Question about oil change frequency in a car you plan to drive to 250,000 miles (F150, vehicle)

[dkf747]

I do 3/3000 and my van is at 175,000 (2005 van). I can tell when I'm at 3000 by the way the engine feels. A simple oil change always makes it feel normal again. I guess it's right for my van/ No idea about other cars though.

[irman]

I go by the car manufacturers schedule, which is 6000 on ours.
But ... , every 2000 I check, then look and smell the oil.
If really dark and smelling burnt, I change regardless of mileage.

We (wife and I) have a very irregular driving habit ...

[kapie9969]

if You are out of the warranty period. Then you can change what is recommended,A bit anyhow. A lot depends on what kind of driving you do and how many miles. I change mine roughly every six months. Fresh oil for the summer time in Arizona seems like a good idea. I like Mobile One synthetic. Having your oil tested is the new thing. Many people say we are changing it too soon.Old thinking about 3000 mile oil changes is hard to break.

[trbstang]

I change the oil around the manufacturer recommended intervals or longer when using synthetics. My 87 Mustang was changed about every 3,000 - 4,000 miles on regular oil and it lasted 306K. My 03 Vibe GT had the oil changed with full synthetic every 5,000 - 6,000 miles by the prior owner and it has about 214K on it now and runs quite well. The oil change interval for long trips is 7,500 miles/12 mo per the owner's manual on regular oil. I plan to keep the changes around 6,000-7,000 and hope to get another 100k out of it, if not more.

[whirnot]

Your mechanic is either trying to make more money off of you or is uninformed. I have managed a fleet of over 125 vehicles and always use manufacturer recomendations. Typically we get at least 200,000 miles with no or very few repairs.

[itsMeFred]

The 3000 mile rule is still pushed by those who are selling you your oil change
Your vehicle's recommendation should be what you're following and most of them are 6-10k these days.


Nice write-up from Edmunds about this, actually.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/stop...-your-oil.html
From personal experience, we've always done about 8-10, just because my hubby does this chore and usually spaces it off. Nonetheless, we get at least 200k out of our vehicles.

[TrapperL]

250,000 miles in 15 years is roughly 17,000 miles a year. So the engine is not making short trips is key to any maintenance program as a short trip has a tendency to make water/condensate an issue. Water/condensate causes sludge to form as the oil reaches a point where it can no longer hydrolyze the moisture. So assuming that you are going to run this engine 6 days a week and the usage will be average meaning no prolonged idling in traffic. Making another assumption here, the car is new today and we want it to last for the next 15 years at the above rate of usage. The car maker is calling for an API SM rated oil in the specs and lets narrow it down a little more, they want a Xw-20 oil changed every 7500 miles. Now if that's close to being correct we can go forward.

Most all of the oil life monitors work by using a program that measures the actual piston travel distance in miles, multiplied times the factor of the throttle position sensor, multiplied times the load factor which is determined by the speed, rpms, and throttle position. The maker assumes that the oil averagely will last long enough at this algorithm. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes the algorithm is wrong- ask GM about that one. They had to replace a boatload of the first 3.6 engines due to a bad program that ran the oil far too long. Fuel dilution was a major issue in this direct injected engine. Fuel dilution causes the oil to oxidize many times faster and thins the oil film on the parts. So is it wise to follow the OLM? Not in my book. They still have issues with them and depending on the engine, it can be hazardous to the engine, like a 3.5 EcoBust, for example. The oil spec there is a 5w-30 and OCI at 7500 miles for average use but many saw the oil completely spent before 3000 miles and damage occurred. Now that the EcoBust is having issues with intake deposits effecting performance from oil gassing off via the PCV system, they are recommending one and only one motor oil, Pennzoil Ultra 5w-30 as it has the lowest NOACK. If your engine is a direct injected engine, know that deposits are in your future regardless of the maker. Synthetic oil, blend, or conventional oil will not make a difference here, only an oil with the absolute lowest NOACK. Pennzoil Ultra, Pennzoil Platinum, Delco Dexos blend are the lowest. So if your engine is direct injected, these are the oils you want to use and change at least every 5000 miles, NO FARTHER.

