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I think I let one go about 5500 mi between changes once. Had to make several 1k mi trips in a realatively short period of time so probably not the worst scenerio. Not like driving 30 miles a day in 'stop & go' conditions for 6 months without doing a change.
My '98 EDM Toyota Corolla goes 9.320 miles between every oil and filter change (high quality synthetic oil).
This is according to the maintenance schedule in the service manual.
Currently it's standing on 10.000 since the last change, cause it's been so bloody cold, but getting it done one of these days.
One of my moms 'rollas has gone over 12.500 miles, with no damage several times.
My brother's 92 Corolla (handed down to him by our dad) went almost 14,000 miles w/out an oil change. I changed the oil myself, I expected to change it once and then again in a few hundred miles to lean out sludge, was thinking even of pouring one of those cleaning oils in it, also; but when I changed it the first time, the oil came out like dark honey, no sludge. The car ran fine the whole time before and after that. This was in the early 2000's, and the car just died last summer, but not the engine, rather than transmission and the rusted body (which spread to the frame). It did burn oil for the last few months but this is 8 years and over 100,000 miles after that time of going 14K miles w/ no oil change (the car had 225K+ by the time it died).. And my brother never took good care of that car.
I also have a cousin who got an Accord from an old lady and she went 2 years w/out an oil change, and the last 6 months of that 2 years the car just sat and wasn't driven. He changed the oil and claimed it looked like new, and he didn't have any problems.
I wouldn't say it's wise to go more than 3 or 4K miles or 3 or 4 months w/out an oil change - it's not. But I don't think it's always going to be an automatic death sentence for a lot of cars, either. It's a foolish gamble to take just to save a few bucks on oil changes, but it's possible.
I wouldn't say it's wise to go more than 3 or 4K miles or 3 or 4 months w/out an oil change - it's not. But I don't think it's always going to be an automatic death sentence for a lot of cars, either. It's a foolish gamble to take just to save a few bucks on oil changes, but it's possible.
Well here's the thing, every 9.200 miles is what Toyota requires you to do for warranty reasons, and also to keep it safe.
The engine I have does use (burn I suppose) some oil, but it's supposed to, it's standard to top it up a little mid cycle.
Last time it was changed it wasn't even dark honey coloured, it was barely darker than the oil we put into it.
Truthfully, America is the only country I've ever heard anyone recommend oil changes as frequently as 3-4.000 miles (on cars newer than 1990). It sounds to me like the reminiscence of those old, sloppy built American and European engines of the 70's.
The only sludged in engine I have seen in years is from the engine overheat badly. That is the only advanatge of synthetic oil it seems how days since they do not any longer recommend more lieage use than crude based because of the additive packages. I do justas recommended now days and change very 5000 miles wit te modern oiols. Use to 3000 but not any more.
one thing i learned is if you have an older car or truck keep running regular oil it is better for the seals
Had a 1997 Taurus GL that I was pretty rough on. Went about 30,000 with only having to add a couple quarts. Even after all that times the oil still looked clean. Best domestic I ever owned. Would drive a Taurus again in a heartbeat. And the car had over 130K when I did this.
My 08 Civic I take much better care of, but still only change it every 6,000 vs the typical 3,000. On newer small engine cars I think every 3,000 is overkill.
I sweat bullets if I go more than a 1000 miles over. I run full synthetic in the gassers which is swapped out with a filter every 4500-5000 miles. The diesel goes a little longer with the intervals only because it uses 3 gallons of oil... takes a while to get that much oil dirty.
I change oil when its dirty, simple as that. I dont care if thats WAY before the oil breaks down... its the filth suspended in the oil that destroys everything. I want mileages upwards of 1,000,000 miles on my engines, can't get there by doing the bare minimum.
I change the oil in my cars once a year regardless of mileage (usually 5K to 10K).
Have seen people that do not change oil at all but simply change the filter and add a quart every once in a while. Two that I worked with did that for many years without issues.
The longest I went with any of my cars was my daughter's car. She forgot to tell me it was time, and I forgot to write it down that time. It went about 8000 miles total, about 3000 over what I usually do. It didn't seem to hurt it, but who knows...she totaled it a couple weeks ago with about 170,000 miles on it.
The SHORTEST period of time I went was--no lie--30 miles, or 30 minutes. I lived outside of Mt. St. Helens when it blew up in 1981. The Washington State Patrol mechanics in the area were recommending changing it that often. (The WSP lost most of their fleet in the area due to all the ash. A lot of folks cars died early deaths. Tranny failures, engine seizures, wiper and window motor failures, electrical fires cause the ash had a lot of iron in it.)
If I remember right, I changed it twice the first week after it blew and used the cut-off legs of pantyhose slipped over the air intake as an additional filter. It wasn't a long period of time to change oil that frequently because the ash only actively fell on us for a couple of days, but the stuff wasn't like snow, it didn't go away and the least bit of wind kept it in the air. Used the extra "air filter" for a couple of months.
The longest I went with any of my cars was my daughter's car. She forgot to tell me it was time, and I forgot to write it down that time. It went about 8000 miles total, about 3000 over what I usually do. It didn't seem to hurt it, but who knows...she totaled it a couple weeks ago with about 170,000 miles on it.
The SHORTEST period of time I went was--no lie--30 miles, or 30 minutes. I lived outside of Mt. St. Helens when it blew up in 1981. The Washington State Patrol mechanics in the area were recommending changing it that often. (The WSP lost most of their fleet in the area due to all the ash. A lot of folks cars died early deaths. Tranny failures, engine seizures, wiper and window motor failures, electrical fires cause the ash had a lot of iron in it.)
If I remember right, I changed it twice the first week after it blew and used the cut-off legs of pantyhose slipped over the air intake as an additional filter. It wasn't a long period of time to change oil that frequently because the ash only actively fell on us for a couple of days, but the stuff wasn't like snow, it didn't go away and the least bit of wind kept it in the air. Used the extra "air filter" for a couple of months.
that was 2 years before I was born my parent have some crazy pics of the ash on the ground
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