Getting Used To Long Oil Change Intervals.

[George7941]

Ten years ago i was changing engine oil every 3k mi. I then bought my Sierra and it has a Oil Life Monitor. The OLM wants the oil changed about every 5 to 6k mi, which very conveniently works out to two oil changes per year, once early spring and once late fall. Making the switch from 3k to 6k intervals was not easy mentally because I was so used to the 3k intervals which I had followed for three decades.

Now I drive less than I used to and I am switching over to 9 month intervals. I still change the oil by the time the OLM gets down to 10%, I don't like running it all the way down to zero. I use a grp 3 synthetic oil, Formuls Shell Synthetic.

It is not easy mentally, changing over from 6 mo intervals to 9 mo intervals. But UOA results for my truck prove that the OLM can be trusted, so I am making the switch. But, I tell ya, it takes will power to change ingrained habits.

 

[Olas]

It feels wrong at first but once you do it 3 or 4 times without any repairs or damage you'll feel much better

 

[HTSS_TR]

When I had more than 60-70 quarts in my stash I had an urge to change the oil almost every week. I had been doing 7-8k/6mo OCI with dino and yearly with syn for more than 30 years.

Now my oil stash is winding down to about 20-25 quarts, I feel good not to change oil early, I even like to extend the OCI a little longer, but I still do the 6 months or yearly oil change, it's easier to remember.

 

[hemitom]

Originally Posted By: Olas
It feels wrong at first but once you do it 3 or 4 times without any repairs or damage you'll feel much better

I said this to a women once, first and last time i ever attempted that approach.

 

[Bluestream]

I used to change everything at 3 month intervals. Now I go one year on synthetic. I could easily go longer, but just want to change it to get that “feel good" feeling.

 

[tc1446]

Been doing 10K changes for more years than i can remember with good synthetic and quality filters.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: hemitom
Originally Posted By: Olas
It feels wrong at first but once you do it 3 or 4 times without any repairs or damage you'll feel much better

I said this to a women once, first and last time i ever attempted that approach.


You win the thread!

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: hemitom
Originally Posted By: Olas
It feels wrong at first but once you do it 3 or 4 times without any repairs or damage you'll feel much better

I said this to a women once, first and last time i ever attempted that approach.


Perv. Back on topic, I dont think I will ever be able to go over a 6 month OCI, and thats OK. I still believe that changing the oil is cheap insurance, its also therapeutic.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm ready to go but ... I'm still limited to 6 months by Mr Ford

 

[George7941]

My Sierra Owners Manual specifies a time limit of 1 year. I am surprised a relatively recent '11 Focus has a time limit of only six months.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: George7941
My Sierra Owners Manual specifies a time limit of 1 year. I am surprised a relatively recent '11 Focus has a time limit of only six months.


6 months / 7500 miles. The next model year (DI engine) is 1 year 10K miles.

 

[crazyoildude]

Im with you greg i change it every 6 months and i put around 6000 - 7000 miles on it.
I have other cars that i let go to 1 year but never over the 6000-7000 tops.

 

[supton]

Oil may be cheap but not that cheap. When I bought my VW I went from cheapo conventional to $10 a quart diesel stuff. Made it real easy to want to do 10k OCI's.

 

[max88]

Question for those who run extended OCI with synthetic oil on car with OLM calibrated to conventional oil. When OLM is at 0%, do you ignore warning/reminder, or do you do something and what?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: max88
Question for those who run extended OCI with synthetic oil on car with OLM calibrated to conventional oil. When OLM is at 0%, do you ignore warning/reminder, or do you do something and what?


Depends on the car. I'll let our Fit go a little past 0% on the OLM if scheduling for an oil change doesn't work out since UOA's have shown that its engine is very easy on oil and that a full syn still has plenty of life left at low numbers on the OLM. Supposedly it was calibrated for conventional, so running a full syn in there a little past 0% is okay, if not my preference. My Cruze, being significantly harder on oil, never sees 0% on its OLM. That engine gets pretty religious 7500-8000 mile oil changes since UOA's have shown that a Grp. III syn is at the end of its useful life by that point. The OLM usually says 25% by that point, which is optimistic.

 

[max88]

I have read that some newer Honda engines (such as one in my 2009 Civic DX-G) are rough on oil, even synthetic becomes unfit for service when OLM reaches 0%. This has raised questions (or arguments) whether conventional oil should be replaced at 50% OLM on those Honda engines.

My OCI has always been 5~7 months when OLM at 30~50% since purchase new, and I have not problem doing that going forward as cost is not that much in the big picture. My only concern is rather overly frequent oil change is bad for the engine, as I have read on this forum.

 

[morris]

so am i to save my money so my sons can fight over it after iam gone?

 

[cat_mechanic]

Originally Posted By: max88
Question for those who run extended OCI with synthetic oil on car with OLM calibrated to conventional oil. When OLM is at 0%, do you ignore warning/reminder, or do you do something and what?


For my last change I actually reset the OLM twice. Then ran it a little longer. I ended up with 20,000 on the oil. Then I did the change and reset it again.