Change oil every three months?

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by robertplattbell

...Third, the cost of labor for an oil change often exceeds the cost of oil. So using synthetic makes sense from a financial standpoint, as cuts the labor cost more than the increased price of the oil. Changing the oil yourself can cut that labor cost to zero - and it can be a no-hassle deal if you use a simple oil pump. You don't even need a wrench.

All your points are excellent and spot on.

Though for the above, you have to add in the cost of disposing of the old oil. People use to flush it down the storm drain. (Very very bad)

Putting it in a jug and throwing it away is one of the reasons why trash dumps are basically hermetically sealed these days, and why new dumps are so expensive.

Garages (in the US) that do oil changes are supposed to accept used oil for proper disposal without charge. But you still get a fair amount of oil in the garbage stream because the shop just dumps the oil from the transfer container into their 55 gallon drum, the transfer container then goes in the trash still containing a significant amount of oil.

If you use a traditional oil catch pan then you probably wipe the pan clean when you are done. What happens to the oil soaked rags or paper towels?

What do you do with the used oil filter? It contains a lot of oil, even if you let it drain for hours.

Used motor oil is a pretty potent carcinogen. It is probably best to not have it running down your arm while you take the drain plug out.

The pump system minimizes several problems. You don't get contacted by the used oil. You don't really clean the pump's container. But you still have the disposal issues.

[Eddylizard]

My local petrol station has an oil recycling bin which you can pour used motor oil into. Not that I have the time or the inclination to change my own oil, but if I did, it's less than a mile away. Not quite as convenient as pouring it down the drain I suppose, but still not that difficult to do.

My car handbook recommends an oil change at 15,000 Km (whatever that is in English money) or one year - whichever comes first.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

What happens to the oil soaked rags or paper towels?

This is the problem I had when I did my last oil change. Where I live the city will actually come pick up your used oil (and other hazardous materials like paint, flourescent light bulbs, etc). But they didn't take the oil soaked rags I left out along with it, so I don't know what to do with them now. Right now they're they're sitting in a cardboard box in my garage, so now I have an oil soaked carcboard box as well.

What do you do with the used oil filter? It contains a lot of oil, even if you let it drain for hours.

This one's not a problem for me; the city collects oil filters for disposal along with the oil. And garages that do oil changes accept filters as well as used oil (I think this might be a California law).

[robertplattbell]

Those are all excellent points and also why overly frequent oil changes are a bad idea - for the environment.

Taking perfectly good oil out of a car and throwing it away is wasteful.

In New York, most service stations have to accept it, although some get testy about it.

The place I take it to, they don't mind as they heat the building with it. Bring all you want, they say. Also WalMart takes it (again, they have to) and so long has you have less than four gallons (!) they don't complain about it.

The oil filters and rags are a problem. Drain the filter the best you can into a container, and then discard.

The pump prevents a lot of spills and makes pouring oil back into the original containers much easier (trying to do this with a drain pan is nearly impossible).

I have two of the pumps I posted the picture of and link to. They handle nearly 7 liters of oil, which is nice because most BMWs take 6.8 liters or more (which is another reason they can go longer between changes). And handily, they put the oil filter at the TOP of the engine, not the bottom. As a cartridge filter, you can drain it into the housing before discarding, too (this then can be sucked out by the pump).

Used motor oil is nasty stuff!

The Quickee Lube places are OK, but watch them like a hawk. I've had one strip a drain plug. And there have been a number of reported cases where they forget to put the drain plug back in (change the oil on a few thousand cars, it will happen to you).

Between that and Oil Pit Accidents, I am surprised they don't use a vacuum pump as well. Both people and cars fall into those pits, and it does cause problems.

I have nearly 150,000 miles on my pickup truck and I did the every 3,000 mile oil change interval thing, until recently. It has a resale book value of $1750 at this point. The tranny has a bad roller clutch and there is a small leak in the headgasket. It runs, but for how much longer? If it were not for the fact it has no rust at all, I would have traded it in under cash for clunkers. The point is, that truck will eventually go to the junkyard because of the transmission or the head gasket, not because of the ring wear. So all that money I spent on 3,000 mile oil changes was basically wasted. I could have changed the oil half as much and it would not have made a difference, other than to my wallet.

FWIW.

The point is, that truck will eventually go to the junkyard because of the transmission or the head gasket, not because of the ring wear. So all that money I spent on 3,000 mile oil changes was basically wasted. I could have changed the oil half as much and it would not have made a difference, other than to my wallet.

