Are Full Oil Changes Gone Forever?

Good stuff - I gave up on Space A after getting stranded a couple of times.

I probably need to be more flexible.
 
mickeyd said:
I am 79 and am driving my final car (2019 Camry). Toyota recommends annual synthetic oil change. My last annual oil change service was for about 2000 miles.

I am thinking about extending that to every other year if all we drive is 2K annually.

Does that seem rad?
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I probably wouldn't do it but you'll probably get away with it. Even with my collectables (back in the day) I'd change the oil annually regardless.
 
Remember - the engine doesn't actually KNOW it's oil has not been changed.

The oil just sits there in the pan waiting to be pumped.

The internal parts remain coated with synthetic oil - that stuff has huge surface adhesion to parts ... so they won't rust - and the start up stress is likely about the same regardless of the time period between starts.

As long as the filter media does not fall apart, I can't figure out where the issue is.
 
stephenson said:
Remember - the engine doesn't actually KNOW it's oil has not been changed.

The oil just sits there in the pan waiting to be pumped.

The internal parts remain coated with synthetic oil - that stuff has huge surface adhesion to parts ... so they won't rust - and the start up stress is likely about the same regardless of the time period between starts.

As long as the filter media does not fall apart, I can't figure out where the issue is.
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Unless you run the engine every once in a while to burn off accumulated condensation, sludge can build up in the oil pan. Sludge build up has been a problem for certain Toyota and Honda models over the last 20 years. Sludge, in extreme cases, can clog oil passages, piston ring clearances and the oil pump pickup screen.
 
rmcelwee said:
What are your thoughts on my 74 year old transmission fluid? Video was on the previous page.
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Bygone era of fluids ...

Aja, when one starts the engine and drives it (always at this point assuming synthetic oil) the condensates burn off, the oil is filtered and then it returns to the pan (unless dry sump) where it sits, not knowing it is in violation of, for example, an OEM trying to protect itself from warranty claims and lawsuits and from getting a bad name by "not caring about maintenance" and keeping its service departments busy, etc ...yeah, sort of tongue in cheek, but trying to paint a picture.

Seriously - things have changed.
 
rmcelwee said:
Fun fact for those of you trying to save on oil. The 74 year old tractor that I am restoring suggests an oil change for the air cleaner EVERY DAY. This is more than 45 GALLONS per year!



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Is that one of those things they used to call an "oil bath air cleaner" or something like that? I know some cars used to have that, but never really understood what it meant. The furthest I go back with cars is a 1957 DeSoto Firedome, and its air filter is somewhat normal. The only odd thing about it, is that the designers had to mount the air intake off to the side, because the car was so low-slung. And it's oval, rather than round.

Now the oil filter, that's a different story. It's this round cartridge that goes inside a cannister, and the whole thing is held together by a really long bolt, with some washers and gaskets. A big mess is always guaranteed when you change the filter.

I don't know if that was typical for cars in 1957, but in 1958, when Mopar started phasing out the hemi-head engines for the wedge-heads, they began using a self-contained, spin-on filter.

I wonder how many mechanics back in the day, when they did an oil change, would skip on the filter of those older hemi-head engines?
 
One thing I seem to recall in some owner's manuals, that strikes me kind of odd, is that they would say to add in five quarts of oil if you're changing the oil and filter, but only four quarts, if you're changing the filter only.

However, I have never seen an oil filter for a car so big it would hold a full quart of oil.
 
Andre1969 said:
One thing I seem to recall in some owner's manuals, that strikes me kind of odd, is that they would say to add in five quarts of oil if you're changing the oil and filter, but only four quarts, if you're changing the filter only.

However, I have never seen an oil filter for a car so big it would hold a full quart of oil.
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All true... I don't even count how many quarts I pour in during an oil change. I simply use the dip stick to measure when it's enough. I tend to add enough to fill to the top of the range of the dip stick.... Matter of fact, on some of my recent cars, they have recommend adding an additional quart if you plan "spirited" driving.:cool:

And "most" filters today are smaller. I've never measure it but I suspect they will actually only hold about 1/2 qt.
 
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Andre1969 said:
Is that one of those things they used to call an "oil bath air cleaner" or something like that?

Now the oil filter, that's a different story. A big mess is always guaranteed when you change the filter.
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Yes, you can see the oil bath in the picture on the video (big round thing to the upper left of the play button).

The oil filter just lays inside the housing with a long bolt through it. The bolt actually has a hole through the bottom half so it acts like a tube. There are no gaskets on the filter, it is just press fit. It is fairly clean to change this one.
 
Car-Guy,

I've never seen or heard of a recent car OEM talk about adding extra oil, above the Full mark on the stick ... and, there is danger in doing this on some cars. What car and year has that sort of OEM recommendation?
 
^^^^
All the owners manuals for my Hellcat powered vehicles (4 of them so far) have all said to add another quart if you are planning on spirited driving (racing). I don't recall if my Corvettes suggested the same thing but the Hellcat owners manuals certainly did. I know a lot of Hellcat owners would add a "catch can" too, particularly if they were running higher oil levels all the time.

Of course I wouldn't suggest doing that if your owners manual didn't suggest it "or" if you don't know what you are doing and why.
 
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I'd always heard that if you over-filled the engine oil, you'd end up with frothing. But, perhaps modern engines are designed to prevent that?
 
Andre1969 said:
I'd always heard that if you over-filled the engine oil, you'd end up with frothing. But, perhaps modern engines are designed to prevent that?
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Some engines can handle it, to a point. Usually race engines but there may be others.


I won't try to explain it here (because very few will care, and I'm not an expert) but it has to do with centrifugal force and oil pump pickups (no, not pickup trucks :)) under high performance road course diving conditions. Actually a similar problem exist for the gasoline pump pickups too. I've actually experienced problems with gas pump pickups a few times in drag racing. (Very noticeable)
 
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Midpack said:
...
Never made sense to begin with. How exactly would you change the oil filter without changing the oil since removing the filter drains a lot of the oil for most cars...put the old dirty oil back in again?
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my 2022 Jeep (3.2L V6) has the oil filter on top of the engine.
Easy to change the filter without changing the oil. One design flaw is the oil drains out of the filter every shutoff and it takes longer to get oil pumped to refill the filter on every start.
 
I don’t think it’s a “flaw” - oil is still circulating as it fills up .. and, remember it is synthetic oil so parts stay coated pretty darn well.

Many dealerships and OEM specific and use suction systems to pull oil via the dipstick/access point - this, combined with canister or spin on top makes changes a snap.
 
stephenson said:
....
Many dealerships and OEM specific and use suction systems to pull oil via the dipstick/access point - this, combined with canister or spin on top makes changes a snap.
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That was the experience derived recommended method of changing the oil on Victory 106ci motorcycles. The drain plug/pan was a mess of thin aluminum that cross-threaded and stripped without the use of tools.
Recommended course of action was to replace the plug with a Honda Goldwing plug and then suck the oil out via the fill tube.
 
Ahh yes....Nothing like a good oil thread! Those of us who frequent other sites for our ICE vehicles/toys see threads like this about every week LOL! This one is doing pretty good...7 pages already!
 
While garden tractors and car are apples and oranges, John Deer introduced an easy oil change process to some of the smaller lawn tractors where you only change the (expensive) filter, leaving most of the oil in the engine. It created a strong market for adapter kits to put on a traditional filter.
 
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