If you have a naturally aspirated, sequential injected engine, you can easily run a current API SM oil 5000 miles using a conventional oil. The difference that has occurred over the last 15 years is that the synthetics have remained static while the conventional oils have made dramatic improvements with some far better than the synthetics you bought 15 years ago. We have much better ad packs these days. Base oils are far more stable than ever. There is no argument about high heat as any oil that has the Ford certification on the bottle has been tested to perform at twice the API standards of 16 hours at 304F. That's far hotter than your engine will run and last. The oil must not oxidize or shear out its viscosity range and high heat deposits are half that of API. That's some mighty tough oil. You also have engines that are far more efficient and combustion deposits are far less than they were just 5 years ago. So the oil doesn't have to deal with the contaminates of yesterday.

So it depends on what the engine is and how it's used makes the difference in how var it will go before wear finally takes its toll. There is no "one fits all" here.

[Army_Guy]

Originally Posted by TheWayISeeThings

• Most used 2011+ Accords and Camrys being sold had oil changes on average 8-10,000 miles. The dealers all stated that this is fine so long as you change the oil when the indicator light comes on.
  
• My mechanic says this is wrong and its a conspiracy by the dealers to drive more frequent sales. He says if you want to have a high miles / +15 year car, then stick to a 3000 mile/3 mo schedule.
  
• When I press dealers about this point, I do get some agreement that dealership mechanics who have high miles cars all stick to the 3000/3 mo schedule. BUT, those cars will all have been made prior to 2010, so I'm not sure it counts.

I'm don't know who to believe in this debate. My mechanic stands to make money in more frequent oil changes or the dealer stands to make money in more frequent sales. The idea that it may be bad to change it every 8-10K miles has shied me away from buying used at all--that and the fact that used cars seem to be over-priced in the market at the moment.

Last question: if I should change it every 3000/3 mo, do I switch to regular oil from synthetic.

The reason why those cars are going those miles on an oil change is most likely because that's what the oil life meter (OLM) is telling them. The OLM has various inputs to calculate when you should change the oil: starts, RPM's, temperature, etc. I would trust it.

The 3k mile oil change is horribly outdated, has been for probably 15 years now. It's mostly a ploy now from the quick lube places in order to get more oil changes. Will it hurt the car? No but it will certainly hurt your wallet. Oil technology these days is incredily advanced.

Now that is assuming you're using the car for regular driving in an environment that isn't extreme. Normal driving as in you're not driving a cab, towing, etc. I would classify extreme environments such as the desert, Alaska type winters, places with a lot of hills, etc.

Originally Posted by IShootNikon

3,000 mile oil change intervals are an absolute waste these days. 7,500 minimum and even 10K is the norm

When I still used regular oil, I would go to 5-6k miles on regular oil. I've used synthetic for much longer intervals, that's the advantage of synthetic. Longest I've gone on a change is 14k miles on a Yukon my dad had years ago. That was over the course of 12 months in Chicago weather. It was his every day driver.

Originally Posted by burdell

I like the 5K interval if for no other reason than it's easy to remember

That's what I use but since I'm here in the desert with a dusty environment and drive over a mountain twice a day, I change at 5k even though I fill with synthetic. If this wasn't the desert with a dusty environment and going over a mountain twice a day, I'd go 7,500+ between changes.

[TheWayISeeThings]

Wow, great information! So I guess more details are in order. I'm looking at another Camry or an Accord between 2011 and 2015 - 4 cylinder. I drive 2-5 days/wk for work 54 miles round trip--half of them highway. Around town driving on the weekends. I live outside of Chicago, so flat with some slightly extreme temps in winter/summer. I'm an average driver and keep it under 80MPH on the highway. Most around town driving out here averages 40-55 mph.

[ormari]

I put 255,000 miles on a turbo hatchback driving 120+ miles/day, running regular oil with 7,500-10,000 mile change interval. Engine was still running strong when I changed cars.