Engine Oil Economics.

An idea I would like to share with you guys and of course your replies are most welcome. Engine oil life and it's ability to provide protection to an engine. Can a petroleum based oil continue to offer protection to a daily driven gasoline engine when the oil change intervals are increased, dramatically? I have been sold on synthetics for several years. Now the pricing of synthetic oils are about out of my financial reach. I discontinued using synthetic oils in my passenger vehicles and now use light weight petroleum based oils. At first I was sold on the 3000 mile oil change intervals. I have extended my petroleum oil changes to 5000 miles, so far so good! I'm considering to extend the oil change intervals even farther, to 10,000 miles.

We have heard the "oil experts" say, "with today's oils, one should only need to change the filter and add a quart of oil ". Most automobile manufactures now suggest 10,000 miles oil changes and beyond!

I'm a bit concerned about moving to such extended oil change intervals. I maintain older vehicles, vehicles with 200.000 miles and more. The oil change intervals I fore mentioned did assist me with basically good old automobiles that to this day provide dependable service and for the most part, trouble free. Some will say, "stick with what's provided good results", I'll agree! But with an economic future that may require for a more efficient use of one's finance's, can a person save a few bucks and not lie awake at night worrying about the ability of the oil to protect their engines?

To make a long story shorter, can I make my bottom line better, with the ideas I present?

Dave.

this reminds me when im in class ....... must be a trick question coming from a mentor like yourself ........i have been lazy and not done oil changes from 8000 to 10000 miles but were mostly on vehicles with less then 100k ........or i have never owned them past 100k .........so if it did damage the engine or the longevity of its parts i wouldnt have known .......

Problem isnt the oil, its the addatives in the oil. The tighter and tighter clearances in modern engines require a well maintained "Clean" system. The oil squirters on the new toyotas for pin oiling and piston cooling are VERY small.

The viscosity index expanders, the stuff they add to conventional oil to give us the 5W-30 etc... is the first stuff to fail. That shit then sticks/cooks to our engine pieces. The oil, thats in the bottle is still oil in the engine long after the index expanders fail. To prevent the stuff from gumming up the works, there are detergents added, they only work so long and are then the next thing to fail.
Of course we also have to add in the condensation of water, the addition of sulfieds from gasoline, etc. This all reduces the oils lubrication capability.

When the general populace got religious with 3 month 3000 mile oil change intervals, the car and truck fleet of America started seeing a normal life outside the rustbelt, of 300,000 miles on cars on average with cars going through 3 and 4 owners before being retired. In the stone age when poeple used extended change intervals because of the lack of multi index oils, winter oil, summer oil. Huge parties were had for cars that maintianed some sort of performance over 100,000 miles and most were retired before 150,000.

BMW has had an extended service interval on thier cars with a really hi spec oil, and the result for the 10,000 t0 30,000 change interval has been numerous engines in near ruin because of huge amounts of sludge build up.

Me thinks the auto industry is right, the better oils of today do allow a less frequent oil change interval, 5000 to 6000 miles between changes is tolerable. But I would not push it much over that. Unless you prefure to buy new cars more often.

I have 2 Taurus's w/well over 160k miles ,1 PS diesel w/180k,1 5.0 Mustang w/200k,and ALL have had 7k miles oil changes. All have great oil pressure still,w/0 engine problems. Bottom line imo is that oil technology of todays oil is times better than yesteryear.

I tend to believe the people who are on the hook for warranty repairs to a vehicle...the manufacturers. Sure, shorter oil change intervals will likely increase the useful life of an engine, but does the additional expense pay dividends to the original owner? Maybe not, since most people who buy new cars won't run them 'til the wheels fall off, just until they're tired of it...The second, third, and later owners might see some benefit, tho.

Coincidentally, the folks who preach the importance of 3000 mile oil changes, are, um...the same people who sell oil for a living. Certainly not a bad thing, but a car with 5000 miles on the oil won't exactly keep me awake nights.

we do um for 5000 at the dealership, myself I go 3/3000, but I have yet to pay for on oilchange in a decade or so........

richter69 wrote:we do um for 5000 at the dealership, myself I go 3/3000, but I have yet to pay for on oilchange in a decade or so........

