Oil Changes

[GravitySucks]

Kendall synthetic in the Camry whenever the indicator comes on or 10,000 miles.
Semi synthetic every 5,000 miles in the Scion Tc.
RV is regular oil at 5,000 miles.
Regular oil once a year in the Ranchero, about a 1,000 miles.

Amazing how the different driving conditions force the change oil light to come on. Cross country high temperature trip had the maintenance light come on after 3,100 miles last summer.

I no longer change the oil on the cars myself as its only about $2.00 more to have it done. Sometimes a good coupon cuts it to less than self serve. I do the Ranchero and RV myself as its easy to slide under them and the oil change shops don't stock the filters.

[Danmar]

i generally change the oil in my cars every year. Never put more than 10k miles on any of them. In fact the Arizona convertible only gets about 3k miles a year.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Related, but a little to the side - what about changing brake fluid? Some car manuals seem to be silent on this, I've seen others recc every 3 years (flush and change). My Uncle was an airline mechanic, he insisted on doing it, and I've heard that from other respected mechanics. Seems the recc is based on time, not miles - the brake fluid absorbs moisture, that can lead to corrosion. As your brakes get hot, the water can turn to steam, which is compressible, making your brakes near useless. The whole principle of hydraulic brakes is that fluids are not compressible, add in a compressible gas like steam, and your brake pedal just mushes down to the floor. I think I've forgotten to ask if my shop does a brake fluid flush as part of a brake pad/rotor change. I hope so. Maybe some car manuals feel that is good enough? Engines can be rebuilt, a human body rebuild due to brake failure can be a lot tougher. -ERD50

My dealer is really on top of this stuff. According to them, I need to change all the lubricants and fluids 4 or 5 times more often than the manufacturer recommends! They have told me it is because I live in Colorado and the climate is hard on cars! (I may be exaggerating on the frequency, but not by much.)

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyBoy5 ....And overwhelmingly, I see a trend with these cars..."It just happens on modified, beaten on, and abused cars". Well, duh.

I had a 2008 Legacy GT with the turbo for 2012 to 2015.... great, fun car... totally stock, never abused and never had a problem.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit My dealer is really on top of this stuff. According to them, I need to change all the lubricants and fluids 4 or 5 times more often than the manufacturer recommends! They have told me it is because I live in Colorado and the climate is hard on cars! (I may be exaggerating on the frequency, but not by much.)

Including muffler bearing rotations?

-ERD50

[HF63]

A lot great information regarding oil changes but how many times do you guys actually change the PCV or positive crankcase ventilation. In some cars the like my CRV it only costs like 13 dollars for part but compared to my Volvo's the whole set up runs close to 200 just for parts. When this item gets clogged it can raise the internal pressure of the engine which leads to many oil leaks by the seals.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit My dealer is really on top of this stuff. According to them, I need to change all the lubricants and fluids 4 or 5 times more often than the manufacturer recommends! They have told me it is because I live in Colorado and the climate is hard on cars! (I may be exaggerating on the frequency, but not by much.)

I had my dealer in Vermont do the same thing.... they recommended using the severe service schedule because of the terrain... I pointed out the them that I was "skeptical" given that it was in their interest for me to buy more oil changes, etc from them... I even called the manufacturer and they were useless... would not answer one way or the other.

I use the regular service manufacturer recommended intervals... 6,000 miles in the case of my new car (with synthetic oil).

[Hillbilly]

Change oil using synthetic every 10,000 miles or one year, which ever comes first

Toyota dealer said every 10,000 miles using synthetic, no time period

I don't mix oils (syn v. non-syn) or brands

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hillbilly Change oil using synthetic every 10,000 miles or one year, which ever comes first Toyota dealer said every 10,000 miles using synthetic, no time period I don't mix oils (syn v. non-syn) or brands

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar i generally change the oil in my cars every year. Never put more than 10k miles on any of them. In fact the Arizona convertible only gets about 3k miles a year.

So with synthetic oil, would it seem right to change the oil every 3 years. It sits for 9 months in the Arizona heat without turning a wheel?

