1800 Miles oil change

[kickster]

My mechanic says that extended oil change works but the engine will not last as long and increase in fuel consumption will counter the benefits of less oil change. He changes his oil every 1800 miles or 3000 KM (canada). He uses C.GTX and nothing else. He drives VW passat with 400,000 KM on it!

Is he nuts or is he right?

 

[JustinH]

he's nuts. Even the 3,000 mile "jiffy lube" words of advice are too soon for most oils.

 

[Chris]

I'd say your mileage would increase as the oil thinned so seems sort of silly unless you let the oil go till it thickened. But if the oil is free or almost...

 

[Patman]

Sure his engine has lasted a very long time, but I bet it would've still gone 400,000km even with 6000km oil changes, and he would spent half as much money and half as much time under the car.

Besides, who on earth would want to be driving a VW Passat for 400,000km anyways?

 

[Blue99]

As Chris indicated, viscosity will have slipped at 1800 miles and any measurable change in fuel consumption would be in a positive(better) direction. So this is a false justification for 3000 km oil changes.

I'm just assuming he is basing this OCI on the oil color & draining when it starts to get dark.

Since 400,000 km at 3k OCI's equal 133 oil changes, he is giving the ol' drain plug quite a work-out!

 

[Blue99]

quote:

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Besides, who on earth would want to be driving a VW Passat for 400,000km anyways?

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LOL Patman! Definitely a person with a quirky personality!

 

[kickster]

My Vw Golf has 260,000 and still runs great. When you own a VW you take pride in high Mileage. VW gets better as it ages

I have seen a Vw passat with 800,000 KM on original motor!!! (diesel)

 

[JohnBrowning]

Growing up my Dad always used Castrol GTX in the United States 20W50 and 10W30 and used 1500-1800 mile change intervals with the filter being changed every other oil change! He also used the old Radioactive Orange filter! When we would pull the valve covers off for valve adjustmets or the timeing cover off for chain replacement the engine always looked like it rolled off the assembly line.

Oils have come along way and this really is not needed. To be honest I wish more people changed their oil sooner rather then later. Seeing how the national average is 9000 miles for an oil change. Bear in mind that most people are useing el-cheapo 5W30 from some fast oil change place! IF 3000 miles oil changes being pushed will increase my odds of not geting a sludge monster when I buy a used car I am all for it!

He is not doing any harm buy changeing it so soon other then over consumeing oil! His time is a bit different as he is a mechanic and is set up to do this rather quickly. What is 10 more minutes under a car when you are under one all day long! If you run a HDEO I have no problem with 5000 mile OCI with no need for an UOA! If you plan on going to 7500 miles with dino you really need to do at least two UOA one in the warm months and one dureing the winter to see if this is wise with you driveing style! Rest assured taht you will never get sludge or varnis with sub-2000 mile oil changes!

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
I wish more people changed their oil sooner rather then later. Seeing how the national average is 9000 miles for an oil change.

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9000 miles!

Back about 10 years ago, my buddy demanded that his GF take her 1990 Cavalier to get the oil changed. It already had 11K+ miles on the oil. A few days later she piped up "yeah, the car starts easier and runs smoother since I got the oil changed"

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Just about any car will last forever with an 1800 mile OCI.

"Look mom, no wear!" http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001177#000000

 

[Ray H]

Given the increasingly volatile social and political situation on the Arabian peninsula, and the eco-zealots' insistance that North Slope oil fields forever remain off limits to commercial development, I'd prefer that mechanic move himself and his beloved Passat to Riyadh to gain a clearer understanding of the folly of his reasoning. Fortunately his opinion is a minority one and will likely remain so.

 

[SSDude]

How old is this guy? He has his head stuck in the 1960s.

 

[haley10]

6,000 km would be realistic with GTX. He's not seeing any real benefit, just wasting time, energy, oil, and adding to waste (re-cycling).

Some SAE paper show that changing "too" frequently can actually increase wear metals over the long haul.

 

[MikeR]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
Given the increasingly volatile social and political situation on the Arabian peninsula, and the eco-zealots' insistance that North Slope oil fields forever remain off limits to commercial development, I'd prefer that mechanic move himself and his beloved Passat to Riyadh to gain a clearer understanding of the folly of his reasoning. Fortunately his opinion is a minority one and will likely remain so.

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Motor oil basestocks make up a tiny fraction of our crude consumption relative to gasoline. Furthermore, it could probably be argued that lubricant basestocks are a by-product of gasoline refining that would occur regardless.

If he gets a solid 30mpg with his Passat, he'll be using about 60 gallons of gasoline and 5 quarts of motor oil in 1800 miles. He'd make a better contribution to our independence from foreign oil by driving less, driving slower, and maintaining the proper air pressure in his tires.

just my 2 ppm,
MR

EDIT: Do I think the guy is wasting his money? Definitely. And I certainly hope he's recycling all that GTX. Heck, with 1800 miles on the oil, he could reuse it in another car.

[ June 21, 2004, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: MikeR ]

 

[Cutehumor]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnBrowning:

To be honest I wish more people changed their oil sooner rather then later. Seeing how the national average is 9000 miles for an oil change. Bear in mind that most people are useing el-cheapo 5W30 from some fast oil change place! IF 3000 miles oil changes being pushed will increase my odds of not geting a sludge monster when I buy a used car I am all for it
He is not doing any harm buy changeing it so soon other then over consumeing oil!

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I'm with you John. I wish more people would do 3k changes with dino so I don't get a sludged up crappy engine for a used car. The 9k interval for dino oil sounds about right for the country. My oldest sister bought a brand new 30k chevy tahoe last year. After 7800 or so miles, the dashboard in digital words said "oil change now" or something like that when I borrowed her car for a bite to eat. I told her her oil light was on, she said "ya, I know. it's been on for awhile to change it" I scared her and said she needs to change it right away or she could have some engine damage. Man, almost 8k miles on factory fill in 5.3 V-8 engine!

 

[SteveD2]

quote:

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Originally posted by JustinH:
he's nuts. Even the 3,000 mile "jiffy lube" words of advice are too soon for most oils.

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Most manufacturers (at least before the last few years) recommend 3000 mile changes for "severe" driving. If you read their definition of severe it fits most drivers.