How do you figure you wasted your money on oil changes? You just said that the truck will be retired even though there's no ring wear. Evidently, there's no ring wear because you did an oil change every 3000 miles. Retiring it for transmission problems or head gasket has nothing whatsoever to do with the frequency of oil changes. In fact, that likely contributed to the truck getting 150000 miles on it. Which incidentally, is not really that high mileage. I had a Mercedes and a BMW with over 250000 miles on them, and they got their oil changes every 5000 kms. (3000 miles) Both cars were traded off for new ones, and were not in danger of catastrophic engine failure.
Personally, for me, I change the oil by either the service manual (on my new car, which is every 6000 kms) or on my old car, I use synthetic and go about 6000 miles per change.

[robertplattbell]

Originally Posted by rswarrior

How do you figure you wasted your money on oil changes? You just said that the truck will be retired even though there's no ring wear.

I could have changed the oil ever 15,000 miles with synthetic (changing it a whopping 10 times) and the ring wear would be about the same. The truck will get junked because OTHER parts wore out.

As it is, I changed the oil on this vehicle (mostly with regular oil) about 30 times. Total overkill.

If you do the cost/benefit analysis, the 3,000 mile oil change just doesn't pan out. You'll junk a car long before the motor wears out, even with longer oil change intervals.

Originally Posted by robertplattbell

I could have changed the oil ever 15,000 miles with synthetic (changing it a whopping 10 times) and the ring wear would be about the same. The truck will get junked because OTHER parts wore out.

As it is, I changed the oil on this vehicle (mostly with regular oil) about 30 times. Total overkill.

If you do the cost/benefit analysis, the 3,000 mile oil change just doesn't pan out. You'll junk a car long before the motor wears out, even with longer oil change intervals.

But that's my point. OTHER parts wore out, not the rings, crank, or bearings, which is what the engine oil is designed to protect and lubricate.

My father never changed the oil on his '77 Monte Carlo, thinking it was a waste of money. It was junked at 140000 kms (about 85000 miles) because the rings were shot. It was burning a liter of oil every day and a half. In this case, not a single other part failed, other than replacing a battery and a u- joint, and a brake job each for front and rear.

Junking a car before the motor wears out depends entirely on how much, and what kind of driving you do. I had a 2001 Pontiac with 150000 kms after 3 years, all highway miles. The body was rough with rock chips, but the engine was going strong. My old BMW 735iL had only 220000 kms after 17 years when I bought it, and I sold it after replacing the head gasket. A '94 Hyundai I owned lasted 80000 kms in 3.5 years before the engine died.

The motor on my Dodge Stealth Turbo cost nearly $10000 to rebuild last summer. The rings were badly worn, the crankshaft had grooves on it, and it turned a bearing. This was all caused due to improper oiling and low oil pressure. I owned it for less than a year, and it had about 130000 miles on it. I can do over 220 oil changes before I get to $10000, and can pretty much guarantee I won't be owning a car that long, if my past history indicates.

I also own a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and if I DON'T do oil changes every 6000 kms, my warranty is void. In this case, oil changes are required. A $40 oil change is pretty cheap compared to having to pay out of pocket for a null and void warranty.

[RCIAG]

I usually change my oil when my coolant light comes on. Which is every 3-5 months or so. Which it just did yesterday. So today at lunch I'm going next door to get coolant & to get my oil changed.

Not sure why this stupid 2006 Cavalier uses coolant like it's going outta style but it does. There's no leaks but for some reason it sucks up coolant.

Generally I see the sticker on the windsheild 2 months after the supposed change date then go, "Oh yeah, I should change the oil."

I'll also do a change before any really long car trips which don't happen often.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by rswarrior

But that's my point. OTHER parts wore out, not the rings, crank, or bearings, which is what the engine oil is designed to protect and lubricate.

My father never changed the oil on his '77 Monte Carlo, thinking it was a waste of money. It was junked at 140000 kms (about 85000 miles) because the rings were shot. It was burning a liter of oil every day and a half. In this case, not a single other part failed, other than replacing a battery and a u- joint, and a brake job each for front and rear.

There is a heck of a difference between changing the oil every 3K miles and once at the end of 85K miles. A trashed motor at 85K is hardly proof that the oil should be changed every 3k (or 6k).

I suspect the reason the car was junked had a lot to with it being a '77 Monte Carlo. In the 70's US car makers couldn't make a pile of crap let alone a decent car.

Originally Posted by jimmy101_again

There is a heck of a difference between changing the oil every 3K miles and once at the end of 85K miles. A trashed motor at 85K is hardly proof that the oil should be changed every 3k (or 6k).

I suspect the reason the car was junked had a lot to with it being a '77 Monte Carlo. In the 70's US car makers couldn't make a pile of crap let alone a decent car.

