch for. I can say I have never heard of one failing due to our oil change schedule.
 
gdrill said:
The real reason I don't worry so much about the number that has been around since the 50's is because in the industry I work in we change oil in $300,000 engines anywhere between 250 and 500 hours. These engines do run at a steady RPM for the most part but not always. The ones that see varied load and run times get changed closer to 250 hours. You do the math 250 hours X 60 miles/hr (kilometers) and see how far these are traveling. This has been going on for 25 years that I can vouch for. I can say I have never heard of one failing due to our oil change schedule.
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Do these engines run in rain, snow, dust storms. Do they run constantly, or do you start them ten times a day in sub-zero temps. There are literally thousands of parameters. I just prefer to err on the safe side. when you live in the middle of nowhere and have small kids or whatever the last thing you need is an engine failure. I just did a compression test on a 3.3 Town and Country I have. 345000 miles, and all cylinders are at about 175. I expect at least another 100000 out of it, unless the rest of it falls apart first.
 
I got my Neon with 60K on it in 2002... It's got close to 300K now and I change the oil and filter about once a year. Had the same (lack of) maintenance program on the Omni it replaced. That went 270K miles. My '87 truck has had 5 oil changes since about 2003 when it went into service with me. I hate doing oil changes...lol. I run 15/40 deisel oil and Wix "gold" filters. The 3K interval is way, way conservative for a modern engine of any make. At least IMO...lol
 
kittypancake said:
So, what's everybody's opinion on mixing conventional and synthetic? I have often heard once you start using synthetic you shouldn't go back to conventional. It doesn't make sense to me. I think synthetic has a higher profit margin and the 'can't switch back' story is a sales gimmick....
...as far as my Valiant goes I change the filter but not the oil. Between the burning and leaking just 'topping it off' keeps it fresh.
Click to expand...

The previous owner of my Ram used synthetic for the entire drivetrain,.I dropped the synthetic for the engine when I saw how much it costs,...I was loosing a quart every 1500 miles,...Went back to conventional,...at 3000 miles everything is good...

I left the synthetic in the trani and diffs,...also put synthetic in the Jeep trans and diff,...That made things quieter and smoother...
 
The article never talks about the filter which is the weak link. Yes most modern oils will go much further than 3,000 miles in most cases.
 
kittypancake said:
So, what's everybody's opinion on mixing conventional and synthetic? I have often heard once you start using synthetic you shouldn't go back to conventional. It doesn't make sense to me. I think synthetic has a higher profit margin and the 'can't switch back' story is a sales gimmick....
...as far as my Valiant goes I change the filter but not the oil. Between the burning and leaking just 'topping it off' keeps it fresh.
Click to expand...

I could be thinking of something else, but I think that's with transmission fluid and not motor oil. I believe it has something to do with swelling the seals possibly?
 
I live in a temperate climate, not too hot or cold...--

I have a fundamental view.. the reason engine lubricant turns black, is contamination from combustion, mainly carbon, amongst other things..

Carbon is very abrasive,, and I don't care what lube you're running,, the longer carbon is in contact with wear surfaces, the more wear, (specially with the newer tolerances).. sure I CAN leave that abrasive in my engine,, but I prefer not...

so if I'm changing oil every 2500 miles anyway,, why pay for synthetic

Now, - were I to live in sub zero temps, ( God bless you folks)

- I would want to run synthetics so the lube doesn't turn to goo,, but I bet I would still change lube every 2500 miles anyway..

good habits die hard... lol

my .02
 
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