I am fortunate enough to have purchased an 06 Mercedes enz equipped with the 5 liter V8 in May of this year. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to drive it as muchas I had planned and, to date, have only 1,000 miles on it. I will put it up for the winter sometime around Thanksgiving. Mercedes recommends 13,000 mile OCI's but it will be 5 years probably before I get there. When I do drive the car, I go at least 50 miles of mostly back road, trafficless driving in the country. Do I need to change out the oil yearly (Mobil 1 0w-40)? Seems like kind of a waste. Please no "if you can afford the car you afford the oil change". That is not the point; it just seems like a waste of good oil. Thanks
Yearly oil change?
- Thread starter WOOCHOW
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Old oil is not a good oil. Over time, it accumulates moisture, fuel, etc, as it's not sitting in a tightly sealed container (aka bottle). Does the manual not mention anything about time intervals in addition to the X mile OCI? Most manuals do.
The oil will not go bad much sitting the problems if ANY are condensation in the engine not run every few ? weeeks or months. The moisture will cause surface rust under valve, covers rocker valley etc areas that are NOT under/coated with oil like the sump and or oil galleries.
I would run till HOT every ? month or so and not worry about oil changes so much. I'd still do a annual oil change tho.
A side note the Military uses a PCMO type oil with EXTRA rust inhibitors that coat and stick to "dry" areas and stops condensation rusting.
Was called MiL-L-21260d. That said perhaps looking at a HDEO with the extra TBN this will help with fighting rust also.
bruce
I would run till HOT every ? month or so and not worry about oil changes so much. I'd still do a annual oil change tho.
A side note the Military uses a PCMO type oil with EXTRA rust inhibitors that coat and stick to "dry" areas and stops condensation rusting.
Was called MiL-L-21260d. That said perhaps looking at a HDEO with the extra TBN this will help with fighting rust also.
bruce
It does sound like a waste of good oil. It would be interesting to see the results of a UOA collected after the last drive before you put it away for winter.
Kestas
Staff member
I'd drain it, then use it in a secondary vehicle, such as your winter driver. I hate to see it go to waste. Change the oil shortly before storage.
Woochow, I too am a Mercedes owner who doesn't like to needlessly throw money around. In fact, it's because of my spending habits that I can afford a high-end german car.
Woochow, I too am a Mercedes owner who doesn't like to needlessly throw money around. In fact, it's because of my spending habits that I can afford a high-end german car.
Patman
Staff member
I would go two years on that oil, and just try to drive it more next year so you get your money's worth out of that oil.
For a Mercedes 906 engine in a Freightliner truck the OCI is 25000km short haul/40000km long haul with absolutely no mention of any time intervals. Theoretically if you only drove 1000km/yr you could keep the same oil for 25 yrs. The truck does 25000km in a year and I change the oil twice a year, once in December to put in Esso XD 0W40 synthetic and once in May to put in 15W40 Rotella T dino.
While it probably is a waste of good oil, I would probably change the oil annually right before storage so that the oil would be fresh in the engine with little to no contamination during storage.
Even if I had a Geo metro and needed to store it for winter, I'd change the oil in it first before storing it just on principle. I see no reason to not change the oil. 2 years seems like forever for just a few quarts of oil and 30minutes of time.
Even if I had a Geo metro and needed to store it for winter, I'd change the oil in it first before storing it just on principle. I see no reason to not change the oil. 2 years seems like forever for just a few quarts of oil and 30minutes of time.
I like the idea of capturing the oil for use in another vehicle. Get a new drain pan and/or filter the oil as you pour it into a storage container, and use it as top off oil, or the pre-brokenin fill for an older vehicle, lawn mower, whatever.
Back in Dec of 04 I posted the UOA of my brother-in-laws 99 Porsche Boxster that he just bought with 9000 miles on it and the factory oil still in it. The wear metals were not bad and the oil was still decent and actually had life left in it. Pretty good for 5 years on the factory fill! The car was driven only for pleasure.
I don't think time is as much of a factor if you don't do local short drives. As long as the oil gets good and hot when you do drive it'll last for more than a year if your driving mileage is lower. Especially if you garage it in the winter and your garage is somewhat warmer than the outside temps.
I have a 96 contour that is running Schaeffer's 5W-30 Blend and has about 5000 miles and 1 1/2 years on the current oil. I'm going to change it just before winter this year and will have an UOA done on it. It doesn't get driven a lot but when it does it gets the oil hot. If the UOA is good I'll go longer next time. I also run LC and FP faithfully in it.
Whimsey
I don't think time is as much of a factor if you don't do local short drives. As long as the oil gets good and hot when you do drive it'll last for more than a year if your driving mileage is lower. Especially if you garage it in the winter and your garage is somewhat warmer than the outside temps.
I have a 96 contour that is running Schaeffer's 5W-30 Blend and has about 5000 miles and 1 1/2 years on the current oil. I'm going to change it just before winter this year and will have an UOA done on it. It doesn't get driven a lot but when it does it gets the oil hot. If the UOA is good I'll go longer next time. I also run LC and FP faithfully in it.
Whimsey
I see no sense in changing the oil before storage. I'd change the oil right after taking it out of storage. Any contamination in the old oil won't hurt anything during storage as all the oil, including any contaminants in the oil, will be sitting all the time in the bottom of the oil pan. If you change the oil before storage, the new oil just sits in the oil pan over the winter, doing you no good, possibly picking up moisture (tho I very much doubt it), and aging since its not in the sealed oil container that it was sold in. I'd change the oil once a year to be on the safe side, or, if you want to leave it in for two years, do a UOA after the two years.
My 2006 Honda has about as good an engine as yours although it is a V6 (VTEC 3.5). They don't mention mileage at all but rather tell you to change oil when the oil life monitor tells you which is somewhere between 15%-0% oil life expectancy. The manual says that if you do not drive enough to reach that, change oil once a year. That is probably a good idea for you as well just to play it safe.
I don't drive my Honda very much either. I change oil in Jan. and probably will make it to next Jan. before the OLM says I have to change again. To play it safe, I use FP60 and LC20 with my Havoline 5w20. I could use synthetic and say the heck with the additives but I've heard a lot of good things about them here and, in the long run, are cheaper with dino than using synthetic. These additives could be another option for you as they fight dillution, condensation and prolong the life of the oil as well as keeping things lubricated and nice and clean.
I don't drive my Honda very much either. I change oil in Jan. and probably will make it to next Jan. before the OLM says I have to change again. To play it safe, I use FP60 and LC20 with my Havoline 5w20. I could use synthetic and say the heck with the additives but I've heard a lot of good things about them here and, in the long run, are cheaper with dino than using synthetic. These additives could be another option for you as they fight dillution, condensation and prolong the life of the oil as well as keeping things lubricated and nice and clean.
thanks guys, I considered using it my everyday driver, an 06 Civic, but I think an 0w-40 is too far out of range for an engine that specs 5w-20, especially with the cold weather on the way in the Northeast. I guess I'll just recycle it. Seems a shame though.
One year is enough. I'll probably have about 7-8,000 on my OFL at the end of this year of driving; early December. (2001 Dodge Ram V8-318).
You could mix that 0W40 half-half with some 5W20 to get roughly 5W30, which should be fine for your Civic.
OFL ?
This almost sounds like seasonal boat-like use. Don't forget to fog the cylinders (OK, a joke). I would change oil at least every 12-18 months.
And BTW, mineral oil or blend would be better suited for this service (corrosion protection) if not the 0W40 requirement.
And BTW, mineral oil or blend would be better suited for this service (corrosion protection) if not the 0W40 requirement.
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