Is changing oil too often really bad?

[Scottydog]

OK I've been reading postings on various sites that oil "works better" as it ages. That changing oil too frequently is worse for the engine than longer drain intervals.

Tell me it ain't so!

 

[JAG]

It is so. South West Research Institute did engine wear testing that proved it. Search their site for it if you want. When that break-even point occurs is is the remaining question, which will vary of course. IMO, 3k miles is not harmful. Less than that is getting silly unless the engine has problems (fuel dilution, coolant leak) or sits most of the year.

 

[KieferS]

It shows more wear metals because the oil is newer, and better and has more detergents when it is new so the additives do a better job at cleaning the engine; thus showing wear. Change it as soon as you want.

 

[SFCP]

I changed my oil 3 times in the past 7 days

 

[CBDFrontier06]

Dammit...I ruined my engine. I changed the oil in my Frontier at 500, 1000, switched to synthetic at 3000, and changed it at 6000. It's got 7600 miles on it and it's smoking like a chimney and has no compression. It's one year old today! Oh dispair....

 

[Gary Allan]

The quorum of consensus that I've observed is that the higher metals are due to the disruption of the previous oil's AW film/layer formation. Essentially a add pack seating process. The havoc wreaked by RL oils on some engines suggests that this may be the case. It just may take longer with normal additive levels.

Someday I'll get to do a 1000/1000/2000/1000/1000/3000/1000/1000/4000 mile test to see if the event occurs with every OCI or just at a given part of THAT oil's process in this formation.

 

[sdude2k2000]

Quote:

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Dammit...I ruined my engine. I changed the oil in my Frontier at 500, 1000, switched to synthetic at 3000, and changed it at 6000. It's got 7600 miles on it and it's smoking like a chimney and has no compression. It's one year old today! Oh dispair....

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[KJA426]

Better too often than not enough.

 

[OriginHacker21]

Back before BITOG I changed my oil every 1,000 to 2,000 miles. Nowdays I try to run it to 5k and I'm showing great UOAs. My 2k oci used oil analysis show no increased wear from a short OCI. So I think that is a myth, at least with my engine.

Just don't be stupid like me and do 1-2-3k oci with full synthetic oil -- now that is pointless...

 

[Titan]

Quote:

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Better too often than not enough.

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Even better is often enough rather than too often?

 

[PT1]

For me it depends a lot on the weather. If I get a nice warm day in January I will change the oil in all my cars if they are more than 2500 mile into a change so I don't have to do it in the freezing cold. Likewise before a long trip I will start with a fresh oil change so I don't have to stop on the road and bother with it. Otherwise, I do 5000 OCI's on my cars.

 

[John K]

Bad for what is the question.... environmentally it could be called bad I suppose.... and then there is the economic question.

 

[greg_J35]

I don't consider it bad for the engine however, it is causing unnecessary money spending.

 

[06VtecV6]

Quote:

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OK I've been reading postings on various sites that oil "works better" as it ages. That changing oil too frequently is worse for the engine than longer drain intervals.

Tell me it ain't so!

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I agree. I was on mobil dino for over 16k after FF which was EM dino + moly. It was at 21,634 miles that I went with another oil but I made sure to choose oil with proven cleaners and additives that were completely new with the MC (Boron- M1s PAO used borates arguably a form of Boron) versus the previous 21,634 which was mainly Calcium and Sodium in the DC dino so I do agree with you because you have to let the oil get used to itself and feel comfortable. oils deal with metals which take time to make patterns. I say, keep on keeping on because you are evaluating all the information available on BITOG and not having a blind eye to certain truths. On a side note, you just made my decision to give MC another round that much easier. You are completely right!

Thanks dude, I knew there was a method to my madness.

 

[bruce381]

""OK I've been reading postings on various sites that oil "works better" as it ages"""

As far as wear rates Yes true but solid buildup like varnish/sludge NO.

The ZDDO film forming mechanism works better with older or more oxidized ZDDP than brand new. BUT with ZDDP now being replaced with moly, boron and other non metal ester/polymers
that may change to fresher oil has lower wear rates than older oil.
bruce

 

[bruce381]

bye the way IMHO the very slight increase in wear rates
(ppm) with newer oil or oil changed more offten is NOT a big deal and is a NON issue.
bruce

 

[blackdiamond]

It almost sounds like some of the "problems" from changing oil early had to do with the add pack? Why would it matter if you used identical oil each time where there is not change in the add pack? Maybe this is a case for sticking with the same oil rather than dumping in the best deal.

Just thinking out loud...

 

[Carbonics]

a guy once told me you can't change your oil too often - he said if he had it his way he wouldn't have a drain plug on the pan and he would continously feed his engine clean oil... then again, the engine would probably never warm up if you did that - but it might last 50 million miles.

 

[ThirdeYe]

What about switching oil brands? For instance, running 3k on mobil clean 5000, then switching to quaker state, then to valvoline, then to maxlife, then to pennzoil platinum, etc. I've heard it doesn't really affect things, but i'm not sure.

 

[oilyriser]

Changing too often increases the risk of developing the dreaded forgot to tighten the drain plug syndrome.