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How long on your oil changes?

Primarily because I have access to a wholesale parts warehouse that delivers these other brands 5 times a day to me. The only people I deal with that carries Wix is Napa and I dislike dealing with them. Too many effed up transactions. Otherwise I'd probably use Wix more often.

Marcus

Ok, good to hear. I use exclusively Wix filters on all of my vehicles....and I have no trouble getting them from O'Reilly.
 
2007 (S54 3.2L) 5.5 liters of Castrol TWS 10W60
2011 (N53 2.8L) 6.5 liters of ??? 5W30

5.5l = 5.8 quarts
6.5l = 6.9 quarts

So yeah that is a decent amount of oil capacity for a fairly small displacement engine. The engine in my truck is 6.8l and take 6 quarts, which is why I change it more often.
 
I just finished reading a thread about a Honda S2000 user installing a bypass filter system and using Amsoil and going 40,000 miles on the oil change interval. But he added 10 quarts of make up oil over that time. The lab said don't bother with changes, just keep doing what you're doing. He has an oil consumption issue as do most S2000 motors, but also in his plumbing for the bypass filter. It equated to $10 every 4,000 miles. And never getting underneath the car.
 
I'm not sure where I stand on the oil issue, but in my business we have multiple cars, and we change the oil regularly at 3k. Many of our cars have well over 300,000 miles some pushing 400,000 without any major issues. All I can say is whatever I'm doing is working and I'm sticking with it. Would they have gone that far without regular oil changes? Maybe. But I'm not going to be the one to find out.... Interesting topic to get other opinions
 
Wifes car gets castrol syntec every 7500 and my car gets an oil change about every 500 miles... i dont drive alot but i do drive hard and id rather pay for an oil change then rebuild the bottom end again. run castrol gtx 10w30 or 10w40 depending on the time of year... my old truck gets an oil change about every other year.
 
All 3 vehicles 5k every oil change & filter

HWY miles 2006 Toyota Tacoma 4L v6
town & HWY miles 2011 Camaro SS V8
HWY miles 2006 Ford ranger xlt 5-speed 4 banger 33 MPG8)

I would like to go to synthetic, our mechanic uses it and in 5k miles he just changes his filter, after the 3rd time on changing his filter, he changes the oil and filter.
I have never priced it, but he said its expensive. he swears by it.
I couldn't imagine the price to change a diesel over to synthetic, don't they take like 12 qrts:shock:
 
2007 Infiniti G35 and I run 7.5k-10k on Mobil1 full synthetic.

Wife has a dodge SUV and I change about every 5k because she drive a lot less.

No issues in either car.
 
All 3 vehicles 5k every oil change & filter

HWY miles 2006 Toyota Tacoma 4L v6
town & HWY miles 2011 Camaro SS V8
HWY miles 2006 Ford ranger xlt 5-speed 4 banger 33 MPG8)

I would like to go to synthetic, our mechanic uses it and in 5k miles he just changes his filter, after the 3rd time on changing his filter, he changes the oil and filter.
I have never priced it, but he said its expensive. he swears by it.
I couldn't imagine the price to change a diesel over to synthetic, don't they take like 12 qrts:shock:

LOL yeah, my truck (and all the one's before it) have taken 3 gallons. The issue with what your mechanic does is that the additives/detergents that get used up real quick in today's highly pollution controlled vehicles aren't getting replaced...the oil is still fine but it has lost it's ability to pull contaminants from the engine and hold them in suspension - this can be alleviated with a bypass filter setup (like what amsoil uses). I use this on our farm tractor and (not amsoil but a bypass setup) and use synthetic oil and 400 hrs or so add a detergent/additive booster. The oil has been in there 3yrs and even though it's coming back fine from blackstone I'm gonna change it this winter because it's just freaking me out having it in there that long...that and I need some oil to mix with diesel to start soaking some replacement fenceposts :)
 
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I change the oil in my 89 chevy pickup once a year...only gets driven a thousand miles a year or so.
I change the oil in my wife's yukon XL when the light comes on....have never checked the mileage, have no idea how long it runs before it wants changed.
I change the oil in my subaru at the same time I change the oil in my wife's yukon. My subaru probably one gets 2/3 the amount of miles as my wife's rig....could I push it longer....yes. Do I care? No! I already have all my oil change crap out so I might as well do them both at the same time.

