Posted on 09/12/2010 9:59:05 AM PDT by posterchild
I STILL remember learning from my father how to carefully remove a dipstick to check the oil level in our cars. It was drilled into me — along with turning off the lights when you left a room and clearing the plates off the table after dinner — that oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so.
I’m not sure what I thought would happen if I didn’t, but I vaguely imagined an unlubricated engine grinding to a halt.
Childhood habits are hard to undo, and that’s often good. To this day, I hate seeing an empty room with the lights on.
But sometimes, we need to throw aside our parents’ good advice. In March, for example, I wrote about how we should relearn the dishwasher and laundry soap habits we inherited from our mothers.
Add frequent oil-changing to that list.
“There was a time when the 3,000 miles was a good guideline,” said Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for the car site Edmunds.com. “But it’s no longer true for any car bought in the last seven or eight years.”
Oil chemistry and engine technology have improved to the point that most cars can go several thousand more miles before changing the oil, Mr. Reed said. A better average, he said, would be 7,500 between oil changes, and sometimes up to 10,000 miles or more.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Don’t forget taste.
I’ll stick with 3000/3500 miles unless you’re running a good synthetic.
When my Suburban gets to 7,500 miles since the last oil change, every time I turn on the ignition I get a light that just says “CTF Oil.” I think that means oil change time.....
Those Mr. Goodwrench engineers are such funny guys!
I’ve always used the rule that if you use new oil, you can go further between changes and if you let the local quick lube type place use the bulk oil, that abour 3000-4000 is right, since they are using recycled oil. any comments?
Used to be 3 Months or 3000 miles. I work from home and rarely drive. I had an oil change in Jan 2009 and have only driven 2000 miles since.
... old Jeep burns 6 qts in 3000 miles anyway.
Likewise my ‘90, 195,000 mile Taurus SHO. I just keep dumping decent oil into it and change the filter every once in a while. Wife and daughters have better vehicles, of course, and they get syn oil & filter every even 10K.
My 92 Ranger called for 7500 miles......my ‘02 Jeep calls for 3000 miles.
I don't drive many miles so I am sticking to the four seasons change schedule regardless of miles.
I don’t know anything about quality variations among bulk oils though I will let a synthetic get older before even checking it.
besides, does ...New York Times ^ | Sept 10, 2010 | Alina Tugend.. sound like she knows anything abt. cars....?
Yeah, and octane rating "doesn't matter" /sarc
besides, does ...New York Times ^ | Sept 10, 2010 | Alina Tugend.. sound like she knows anything abt. cars....?
Yeah, and octane rating "doesn't matter" /sarc
A 3000 mile oil change works out to $22 every two months with the service I use. With gas for that distance costing $250 (assuming 30 mpg), that’s a negligible cost for playing it safe.
Same here. Most of my miles are from long trips.
I use synthetics, and change the oil about every 10,000 miles, though a simple lubricity test between the thumb and finger never indicates the change is needed. I try to save the used oil to put into a bar oil mix for my chainsaws. Waste not, want not!
Check the effin oil?
My husband has been a mechanic for 33 years and runs his own shop. He recommends changing every 3-5000 miles partly because he knows people. Some customers are calling for an appoimtment 500 miles before the 3000 but the vast majority forget, put it off, or just don’t have the time so we get a lot of people coming in way past the 3000 mark. And he will tell people if their oil was unusually dirty or bad and advise them to get in sooner next time.
Then theres the synthetics & synthetic blends that let you go longer. My husband puts the synthetic in my Bonneville so he doesn’t have to change it so much (mechanics hate working on their own vehicles!)
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