oil change?

eelgrass · Jun 21, 2011

I haven't done much driving lately. In fact the last time I changed oil was in January. Since then I've put 2400 miles on my truck (Toyota Tacoma).

I looked at the dip stick today and the oil looks pretty clean.

Should I change it or let it go?

Have you noticed the price of a quart of oil lately?

What are your thoughts on synthetic oil? Is it worth it? Also, I heard that once you use synthetic you can't go back, is that true?

Eel

overton · Jun 21, 2011

Did you get laid off again?

B_BOP_A_LU_LU · Jun 21, 2011

2400 miles in 6 months?

JUDAS!

I say change it!

Keep running whatever you're running in it!

I've run a couple engines 200K on Regular Penzoil & they still don't use any Oil!

Got one Gas Engine We've run 157K on Motorcraft Synthetic Blend,no problems yet,it doesn't cost much more than Regular oil,is it worth it?I don't know?

Never tried the straight 100% Synthetic Oils!

I'm sure they are Super Oils,but are they worth it?

For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!

utahbigbull · Jun 21, 2011

eel, after turning wrenches for a living for 17 years, me personally, I'd tell ya don't bother yet. Hell, we have oil sitting on the shelf at our dealership WAY older than that. I always have and always will be the 3,000 miles not the months type guy. And my two cents on the synthetic? Its a waste of money.

eelgrass · Jun 21, 2011

overton, I'm back to work now. It looks good from here on out, unless of course Obama gets re-elected.

Thanks guys. I've never gone this length of time without changing oil, in fact I forgot all about it.

Eel

kawboy · Jun 21, 2011

I also go by mileage,

I am a fan of a good synthetic oil. We ran a dyno on a bullet bike before and after synthetic oil, there was a 5% gain in hp. I doubt the same would be true on a passenger vehicle, but I still run synthetic in everything I've got.

I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!

nfh · Jun 21, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-11 AT 09:06PM (MST)[p]change it every 3 months or 3000 miles which ever comes first is what some mechanics say.

i run a diesel i change every 50000 miles and my oil is somtimes clean but i dont trust the look of the dip stick

just my 2 cents

ktg · Jun 21, 2011

I believe they say 3 months because evaporation will cause the oil to thicken. I tell my kids to change theirs every 6 months as they'll only drive a few thousand miles in that time. I run either Mobil 1 or Amsoil with a Mobil 1 filter & change it once a year.

legacy · Jun 21, 2011

+1 on Mobil 1. I agree with changing at the milage intervals. Synthetic oil is the real deal.

Ropinfool · Jun 21, 2011

i don't know who came up with the 3 month thing but they were blowing smoke. go strickly by miles. actually oil lasts much longer than that but it's more important to change your filter. if you change your oil based on time, your just wasting your money. typically, if your just driving in town and not loading up your engine such as pulling then 5000 miles is perfectly fine. i work my diesels pretty hard and never change oil before 5000 miles. where i work we have large resovours (sp) of up to 5000 gallons of oil which we sample and have analyzed every month. these oils see some pretty severe conditions and last for years. of course we change our filter pretty often.

desertdeer · Jun 21, 2011

going by miles is alright as long as you get the motor good and warm every 500 miles or so. a lot of short trips will cause condensation inside your engine because of the change in temp. so get it good and warm to evaporate any water that may have collected every now and then you will not damage anyhting. also synthetic is great stuff however if your engine was designed for conventional then you may find more oil makes it through the seals. this is because the molecules of a synthetic oil are much smaller than conventional oil. thats my experience

never_catch · Jun 21, 2011

Another vote for whichever comes first, 3000 miles or 3 months...I don't think it would hurt anything to let it go over once in a great while though, as long as it doesn't become a regular deal.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb37/Feleno/zFix.jpg[/IMG] ~Z~

1911 · Jun 21, 2011

Most schedules go with 5,000 mile intervals for fleet management these days. While there is some merit behind the 3 month intervals, it makes a lot more sense if you are in the business of selling oil changes. Engine oil has come a long way since 1950 and lessens the deterioration of the oil especially if you are talking about synthetic or synthetic blends.

For all practical purposes I don't know how much difference you will reap from cheap oil to expensive. That said, the Coast Guard did some extensive studies with a variety of lubricants. It is hard to deny that Mobil One is a superior product to most of its competitors. Unfortunately, if you take any reasonable care with your engine chances are pretty good the rest of your vehicle with either fall apart or get T-boned by some knuckle head long before you realize the savings benefit of a premium oil maintenance schedule.

NMPaul · Jun 22, 2011

Can I have your used oil and put it in my car?

eelgrass · Jun 23, 2011

>Can I have your used oil
>and put it in my
>car?

No. I dump it in the creek.

Eel

NMPaul · Jun 23, 2011

They say the solution to pollution is dilution.

kingfish · Jun 23, 2011

They say every three months or 3000 miles because their in bed with the oil companies!! I use AMS oil and change my oil every 20,000 miles. I changed the filter every 10,000 miles NO ISSUES. I will never use a patrolium base oil again. It costs me about $70.00 an oil change. AMS oil is 100% man made and the only true 100% synthetic. I love it.

Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!

a3dhunter · Jun 24, 2011

GM recommends once a year or 5k, unless you have an oil life monitor.
After checking the oil on vehicles every day on a service drive, I can tell you to throw the 3 months out the window.

I change mine every 3000-3500 miles, using regular oil.

The synthetic is the real deal. It will double your mileage per oil change. If you are usually getting it changed every 3,000, synthetic will look about the same at 6,000 miles.

Different engines may run "dirty", I've seen some brand new vehicles have dirty oil every 3,000 miles, and others running clean oil after 5,000 miles.

General rule of thumb, every 3,000 miles if you aren't putting the miles on quickly. Every 5,000 miles if you are getting there within a couple months.