Oil Changes - Time vs Mileage vs Oil Analysis?

[Master ACiD]

these people who tell you to do a uoa at each oil change are not the ones paying for the uoa and are not the ones that are going to stick up for you when the dealer tries to deny youre warranty claim IF you had an engine problem. its easy to give someone advice over the internet when you dont have to back it up. these same people might as well tell you to change the oil every 2 years, or even 10 years. its all the same to them really sence they dont have youre engine to deal with.
the best and easiest way to keep reciepts for warranty purposes is to just buy the oil and filter every 6 months. the dealer doesnt really have any way of actually telling if you changed the oil, but if you show a reciept that you bought the oil thats good enough.
so you buy the oil and filter every 6 months, but change the oil every year. once youre warranty is up (assuming no engine problems) then you can keep on changing the oil at learly intervals and enjoy youre stock of oil filters and oil that you have procured from a few years of 6 month buying invervals.

 

[Shup1]

Well since joining I have seen a multitude of answers and just to do the simple math it looks like this:

a 6month / 5k dino OC is :$57.75 or $9.62 per month or $.0115 per mile or 2 changes/year are $.023 per mile

a 6 month / sythetic is $74.52 or $12.42 per month or .0405 per mile

a 6 month / Amsoil sythetic is $108.06 or $18.01 a month or $.0493 per mile

a 12 month / 10k / Amsoil sythetic is $108.06 or $9.01 per month or $.0133 per mile (with one oil testing @ 10k) $.0108 without testing.

*** I also change the fuel filter at every OC and is figured in as a scheduled cost, so with Amsoil it follows OC interval***

In a nutshell...I am sticking with Dino and twice a year schedule or mileage (whichever comes first). I alsowill be adding cost vs benifit of bypass testing on various commercial filters in the future.

Shup
(btw..thanks to all for the input)

 

[widman]

Oil analysis is a multi-edged sword. It can prove compliance or problems. In the last few months I have done several analysis for the Nissan dealer for engines that were failing within 50000 miles:
-- Three showed so much silicon (dirt) that it was obvious the cylinders would be worn from poor filter maintenance. Claim denied.
-- One showed water/antifreeze. Engine rebuilt at Nissan expense.
-- One showed water (owner had drained the anti-freeze because he thought the the water had spoiled and turned green). Fortunately it was caught early and dealer replaced the head gasket and charged for new anti-freeze.
-- One showed a theoretical 15W-40 of a cheapo brand with a viscosity of about 8.0 and high wear metals. Claim denied.

At no point did they question intervals or who did the service.

 

[pipebender]

Quote:

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-- One showed a theoretical 15W-40 of a cheapo brand with a viscosity of about 8.0 and high wear metals. Claim denied.

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How do you know if the cheapo meets the Nissan rec. grade and API standard or not? Just wandering.

 

[Gene K]

cSt 8.0 means the lubricant is now a low-end 20 Weight. Oil is only allowed to drop one grade in use. ie when the oil went through 9.3 cSt it passed the condemnation limit. In otherwords this was a lubricant failure (assuming it wasnt caused by fuel dilution). Your claim is against the lubricant manufacturer (unless it was run to long) not the engine manufacturer.

I seriously doubt a cheap 15W-40 in Bolivia is up to the same level as a cheaper (Supertech or Pilot) API certified 15W-40 HDEO available in the USA.

The only engine failure in our family during warranty was a 2.8L Chevy V-6 that broke the Crankshaft. The only maintenance check they did was to make sure it didnt still have the OEM Oil Filter on It.

 

[mcrn]

Quote:

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I have an 06 Cummings...Owners manual states 6 months / 7500 miles

Its a Cummins.

 

[Doc8404]

with the cost of a UOA, and trying to fight the warranty (you ALL know it'd be a fight, yes, in the end, he should win, and although i'm a man that fights based on principle, some things just aren't worth it)....I'd just change it every six months

 

[Mastrocalo]

Iam new guy and are very interesting posts here..

 

[Dad2leia]

This is exactly the reason that I usually don't do an UOA and just change it after a set time period or mileage. Unless I notice a severe change in the used oil draining out (such as a metallic sheen or unusual coloring), it is more cost effective for me just to do the OC as opposed to collecting a sample, sending it off, paying for the analysis, then finding out later that I should've just changed the oil when I had the plug off in the first place.

Oil analysis does have it purpose, place, and can be very useful for certain circumstances, just not mine.