I do my own oil changes as I generally regard quick lube places as being full of dumbass high school dropouts that I wouldn't let oil the chain on my bicycle.
Not only that I take the time to slide under the whole length of the vehicle. I grease everything with a zerk, check the ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman/idler arms, control arm bushings, shocks/struts for leaking, u-joints, rotate my tires and look at the brakes.

I perform 99% of my own maint. work. Only time my rigs see a shop is if I don't have the time to monkey with it myself.

ATV's get all fluids changed once a year
Dirt bikes get an oil change after every 2 rides.
Harley doesn't have a working odometer so I change it twice a summer unless I ride it enough to feel a third time is needed.
I usually use Mobil 1, Royal Purple, or Valvoline, and prefer wix filters.


I was a steering/suspension/alignment/brake technician at a Firestone service center for about 3 years when I was in my early 20's.
I remember this old boy used to come in...had a mid 70's chevy truck with a 350 in it. Never once had the oil changed in it and never once had the engine rebuilt/replaced. He bought the truck new and for it's whole life he would come in every 3,000 miles to have us change the oil filter and add a quart of oil to replace what was lost in the filter change.
That was some of the nastiest blackest crap I have ever seen in a vehicle. But that damn thing kept on running.
 
In general I go 3K to 5K on oil changes, wifes car on the short end since she does shorter trips.
She does ~10K/year.
I do 22K to 40K/year with lots of highway driving.

Oil, 10W30 winter, 10W40 summer. I usually use Valvoline Durablend (synth/Dino) but it's getting harder to find locally. Alt is Castrol GTX.
Filters, Purolator "Pure One".

Cars are a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT (2.5L NA) and a 1999 Subaru Impreza (2.2 NA).

I never recommend ANY 5W in a Subaru engine, too many spun bearing issues. Granted, I don't know if they've been taken care of or beat on.:shock:
Also, NEVER let the oil light come on in a Subaru engine, you WILL hurt it.

Other cars I've had were mostly larger US V-8's and a few smaller 4's. All had clean engines internally.
I agree with shorter changes for low driving miles to get water out, longer drives boil the water off. Water and ring bypass make a nice acid in the oil, this can eat bearings fairly quick. Either drive long enough to boil the water off, or have shorter change intervals.

Some engines are bulletproof. Had a friend with a mid 70's Mopar slant 6. Never changed the oil, just added when needed since it leaked so bad. Last I knew, he had over 300K and it still ran. Go figure.
 
'98 Dodge 2500 V10 230k miles gets (non-syn) fresh oil & filter every 5k. Still holds 35-40psi at idle and 50-60psi while driving.

I havent been a full year yet since Ive had the truck but its looking like itll be around 10k annually, which is on par with past daily driven vehicles. So basically two oil changes per year.
 
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How long do you go with the oil changes on your car/truck under normal driving conditions?

Years ago after reading on - Bob is the Oil Guy I started to really extend my oil change intervals. I just went 10,998 miles on regular 5W-20 Pennzoil.

Guess I'm just curious if most are still brain washed into the 3,000 mile thing.

20-30k between changes on full synthetic; dyno oil costs too much. I put almost 100k on a handbuilt forged Honda engine running lots of power with these mileage intervals. "thumbsup"


Edit: been doing this for just over 9 years now, and I've never had a bearing or lubricating issue. I warped a headgasket because of a leaky waterpump once. hahaha
 
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I cringe at some of the intervals I see in this thread.

The real question is, How often do you check your oil? compared to what you drive. I drive junk, and I check my oil frequently. I change it pretty religously every 3k with cheap dino oil and always a Wix filter.

I work at a Subaru garage and it seems that most of the cars come in with 8-9K on the oil, and practically none left in them. I replace quite a few motors simply because people never check their oil. Doesn't help that most the the cars leak oil from the headgaskets.

Something I didn't see mentioned is that just because the oil level is full doesn't mean that it's full of oil. Over time moisture and combustion blowby contaminate the oil, and add to the level, which makes it seem like the vehicle doesn't use (burn/leak) oil.
 
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