I never understood how something that's been in the ground for over a million years could go "bad" after one.
Oil age doesn't seem to matter
- Thread starter skaughtz
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Well ya, but when it comes to a maintenance regime using time as a component is useful because other things can also be addressed at that time (ex, Engine and Cabin air filters, Fuel filters (diesel)). It's also worth noting that in the US a lot of automakers use the lesser of 1yr/X miles for oil changes. Not adhering to this could be an issue with a potential buyer of the vehicle because most people who are interested in vehicle maintenance don't believe in adhering to the factory OCI.
Fully formulated motor oils have been in the ground for over a million years?
An oil's performance isn't just the base stock molecules. Even so, not all those molecules are the same either especially considering the environment in an ICE or other engine.
I don’t really understand how wood can rot sitting outside after only a few months… I mean the tree it came from was sitting outside for 50 years, right?
yeah but this is a forum full of weirdos that change their frickin' engine oil as a hobby!!
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Fair point
Or does changes per the owners manual which call out time limits… But maybe that is weird too.
Check out your own thread about that:
OCI on little used vehicle
Hi all, I have a 2011 Silverado I bought in 11/15 with 111k miles on it and it was very clean, near showroom fresh. I bought it from a Dodge dealer because thats where I found it. To date I havent put 3k miles on it. oil monitor says 24% remaining and dipstick shows no oil loss/used. It runs...
bobistheoilguy.com
LMAO
Patman
Staff member
I discovered on my own about 15 years ago that in my mom's VW Golf she could go 2 years between changes, I was running GC 0w30 in her car and she was only driving 3k a year (all short trips too) The UOAs showed the oil to be in good shape still after two years. I also did a two year interval in my old C6 Corvette as well, I believe it was somewhere between 7-9k on that oil. UOA also looked good. I'm not sure I would want to do more than a year in a direct injected engine though, not without having done a UOA to show that fuel dilution isn't a concern.
FYI, live trees generally stand, not sit.
Old, and good news to me. Oil has no clock or calendar.
I think climate has a lot to do with how long an oil will last in an engine that sits. An engine sitting in a climate controlled garage will be much different from one sitting outside in the elements. The biggest hinderance to oil life would likely be water dilution from condensation. It would also be affected by the conditions the last time the engine was run or how it was used during. Moving once a week for 5 minutes is likely much worse than moving once every 3 months for 1 hour.
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but if the tree eventually rots and falls, will it make a sound if no one is around?
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