OT: Oil change frequency

A

arty

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Oct 18, 2003
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I used to change my oil and filter at 3,000 miles, but change it more frequently in my '01 Camry (every 2500 or 2600 miles). The 2.2 engine has a small oil capacity, and the engine develops sludge if the extended intervals in the factory recommendation are followed. Toyota even issued an extended warranty to 100,000 miles if there is engine failure from sludge.

I just got a Honda CR/V with a 2.4 L engine. The manual says to change the oil & filter at 10,000 miles, with 5,000 mile changes for severe service.
The Honda service manager suggests changing the oil every 3,000 miles to keep the car running. Honda told me that the new oil is superior, and you can extend the intervals between changes.

I tend to favor more frequent oil changes, and can't imagine keeping 5-20 oil in the car for more than 3,000 miles.

Does anyone know if this is correct, or should I just leave the stuff in there and change the oil every 5,000?

What should I believe?
 
I'm a firm believer in the 3,000 mile oil change. Grease and oil are cheap considering the cost of repairs.;)
 
Yvsa said:
I'm a firm believer in the 3,000 mile oil change. Grease and oil are cheap considering the cost of repairs.;)
Click to expand...
Hard to disagree with that. Even if you're wrong, that's one of the cheapest mistakes one can make. :)
 
I think there is a oil change syndrome which is characterized by high anxiety relative to the actual threat, undue verbalization and writing threads like this one. I know there is an Oil Change Syndrome because I've suffered from it all my life, with certain periods being more acute than others.

I don't see how you could go wrong with the frequent oil change routine. However, someday, somehow, I know they'll find a way to make that bad too.

Because that's what oil changes are all about; watching your car inevitably age, being powerless to prevent it, and knowing you'll screw up at least once in the life of the vehicle and do something bad to it.




munk
 
I use Mobil 1 5-20 synthetic and change every 5000 miles. Back when I used regular oil the recommendation on my Toyota truck was every 3750 miles for severe driving or if towing, and every 7500 otherwise. I split the difference at every 5000 miles mostly around town, and the Toyota mechanic agreed with me. When I sold it at 168,000 miles it still ran great and had never burned a drop of oil. (Of course part of that is the bulletproof Japanese 22-R engine.)

The synthetic says you can go longer than 5000 for sure, I think even up to 10,000, but I want to keep this car for a long time so it's worth it to me to overdo it a bit.

Regards,

Norm
 
You see what I mean? 3750, he says. That sound reasonable to anyone? How about 3674? We're mad, I tell you.




munk
 
Whoa... This is really odd... I just got finished talking about changing the oil in my truck when I came on here to find this... Very odd indeed.

Svashtar, I think I'm going to take your advice and change my oil every 5,000 miles. I've got the 22RE in my Toyota 4Runner. I'm at 354,000 Km right now and it still runs strong. It may have a bit o' rust on it and whatnot, and the exhaust system may not be up to par anymore, but heck, it runs well, starts like a dream every time, and takes whatever I throw at her. She's stickin' around. An absolutely perfect first vehicle... Sorry to go a little off topic. :footinmou

Travis
 
munk, you're suspicions are correct.

we live in an oil-changing-paranoia society.....


Cars have changed and so have the oils. Even standard grade oil nowadays is good for 5000-7500 miles.

My Honda Pilot manual recommends the first oil change at 10,000, and then every 7500 after that. Why should I disagree with the manufacturer? shouldn't they know better?

Mercedes has been making cars that need very little oil changing for years.

There are reports out that talk about certain modern oils that (because they have so many chemicals/solvents/etc.) actually need more mileage/wear to fully "break down" and become truly useful.
 
Dan, my mechanic told me the engines in cars in the 40's and 50s just couldn't last as long as those we have today. And yes, we have tighter tolerances and CNC machinery, but it's our oil and it's additives that are superior and make a lot of the difference.
It's funny, and I would never had thought of that.



munk
 
Well in reality a lot of when you should change oil depends on how you drive. If you do a lot of stop and go driving, short trips, real short trips driving it a mile to the market, then it doesn't matter if your using golden oil to lubricate the engine. That kind of driving builds up all sorts of crap and solvents in your oil nicely diluting it meaning that it should be changed every 3,000 miles or three months, whichever comes first. Most of our driving is in between and I could maybe get by with the 5,000 miles between changes like Toyota recommends but I won't. I do let it go longer than the 3 months though if there isn't 3,000 on it because maybe half of our driving warms the engine to the requirements to burn the bad stuff off.
I had the new oil in it changed out at 1,500 miles because of the length of time it had been run and not because of the miles.