[check6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan So with synthetic oil, would it seem right to change the oil every 3 years. It sits for 9 months in the Arizona heat without turning a wheel?

That might be a little long. Our MB sits about 7 months in AZ. We change it every 1.5 yrs or so. The brake fluid is to be flushed every two years but will let it go 4 years. My Toyota truck though had not be flushed in 15 yrs before I sold it.

My airplane on the other hand is on its third oil change in 50 hours due to sitting and concern about moisture. It's located in a northern state.

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Including muffler bearing rotations? -ERD50

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HF63 A lot great information regarding oil changes but how many times do you guys actually change the PCV or positive crankcase ventilation. In some cars the like my CRV it only costs like 13 dollars for part but compared to my Volvo's the whole set up runs close to 200 just for parts. When this item gets clogged it can raise the internal pressure of the engine which leads to many oil leaks by the seals.

I bet I've changed out about 100 PCV valves in my lifetime, but I've never seen a clogged one on any car that wasn't abused ( and had much bigger issues). Thing is you can check them and if they rattle, they're OK ( but I change em anyway cause they cost about 2 bucks. )


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hillbilly ..... Toyota dealer said every 10,000 miles using synthetic, no time period ....

Same here, for a 2015 Toyota van, every 10K in miles with synthetic

I otherwise change the oil in the other car every 5K or at least once per year, even if it's only got 2K miles.

[Fedup]

My husband said he changes oil on our car every 10k miles. But I drive so gingerly that he said he could leave it longer. He never changed brake fluid, but do top it off occasionally.
He used to be in the motor club in college.

[Rich]

I have a theory… Having read lots (and lots) of posts about what kind of oil/when to change etc. I’ve come to the unsupported conclusion that everyone writing about whatever system they use, will be just fine. My logic? Those are the very people that are paying attention to their vehicle’s maintenance needs. Oil changes 3,000/5,000/10,000 miles? Don’t matter. You’re changing the oil, that matters!


For the record my wife and I run four cars, two in MA and two in AZ. Split our year between the two states. Cars oil and filters get changed immediately prior to our leaving whichever state we are in, thus we change by time (six months) not by mileage. Mileage varies from around 3,000 to 5,000 miles per auto. Mobil 1 all around. We keep our cars a long time:


2000 Lexus 300RX
2001 Rav-4
2009 Jeep Wrangler
2011 Jeep Wrangler


Rich

[Gumby]

Good point. It's the people who say "Oil change? What?" who will have the problems.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Good point. It's the people who say "Oil change? What?" who will have the problems.

I knew someone like that. A good friend, visiting us from abroad, instead of renting, borrowed a car from a family member living nearby. The night before leaving, after midnight, it broke down on I-95. They had no cell phone. Five hours later they had pushed the car into the parking lot of a service station and made it back to the hotel - just in time to get ready to check out. He called me and asked that I help the owner find an honest mechanic and get it towed and repaired. I picked up the owner and we talked on the way to the car - me asking questions, trying to help narrow a bit the possible causes. When I asked when was the most recent maintenance, dead silence. No maintenance had ever been done over 6 years and 50K miles. We got to the car, I called AAA on my card, found a mechanic nearby on the AAA website, and suggested they prepare for the worst, then went home and sent an email to our friends. He later told me the repair cost over $2k, but didn't share any details, and I didn't probe.

[GrayHare]

Overheard once, "Change the oil? No, not needed: the 'oil' light hasn't come on yet."

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrayHare Overheard once, "Change the oil? No, not needed: the 'oil' light hasn't come on yet."

Even with the oil light, you can go further before you actually change it, especially if you use good oil, as my husband told my kid recently. She got freak out when she saw the oil light.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup Even with the oil light, you can go further before you actually change it, especially if you use good oil, as my husband told my kid recently. She got freak out when she saw the oil light.

The "oil light" has nothing to do with quantity of oil in the crankcase. It means you have no oil pressure. No oil pressure is a death sentence for engines as the bearings will wear out in a matter of minutes (seconds in some cases). If you are lucky, the engine won't seize up (aka "freeze").

No oil pressure and prolonged (very short) driving means an engine rebuild costing thousands.