No, the reason the car was junked was because it was burning a liter of oil every day and a half. In the 9 years my dad owned it he never had a breakdown and only had to replace brakes and a u-joint in that time. Seems to me that if he had regular oil changes, there's much less likelihood of worn out rings at 85000 miles.

My ex father in law had a GMC truck ('78) that lasted over 300000 miles on the same size engine as the Monte Carlo. He was religious about oil changes, and ended up handing down the truck to me...which I sold at 360000 miles, still without using or burning oil.

[robertplattbell]

Originally Posted by rswarrior

But that's my point. OTHER parts wore out, not the rings, crank, or bearings, which is what the engine oil is designed to protect and lubricate.

My father never changed the oil on his '77 Monte Carlo, thinking it was a waste of money. It was junked at 140000 kms (about 85000 miles) because the rings were shot.

This is why the Internet is so silly. I see now. There are ONLY TWO ALTERNATIVES, changing the oil every 3,000 miles or not changing it at all.

And obviously, I am advocating the second alternative, because everything is black and white and people can only choose from two extremes.

Please stop the silly nonsense and actually read my postings.

You Dad's car would have rusted to death by 1985 in any event and would not be burning a drop of oil if he changed it every 7500 miles.

What was your point again?

Funny you should mention 1985. It was 1986 when he retired the Monte Carlo, and it had one large rust spot on the right rear fender, and surface rust on the rear wheel wells. Far from being rusted to death. But that's beside the point.
Not sure why the hostility; you had written that you felt you wasted your money changing the oil every 3000 miles and speculated that you could have spent half as much changing it half as often. My only question was how was it a waste if the engine showed no wear to the parts that would be worn out. I agree with you about synthetic oil, and run it on my old car. Keeping in mind that a synthetic oil here in my part of Canada costs twice as much as regular oil, the cost is about the same when I double the oil change interval. I also use washable air filters as they can be cleaned, and last the lifetime of the car for maybe the cost of two dealer-manufactured paper filters (aftermarket paper filters aren't much cheaper).
The only misunderstanding I can see is where you had written that you could have done half as many oil changes without specifying you were using synthetic; I had read that as you using regular oil on your truck. Regardless of that, however, having done the oil changes every 3000 miles seems to have done what it was supposed to do in protecting the rings and bearings. If you feel it's a waste of money, that's your opinion. Even if it did cost you more in the long run than doubling or more the interval and using synthetic, the 3000 mile changes did what they are supposed to do. For me, the cost of oil is cheap insurance compared to taking a chance on regular oil changes and doubling the interval and possibly having engine failure or premature wear, especially when a warranty is involved. I'm not condemning you for doing what you feel is right for your vehicles.

[snopes]

While a 5,000-mile oil-change interval would have seemed almost neglectful years ago, it is conservative by modern standards. My 1995 Mazda's manual recommends a 7,500-mile interval. Some cars using synthetic oil can go 10,000 to 15,000 miles between oil changes. I was a believer in changing oil every 3,000 miles, but now I realize it often winds up wasting money, time and oil.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB2000...682375114.html

I change my oil every 300 miles. Yes 300 not 3000.

[RichardM]

So do you race or rally or drive only 300 miles a year?

[Troberg]

300 miles? Do you change the oil every time you fill up the gas tank? That's excessive. Heck, I think 3000 miles is excessive. If you use modern oil in a modern car, 30 000 is probably more reasonable.

That said, I just filled up my back loader with 50 liters of hydraulic oil as a hose burst, making it spew hydraulic oil all over my parking lot (though, I prefer to see it as "marking its territory"). Well, I try to look at it from the bright side: thats some spots where there won't be weeds this summer...

[RichardM]

Troberg, you bit the bait.

[kanazawa]

Originally Posted by RCIAG

Not sure why this stupid 2006 Cavalier uses coolant like it's going outta style but it does. There's no leaks but for some reason it sucks up coolant.

Head gasket:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f19c8e4

Originally Posted by RichardM

So do you race or rally or drive only 300 miles a year?

Nope.

Troberg - Yes I admit its very excessive, however I want my engine to always perform optimally. That also includes a new oil filter, the Honda Parts department at my local dealer knows me by name now. Anytime my car has 3/4 of gas left, I always gas up to get the remaining 1/4. I have this belief my engine will run forever, which I do want it to!

I don't think it would be wise to wait 30k to change the oil in the car. 3000 is the safest bet and one with a peace of mind, and depending on what kind of car you have your engine might actually burn oil. I'm always monitoring my oil at every fillup. I'd be too worried about my engine if I waited 30k to change the oil.

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by AlexS2K

I change my oil every 300 miles. Yes 300 not 3000.

So you did mean that you change your oil at 3,000 miles and not every time you put gas in?