9 months on dino oil, should I change it?

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Hello everyone.

I have a carbureted car, the engine is in great shape, not any leaks or oil consumption in 3k miles OCI. I did the last oil change in october 2016 (9 months ago), the car hasn´t been driven a lot, less than 2000 miles but it was parked most of the time for 5 months, I drived the car once every 3 weeks less than 5 miles (10 minutes) to prevent any damage in the engine seals for being so long without used. I am using a conventional oil.

My question is, considering the age of the oil, the fact that it hasn´t been used in the best condition (short drives) and that it is a carbureted car should I change the oil now that it only has 2k miles?
 
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I would.

A lot of very short trips like that (where the choke is on and it never warms up) and I suspect there is a lot of condensation and fuel dilution.
 
I'd change it, then go with a synthetic oil and change it once a year. You should be able to wait until 12 months and then change it if you wanted to.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
I would.

A lot of very short trips like that (where the choke is on and it never warms up) and I suspect there is a lot of condensation and fuel dilution.

+1
 
Drive every three weeks for 30 minutes, get it up to temp and burn off the nastiness ! Then change your dino oil yearly.
 
For seldom driven vehicles, I like the schedule recommended for exercising emergency generators. Run the engine, under some load, for a minimum for 30 minutes each month. This will warm the engine and oil enough to keep internal condensation to a minimum, and use enough fuel that it does not become stale. As for as changing oil, change now because of the previous short trips and in the future, once a year should be adequate if short trips are minimized. Why is synthetic oil any better than high quality mineral oil in this service? I do not see a good reason to use synthetic unless the engine is exposed to extreme temperatures, hot or cold, is equipped with a turbocharger, or used in long change intervals. Synthetic oil offers little advantage when it is changed to flush contamination.
 
I know of a number of collectors who allow their cars to sit for up to 6 months per year. In one case, it was a 2000 LS1 equipped vehicle with very low mileage. With 17 cold northern winters under its belt sitting the entire time, the car never developed a seal/gasket leak. Once you start them up, you should make an attempt to drive it until fully warmup up.
 
Originally Posted By: Bambam
Drive every three weeks for 30 minutes, get it up to temp and burn off the nastiness ! Then change your dino oil yearly.


+1
smile.gif


And that's still overkill. I had my last truck that only got worked now and then go 5 years on the oil. Carb and all on conventional oil (Chevron Supreme). It was fine. Gone over 5,000 miles and decided to change it as it was finally getting a bit dark ...
 
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I'd change the oil if it's obvious water / coolant contamination in the oil.

However, I've had a sunday driver sit in the garage for 9 years with 5,000 miles on the oil,
when I changed it I sent a sample out, the UOA showed the oil was still good! Oil TBN of 3.6!

Dino oil is already millions of years old coming out of the ground, 1-2 yrs in an engine is no
problem. The bigger problem is owners who don't check oil level and add as needed and fry a motor through a lack of oil!
Oil companies and retailers have been scaring us into unnecessary oil changes for decades!

I've been slowly extending my oil change intervals, each UOA still showed the oil as OK!
I'm using a pare of FilterMags and extra bar magnets on the spin-on filter to pick up wear metals
that actually turn the oil black then 'soot' does in a lean burning engines (late model car).

On my last OCI, oil was just barely dark at 8,000 miles and 10 months!

Vintage cars from the 60's 70's see lots of blow-by and soot production and semi-poor crankcase
ventilation where short OCIs are more appropriate.
 
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Originally Posted By: Bambam
Drive every three weeks for 30 minutes, get it up to temp and burn off the nastiness ! Then change your dino oil yearly.


+1
smile.gif


And that's still overkill. I had my last truck that only got worked now and then go 5 years on the oil. Carb and all on conventional oil (Chevron Supreme). It was fine. Gone over 5,000 miles and decided to change it as it was finally getting a bit dark ...


+2
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: i_hate_autofraud

Oil companies and retailers have been scaring us into unnecessary oil changes for decades!

How true .....
blush.gif
 
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