On the other hand if most of your driving is longer
distance and your engine warms up enough to keep the volitoles burned out then you can go longer.
I'm sticking with the old adage that grease and oil are cheap.:p
But if you're doing the synthetic oils you can probably get by with more milage.:)

My old man was a damned good mechanic if he wasn't worth a damn otherwise. He's the one that drumed it into me about the grease and oil being cheap, one of the damned few things he was right about IMO.;)
 
I use hooflex. :D

I dislike changing my oil. The oil filter in my vehicle is in a spot where you have to bend your arm twice to get to it. Removing it means oil drips all over the place and down your arm if you do it wrong.

I thought about trying synthetic but my oil pan is a little leaky. :(
 
Before my current vehicle, I was a 3,000 mile man in theory; however, every vehicle I'd ever owned leaked oil quickly enough that I'd only wind up changing the filter at that point. Any oil I drained was clear or nearly so from the constant leakage and topping off. It was habit anyway; any quality synthetic should last considerably longer than this. One of the joys of owning a newer car, though, is that I no longer have to worry about oil leaks...for now.

In case of doubt, consult the almighty owner's manual. VW tells me that I need a change at 5,000, 10,000, and every 10,000 after that with the oil they specify. That's what I do now. They arrived at this number for a reason and they know more about the topic than I do.

Like Yvsa said - oil is cheap (unless it's VW 505.01), engines are not.
 
I usually purchase either German or Italian sports cars as my everyday drive, and I always chage the oil at 10,000 km whether not it is recommended by the manufacturers or not. It keeps my engine cleaner, and maybe it's psychological, but I feel the engines run better... Anyway, it's an old habit, and I'll probably keep it up! :rolleyes: :D
 
I run 5-7k on my truck(only run synthetic, 4 banger engine). Haven't quite decided yet on bike, probably 4-6k there.

RUnsnthetic in everything though, engine, tranny, differentials, etc. Mobil 1 most places, Valvoline Maxlife synthetic in truck engine, Castrol MTX 80w synthetic in bik rear end(or will when it's finally time to change that)
 
great website, Skag. Thanks!


I've heard it said many times, Satori, that if you are burning oil (more than a quart a month) then there is pratically no need to change the oil - since you are replacing it at a rate faster than you would if you changed it yourself.
 
My first car was a Maverick with an inline 6. The car leaked a quart of oil every 500 miles. When I bought it, the odometer read 37,000 miles and it needed brakes. My guess is that the odometer had already turned over past 100,000 and the car really had 137,000. The oil always looked pretty.

Thanks for the advice. Most of my driving is on long trips, but it gets really dirty out in the fields that I drive through. The plows are out, and no one can breathe out here in the "healthy" corn country.

I have seen sludge start to form well before 3,000 miles when the driving is all on short trips in town, as Yvsa has pointed out. The Honda manual recommends not using synthetics. I don't know why, but do know that these oils last longer.

The story from the service manager was that Honda recommends longer times between oil changes to remain competetive with other companies. It is a sales ploy to allow them to say that maintenance is cheap. Some people estimate car costs by looking at total maintenance costs, and this way they can say that it is cheap to run the car. When I called the company, they insisted that modern oils last longer.

One way to tell would be to try longer time intervals and then see what the oil looks like.

This could be an expensive experiment.

The location of the oil filter on the Honda CR/V must be seen to be believed.
It is high up and way behind the double bend of your arm that Bruise describes. The filter is hard to see from below, and this may be why some mechanics left the gasket on the block at the first oil change - this caused leaking oil and flaming Hondas. The exhuast pipe is conveniently located for cooking any leaking oil.

The only car I have ever seen with a filter that was hidden any better was in a 4 cyl. 1978 Fairmont. You could see it from above, but couldn't reach it with a typical oil wrench. I had to get a special wrench from Ford to remove the filter, with a long extension on your ratchet wrench. You could not get to the filter from below.
 
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