Can't hardly do is soon enough if you're not paying for supplies.

BTW, I have a 2001 Crown Vic with 277,000 miles on it. It runs like new, and has NEVER used a mechanical part under the hood except a pulley on the serpentine belt tensioner. I bought it with 61,000 miles on it and it's had synthetic oil in it ever since.

Also, a 2003 F450 Crew Cab 4wd Super Duty with 240,000 miles. Yes it's a dreaded 6.0L. I bought it with 28,000 miles on it and have had either Rotella Synthetic or Mobil 1 Synthetic in it ever since. I noticed a very slight increas in MPG when I started using the Mobil 1. I've replaced the following: 1 injector pressure sensor, 1 high pressure pump, 2 factory oil coolers. It too, runs like new and pulls like CSX. Oh, yeah...I did do the EGR delete at around 160,000 miles.

I haven't bought any of the pure "dead dinosaur" oil in many years.

Green oil....... and teeth.......

the new cars tell you when you need a oil change my dad's car tell him when it needs a oil change 4000 miles between oil changes but that the way ford set it.But me I like the 3000 mile oil change but my junk is old stuff 98 with 235.000 miles,93 266,000miles,92 64,00 miles,86 389,000miles,69 big ? and the 00 in the trailer that get oil changed of every 20 miles

First may I say thank you for all your replies, they offered another avenue of thought. All the vehicles I currently maintain were bought new, either by me or the family. A 1984 Oldsmobile Regency 98 with the 307/Quadrajet, a 1982 F150 with our beloved 460 (as well many other Ford Windsor design engines), a 1987 F150 with an EFI 302, a 1993 Ford Thunderbird with a 3.8L and a 2004 Taurus with the DOHC engine. Most of the fore mentioned vehicle's odometers are hovering above a reading of 200,000. I have been inside all of these engines for one reason or the other and all have amazed me in regard to their cleanliness! I suppose frequent, consistent and thorough service intervals influence my finding. Maybe I should continue the maintenance schedule that has proven itself of the past, and forget changing a successful approach of maintenance especially with vehicles of high mileage.

Thanks to all,
Dave.

Dave, Like you, I've been sold on synthetics for a long time. I think their beneficial effects are rarely called into question...they've been proven over and over. The only real debate seems to be the one you've pointed out...the argument about whether or not the increased longevity of a typical engine is enough to offset the added cost. I've answered that question for myself this way: I love working on racecars, but I truly HATE HAVING TO REPAIR MY TRANSPORTATION. That makes my decision easy. And BTW, I'm comfortable in extending oil change intervals with synthetics.

Oils are good. Filtration systems are whe you can really make a difference. I like to run a factory replacement filter and a "super premium" bypass filtration system also. Has really made a big difference on the lab results from my oil changes. We run the same basic system on our Fords and Chevys with great results.


And I'd like to add that I'm on 40000 mile changes on my duramax based on lab results. This does include a filter change at 20000 miles and usually have to top it off with three quarts to fill the filters.

My son's 2006 Fusion was bought with 89,000 on it two years ago. It was a off lease and was dealer serviced since day one. We started with reg oil and reg. filters which after reading on here about the benefits of Ford filters we tried them and what a difference the oil would get dirty with in 2500 mile with cheapy filters now the oil lasted to 5000. We then went to synthetics but didn't like the price But we found at wal-mart Ford Synthetic Blend oil that was about the same price as reg. oil. now 70+ thousand miles later we go 8000 miles and when we change the oil it looks the same as the new oil. Oh and the inside of the engine looks like brand new.

My 2001 Powerstroke has 349,000 on it and all it's even gotten was a steady diet of Rotella every 5-7K. I would stretch it to 7K if it was mostly highway stuff. Just tooling around town it gets changed every 5K.

jbozzelle wrote:My 2001 Powerstroke has 349,000 on it and all it's even gotten was a steady diet of Rotella every 5-7K. I would stretch it to 7K if it was mostly highway stuff. Just tooling around town it gets changed every 5K.

that would be once a month for us. LOL

Used to be once a month for me too...